All White - 52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge

 

The current challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown is:

I think the secret to a good all-white card is to go one of two extremes - either super smooth, clean and simple - or lots of layers and texture. Guess what I went for? I ended up making two cards. I will show you the one I entered in the challenge first, but it is was not my first attempt.

This is a combo of a snowflake frame embossing folder and a die cut "JOY" all in white cardstock. I blinged it up with pearls but i did not have any that were loose. I had to cut these apart from a long embellishment border, peel them off the adhesive backing and glue them down. It was tedious, so I won't be doing that again.

My first effort - while technically all-white - proved that not all white items are the same shade of white! 

The background was white vellum that I ran through a Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder. The white cardstock I used for the JOY had a slight shimmer to it that reads pale grey in the photo, and the letters were in white glitter cardstock but the glitter looks a little green in real life and pink in the photo. I added extra layers of glittered holly, flowers and berries. Once I saw the photo, I knew I needed to make a second one that was truer all-white.

I am also entering this in the Anything Goes Challenge at Love to Craft Challenge Blog.

Westie Christmas Cards

Isn't he a handsome fellow? I had a friend bring this die set back from the UK in the summer and decided Christmas was a good time to use it. I chose to isolate the profile and cut to fit the circle of red foil here. The full size is below. Can be purchased from JJD Cards.

I made two cards. Gave the first away and decided I wanted one for us, so hubby got the second one!

The wreath is made with Spellbinders hot foiling plate "Christmas Foliage Circle Border." I foiled it in thirds to create the wreath. It was not as difficult to line up as I feared. The green cardstock is Michael's Recollections brand and smooth enough to get a good result with the foil. 

There is a thick circle outline that I foiled on red foil cardstock which also worked well.  I made use of the red foil cardstock to mat the layers. Coloured the bow tie with a burgundy Copic marker.

For my second card I used the red foil cardstock again and an old Spellbinders Imperial Gold Circles One frame die set; die cut the bow tie from the same red foil, and hot foiled (with a laminator) Gina K. Designs / Thermoweb Foil-Mates Ornamental Holiday patterned background with Gina K. Designs Red Velvet Fancy Foils which matched the red foil cardstock layers. A Spellbinders label die and sentiment from Stampin' Up! Christmas Scottie set finished it off.

I am entering in these challenges:

Cut it Up Challenge #346 ~ Anything Goes

12 Months of Christmas Link Up

Of course there is nothing like the real thing. Here is my daughter's Westie, Kit Kat. He spent Christmas Day with us. Always a treat!

Making Tracks

Belated wishes for a Merry Christmas to you and yours! This Christmas card features the Spellbinders Special Delivery dies along with Penny Black Tall Trees and the Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders.

Any photos I have seen of this car show the rear lights as yellow, but brake lights are red, so I made sure to make that teeny, tiny die cut in red cardstock

I am entering this in:

Die Cut Divas Christmas/Winter December Challenge

Inkspirational Challenge #357 - Designer's Choice - COLD

Cut it Up Challenge #346 ~ Anything Goes

12 Months of Christmas Link Up

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Calm Collage

Here are some cards inspired by Stamplicity's Brenda Lynn Bennett-Miller. I used the Spellbinders  Beautifully Imperfect suite of dies and paper ephemera, but kept it less cluttered by using mostly white on white with a focal pop.

For this one I used some 49th & Market papers and postage and vellum to create a shaker window.

This one is die cuts that have been cut from cardstock layered with rub ons.

Collage Cards

 

Working from a Spellbinders Beautifully Imperfect kit of papers and dies, and playing with Lisa Horton Interference Ink techniques. Love that big daisy! (5X7 inch card)

The juxtaposition of this Victorian gal and the Bold sentiment tickles me. Lots of Stickles sparkle on this one. The stenciled stripes change colour as the 5.25 inch square is tilted.

Seize the Birthday: Embossed

 

Testing 1...2...3... - is this thing on? I cannot believe it has been almost a year since I posted on my blog. 2023 was a bit of a blur and crafting time was hit and miss. One challenge I always like to play in is Seize the Birthday as birthday cards are what I make the most.

This card features a dry embossed rattan background. The Lisa Horton tulips are also dry embossed and die cut. They are meant for a slimline card, but this is 5X7 inches.

Sweet Stitching Birthday Blooms

 

Over the past year my sister and I have been subscribed to Let's Stamp Together, a kit service put out by Scrapbook & Cards Today. There is a kit every second month and they have been great. They include stamps, stencils and dies. This month was a flower and leaf stamp set with matching dies from Spellbinders that feature piercings to allow stitching enhancement.

I sent this card to my sister for her birthday, hoping to inspire her to use this kit. I used some blue metallic thread for the stitching. The My Favorite Things Happy Birthday Background is stamped in white pigment ink on black cardstock. The Sweet Birthday Wishes script sentiment is part of the kit.

I used a Jennifer McGuire technique of tracing with a ball point stylus around the die and then going over that with a Sakura Gelly Roll glitter pen to create a tight frame around the bouquet. Subtle but effective. I am entering this in the Anything Goes category over at Seize the Birthday.

World Card Making Day Challenge #4

Hello , Blogland, long time, no see. Here is a card I made for World Card Making Day, courtesy of inspiration from Victoria Calvin, who challenged Scrapbook & Cards Today fans to make a layered card. This was Challenge #2 of five issued last Saturday. I am working my way through the challenges in an out-of-order fashion.

The dies I used are Spellbinders borders and motif and a Spellbinders Glimmer Foil Plate for the sentiment. The background is a piece of Tim Holtz paper.

Hope you can see the reflecting of the foil above. It's quite pretty in real life.

2020 S/S Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

It's the end of the 2020 Spring/Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. So much wonderful inspiration, super sponsors and prizes. Kudos to the organizers and the community they have built!

Today I received this Quietfire Design stamp set for the tea lovers (this blog hop is ecumenical - all caffeine is celebrated!). The entire card (background and stamped images) was made with Distress Oxide Inks.

Head over to the blog and start clicking. Make sure you have a LARGE THERMOS of your chosen beverage as you will be there a while!

Chilly Penguin Love

Happy Valentine's Day 2019! We have been having brutal weather, lots of snow and wind and ice. For our rainforest island, this is rare. So I have been humming Christmas tunes and was reminded of this Christmas stamp set I can't recall having used yet. It's Gina K Designs 'Tis the Sea-sun set.

This pair reminds me of my husband and me. He is always hot and I am always chilly. Good thing opposites attract! Here's the card on a bit of an angle to show off the falling snow I made with glitter pens.

                       

The sentiment was "It's penguin-ing to look a lot like Christmas." It was fun to use a Christmas set for something else. Thanks for visiting today. Stay warm!

Valentine Card Candy

A few years ago "Card Candy" was all the rage in certain stamping circles. I was always intrigued but never got around to trying it. A swap is the perfect way to get me to try new things, and my Canadian paper crafts swap group chose this for one of our January 2018 swaps.

The idea is to create card embellishments that would be perfect to add to a card front. Then package them up like store-bought embellishments. (Yes, paper crafters are crazy this way.)

I backed my sets with bingo cards which were a digital file (Jenni Bowlin Studio) that I printed out. 

I went for a red and aqua theme for my card candy. I shopped my craft room for items in those colours and had fun using scraps and bits and bobs. This was a transparency I had printed out for another project that I had extras of. 

These hearts are just layers of cardstock, felt and vellum that I cut out with Spellbinders dies.

I used another Spellbinders die and the Tim Holtz rosette die to make this heart. I added silver crinkled threads and silver glitter. The banner features a Waltzingmouse Stamp.

My favourite piece is this rubber stamped thread spool. The red satin ribbon I used was the perfect width. I hand-sewed a button on the felt hearts.

I made three sets:

Here's a shot of the packages all put together and wrapped in cellophane.

And the back:

Hope you enjoyed seeing these. I enjoyed making them and they are in the post now making their way to my swap partners.

Thinking of You

Sympathy cards - always hard! This is an Inkadinkado stamp that I heat embossed on watercolour paper and I watercoloured with Zig markers. The scalloped flourish is a Spellbinders die, as is the frame.