Joyful Christmas Sunflower Card

I've been making tons of Christmas cards lately, but I can't quite seem to bring myself to post one today.  By Monday, I'll fully be in a Christmas mood, but it's still November, so I'm going to enjoy my Thanksgiving decorations for at least one more day.  (Although I will confess that I'm pretty sure we're going to go get our Christmas tree today.)

I hadn't intended to get any new Christmas stamp sets this year.  But I've had my eye on Joyful Christmas since the Holiday catalog came out, and when the clear mount stamp was listed as part of the Holiday Sale (which is still going on!), the price was just too good to pass up on it.  I've been playing with this set for the past couple of days and have some gorgeous Christmas cards to show off in the next couple of weeks. 

Who Knew?

• You can totally turn a poinsettia into a sunflower!  I think that an additional layer of the petals would look better (and more sunflower-like), but I used glue on this card and didn't want to mangle it in an attempt to dismantle it and add another layer.

• Crushed Curry and Gumball Green look FANTASTIC together!  Never in a million years would I have thought to combine those two colors.  It makes me sad that Gumball Green will only be around for a few more months.

• Maybe you knew this already, but RUN to the Clearance Rack and stock up on single color packs of Core'dinations Card stock.  That's where I found this Early Espresso paper.  It's also available in the Neutrals pack of Core'dinations Card Stock.

Supplies

Stamps:  Oh Hello and Joyful Christmas
Ink:  Gumball Green Crushed Curry, and Early Espresso
Paper:   Gumball Green Crushed Curry, and Soft Suede card stock, Early Espresso Core'dinations
Accessories:  Simply Pressed Clay and Molds, Linen Thread, Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon, Sanding Block, Paper Snips

Truly Grateful Label Card

I think it should be obvious this week which products are my favorites!  But I love fall, and this is kind of my last chance to show off fall cards, because on Friday, well...let the Christmas season begin, right?

This is an upside down flip card, which I love.  It's nice to mix things up a bit and throw in some variety to one's card-making.

Tips & Tricks

• To make the card "upside-down", simply fold the opposite way you normally would.  It's really that easy!

• Pair up the Woodgrain Background stamp with the Woodgrain Embossing Folder.  It's a great combination!

• Sponging the edges of the Label shape for both sides of the card adds a really soft look.  Did you know that you can cut a sponge in four pieces (like a pie) and quadruple the value?  It's actually a lot easier to use that way, too!

Supplies

Stamps:  Truly Grateful, Yippee-Skippee, Gently Falling
Ink:  Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, More Mustard (retired), and Cajun Craze Classic Ink
Paper:  Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla card stock, Early Espresso Core'dinations card stock
Accessories:  Big Shot, Label Card Thinlits, Sponge, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Sanding Block

Gently Falling Woodgrain Card

Yay!  It's Thanksgiving week!  I do love Thanksgiving, a holiday I've really only come to appreciate as an adult.  But I'll confess that I'm excited about this week for other reasons.  As I may have mentioned in the past, I homeschool my kids, and one of the very best things about that is the ability to set our own schedule.  And because we can do that, we take the entire month of December off from formal schooling (but we're always learning, because that's how life works!)  Since Thanksgiving falls so late this year, it actually marks the beginning of our break.  We've been working our tails off to get finished up before Wednesday, and it looks like once we finish up a few things today, we can start our fabulous, gigantic Christmas break!  That is what I am especially thankful for today!

So let's focus on this card for a moment, shall we?  I love the woodgrain stamp in the Truly Grateful set.  I also realized that with a little bit of help from my Stamp-a-ma-jig, it fits well with the large tag in the Chalk Talk Framelits.  That was a very exciting discovery!  And you all know how much I love woodgrain and leaves together.  I won't bore you with my gushing about that again.

Tips & Tricks

• In order to make an embossed image pop a bit more, simply sponge a bit of ink lightly over the raised parts.  It makes a world of difference!

• When using the leaves from Gently Falling, I always stamp off the background stamp (not the outline one).  I'm always a lot happier with the final product if I do that.  Try it out and see what you think!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Gently Falling, Truly Grateful
Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar, Cajun Craze, and Crushed Curry Classic Ink
Paper:  Soft Suede, Baked Brown Sugar, Naturals Ivory card stock
Accessories:  Big Shot, Chalk Talk Framelits, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Bitty Banners Framelits, Linen Thread, Sponge

Linking up to the Fab Friday Challenge.

Prince of Peace Single Stamp Christmas Ornament

Despite the fact that I'm not at all in a hurry for Christmastime to arrive, I can't seem to help making Christmas projects.  Today I have a simple, yet very elegant ornament, that could also double as a gift tag.  In fact, that's what I'm planning to do with this one!

Tips & Tricks

• Who doesn't love embossing?  I know I love it!  I actually tried making this with glitter instead of embossing powder, but it was just too much.  Let the simple elegance of the silver embossing powder shine on this project by making sure you've cleaned off all stray flecks before whipping out your heat tool.  This is an especially important step when embossing on a dark color as I have here with Night of Navy.

• Chipboard is my new favorite element, but Framelits don't quite cut all the way through, especially if you've adhered Silver Glimmer Paper to it first!  A quick trim with your Paper Snips will clean up the edges and make your project look flawless. 

Every year my sister-in-law asks me to bring supplies to make a craft or ornament on Thanksgiving.  And every year I dutifully drag my supplies to her house, only to have them sit untouched the entire afternoon.  We'll have a smaller crowd this year, so I'm hoping that we'll actually get to make the ornament, and this is the one we'll be making.  Or at least the one I'll take supplies to make.

Supplies

Stamps:  Prince of Peace Single Stamp
Ink:  VersaMark
Paper:  Chipboard, Silver Glimmer Paper, Night of Navy card stock
Accessories:  Big Shot, Deco Labels Framelits, Heat Tool, Silver Embossing Powder, Rhinestones Basic Jewels

Christmas Tag

Last week I posted some Christmas tags that I made using My Digital Studio.  Today I have a tag I made with good old stamps and paper.  This one uses the Chalk Talk Framelits, and is intended to have a bit of a chalkboard look. 

Tips & Tricks

• The chalkboard look is so easy to create...simply stamp an image or sentiment in Whisper White Craft ink on Basic Black card stock.  Then take a sponge dipped in Whisper White ink and gently dab or rub it in random spots on the card stock...it will look like erased chalk.  I added some Christmas ornaments to this to jazz it up a bit, too.

• Stamp before cutting with your Framelits...that's the best feature of them!  Once you've stamped, you can line up your Framelits around the image, ensuring that it's perfectly straight and aligned!

Supplies

Stamps:  Merry Minis (retired), Ornament Keepsakes, Christmas Greetings (retired)
Ink:  Real Red, Garden Green, and Whisper White
Paper:  Whisper White and Basic Black card stock
Accessories:  Big Shot, Holiday Ornaments Framelits, Chalk Talk Framelits, Merry Minis Punch Pack, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, sponge

Holiday Sale

Woohoo!  Be sure to check out this awesome list of discounted products that will go on sale beginning tomorrow, November 20.  A few items will be discounted at 30% off for only 24 hours, so if you've been wanting the new trimmer, the diagonal scoring plate, or even our Many Marvelous Markers, be sure to contact me or place your order through my online store tomorrow!

Thanksgiving Place Cards

So last week I took a little blogging break.  It wasn't intentional, but definitely necessary.  Last week was insane, and my stress levels were through the roof.  So hopefully you'll forgive me for not posting...I just didn't have the time or creativity to come up with any projects to post.

This week I'll have a couple of non-card projects to show you.  Today is a simple, hand-stamped place card.  Since this one features a woodsy look in fall colors, it's perfect for Thanksgiving.  And if I were going to host Thanksgiving dinner, I'd probably consider putting these on the table.  OK, that's a total lie, because as an introvert, finding out that I have to sit next to someone other than my husband is terrifying to me.  Since I hate being assigned a seat, there's no way I'd do that to someone else.  However, there are definitely situations where place cards are appropriate, and maybe Thanksgiving is that time for you and your guests. 

Tips & Tricks

• You don't always have to use a background stamp in the vertical position.  For this card, I turned the Woodgrain background stamp so the grain is actually going across my card, instead of up and down.  I much prefer it this way!

• Let's talk about alphabet stamps...I give you permission to NOT line up your letters perfectly when spelling out a name or word.  In fact, I was trying to keep this casual and didn't want the letters to look perfect.  The haphazard placement of the letters in my name give it a relaxed, hand-made look, which is exactly what I wanted.

Supplies

Stamps:  Woodgrain, Gently Falling, Classic Alphabet (retired)

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, and Crushed Curry 

Paper:  Soft Suede and Very Vanilla card stock

Accessories:  paper snips, brayer