Getting a (Little) Fancy with Paper

You can only make so many Christmas cards before you burn out. Then I have to make something 3D and cute to reboot my card-making brain. Here are two quick ideas, if you need a little gift for someone…

Now that you can buy those LED tealights just about anywhere, I don’t worry about setting a paper votive holder aflame. I’m sure it can be done, especially in our house, but I don’t worry about it. To make these, just cut a square of cardstock 3x3, score each side 1/2” in, cut one short score on each corner, and fold up and adhere to make the base. The sides are a piece of DSP, 2-1/2”x 10”. Score it at 2-3/8”, 4-3/4”, 7-1/4”, and 9-5/8”.

Punch out a shape such as an ornament, star, or circle and adhere vellum behind the paper. Fold it along scores amd adhere the little flap you have leftover to make a bottomless box. I put a strip of Sticky Strip along the top and glittered mine before making it a box. Embellish as you like, and just set the box into the base. There ya go! Make a cute little row of them for a windowsill, matching whatever decor you have going. And I told you to buy a Simply Scored, didn’t I?

These little note card or photo holders look cool grouped together, or use them to hold a recipe while you’re making it. Use the biggest binder clips you can find, cut a small strip of DSP and adhere it. Embellish, and it’s done.

We’re supposed to get a dusting of snow tonight…finally! Unfortunately, the front that’s bringing it is wreaking havoc on my head today, so I think I’ll go have a little nap before the hooligans’ bus arrives. Enjoy the rest of your December 1!

#10- ‘Tis the Season for Snowmen

All Stampin’ Up!: Snow Much Fun stamp set
Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler, and Whisper White cardstock; Frostwood Lodge DSP;
Cherry Cobbler Seam Tape; Modern Lable Punch; StazOn Jet black ink;
Cherry Cobber, Wild Wasabi, Marina Mist, Pumpkin Pie markers; Cherry Cobbler ink

I wanted to create a card with some watercoloring, but not TOO much in case I needed 500 of them. OK, perhaps I exaggerate, but you know what I mean. Quick and easy. That’s me. My little helpers are almost old enough that they could be taught to watercolor, I think. At least one of them is a very careful color-er, although he tends to saturate his paper. But I digress.

No tricks here…just stamp the image with StazOn ink so it doesn’t smear when you color it. I used an Aqua Painter, but you could use a paintbrush…Aqua Painters are just easier for me. I used the reverse of the plaid DSP for the label…it looks like birch bark, so those are not smears on the sentiment…it’s bark pattern! I think (although my opinion changes daily) this is my favorite card this year. So far.

Sorry I didn’t post this yesterday to wind up my 2 weeks of holiday cards. We took a mini trip down to Chicago…Legoland Discovery and the Children’s Museum at Navy Pier. And IKEA, of course. If you’re military and find yourself in Chicago, the Children’s Museum has free admission for up to 4 people. So we left the littlest hooligan at the coat check. No, not really. We paid her way. But $12 is way better than $60!

We stopped at the Milwaukee Zoo for trick-or-treating on the way home, which was a blast. I’ll post photos later this week. Enjoy your weekend!

#9 ‘Tis the Season for Glad Tidings

All Stampin’ Up!: Jolly Jingles jumbo roller and Warmest of Wishes stamp set (hostess)
Real Red ink; Very Vanilla and Soft Suede Cardstock; Real Red DSP
Houndstooth Embossing Folder; Corner Rounder; Soft Suede Marker

Roller stamps make such quick work of adding an impact! This entire card took maybe 10 minutes, and that’s only because I had already put stuff away and had to get it out again. I inked the “Warmest of Wishes” stamp with Real Red, then wiped off the lines and used a marker to ink them. For the “ribbon,” I cut a 1” strip of the DSP I’m using for photo backgrounds, scored it with my new scoring board that I love, and pleated it. Easy peasy. I popped the sentiment out so the pleats would fit behind a little and not make it lumpy. It’s a kind of elegant color combo, I think.

The Warmest of Wishes stamp set is a hostess set in the Holiday Mini. It has several seasonal stamps and I’m really getting a lot of use out of them. You, too, could earn it with a workshop or an order of $150 or more. And who can’t find $150 of things they can’t live without in the catalog?

#8 ‘Tis the Season for More Stockings

All Stampin’ Up!: Stitched Stockings and It’s a Wrap Holidays stamp sets
Very Vanilla and Poppy Parade cardstock; Scallop Border Punch

Island Indigo, Poppy Parade, and Lucky Limeade inks;

Lucky Limeade and Island Indigo Ruffled ribbons; 5/16” Chocolate Chip brads

This color combination is one of my favorites this Christmas. It’s so joyful and evokes memories of all those Christmas-y things…holly berries, candy canes, frosty nights, and margaritas. Well, I had to think of something for the green. I like this shade’s edginess. Yes, that’s a thing.

The Very Merry stamp is from the It’s a Wrap Holidays set. It’s really designed to be a wrapper for Hershey’s Nuggets, and it’s very cute that way. Put several of them in a little cellophane bag, top it with a tag and ribbons and you have a nifty neighbor or teacher gift. But I wanted to show it’s versatility. The stockings coordinate with the Stocking Builder Punch, but I thought they looked fine just stamped, as well. Each panel is popped out with dimensionals, for a little interest.

Now go have a margarita and get in the holiday spirit!

#7 ‘Tis the Season for Embossing

All Stampin’ Up!: Dasher, Serene Snowflakes, and Four the Holidays stamp sets
Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, and Whisper White Cardstock,
Silver Waffle Paper; Silver Glimmer Paper
Silver and white embossing powders; Versamark and White Craft inks

This waffle paper was so fun to work with…I just cut a piece 1 1/2” wide the width of the roll (about 9”) and that was plenty for the card. It pleats so easily and since it’s paper, regular SNAIL adhesive works to hold it. No fancy tricks to this card; just stamping and embossing. I think it’s elegant, but still a little fun with the ruffled paper.

I’ve used Frostwood Lodge DSP as the background for most of the card photos I’ve been posting. The colors in it include Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Early Espresso, Marina Mist, and Whisper White. I like a little blue thrown in with my Christmas colors, and usually some sort of brown, so this pack is perfect in my opinion! If you have a hankering for some, it’s in the Holiday Minicatalog. (Item 124002, $10.95 for 12 double-sided sheets).

Off to yoga and the grocery store now…I’m planning to center myself and get in the zone for cooking tomorrow. Enjoy the day!

#6 ‘Tis the Season for Shakin’

All Stampin’ Up!: Kidoodles and Four the Season stamp sets
Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White cardstock; Wild Wasabi DSP
Scallop Edge, 1 3/4” circle, 2 3/8” Scallop Circle punches; Shaker Frame
Cherry Cobbler Bakers’ Twine; Real Red, Wild Wasabi, More Mustard markers

As soon as I saw the shaker frames in the Holiday Minicatalog, I knew I needed to put some glitter/snow in one on a card. These frames are pretty nifty…they’re basically a ring of the same foam on Stampin’ Dimensionals, so there’s a little room for something to shake, but not so thick that you can’t mail them in a regular envelope. I’ve made some shaker designed I really liked in the past using round treat cups, but those are too thick for a regular envelope.

I stamped the little elf in Jet Black Staz-On, then colored with the markers. The colors look a little off in the photo, but they are the same as the papers in person. The "stitching" is just white gel pen, but I thought it added a great detail.

On a household note, I’ve decided I’m tired of cooking dinner every night. Unfortunately, our household budget does not allow for a chef (and my family wouldn’t let me get away with that, anyway!). Consequently, I’m planning a ginormous cooking day on Wednesday. I think I’m putting 12 different meals in the freezer. The flaw in my plan is that I forgot my boys are home for parent-teacher conferences all day Wednesday. So I may have a few extra hands slowing me down.

In any event, I’ll plan to blog about it with the timeline and recipes next week. The boys are also out of school Thursday and Friday, so it’s really like today is my Thursday with a long weekend coming up! Ack! WIsh me luck!

#5 ‘Tis the Season to Be Jolly

All Stampin’ Up!: Festive and Fun stamp set; Crumb Cake and Whisper White Cardstock;
Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Pacific Point, and Pumpkin Pie Markers; Mini Jungle Bells
Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon; Cherry Cobbler Bakers’ Twine; Corner Rounder punch;
White Craft Ink; Stripes Embossing Folder

This card makes me smile. It’s whimsical yet classic, I think. I embossed the stripes, then dragged white craft ink pad across to add a little pop. I always forget how much I like coloring my stamps with markers for all the different colors, rather than just inking the stamp on a pad and coloring in later. It’s a happy little card.

And now I’m off to pick up my mom at the airport…she’s here for the weekend, so my sweetie and I are headed to Door County (up north) for a getaway. We were supposed to be flying to Kansas City for an annual recruiting training conference for the next 5 days, but the Army has no budget yet, so the trip was cancelled last week. Oh, well, it’ll be fun to check out the almost local sights instead!

Hope you have a fun weekend and find time to craft a little!

#4 Tis the Season for Hanging Stockings

You’re going to want to make lots of these cards. Trust me. They come together really easily AND you get to use punches. Plus, it’s a super cute card. Can’t you just hear the fire crackling below the stockings?

All Stampin’ Up: Four the Season and Woodgrain stamp sets
Whisper White, Garden Green, & Crumb Cake Cardstock; Frostwood Lodge DSP;
Silver Glimmer Paper; Cherry Cobbler and Chocolate Chip inks; Mini Jingle Bells;
Cherry Cobbler Bakers’ Twine, Eyelet Border & Stocking Builder punches

I like how the Eyelet Border makes it look like a mantel with a scarf on it, and the mini jingle bells add a festive touch. The silver glimmer paper gives a bit of shine. THe jingle bells are adhered with Crystal Effects, just to be sure they don’t fall off. I put a dimensional at the top of each stocking and left the bottom loose, so it’s more like they are hanging on the twine. You could punch about a gazillion of these stockings from DSP in no time at all, then mix and match the trim.

Once again, my laundry did not do itself while I was running errands this morning, so I have a date in the laundry room. Enjoy the rest of your day!

‘Tis the Season for a Little Glitter…

All Stampin’ Up!: Four the Holidays stamp set
Early Espresso, Confetti Naturals, and Crumb Cake cardstock
Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder; Snowflake punch; Basic Pearl

My husband hates glitter. Now that we’re living in a rental again (for 21 more months, but who’s counting), he thinks he has the reasoning to stop my glitter use. But he’s wrong. I have a Dyson, and I’m sure I can get up all the stray glitter. Or most of it, anyway. It’s not like he’s deploying and going to be over in the desert sparkling for the enemy to see or something. I can respect that, and I don’t use glitter on cards that are making their way to the sandbox. But the ones I send to “civilians”... Bring it! Or bling it, I should say.

This card really is MUCH prettier in person. To make it, I dragged a Versamark pad across one side of an embossing folder so that the ink was only on the raised portion and put a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock inside. I rolled it through the Big Shot and sprinkled some Iridescent Ice embossing powder on it, then heat embossed it. Yes, I used my Big Shot AND my Heat Tool. Woo-hoo! The rest was simple...a sentiment stamp, a snowflake punch, and a pearl to anchor the snowflake.

I wish I could take complete credit for this card, but I CASEd the basic idea from someone online a year or two ago. My apologies if you’re reading this…comment and I’ll give you credit gladly!

I’m not saying you should make 50 of these, but a few would be nice for good friends. And by that I mean the people who will save the handmade cards they receive and really appreciate them...you know who you are!

‘Tis the Season- for Lovely as a Tree

Apparently my family feels they still need to eat, have clean clothes, and be able to walk through our home without tripping over the piles of dirt, as well as be transported to places they need to go. That’s really for me, so they’re not home with me 24/7. So today’s post is just a quick holiday card…enjoy!

All Stampin’ Up: Lovely as a Tree and Sincere Salutations stamp sets
Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, and Garden Green Cardstock
Garden Green and Cherry Cobbler inks; Early Espresso marker
Frostwood Lodge DSP; Lace Ribbon Border and XL Oval punches

Seriously, it’s the quickest one I designed. The Lace Ribbon Border punch really adds a lot of detail with very little effort…but no one needs to know that when you send them this card! The DSP is just the same paper from the Frostwood Lodge package, using both sides. The strips are 4-1/4” x 2” and 4-1/4” x 1”. I sponged around the edge of the oval just to make it pop a little, then popped it further with dimensionals. For the tree, I inked the whole thing with my Garden Green pad, then wiped off the trunk and ground portion. I colored that with a marker, huffed on it to revitalize the ink, and stamped. Easy-peasy. And I got to use the word “huff” in a post.

By the way, that tree piece is straight…for some reason when I took the photo it was slightly distorted. Perhaps because I was trying to take photos outside for the natural light but the wind was gusting at about 75 mph, so speed was of the essence. I could also hear little voices calling, “Mama, mama, where are you?” inside the house, too, so that increased the urgency.

I didn’t even have time to do anything with apples today other than slice them up on the kids’ breakfast plates…maybe tomorrow!

‘Tis the Season…already?

Yes, it’s time to get your brains working and figure out what you’re doing for your hand-stamped holiday cards this year! That was mean for a Monday, wasn’t it? Well, I plan to make it up to you. I had a burst of creativity over the weekend, so for the next 10 posts, I’ll have a new holiday card design to share. Some may look complicated, but they really aren’t…no sweat shop origami cards this year!

To jumpstart my Monday (everyone here was lethargic…too much family fun over the weekend, I suppose), I made some really hearty (and that does not mean not tasty) multigrain hot cereal. We picked apples yesterday, so guess what ingredient will feature heavily in our meals this week? Yes, apples! I’ve been making myself a pumpkin coffee smoothie for the last few mornings, and being a pumpkin fanatic, I wanted to incorporate that, as well. The result was delicious!

I just cooked some multigrain hot cereal according to the directions on the package and added some brown sugar. Okay, quite a lot of brown sugar. Then I stirred in a handful of craisins and about 1/4 cup pumpkin (from a can) for each serving. Some diced apples on top, and voila! My kids thought it was great, too.

Now for the card….

All Stampin' Up!: Delightful Decorations, Christmas Greetings, and
Distressed Dots stamp sets; Cherry Cobbler, Baja Blue, Old Olive, and
Whisper White Cardstock; Cherry Cobbler, Baja Blue, and Old Olive inks;
Cherry Cobbler Bakers' Twine; Ornament punch

To make the 3-D ornament, I stamped then punched 3 identical ornaments. Fold them in half vertically and adhere the sides. Tie your bow after you make the ornament 3-D, or the tie will be too tight for it to fold out. I think it would be cute with some rhinestone bling added to the sentiment, but wanted to keep this simple and quick. You could also put Old Olive ribbon on top of the paper strip for a little more texture. My favorite feature of the Christmas Greetings set is that it has a nice little verse for inside the card, as well as the front. And it's inexpensive!

Tune in tomorrow for another card idea! And maybe another use for apples….