Day 7 of the #30DayChristmasCardMakingChallenge is a “Winter Sunset” card. This card certainly was a challenge for me!
I have to confess that living in Australia I have never seen a winter sunset in the Northern Hemisphere, so perhaps this scene looks more like the Northern Lights?
It was fun to get inky fingers for this challenge using the acrylic block technique with my Gorgeous Grape, Fresh Freesia and Polished Pink ink pads, stamping onto watercolour paper.
I use the largest acrylic block F, swiping it in order from top to bottom with Gorgeous Grape, Fresh Freesia and Polished Pink ink before squirting it with water using my Stampin’ Spritzer. I then gently placed a sheet of watercolour paper over the wet inky block and pressed down.
Once the background had dried, I stamped the trees from the Grassy Grove stamp set and then added my foreground elements, die cut from Basic Black Cardstock using the Grove dies.
A solitary Adhesive Backed star adds a tiny touch of bling and because my sewing machine is out at the moment, I just couldn’t resist adding some machine stitching and hand stitching to my card as well!
The “Magic is in the air” sentiment from the Peaceful deer stamp set was stamped into an offcut of my water coloured background and hand stitched to my card.
I’ll be back tonight with some Heart of Christmas card inspiration, as well as some more cards I’ve created for the 30 Day Christmas Card Making Challenge.
Wherever you are in the world, stay safe, stay calm … and keep on crafting xxx
Day 6 of the #30DayChristmasCardMakingChallenge is “Something Green”.
With so many gorgeous greens in the Stampin’ Up! colour range, the hardest part of this challenge was deciding just which green to use!
Eventually I decided to use this design from the beautiful Boughs of Holly DSP because it combines several greens on the one sheet of DSP: Evening Evergreen, Mossy Meadow, Old Olive, Shaded Spruce and Soft Succulent. Is that cheating or clever?
This paper was also the perfect shortcut to incorporate vergation of colour into my rustic wreath Christmas card without having to do any stamping. In fact this is a no stamping card!
The long branch die from the Decorated Pine dies is just perfect for making a wreath as it cuts 3 pine fronds with each branch that is die cut.
Rustic Wreath Christmas Card
Start by using two of the Layering Circle dies to die cut a hoop from the Boughs of Holly DSP
Mount the hoop to the card with an adhesive foam strip
Die cut branches from Boughs of Holly DSP, snip into smaller pieces and adhere to the wreath
Undo a length of the Silver Threaded Twine to wrap around the hoop and to make a bow
Finish the card with laser-cut embellishment words and shapes from the Santa Express Memories & More Card Pack
I couldn’t resist adding a few Basic Rhinestone Jewels to my card for some extra sparkle.
The 30 Day Christmas Card Making Challenge is a global challenge hosted by UK Artisan Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, Martin Stone and the challenge for Day 3 is “Warm & Cosy”.
This theme was the perfect opportunity to use the gorgeous mittens from the Celebrate With Tags bundle.
The Pool Party and Basic White monochrome colour scheme was inspired by the Storybook Gnomes 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper. I loved how this pattern coordinated with the pattern on the mittens.
The zig zag die from the Basic Borders dies cut the DSP strip in half and I adhered it to the top and the bottom of the card.
I couldn’t resist adding a snowflake die cut with the Celebration Tags Dies and a few Basic Rhinestone Jewels to my card for some extra sparkle.
You can catch up on my previous entries for this challenge by clicking on the links below.
I’ve used the adorable The Snowman Magic Bundle for today’s card. It includes the Snowman Magic Stamp Set and the Snowman Dies.
And here’s my little snowman in his wintery scene with his friend the Balmy Blue bird sitting at the top of the tree like a Christmas star!
The background snow effect is created using a layer of the Snowflake 12″ x 12″ Specialty Vellum – this sheet is flocked, while some of the other vellum sheets in the pack are foiled.
The sentiment comes from the Penguin Place Stamp Set – it works so well with the Snowman Magic Stamp Set too.
I couldn’t resist adding a few Basic Rhinestone Jewels to my card for some extra sparkle.
Welcome to week twenty 27 of our Art With Heart 2022-23 Colour Creations blog hop!
This is a weekly blog hop where we showcase the stunning range of Stampin’ Up! colours in alphabetical order over 12 months and this week we are featuring Mango Melody from the brights family.
Is this the easiest card I’ve ever made? Well it probably was… that is, until I stuffed up the stamping of the sentiment and had to stamp and die cut another sentiment on a scrap of Basic White cardstock, adhering it over the “mis-stamped” original sentiment!
This card is made with a stamp set I originally overlooked in the June – December catalogue – the Soft Seedlings stamp set. It is a “Distinktive” stamp set, which means it has a special texture that gives added depth and dimension in a single step, creating photo-realistic images.
I’ve paired Mango Melody with Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake and Basic White for my (almost) simple stamping card.
I stamped the Daffodil Delight maple leaves first and then stamped the Mango Melody maple leaves. A length of linen thread was tied around the Basic White layer and tied into a bow, before it was adhered to the Crumb Cake base.
The inside of the card has a couple of Mango Melody maple leaves as well.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Andrea Sargent – I can’t wait to see what Andrea has made this week!
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants below.
Welcome to week eighteen of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop!
From tomorrow, November 1, the Fitting Florets Collection from the upcoming January – June Mini Catalogue will be available to order and it includes two products only available for limited time: the Framed & Festive Stamp Set and the Fitting Florets DSP.
The Framed & Festive stamp set is a really versatile Christmas sentiment stamp set that works with any Christmas products. I’ve paired it with the Christmas Season stamp set and the coordinating Seasonal Labels dies for this week’s Heart of Christmas card.
The Basic White layer has been die cut an angle using the largest of the stitched rectangle dies. This adds visual interest and draws your attention to the bunch of holly berries and leaves.
My traditional red and green colour combination uses Real Red, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake and Basic White. Fine tipped glue has been added to the holly berries to make them shine.
The sentiment has been die cut and framed using the middle two square Stylish Shapes dies. I really like the mix of fonts in the Christmas sentiments in the Framed & Festive stamp set.
Another sentiment from the Framed & Festive stamp set has been used for the inside of the card – I think I will be using this sentiment a lot for my Christmas cards this year.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Rachel Woollard – I can’t wait to see what Rachel has created today!
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants on Sharon‘s blog.
I love using up offcuts and making my own embellishments, so when I received the brand new Fitting Florets collection I was super excited to see possibilities using the Framed Florets dies!
The “offcuts” from the large oval die (top left die in the picture above) give you a stack of tiny hearts, ideal for embellishing your cards or using in shaker cards – I’ll be sharing a shaker card with you later this week. Today’s card uses these hearts as an embellishment.
I’ve also used a limited time product from the Fitting Florets collection – the Fitting Florets DSP – which I’ve fussy cut and die cut using the Framed Florets die that is designed to die cut these flower sprays in the DSP.
Here’s a close up of the tiny hearts – aren’t they just adorable! I’ve die cut them from Blushing Bride and Polished Pink cardstock to match the flowers in the Fitting Florets DSP. The dark Evening Evergreen cardstock layer is a great colour to make these embellishments pop.
I found the best way to adhere these was to position them on the card front, take a photo for reference, them place a small amount of Multipurpose Glue where each heart goes, using the sticky end of the “Take a Pick” tool to gently place each heart on the glue.
The “for a special person on a special day” sentiment is from the Framed Florets stamp set, stamped in Evening Evergreen and die cut using the Stylish Shapes dies.
If you live in Australia, you can find and purchase these products in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store from tomorrow, November 1!
I’ll be back tonight with the AWH Heart of Christmas blog where we will be sharing some Christmas inspiration.
Wherever you are in the world, stay safe, stay calm … and keep on crafting xxx
Welcome to week twenty six of our Art With Heart 2022-23 Colour Creations blog hop!
This is a weekly blog hop where we showcase the stunning range of Stampin’ Up! colours in alphabetical order over 12 months and this week we are featuring Highland Heather from the subtles family.
This week I’m using a stamp set that is great for any kind of colouring: the Full of Love Stamp Set.
This is also great stamp set for stampers who are starting their stamp collection as it contains a variety of sentiments and images.
I’ve actually used a sentiment from another stamp set – Inspired Thoughts – but that is only because I am CASEing the “Hello, hello, hello” card from page 76 of the Annual Catalogue.
The Stampin’ Up! designers layered the die cut sentiment over a strip of the Natural Finish Ribbon to cover the stamped envelope, revealing just the flowers that surround the envelope. I’ve also done this for my two cards below.
I’ve taken a risk with my colour choice for both cards, combining Highland Heather, which is a soft subtle colour, with two very intense colours: Blackberry Bliss and Orchid Oasis.
Card one combines Highland Heather with Blackberry Bliss, Balmy Blue, Gray Granite and Granny Apple Green.
Card one combines Highland Heather with Orchid Oasis, Balmy Blue, Gray Granite and Granny Apple Green.
Both cards use the smallest square in the Stylish Shapes Dies to die cut the coloured image, Highland Heather Subtles 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper and Stampin’ Blends to colour the images.
The finishing touch is three Fresh Freesia Adhesive-Backed Sequins.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Kate Morgan – I can’t wait to see what Kate has made this week!
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants below.
Welcome to week twenty five of our Art With Heart 2022-23 Colour Creations blog hop!
This is a weekly blog hop where we showcase the stunning range of Stampin’ Up! colours in alphabetical order over 12 months and this week we are featuring Gray Granite from the neutrals family.
I made this card for a very special ocassion – my eldest son’s university graduation last week! He actually finished uni not last year, but the year before, but thanks to Covid they are running a bit behind with the graduation ceremonies.
I specifically bought the Breaking News Stamp Set to make Samuel’s graduation card, however I think it’s going to be great for all kinds of cards. Working in publishing all my life, I love having a newspaper stamp set in my collection!
I also wanted to also incorporate a Mortar Board on my card and so I used a couple of the Stylish Shapes Dies to make a mini Mortar Board with a Black Brad from the Round & Square Brads and some Black Baker’s Twine from the Baker’s Twine Essentials Pack to make the tassel.
I jazzed up the Celebrate Everything 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper using my Gray Granite Stampin’ Blends and some Rhinestone Basic Jewels.
We gave Samuel some cufflinks engraved with his initials, the abbreviation of his degree, the date of his graduation and the name of the university he graduated from – Macquarie University.
The cufflinks arrived in a lovely box and gift bag so there was no need for me to “reinvent the wheel” with the packaging. I simply adhered the Celebrate Everything 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper to the black gift bag and tied some Gray Granite Shimmer Ribbon around the cufflinks box.
This fireworks DSP pattern just screams celebration to me and it could be easily customised with any colour.
Here’s the inside of the card – how cute is that little diploma/degree scroll stamp! Once again, it was coloured with Gray Granite Stampin’ Blends.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Andrea Sargent – I can’t wait to see what Andrea has made this week!
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants below.
Welcome to week sixteen of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop!
New product alert! Checkout the gorgeous Fitting Florets Collection!
It includes products that will be in the upcoming January-June Mini Catalogue, as well as three products of which will only be available from November 1 for a limited period of time.
The limited time products from this collection include:
The Framed & Festive Stamp Set – a Christmas sentiment set
The Fitting Florets DSP – both floral and patterned designs in Balmy Blue, Blushing Bride, Crushed Curry, Evening Evergreen, Night of Navy, Polished Pink, Soft Succulent.
For all my cards I’ve used the Evening Evergreen/Soft Succulent/Basic White leaves and berries patterned paper from the Fitting Florets DSP to make three Christmas Cards, changing the colours slightly for each card.
All three cards also use sentiments that are stamped and framed using the Framed Florets Bundle, available from November 1 until the end of June 2023.
Card one is a monochrome card that uses just the colours in this DSP pattern, along with die cut embellishments in Evening Evergreen Glimmer Specialty Paper, die cut using the Framed Florets dies.
White Classic Matte Dots coordinate with the white berries on the DSP.
Card two adds a touch of Petal Pink, with a layer of Petal Pink card stock and berries on the DSP coloured in with Petal Pink Stampin’ Blends!
Three Petal Pink Elegant Faceted Gems are the perfect embellishment to match the Petal Pink berries.
Card three adds Crumb Cake to the colour mix.
The stems of the Textural Elements are coloured with the Soft Succulent Stampin’ Blends and the Natural Finish Ribbon has been stamped in Evening Evergreen using the “Merry Christmas” sentiment from the Framed & Festive Stamp Set.
Strips of leftover DSP and additional sentiments decorate the inside of all three cards.
Now it’s time to hop on over to our next participant, the lovely Kathryn Ruddick – I can’t wait to see what Kathryn has created today!
If at any time you find a broken link, you can find the complete list of all participants on Sharon‘s blog.
