Kool Kitty Musings

Peaceful Olive Two Ways

Morning!

I'm over on the Seven Hills Crafts blog today with two card projects featuring the same set of stamps: the Peaceful Olive stamps from The Greetery.

Yes, you may have spotted that this set was part of The Greetery's festive release in 2022. So you're probably wondering, why am I using it now?

Well, I think it lends itself well to interesting backgrounds any time of the year.

The stamp set actually includes four layering stencils for quickly creating the main background, you then just add the last detail for the branches with the coordinating stamp.

The whole reason I had this set of supplies out on my desk is that I'm trying (and somewhat failing) to make a Christmas card each week, so that I'm not in panic mode come December.

I'll share the festive card I made in a moment, but first is a monochromatic interpretation.

Stamp and stencil combo: The Greetery - Peaceful Olive
Stamps: The Greetery - Everyday Labels
Dies: The Greetery - Handmade Labels, The Greetery - Deco Frames

I was inspired by Delft pottery for my colour palette and stuck to the blue tones and white, with just a hint of black for the sentiment.

After stencilling and stamping the olive branch background, I ran it through my die-cut machine with the largest die in the Deco Frames set and ran it through again with the middle die in the set, so I could create some interesting layers on this card with a frame and aperture look.

A bit more contrast was needed between the frame and middle section, so I cut some vellum with the middle frame and attached it with glue so that it would be hidden behind a sentiment.

I found the perfect sentiment in the Everyday Labels set, as there's a branch motif in this set that echoes the look of the olives.

All those fancy cut marks on the Deco frames and the Deco style of the sentiment label make for quite a striking card.

This design would also work nicely with zingy colours too, and not just a monochromatic look.

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The Greetery - Everyday Labels stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Peaceful Olive stamps and stencils Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Handmade Labels dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Deco Frames dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
The Stamp Market - Cobalt ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Navy ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH
Lawn Fawn - Vellum Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC | TG	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)
MISTI creative corners Shop at: EH | SBC	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK)	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

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The next card is my non-traditional festive take on the Peaceful Olives set.

I went with a colour combo using aqua tones through to jade and peacock, with a hit of hot pink for the actual olives.

I also went the clean and simple route with this card, keeping it minimal and keeping it flat.

Try as I might, I haven't been able to get a great photo of this card, we have returned to some gloomy light conditions here recently and this card looks so much better in real life.

Stamp and stencil combo: The Greetery - Peaceful Olive
Dies: Hero Arts - Infinity Nesting Rectangles

I toyed with heat embossing the "PEACE" sentiment, but instead I reached for a light grey ink pad and then dark grey for the surrounding text.

Top tip: If you have the coordinating die set which includes the word "PEACE" cut out in individual letters, you can stamp the sentiment in a very light grey as a guide to lining up the die cut letters on your card.

The end result is striking, yet classy.

Until next time, happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Peaceful Olive stamps and stencils Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Hero Arts - Infinity Nesting Rectangles dies Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	The Stamp Market - Gravel ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Jade ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Lagoon ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Peony ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Slate ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Tropic Teal ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Umber ink pad Shop at: MISC	Concord & 9th - Assorted cardstock pack Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC (UK)	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

Greetings from the North Pole

Merry Christmas!

Well, the time has come to share my last set of cards for the year.

I made four cards with the Destination North Pole set from The Greetery.

Two were in this design:

Stamps: The Greetery - Destination - North Pole,
Dies: The Greetery - Destination - North Pole, The Greetery - Crimped Frame
Stencils: The Greetery - Destination Map

And the other two were cards for my niece and nephew:

I started out by stencilling the map backgrounds onto white cardstock in blue ink, setting them aside to dry, and cutting them out with the Crimped Frame dies from The Greetery.

Next, it was time to get cracking on all the small die-cut elements. Lots of time spent cranking my Sidekick and repeat stamping in the Misti for these.

Once they were done, I worked out where I would place the elements and stamped in the road names.

Once everything was assembled, I inked up the edges of my card bases with Distress Oxides to coordinate with the blue and pink tones used on the cards.

Glued everything down, and added some Stickles here and there for some frosty goodness.

Wishing you a happy holiday season and a crafty 2023!

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The Greetery - Destination - North Pole stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Destination - North Pole dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Crimped Frame dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Destination Map stencils Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
Altenew - Morning Frost dye ink Shop at: MISC	Distress ink pad - Saltwater Taffy Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Distress ink pad - Speckled Egg Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Distress Oxide ink pad - Tumbled Glass Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Distress Oxide ink pad - Uncharted Mariner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Doe ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Kiddie Pool ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Pizza Crust ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
Lawn Fawn - Walnut ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	The Stamp Market - Blush Pink ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Bubblegum ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Cherry Kisses ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Cotton Candy ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Fern ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Forest ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Greenery ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Lipstick Red ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Pacific ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Raspberry ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Rosy ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Sea Glass ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Altenew - Warm Gray ink cube set Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	Concord & 9th - Ink cube set Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC (UK)
Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | MISC	Tim Holtz - Distress Glitter - Clear Rock Candy Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC
Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

A veritable winter village

Well, obviously two cards weren't enough.

In October, I went away for a crafty weekend with friends.

I had high hopes of getting ahead with my Christmas card production and thought an assembly line style project would be a good way to use my time.

So, Concord & 9th Home for the Holidays was top of my list.

Despite disappearing to attend a wedding in the middle of the crafty weekend away, I did make some progress on creating this set of cards:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Home for the Holidays
Dies: Concord & 9th - Home for the Holidays Stacks, Concord & 9th - Card Stacks Base
Stencil: Simon Says Stamp - Falling Snow

To keep the mess to a minimum, I prepped the 9 card bases from three shades of blue cardstock (the maximum number of bases I could cut from them with the Card Stacks Base die) ahead of the retreat by applying white embossing paste through the Simon Says Stamp Falling Snow stencil, and a sprinkling of Rock Candy glitter. There is no way I would ever use Stickles or loose glitter that needs time to dry at a retreat. I've been there, done that, ruined a few projects!

I also cut all the card stack levels for each card and then edged them with the snow drift die in the Home for the Holidays set and spent a happy evening watching the latest season of Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix scoring and adhering all the stacks to my snowy card bases.

Then it was just a matter of packing all the supplies I'd need to cut and assemble the rest of the scene.

Well, by the end of the weekend I had all my houses cut and assembled (from various shades of Concord & 9th cardstock and a few others in my cardstock scraps folder) but I was far from finished.

Once home, I managed to gradually complete the remaining tasks one step at a time.

First adding all the vellum pieces behind the little houses to fill in the windows, adding the glittery snow to the roofs, cutting and assembling all the tiny little wreaths, cutting and assembling all the snowy trees I'd need, then cutting all the lampposts I'd need.

The next step was to assemble all the elements I'd cut and add some Rock Candy glitter to the snow drifts for extra sparkle.

Finally, when the cards were dry, I stamped the sentiments on banners and added them.

It ended up taking the best part of the week to finish all 9 cards.

I may have had my fill of tiny Christmas houses for this year, but the cards have turned out lovely, even if I say so myself!

Until next time, happy crafting!

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Concord & 9th - Home for the Holidays stamps Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC (UK)	Concord & 9th - Home for the Holidays Stacks dies Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC (UK)	Concord & 9th - Card Stacks Base dies Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC (UK)	Simon Says Stamp - Falling Snow stencil Shop at: MISC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Concord & 9th - Assorted cardstock pack Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Vellum Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
Memory Box - Delicate Pastel glitter pad Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - Distress Glitter - Clear Rock Candy Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste - White Shop at: EH | MISC	Marvy Jewel Picker Shop at: AZ (UK)
Lawn Fawn - Glue tube Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Scor-Tape - 1/4" Shop at: AZ (UK) | MISC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

Driving home for Christmas

Good morning!

Here's another card I made using the Boughs & Holly stencils set from Concord & 9th as the background to my card design:

Stamp: The Greetery - Merry Sprigs
Dies: Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine, PTI - Tag Sale #2, Sizzix - Tiny Snowglobes
Stencils: Concord & 9th - Boughs & Holly

I don't have the matching stamp and die sets for the Boughs & Holly stencils, so I filled in the middle area for this design in the set with a festive kraft tag and the rather fiddly Tiny Snowglobe dies from Sizzix.

I white-embossed a sentiment from The Greetery's Mini Sprigs set on the tag after blending some brown tones on it for extra depth.

A fluff of snow under the car added the perfect finishing touch, and the red glitter bow provided that much-needed festive sparkle.

Until next time, happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Merry Sprigs stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine dies Shop at: MISC	PTI - Tag Sale #2 die Shop at: MISC	Sizzix - Tiny Snowglobes dies Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)
Concord & 9th - Boughs & Holly stencils Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Doe ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Walnut ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Versamark ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SHC (UK)	Concord & 9th - Ink cube set Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC (UK)	Neenah 80 lb smooth Desert Storm cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | MISC
Lawn Fawn - Gold metallic cardstock Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Memory Box - Festive glitter pad Shop at: EH | MISC	Hero Arts - White embossing powder Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Cosmic Shimmer - Fluffy Stuff Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Marvy Jewel Picker Shop at: AZ (UK)	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	EK Success powder tool Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC
Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

DCM - Believe

Morning!

It's the last challenge of the year over on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

And the theme word for this week is BELIEVE.

So, into my stash of supplies I dove and found something that would work perfectly for this challenge:

Paper: Crate Paper - Hey Santa (r)
Stamp: Mama Elephant - Holiday Messages
Dies: Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine, The Greetery - Crimped Frame, Waffle Flower - Surface Tag Die: Santa Add-on (r), Waffle Flower - Surface Tag Die: Starter Set (r)

I started out by creating a Father Christmas focal point using the Surface Tag sets from Waffle Flower.

For extra pop, I coated the beard element with Cosmic Shimmer Fluffy Stuff and puffed it up with my heat gun.

Thankfully, there was just enough space to fit in the sentiment from Mama Elephant on the Crimped Frame from The Greetery for a little contrast against the foiled background paper.

As a finishing touch, I added a little festive greenery and Nuvo Drops.

Make sure you check out the lovely projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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Mama Elephant - Holiday Messages stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine dies Shop at: MISC	The Greetery - Crimped Frame dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Waffle Flower - Surface Tag Die: Santa Add-on (r) Shop at: MISC
Waffle Flower - Surface Tag Die: Starter Set (r) Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Concord & 9th - Assorted cardstock pack Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC (UK)	Crate Paper - Hey Santa - 6x8 paper pad Shop at: MISC | SBC
Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops - Oyster Grey Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Cosmic Shimmer - Fluffy Stuff Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Ranger - Glossy Accents Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

Home for the Holidays

Morning!

Well today's projects are definitely the poster child for much of my Christmas cardmaking as I finally succumbed and purchased the Home for the Holidays Stacks and coordinating Card Stacks Base dies that Concord & 9th released last year.

And here are the results of their first outing back in October:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Home for the Holidays
Dies: Concord & 9th - Home for the Holidays Stacks, Concord & 9th - Card Stacks Base
Stencil: Simon Says Stamp - Falling Snow

These two cards were my test run for my larger Christmas card production plans and of course, with the use of texture paste and loose glitter, certain steps had to be done on separate evenings.

So I started out by cutting the bases and stencilling the falling snow on with texture paste, and adding Rock Candy glitter to the paste before it dried.

Then I cut all the elements I needed, mainly in my Sidekick, so they'd be ready to assemble.

Once the houses were assembled, I added vellum behind the windows.

I arranged the houses on the snowdrifts and added the lampposts and trees into the mix.

Then I added a dusting of more Rock Candy glitter, and once dry a stamped sentiment from the coordinating stamp set.

I still love the Papercute font (which looks to have been used for the Let it Snow sentiment) and was included in the Beautiful Mess app I used to use almost a decade ago - I would love it if they incorporated it on Instagram... but until then, will just have to admire it in clear stamp form!

Until next time, happy crafting!

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Concord & 9th - Home for the Holidays stamps Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC (UK)	Concord & 9th - Home for the Holidays Stacks dies Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC (UK)	Concord & 9th - Card Stacks Base dies Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC (UK)	Simon Says Stamp - Falling Snow stencil Shop at: MISC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Vellum Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Memory Box - Delicate Pastel glitter pad Shop at: MISC
Tim Holtz - Distress Glitter - Clear Rock Candy Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste - White Shop at: EH | MISC	Marvy Jewel Picker Shop at: AZ (UK)	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Scor-Tape - 1/4" Shop at: AZ (UK) | MISC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

Snowglobe Christmas

Morning!

One of my new festive cardmaking investments last year was the Cabin Snowglobe Pop-Up Easel die set from Poppy Stamps.

I'm a real sucker for snowglobes and there isn't a Christmas that goes by without at least one or two snowglobe cards on my desk.

For today's set of cards, I've stuck more faithfully to using this die set as depicted on the packaging.

There's nothing wrong with that, and it also saves a little time as I often dither about choosing elements from here, there, and everywhere!

I thought it would also be a good opportunity to make four of the same design while I had everything out and was going to be cutting so many elements.

Here are the colour combos of Distress Oxide inks I used for the sky background:

• Fossilized Amber, Saltwater Taffy, Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry
• Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire
• Salvaged Patina, Peacock Feathers, Faded Jeans

It definitely pays to take an assembly line approach when making multiples of a design. So cutting many of the elements ahead of the assembly stage really saves time.

Stamp: The Greetery - Christmas Time Sentiments
Dies: The Greetery - Christmas Time Sentiments, Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine, Poppy Stamps - Cabin Snowglobe Pop-Up Easel
Other: Distress Oxides

While the blended skies were drying, I cut all the tree elements and wooden base elements and used the existing dye ink that was on my blending brushes to add extra colour (not that it's obvious in the images). The wooden bases don't have a woodgrain effect on the original dies, this look was achieved using woodgrain cardstock or pieces of cardstock I'd previously run through with an embossing folder or plate and had filed away for future use. A bit of dye ink really brings out the texture.

Next I got out my splat box and Gansai Tambi water colours, oh and some white ink... it was time to add snow to the trees and sky backgrounds with a mix of pearlescent white and white paint and bleed-proof ink.

While they were drying, I worked out how to decorate the base of the snowglobe and add a sentiment.

I cut the holly leaves from the Snowglobe set, plus some pine boughs and berries from the Holly and Pine set from Hello Bluebird.

I wanted a banner sentiment that would cover the base almost edge to edge, and the Christmas Time set from The Greetery was just right.

I stamped the banner with light shades of Lawn Fawn ink (listed below) and then added the sentiment in Versafine Onyx Black.

When everything was dry after splattering/inking, it was just a matter of assembling all the elements.

Until next time, happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Christmas Time Sentiments stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Christmas Time Sentiments dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine dies Shop at: MISC	Poppy Stamps - Cabin Snowglobe Pop-Up Easel dies Shop at: EH | MISC
Distress Oxide ink pad - Chipped Sapphire Shop at: EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Faded Jeans Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Fossilized Amber Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Peacock Feathers Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Distress Oxide ink pad - Picked Raspberry Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Saltwater Taffy Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Distress Oxide ink pad - Salvaged Patina Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Tumbled Glass Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Distress Oxide ink pad - Worn Lipstick Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Ballet Slippers ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Kiddie Pool ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Minty Fresh ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Concord & 9th - Assorted cardstock pack Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC (UK)	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | MISC	Lawn Fawn - Gold metallic cardstock Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)
Dr. Pj. Martin's Bleed Proof White watercolour Shop at: AZ (UK)	Kuretake Gansai Tambi 36-pan watercolour set Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous Splat Box Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Ranger - Artist brush set Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

DCM - Gift

Morning!

The theme word for this week's Daring Cardmakers challenge is: Gift

While I had my Christmas paper storage box out from a previous cardmaking session, I spied this yet-to-be-used gift paper patterned paper from an old My Mind's Eye collection called Christmas on Market Street.

It provided the background for my card:

Paper and journaling cards: MME - Christmas on Market Street (r)
Stamp: The Greetery - Sentiment Suite: Christmas
Dies: The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics, Pinkfresh Studio - Essentials Blanket Stitched Oval, WPlus9 - Under the Mistletoe

I used some of the journaling cards from this collection as the other elements for my card - including that Christmas tree, and simply jazzed them up using dies and my trusty WRMK corner rounder.

To add a little pop to the Christmas tree, I dotted the baubles with Glossy Accents and added a festive red bow to the frame.

Finally, for my sentiment, I stamped one of the Sentiment Suite Christmas stamps on a coordinating die cut and tucked it behind the other layers.

Make sure you check out the fab projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Sentiment Suite: Christmas stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Pinkfresh Studio - Essentials Blanket Stitched Oval dies Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC	WPlus9 - Under the Mistletoe dies Shop at: MISC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | MISC	The Stamp Market - Lipstick Red cardstock Shop at: MISC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops - Morning Dew (clear) Shop at: AZ (UK)
Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

DCM - December Elemental Inspiration

Well, well, well...

December certainly has come around quickly.

With it being the first Friday of a new month, we have a brand-new elemental inspiration challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

There were several elements for this image that sent me down a rabbit hole of Christmas cardmaking, and I made 8 similar cards in total (apologies for the less than perfect photos, but the light has been a real challenge this week).

The elements that inspired me were the winter foliage/florals, a round element (wood slice in my case), and a sentiment in black ink:

Paper and stickers: Crate Paper - Peppermint Collection (r), Basic Grey - Jovial (r), Echo Park - Everybody Loves Christmas (r)
Stamps: Hello Bluebird - Typed Christmas, The Greetery - Merry Sprigs
Dies: The Greetery - Merry Sprigs, Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine, MFT - Fishtail Flags STAX (r), Sizzix - Tim Holtz - Mini Holiday Greens, The Greetery - Wood Slices, WPlus9 - Under the Mistletoe

My little crafting Odyssey started out with me stamping each of the eight floral elements in the Merry Sprigs set from The Greetery in various shades of ink, using Fern, Forest, and Greenery ink from The Stamp Market for the leafy elements and the various other shades listed for the berries and florals. Must say Altenew Morning Frost is a great shade for "white" when stamping on white cardstock. :)

When all the florals were dry, I added clear Novo drop details to the berries and flower elements.

I had some great papers in some older collections that would work with these florals without hogging the limelight. I always love a bit diagonal pink/red and white stripe this time of year:

There was even some old Basic Grey paper among my snippets that worked well with the warmer green and red tones:

But back the proces... I cut lots of foliage from the Sizzix and Hello Bluebird sets listed above, using Forest cardstock from The Stamp Market for the warmer pine look.

And Jade cardstock for the cooler pine tones.

Before my big assembly session started, I matched up the greenery to the florals I wanted to use, then got to work creating the Wood Slices.

I cut the wood slices from brown and beige cardstock in my scraps folder, then blended the inner slice with Pizza Crust and Doe ink from Lawn Fawn.

I then added the foliage elements to the wood slices, and put the assembled slices in my Splat box to give them a splattering of white paint.

Once the slices were dry, I adhered the floral elements and finished them off with a red bow from an old set of dies from WPlus9 - it was just the right shape and size for this purpose. I love it when old purchases get a new lease of life like this.

With all eight wood slices assembled, it was now a matter of time of working out what to do with them.

Enter the very vintage collection of Christmas papers I have.

I needed something neutral that would allow the florals to pop.

Well, there was a sheet of paper in the Peppermint Collection from Crate Paper that went perfectly with the jade and fern tones of the foliage. Thankfully, I had enough of this blue paper to cover six card bases and found some Basic Grey and Echo Park offcuts in my stash that would work for the remaining two cards.

The white and pink fishtails are also cut from old Crate Paper festive collections.

I stamped each one with the sentiment from Hello Bluebird's Typed Christmas set and assembled the cards using snippets of scrap cardstock to add dimension rather than foam squares.

The cards looked nice but were missing a little contrast - so I cut a strip of this October Afternoon striped paper also in my stash to finish off the top edge of the cards, adding a border sticker where needed to cover a join, and a strip of the blue paper to finish off the pink card.

And there we go, all cards complete.

They really are much prettier in real life - the colours pop so nicely against those papers.

I love it when "assembly" style card production isn't a fiddly chore. I easily get bored when it is and just want to get everything finished.

But a clean and simple design like this one was quick to complete over a few evenings.

Make sure you check out the wonderful projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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Hello Bluebird - Typed Christmas stamps Shop at: MISC	The Greetery - Merry Sprigs stamps Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Merry Sprigs dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine dies Shop at: MISC
MFT - Fishtail Flags STAX dies (r) Shop at: MISC	Sizzix - Tim Holtz - Mini Holiday Greens dies Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	The Greetery - Wood Slices dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	WPlus9 - Under the Mistletoe dies Shop at: MISC
Altenew - Morning Frost dye ink Shop at: MISC	Lawn Fawn - Black Licorice ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Blue Jay ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Doe ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)
Lawn Fawn - Pizza Crust ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	The Stamp Market - Cherry Kisses ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Cotton Candy ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Fern ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Forest ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Greenery ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Lipstick Red ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Papaya ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Peony ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Altenew - Warm Gray ink cube set Shop at: MISC | SHC (UK)	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | MISC
The Stamp Market - Forest cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Jade cardstock Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Lipstick Red cardstock Shop at: MISC	Dr. Pj. Martin's Bleed Proof White watercolour Shop at: AZ (UK)
Tonic Studios Nuvo Crystal Drops - Morning Dew (clear) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SHC (UK)	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC
Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous Splat Box Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)
Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Ranger - Artist brush set Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

DCM - Shine

Good morning!

It's a brand new one-word-inspiration challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog today, and our focus word is "Shine".

Well, to make my card shine, I relied on metallic cardstock, glitter cardstock, and some gems - real Christmas staples:

Stamp: Lil' Inker Designs - All The Christmas You'll Ever Need (r)
Dies: The Greetery - Christmas Pudding
Stencils: Concord & 9th - Boughs & Holly

I started out by stencilling the holly wreath on a panel of white cardstock using various inks from the Concord & 9th mini ink cube set.

While my panel was drying, I cut the Christmas pudding elements from a mix of plain cardstock, glitter cardstock, and metallic cardstock in my Sidekick.

Before I assembled the pudding on the card front, I first stamped the sentiment to match the Figgy pudding theme in my Misti so that it would be close to straight(!).

Finally, with the pudding in place, I added some frosty crystal gems from my very large and almost antique selection of Prima pearls and gems.

Make sure you check out the wonderful projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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Lil' Inker Designs - All The Christmas You'll Ever Need stamps (r) Shop at: MISC	The Greetery - Christmas Pudding die Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Concord & 9th - Boughs & Holly stencils Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Doe ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
Lawn Fawn - Soot ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Walnut ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Concord & 9th - Ink cube set Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC (UK)
Concord & 9th - Assorted cardstock pack Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC (UK)	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | MISC	Lawn Fawn - Gold metallic cardstock Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Memory Box - Festive glitter pad Shop at: EH | MISC
Ranger - Glossy Accents Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Marvy Jewel Picker Shop at: AZ (UK)	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)
Yoseng 8 Finger Ink Blending Brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

DCM - White

Morning!

This week's one-word prompt over on the Daring Cardmakers blog is: WHITE

I went with using white for a silhouette technique to create a wintry scene:

Dies: Concord & 9th - Christmas Cottage (r), Simon Says Stamp - Season's Greetings
Other: Distress inks

I started out by using various shades of Distress Inks to create a blended wintry sky on Bristol cardstock. I splattered the background with pearlescent Gansai Tambi paint and white bleed-proof paint.

For extra sparkly details, I cut the moon, chimney smoke, snow on the roof, and window details from glitter cardstock in the Festive glitter pad from Memory Box.

I created two cuts of the sentiment, so I could layer it on the background for a little extra pop.

Make sure you check out the fab ideas from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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Concord & 9th - Christmas Cottage dies (r) Shop at: SHC (UK)	Simon Says Stamp - Season's Greetings dies Shop at: MISC	Distress ink pad - Black Soot Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Distress ink pad - Mermaid Lagoon Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Distress ink pad - Picked Raspberry Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Distress ink pad - Wilted Violet Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | MISC	Strathmore Bristol cardstock Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Memory Box - Festive glitter pad Shop at: EH | MISC	Dr. Pj. Martin's Bleed Proof White watercolour Shop at: AZ (UK)	Kuretake Gansai Tambi 36-pan watercolour set Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous Splat Box Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)
Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Ranger - Artist brush set Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

DCM - Holly

Morning!

Things are hopefully returning to normal here on my blog, and just in time!

We've got a fun new "Christmas countdown" running the rest of the year over on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

The focus word this week is "Holly" and you can interpret it any which way you want, doesn't even need to be a Christmas card.

Well, I went diving into the annuls of time and scrapbook collections of Christmases past.

My card features some very vintage Crate Paper from the 2012 Sleigh Ride collection no less...

Paper: Crate Paper - Sleight Ride (r)
Tag: Crate Paper - Hey Santa (r)
Stamps: Hello Bluebird - Typed Christmas, The Stamp Market - Eat Cake
Dies: The Stamp Market - Eat Cake, Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine, The Greetery - PreText Banners, The Stamp Market - Fringe Borders

It all started with the cheeky Santa tag in the Hey Santa paper pad from a few Christmases ago.

I really wanted to pair it with some "naughty or nice list" reference, and spotted the ledger paper in my bag of Sleigh Ride left-overs.

I added some contrasting minty teal paper to the bottom half of the card, then die-cut a frosty white fringe border from glitter paper and some pine boughs from the Holly and Pine die set by Hello Bluebird.

I glammed up the Santa with twine and a button, and stamped out the Holly Jolly sentiment from the Typed Christmas set on a sentiment strip from The Greetery.

Once everything was assembled, I added a festive sequin and a little bow (stamped with Matcha ink) that had been sitting on my desk as it didn't get used in the original project I'd intended it for. It worked with these colours, so on it went!

I suppose I really should have added a sprig of holly somewhere, but I'm sure more holly is on the horizon... ;)

Make sure you check out the projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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Hello Bluebird - Typed Christmas stamps Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Eat Cake stamps Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Eat Cake dies Shop at: MISC	Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine dies Shop at: MISC
The Greetery - PreText Banners dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Stamp Market - Fringe Borders dies Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Matcha ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Concord & 9th - Assorted cardstock pack Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC (UK)	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | MISC	Crate Paper - Hey Santa - 6x8 paper pad Shop at: MISC | SBC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

DCM - November Elemental Inspiration

Morning!

It's the first Friday of a new month, so we have a brand-new elemental inspiration challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

And as you can see, Christmas is in full swing...

The elements I went with were trees, creatures, and a lyric as the sentiment:

Stencils: The Greetery - Stencil Scapes: Winter
Stamp: Hello Bluebird - Typed Christmas
Dies: Pinkfresh Studio - Essentials: Ornate Banner, The Greetery - Frosty Pines, The Greetery - PreText Banners
Other: Distress Oxides

When I saw this image, I immediately knew I'd be reaching for the Winter Stencil Scapes set from The Greetery, plus the accompanying Frosty Pines dies.

I used various dye inks to blend the backgrounds, with some selective masking to add even more colours into the mix.

I added Rock Candy glitter as highlights to the snowy scene and set the background aside to dry.

I cut the Frosty Pines dies from white cardstock and used Distress Oxides and daubers to bring them to life. A splattering of water added that snowy look, then I added the additional "snow" by cutting the trees from white glitter paper and adding these details.

When the background panel was dry, I used the Ornate Banner set from Pinkfresh Studio to create a window and pop up the frame for added dimension.

I added the die cuts of the bunnies and layered over the pine trees to frame the scene.

Finally, I stamped the lyric from White Christmas on a banner die-cut and nestled it behind the tree trunk of one of the pines.

Make sure you check out the inspirational cards from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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Hello Bluebird - Typed Christmas stamps Shop at: MISC	Pinkfresh Studio - Essentials: Ornate Banner dies Shop at: MISC | SBC	The Greetery - Frosty Pines dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - PreText Banners dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG
The Greetery - Stencil Scapes: Winter stencils Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Distress Oxide ink pad - Ground Espresso Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Hickory Smoke Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Pine Needles Shop at: EH | SBC
Distress Oxide ink pad - Rustic Wilderness Shop at: EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Ballet Slippers ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Blue Jay ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Chili Pepper ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)
Lawn Fawn - Cranberry ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Hippo ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Jalapeño ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Kiddie Pool ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)
Lawn Fawn - Manatee ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Narwhal ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Noble Fir ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Sage Leaf ink pad Shop at: SHC (UK)
Lawn Fawn - Soot ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Storm Cloud ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Lawn Fawn - Walnut ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | MISC	Tim Holtz - Distress Glitter - Clear Rock Candy Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)	Sponge daubers Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC
Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous Splat Box Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC | SHC (UK)	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Yoseng 8 Finger Ink Blending Brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)
Ranger - Artist brush set Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

DCM - Big on Backgrounds

Morning!

This week, it's my turn to set the challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

And it's all about backgrounds this week, backgrounds you've created yourself.

Well, Christmas card production had to start sometime, and I've used this challenge as the kick up the bum I needed to get in gear.

Stamps and stencils: The Greetery - Banner & Bough
Dies: The Greetery - Banner & Bough
Other: Distress Oxides

I love a stamp and stencil combo, and the Banner & Bough set from The Greetery is really versatile as you can let the stencils (including a masking stencil) do most of the work and just add a few details with the stamps, or you can also make certain elements or the entire stencilled design pop by using the matching dies.

The masking stencil allows you to go in with inks and splatter after you have stencilled the main image. And that's exactly what I did.

The dye inks I used for the stencilled and stamped elements are listed below.

I then used some light grey gravel dye ink over the edges of the mask, before increasing the intensity of the blended inks with blue Distress Oxides, getting progressively darker to Black Soot around the edges.

While the mask was still placed over the main image, I added a spritz of water, followed by pearlescent white and copper Gansai Tambi paint.

Once everything was dry, I added the banner with 3D foam squares for a bit of pop, then applied Glossy Accents to the berries and Droplets to the middle of the blue florals.

And the first Christmas card of the year is complete.

Make sure you check out the lovely designs from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Banner & Bough stamps and stencils Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	The Greetery - Banner & Bough dies Shop at: SHC (UK) | TG	Distress Oxide ink pad - Black Soot Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Chipped Sapphire Shop at: EH | SBC
Distress Oxide ink pad - Faded Jeans Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Prize Ribbon Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	The Stamp Market - Blush Pink ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Bubblegum ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Coastal ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Forest ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Gravel ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Greenery ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Lipstick Red ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Sage ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Sea Glass ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | MISC	The Stamp Market - Clear droplets Shop at: EH | MISC	Kuretake Gansai Tambi 36-pan watercolour set Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Ranger - Glossy Accents Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ (UK)
Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC (UK)	Ranger - Artist brush set Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ (UK) | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ (UK) | EH | SBC

12 Days of Christmas - Day 12

Hello!

Well, we've reached the end of my Christmas countdown for this year...

And I'm sharing one last favourite design to finish this series off!

Paper: Pebbles - Cozy & Bright (r), Pebbles - Merry Little Christmas (r), Pink Paislee - Auburn Lane (r), Simple Stories - Merry & Bright (r)
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs - Silly Stitched (r), MFT - Joy, Love, and Peace

Possibly the most Yorkshire style crafting involved for this bundled of 5 cards, because I had just millimetre clearance left to use the lovely last pieces of Snow Day paper from Pebbles on some cards. I had to find a die that would cut around the word die but still leave me enough paper to manage as many whole panel cuts as possible. And I only just managed 4 panels - how's that for frugal crafting Yorkshire style!

I also had only limited amounts of the woodgrain paper left, so thankfully was able to puzzle pieces in behind the words of the MFT die.

It all looks seamless, which is great, but behind the scenes there was a lot of measuring twice and hoping for the best! lol

Sadly things were less matchy-matchy when it came to the diagonal stripes in the background, some rotating of paper required (hence different directions of the stripes) and I even delved into some old MME papers for the pink/red/white stripes.

But I couldn't see myself using anything but red/white stripes to mount these panels on.

And again, no need for 3D foam tape, I just used lots of strips/scraps of cardstock from the past few weeks to layer up the die-cut panel over the woodgrain for a little dimension.

It just remains for me to say, thank you for joining me on this year's Christmas countdown - over 60 cards made and hoping the card tin is stocked with a good few extra cards ready for Christmas 2022. ;)

Until next time, happy festive crafting, and it just remains for me to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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Lil' Inker Designs - Silly Stitched dies (r) Shop at: MISC	MFT - Joy, Love, and Peace die Shop at: SHC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | SSS	Pebbles - Cozy & Bright - 'Tis the Season paper (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC
Pebbles - Cozy & Bright - Santa Land paper (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC	Pebbles - Merry Little Christmas - Snow Day paper (r) Shop at: MISC	Pink Paislee - Auburn Lane - Paper 02 (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC	Simple Stories - Merry & Bright - Sparkle and Shine paper (r) Shop at: SBC
Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

12 Days of Christmas - Day 11

Hello!

It's time for another set of easy-to-mail flat cards...

This time featuring some more new Christmas items in my stash from The Greetery:

Stamps and stencils: The Greetery - Banner & Bough

Yep, that's right, I used just one stamp set (complete with bundled in stencils) to create this design, plus a whole lot of ink and some silver and blue paint splatters for good measure.

The banner and main foliage/floral elements are all stencilled in dye ink (Tranquillity set from Altenew). I have to say that these stencils are just so well-thought-out. The contrasting tone for the folds of the ribbon banner are on a different stencil to the main banner, so you can highlight them easily with a darker tone.

Once the stencilling is done, you go in with the detail stamps for the pine branches, flowers, and holly leaves.

And everything really goes next level when you use the "masking" stencil included in the set to mask off the big foliage display, so you can ink around the design and add splatters without messing up all that hard work.

I have the matching dies for this set, but when I saw the initial results for my first outing with this set using just the stencils and stamps, I was happy to add some more flat cards to my collection for easy mailing and keep things "simple".

The look book for this set on the Greetery website provides lots of inspiration for colour combos. I especially loved the fact that the jade ink I have in my collection that is seldom used provided a real contrast for the pine branches - they really pop out in the jade, as do the "grey" mistletoe berries.

One happy crafter here!

Until next time, happy festive crafting!

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The Greetery - Banner & Bough stamps and stencils Shop at: MISC | SHC	The Greetery - Banner & Bough dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	Altenew - Cloudy Sky dye ink Shop at: MISC	Altenew - Misty Morning dye ink Shop at: MISC
Altenew - Morning Frost dye ink Shop at: MISC	Altenew - Nimbus dye ink Shop at: MISC	Altenew - Ocean Waves dye ink Shop at: MISC	Altenew - Sea Glass dye ink Shop at: MISC
Lawn Fawn - Artichoke ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Ballet Slippers ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Bubblegum ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Cilantro ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC
Lawn Fawn - Lobster ink pad Shop at: SHC	Lawn Fawn - Noble Fir ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC	The Stamp Market - Greenery ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Jade ink pad Shop at: MISC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Altenew - Cool Summer Night ink cube set Shop at: MISC | SHC	Altenew - Tranquillity ink cube set Shop at: MISC | SHC	Altenew - Warm Gray ink cube set Shop at: MISC | SHC
Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | SSS	Kuretake Gansai Tambi 36-pan watercolour set Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	3M Post-It tape White Shop at: AZ | EH	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous Splat Box Shop at: AZ | SBC | SHC	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Yoseng 8 Finger Ink Blending Brushes Shop at: AZ	Ranger - Artist brush set Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

12 Days of Christmas - Day 10

Hello!

Today's card set is definitely on the clean and simple side at first glance.

But, personally, I never find ink blending to be a super quick option...

Dies: Lil' Inker Designs - Christmas Words Tree (r), Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Stars (r)
Other: Distress Oxides

I wanted to create a night sky backdrop for the shining star that I planned to glam up on the Christmas Words Tree die from Lil' Inker Designs.

This is a really versatile sentiment die and can be easily stacked 3 times to create dimension. I also love how the stitched stars set features one die that is an exact match for the star on the tree die, making it super easy to add a glittery star.

Behind that star I wanted to make the sky glow - without quite knowing where the star would end up, so on some of the cards there's more "glow" than on others.

Basically Distress Oxides and a lot of water spritzing followed by iridescent watercolour splatters did a lot of the work to create this effect, and I'm here for it!

Salvaged Patina has been a real game changer in the collection - it's not obvious it's been used here, but once you start spritzing with water and leaving it to develop, the aqua shade really stars to pop through.

I hadn't realised just how low I was running on square card bases until I was making this set and thankfully had just 5 bases - the exact number I needed - left!

No emergency trips out to the craft store required!

Until next time, happy festive crafting!

---

Lil' Inker Designs - Christmas Words Tree die (r) Shop at: MISC	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Stars dies (r) Shop at: MISC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Blueprint Sketch Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Mermaid Lagoon Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Distress Oxide ink pad - Salvaged Patina Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Memory Box - Majestic Hues glitter pad Shop at: EH | MISC	Dr. Pj. Martin's Bleed Proof White watercolour Shop at: AZ
Kuretake Gansai Tambi 36-pan watercolour set Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous Splat Box Shop at: AZ | SBC | SHC	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Yoseng 8 Finger Ink Blending Brushes Shop at: AZ	Ranger - Artist brush set Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

12 Days of Christmas - Day 9

Hello!

Today we're heading back to the North Pole for another visit.

But this time, with the aid of a map...

Stamps: The Greetery - Destination - North Pole
Dies: The Greetery - Destination - North Pole, Pinkfresh Studio - Diagonal Stitched Rectangles
Stencil: The Greetery - Destination Map

This card design features the coordinating Destinations Waterfront stencil to create the icy backdrop for the North Pole, and I love that you get various "maps" in the stencil set.

I used blue inks from Altenew's Cool Summer Night set to blend the background and also stamp the snowflakes, stars, and street names in.

I cut out the stencilled backgrounds with the largest die in the Diagonal Stitched Rectangles set from Pinkfresh Studio and mounted them on grey card bases.

Then it was time to stamp and die cut all the other elements from the set and assemble my cards, using a little 3D foam tape for the tops of the trees, so they stand out.

The Destinations series is such a well-thought-out line, and if making multiples you can stencil, stamp, and cut so much in separate steps and just assemble everything at the end.

Until next time, happy festive crafting!

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The Greetery - Destination - North Pole stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC	The Greetery - Destination - North Pole dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	Pinkfresh Studio - Diagonal Stitched Rectangles dies Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC	The Greetery - Destination Map stencils Shop at: MISC | SHC
Altenew - Dusk dye ink Shop at: MISC	Altenew - Morning Frost dye ink Shop at: MISC	Altenew - Ocean Waves dye ink Shop at: MISC	Lawn Fawn - Chili Pepper ink pad Shop at: AZ | SBC | SHC
Lawn Fawn - Doe ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Kiddie Pool ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Lobster ink pad Shop at: SHC	Lawn Fawn - Manatee ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC
Lawn Fawn - Narwhal ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Noble Fir ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Walnut ink pad Shop at: AZ | SBC | SHC	The Stamp Market - Cheeky ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Raspberry ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Altenew - Cool Summer Night ink cube set Shop at: MISC | SHC	Altenew - Warm Gray ink cube set Shop at: MISC | SHC
Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | SSS	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH
Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC
Yoseng 8 Finger Ink Blending Brushes Shop at: AZ	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

DCM - Baubles, Boxes, and Bows

Good morning!

It's the last of the Countdown to Christmas challenges over on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

This week's theme is baubles, boxes, and bows... and well my card contains all three!

It also uses up lots of cardstock scraps and marks the festive return of Stickles glitter glue in abundance:

Stamp: The Greetery - Ornament Box Top Vertical
Dies: The Greetery - Ornament Box Top Vertical, Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine, Hero Arts - Infinity Nesting Rectangles, The Greetery - Curio: Attic Ornaments, The Greetery - Curio: Divider and Details II
Other: Distress Oxide

I started out by stamping the Ornament Box Top Vertical red rubber stamp from The Greetery on Bristol cardstock in Cherry Kisses ink. I find the smoothness of Bristol cardstock to be very forgiving when stamping detailed red rubber background stamps, as it just sucks up that ink in a crisp way.

I then stamped areas of the background stamp on a scrap of Bazzill Marshmallow cardstock in contrasting colours, ready to cut out with the matching die for this stamp set.

Once the background panel was dry, I cut it out with the largest die in the Hero Arts Infinity Rectangles. I could have done this with a ruler and knife, but I really like the neat cutting edge from a die, and any white bits showing can easily be inked over the with ink pad you used to stamp the box.

Next, it was time to delve into my bag of cardstock scraps from The Stamp Market and try and cut a load of bits that would work together using the Curio Attic Ornaments dies also from The Greetery.

Once I'd assembled a few things, the Stickles made their Christmas outing and glammed up these ornaments.

I left them to dry overnight (there have been too many times when crafting at night a Stickles accident has occurred - I've learnt my lesson!) and the next morning it was time to start assembling the box.

I cut the Divider die from white cardstock several times, and the top layer is from cream cardstock that looks a bit more rustic. One of the white cardstocks I used to cut this die is actually a corrugated sort of texture, so I used the cutouts from the frame in the background of the card for added interest. After the layered frame and inserts were all glued in place, I used some Antique Linen Distress Oxide ink to add some more vintage age.

I then placed all the elements where I thought they'd work best, using the Holly & Pine dies from Hello Bluebird for some sprigs of winter foliage.

I used a white pen to add some details to the wreath and the (slightly menacing looking) deer.

And hey presto, the card was finally made!

It might not be the quickest project to make, but it can definitely be simplified if that's the way you want to go.

I'm also using this card as my take on the December card prompt, since I also had that in mind when I was creating it and choosing the colours. :)

Make sure you check out the wonderful projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Ornament Box Top Vertical stamp Shop at: MISC | SHC	The Greetery - Ornament Box Top Vertical dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine dies Shop at: MISC	Hero Arts - Infinity Nesting Rectangles dies Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC
The Greetery - Curio: Attic Ornaments dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	The Greetery - Curio: Divider and Details II dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Antique Linen Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	The Stamp Market - Cherry Kisses ink pad Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Emerald Isle ink pad Shop at: EH | MISC	The Stamp Market - Peony ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Strathmore Bristol cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Memory Box - Majestic Hues glitter pad Shop at: EH | MISC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC
Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

12 Days of Christmas - Day 8

Hello!

For today's card bundle, I got so caught up in the process that I ended up making 6 of this design.

And yes, it's the return of another (Nordic) village scene, but this time in bolder colours:

Stamp: Lil' Inker Designs - All The Christmas You'll Ever Need (r)
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Stars (r), MFT - Grounding Elements, MFT - Tiny Houses, The Greetery - Nordic Frames
Other: Distress Oxides

I'm still not sure whether white card bases were the right call for this colour combo, but it is what it is.

I started out cutting the Nordic Frames panels from a cobalt blue cardstock from AC that I've had in my stash for ages. It needed something extra, so I used various blue Distress Oxides from dark to light to darken the edges so that the winter sky would kind of glow outwards. It looks rather effective in real life.

I then used the lighter Distress Oxides, including the lovely Salvaged Patina, with the Starry Sky die from Avery Elle to create the glowing sky and set those die cuts aside to dry after a spritz of water for texture.

Next, I cut all the other die cut elements (including using glitter cardstock for the snow drifts and sparkly star).

I blended regular distress ink and other dye inks on the little houses for a vibrant look.

Once that was done, it was almost time to assemble the finished cards. But first I needed to add my sentiment to the sky die cuts, and I simply popped the die-cuts back into the negative space of the cardstock panel I use as a template in the Misti when stamping this set, so the sentiments are all lined up the same.

Once stamped, I gave the sky a splattering of white ink and a blast with the heat gun to dry.

Then it was assembly time and hey presto, 6 cards were finally made.

Until next time, happy festive crafting!

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Lil' Inker Designs - All The Christmas You'll Ever Need stamps (r) Shop at: MISC	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Stars dies (r) Shop at: MISC	MFT - Grounding Elements dies Shop at: EH | SHC	MFT - Tiny Houses dies Shop at: EH | SHC
The Greetery - Nordic Frames dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	Distress ink pad - Candied Apple Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Distress ink pad - Evergreen Bough Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Distress ink pad - Kitsch Flamingo Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC
Distress ink pad - Mustard Seed Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Distress ink pad - Rustic Wilderness Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Broken China Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Chipped Sapphire Shop at: EH | SBC
Distress Oxide ink pad - Faded Jeans Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Salvaged Patina Shop at: EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Tumbled Glass Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Blue Jay ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC
Lawn Fawn - Bubblegum ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Deep Sea ink pad Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Mermaid ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC	Lawn Fawn - Minty Fresh ink pad Shop at: SBC | SHC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | SSS	Memory Box - Majestic Hues glitter pad Shop at: EH | MISC	Dr. Pj. Martin's Bleed Proof White watercolour Shop at: AZ
Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC
Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous Splat Box Shop at: AZ | SBC | SHC
Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Yoseng 8 Finger Ink Blending Brushes Shop at: AZ	Ranger - Artist brush set Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC
Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

12 Days of Christmas - Day 7

Hello!

Well, it's fair to say when The Greetery landed at UK stockist Seven Hills Crafts, it wasn't just the one stamp and die set that made it into my basket!

There are some other new additions at work on this card:

Paper: Crate Paper - Falala (r), Crate Paper - Peppermint (r)
Stamp: WPlus9 - Silver Bells (r)
Dies: The Greetery - BotaniCuts Pine Bough, The Greetery - Crimped Frame, The Greetery - Crimped Slimline, The Greetery - Wood Slices, The Stamp Market - Scalloped Window Frame

All those new dies have been paired with some old papers from Crate Paper (the plaid one is from the Falala collection, and the off-white paper is from their 2011 Peppermint collection).

They provided the perfect backdrop for the wood slice and pine bough elements that are all die cuts from regular cardstock, brought to life with ink blending and coloured pencils (on the pine cones) and of course some snowy white and glitzy gold paint splatters.

The sentiment is another oldie, from the Silver Bells set by WPlus9, and is stamped on the largest sentiment banner in the Crimped Slimline die set.

For extra texture and detail, I cut the off-white paper with the Scalloped Window Frame from The Stamp Market, and then ran those panels through the Big Shot again with the largest A2 style crimped frame die to add the extra edging and tie in the crimping.

Really love how these turned out, just wish I had more plaid paper in my stash as it works so well with those wood slices and pine cones.

Until next time, happy festive crafting!

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WPlus9 - Silver Bells stamps (r) Shop at: MISC | SHC	The Greetery - BotaniCuts Pine Bough dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	The Greetery - Crimped Frame dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	The Greetery - Crimped Slimline dies Shop at: MISC | SHC
The Greetery - Wood Slices dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	The Stamp Market - Scalloped Window Frame dies Shop at: MISC	Distress ink pad - Antique Linen Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Distress ink pad - Frayed Burlap Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Distress ink pad - Gathered Twigs Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Distress ink pad - Pine Needles Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | SSS
Crate Paper - Falala - Fireside paper (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC	Dr. Pj. Martin's Bleed Proof White watercolour Shop at: AZ	Kuretake Gansai Tambi 36-pan watercolour set Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Brutfuner 120 Colouring Pencils Set Shop at: AZ
Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC
Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous Splat Box Shop at: AZ | SBC | SHC	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC
Yoseng 8 Finger Ink Blending Brushes Shop at: AZ	Ranger - Artist brush set Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC
Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

12 Days of Christmas - Day 6

Hello!

Today's card bundle features brand new everything!

Christmas/winter supplies are my weakness, but I have tried to rein it in recently and only buy things that I will be able to use for multiple designs.

So.... snow globes and winter scenes are always my weakness, and I will always make some kind of card design with them each year. ;)

Please welcome to my Christmas stash collection, The Greetery Destination North Pole and Poppy Stamps Cabin Snowglobe Pop-Up Easel:

Stamps: The Greetery - Destination - North Pole
Dies: The Greetery - Destination - North Pole, Poppy Stamps - Cabin Snowglobe Pop-Up Easel
Impression plate: PTI - Woodgrain
Other: Distress Oxides

I started out by cutting the snow globe card base die from red cardstock, but of course I had to give it extra oomph by blending Festive Berries Distress ink on the inside edges and the outside edges of the card to deepen that festive red tone as the more I progressed, the pinker the red of the cardstock looked.

I also used brown distress ink to add some warmer tones to the cardstock that I'd embossed with the woodgrain impression plate.

It looks much more realistic after the texture and colour variation as been added.

I then created a blended sky background with different Oxide inks, knowing most of it would be covered up, but not really caring.

When that was done, I splattered it with white ink for some snowy interest and set the sky backgrounds aside to dry.

I then cut the rest of the snow globe elements I needed from card scraps (trees) and my new stash of gold card and festive glitter card.

Then I selected the greetings and polar bears from the Destination North Pole set and stamped those out ready for assembly.

The final assembled cards (complete with little buttons to hold up the easel) are really different from the usual cards I make.

Pricey, I know, but years of creative fun ahead.

Until next time, happy festive crafting!

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The Greetery - Destination - North Pole stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC	The Greetery - Destination - North Pole dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	Poppy Stamps - Cabin Snowglobe Pop-Up Easel dies Shop at: EH | MISC	PTI - Woodgrain impression plate Shop at: MISC
Altenew - Morning Frost dye ink Shop at: EH | SSS	Distress ink pad - Festive Berries Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Distress ink pad - Gathered Twigs Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Chipped Sapphire Shop at: EH | SBC
Distress Oxide ink pad - Tumbled Glass Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	The Stamp Market - Cheeky ink pad Shop at: MISC	The Stamp Market - Raspberry ink pad Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Altenew - Warm Gray ink cube set Shop at: EH | SHC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	The Stamp Market - Forest cardstock Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Greenery cardstock Shop at: MISC	Lawn Fawn - Gold metallic cardstock Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Memory Box - Festive glitter pad Shop at: EH | MISC	Dr. Pj. Martin's Bleed Proof White watercolour Shop at: AZ
Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ	Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous Splat Box Shop at: AZ | SBC | SHC	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Yoseng 8 Finger Ink Blending Brushes Shop at: AZ	Ranger - Artist brush set Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

12 Days of Christmas - Day 5

Hello!

Today's card features papers that I have found to be extremely versatile for my Christmas cardmaking in years gone by.

And I am so glad that I managed to get multiples when I did, because I love the tree background paper especially for its simple, not overly busy design and how it always provides that perfect backdrop if you have a focal element you want to showcase:

Paper and epoxy stickers: Crate Paper - Falala (r)
Dies: Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine, Poppy Stamps - Whittle Santa (r), PTI - Tag Sale #10

I started out by backing all my card bases with that tree paper, having found a card base in my Christmas box that I'd backed with this paper some previous year, but never managed to actually make the card... So just 4 new bases needed this time!

The Whittle Santa die cuts are coloured in with Copics for the hat and face, and a light grey shade to accent the beard and hat trim. For festive sparkle, I added Stickles to the pompom.

While those were drying, I cut the main tag from just enough of that lovely Mistletoe green paper, with just a sliver to spare.

You may be surprised to hear that no foam tape was used to make these cards. Having passed the scalloped frame from the tag die through the Sidekick 15 times to create 3 stacked layers, I used the centres from the tags to pop up the green tag and left over strips of card to pop up Santa and the sentiment. It does make cards a little heavier, but I've been using up scrap cardstock in this way with wet glue to add dimension a while now, and not automatically reaching for my foam tape.

I knew there were some "ho ho ho" sentiments still left on the Greetings paper from this collection, but not enough for all 5 cards, but thankfully the Epoxy stickers for this line included a ho ho ho sticker and a Fa la la sticker, and they were put to good use for this bundle of cards.

I found some aqua/blue paper that would work behind Santa and fit in those little windows. Once the tags were assembled on the cards, I added that pretty pink bow as a final finishing touch that brought everything together.

Until next time, happy festive crafting!

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Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine dies Shop at: MISC	Poppy Stamps - Whittle Santa die (r) Shop at: MISC	PTI - Tag Sale #10 dies Shop at: MISC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	PTI - Sweet Blush cardstock Shop at: MISC	Crate Paper - Falala - Evergreen paper (r) Shop at: MISC	Crate Paper - Falala - Greetings paper (r) Shop at: MISC
Crate Paper - Falala - Mistletoe paper (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC	Crate Paper - Falala - Epoxy stickers (r) Shop at: MISC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

DCM - Trim the Tree

Morning!

This week's challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog is all about trees, festive or otherwise!

I decided to go a bit sparkly with mine.

Stamps: The Greetery - Christmas Time Sentiments
Dies: The Greetery - Christmas Time Sentiments, Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Stars (r), The Greetery - Deco Frames, The Stamp Market - Dotted Tree
Other: Distress Oxides

I actually had the Dotted Tree die cuts all ready to use from when I cut a load of different colours from left-over card last year.

The cool pink stitched tree is actually layered on a solid heather coloured tree for extra pop.

I stitched the pink tree with DMC metallic thread (boy will I not be trying that again in a hurry!) and gave the offset glued trees a splattering of white ink.

The background uses 3 shades of blue Distress Oxide ink, toned down with a little Picket Fence ink before it was spritzed with water, dried with the heat gun, then sprayed with Blizzard sparkly mist and given the snowy ink treatment.

Once the background panel was dry, I ran it through the Big Shot with one of the newest additions to my Greetery stash, the Deco Frame dies.

I love the cut lines in these dies and the beautiful frame that really brings the tree front and centre.

I used another of my recent Greetery purchases for the sentiment, the Christmas Time banner is stamped in Dew Drops ink, then the sentiment was just stamped over with Onyx black Versafine ink.

I added a little extra Dew Drops ink to the ends of the banners and some Stickles Star Dust glitter for a frosty look.

Finally, once my card was assembled, I added a sparkly star to the top of the tree.

Make sure you check out the wonderful projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Christmas Time Sentiments stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC	The Greetery - Christmas Time Sentiments dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Stars dies (r) Shop at: MISC	The Greetery - Deco Frames dies Shop at: MISC | SHC
The Stamp Market - Dotted Tree dies Shop at: MISC	Altenew - Dew Drops dye ink Shop at: MISC	Distress ink pad - Picket Fence Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Broken China Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Distress Oxide ink pad - Speckled Egg Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Distress Oxide ink pad - Tumbled Glass Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Altenew - Sweet Dreams ink cube set Shop at: MISC | SHC
Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Taffy Shop at: AZ | EH | MISC	Memory Box - Majestic Hues glitter pad Shop at: EH | MISC	Dr. Pj. Martin's Bleed Proof White watercolour Shop at: AZ
Studio Calico - Mister Huey's color mist - Blizzard (r) Shop at: SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Craft blending brushes Shop at: AZ
Taylored Expressions - Blender Brushes Shop at: MISC	Tim Holtz - Distress Sprayer Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Stampers Anonymous Splat Box Shop at: AZ | SBC | SHC	Waffle Flower - Mini Media Mat Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC
Ranger - Artist brush set Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

12 Days of Christmas - Day 4

Hello!

For today's card, we have something that will definitely mail flat and not need a postage upgrade. ;)

The stamped images are from an "autumn" set but work great for winter/Christmas too!

Paper: Crate Paper - Snow & Cocoa (r)
Stamps: Avery Elle - Starry Scene (r), Flora & Fauna - Holiday Word Party, Waffle Flower - Happy Fall
Dies: Avery Elle - Starry Scene (r), Waffle Flower - Happy Fall,  MFT - Grounding Elements

I got slightly ahead on this project back in the autumn when making a card for the Daring Cardmakers challenge at that time. While I had the Happy Fall stamps and dies out for that project, I stamped and coloured a bunch more so that I could use them for multiples of this Christmas card design.

Again, I went back to my stash of 6x6 papers - this time the Snow & Cocoa collection from Crate Paper, and luckily I had multiples of the 12x12 sheet called Rosy Cheeks to assemble the card bases I needed.*

For the snowy scene, I used my much-loved Starry Scene stamp and die from Avery Elle with lovely Sea Glass ink from Altenew (such a fab colour!) to provide that wintry sky background.

I then used a grounding element from MFT with white glitter paper to separate the two paper backgrounds and "ground" the scene.

Finally, when everything was assembled on the cards, I used my Misti to add the sentiment from Fauna & Fauna.

And there we have it, flat cards to mail for a change!

Until next time, happy festive crafting!

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* After cutting the papers for my card blanks, I actually had enough for one extra card - but no pre-coloured girl and mouse for it, so I added a happy snowman sticker from Pebbles to that scene to use up the card base and not have it sat in the box for another year.

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Avery Elle - Starry Scene stamps (r) Shop at: MISC	Flora & Fauna - Holiday Word Party stamps Shop at: SHC	Waffle Flower - Happy Fall stamps Shop at: SHC	Avery Elle - Starry Scene dies (r) Shop at: MISC
Waffle Flower - Happy Fall dies Shop at: SHC	MFT - Grounding Elements dies Shop at: EH | SHC	Altenew - Sea Glass dye ink Shop at: EH | MISC	Gina K Designs - Obsidian Amalgam ink pad Shop at: EH | SSS
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Crate Paper - Snow & Cocoa - 6x6 paper pad (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC	Crate Paper - Snow & Cocoa - Rosy Cheeks paper (r) Shop at: MISC
Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

12 Days of Christmas - Day 3

Hello!

For today's card, I decided to give a new-to-me technique shared by Jennifer McGuire here a go.

This card is mainly made up of vintage elements - papers and ephemera die-cuts I've had a while, and definitely very vintage buttons for the spinning technique:

Paper: My Mind's Eye - Sugar Plum (r)
Snowflakes: Pebbles - Winter Wonderland (r)
Stamp: Flora & Fauna - Holiday Word Party 2
Dies: Reverse Confetti - Stitched Pinwheel Cover Panel, Hero Arts - Infinity Nesting Circle, Mama Elephant - Dainty Bow

These particular die-cut glittery snowflakes, which are Pebbles "chips" ephemera accents, already have a hole in the middle, so I thought they'd be perfect for trying out this technique that makes them spin on the card.

And yep, it worked perfectly.

I was originally going to cut the pinwheel design from several patterns of paper in the Sugar Plum 6x6 pad and piece together the segments so they would all be different, but I didn't have enough varied designs left for this to work, and I'd have had to create 7 cards in the end... so I took the easy route and just used one design per background.

I think this worked out better on this occasion, as it meant that the background isn't overly busy, and the snowflake is still the centrepiece.

I added a sentiment from Flora & Fauna to the centre and, as a finishing touch, a little bow and crystal for extra shine.

Some of the papers already have glitter on them and the snowflakes are pre-glittered, so there's definitely a frosty look to these cards.

Until next time, happy festive crafting!

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Flora & Fauna - Holiday Word Party 2 stamps Shop at: EH | SHC	Reverse Confetti - Stitched Pinwheel Cover Panel die Shop at: EH | SHC	Hero Arts - Infinity Nesting Circle dies Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Mama Elephant - Dainty Bow dies Shop at: MISC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH
Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

12 Days of Christmas - Day 2

Hello!

For today's Christmas countdown card, I returned to a much loved combo.

My typewriter die set from SugarPea Designs and the Tall Snow Globe from MFT:

Paper: Crate Paper - Merry Days (r), Crate Paper - Snowflake (r), Pebbles - Cozy & Bright (r), Pebbles - Merry Little Christmas (r)
Stamps: Hello Bluebird - Typed Christmas, SugarPea Designs - You're My Type
Dies: SugarPea Designs - You're My Type, MFT - Tall Snow Globe

For these cards, I ideally wanted to use winter scene papers in the background, and thankfully I still had a few offcuts of favourites in my stash that worked a treat. Those Pebbles papers in particular have been a great resource over the past few years, I've used them on so many cards and will probably have to get the digital papers once the last tiny scrap has been used up, unless they release something equally fab!

To construct the snow globe, I cut the dome from vellum for a "glass" look. It's definitely more obvious in real life as the vellum stands up off the background a little because I only glued it down behind the typewriter and used wet glue for this, which makes the vellum sort of curl up - the perfect look for this card!

The typewriters were all created from cardstock scraps - it's always nice to actually use those scraps up!

The sentiment on the typewritten letter is from the matching You're My Type stamp set, while the sentiment on the base of the snow globe is from Hello Bluebird, and probably my most used festive stamp set last year!

Until next time, happy festive crafting!

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Hello Bluebird - Typed Christmas stamps Shop at: MISC	SugarPea Designs - You're My Type stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC	SugarPea Designs - You're My Type dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	MFT - Tall Snow Globe dies Shop at: EH | SHC
Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Versamark ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SHC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Butter Mints Shop at: AZ | EH	Crate Paper - Merry Days - Frosty Days paper (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC
Crate Paper - Snowflake - Village paper (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC	Pebbles - Cozy & Bright - Santa Land paper (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC	Pebbles - Merry Little Christmas - Snow Day paper (r) Shop at: MISC	Lawn Fawn - Vellum Shop at: SBC | SHC
Hero Arts - White embossing powder Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC	Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Scor-Tape - 1/4" Shop at: AZ | SSS	Tombow - Mono-Multi liquid glue Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH	EK Success powder tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	MISTI creative corners Shop at: EH | SBC
MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

DCM - December elemental inspiration

Good morning!

Well, December has finally arrived, so as it's the first Friday of the new month, there's a new elemental inspiration challenge over on the Daring Cardmakers blog.

This month's picture features lots of festive elements, but there's scope for a colour scheme other than red, green, and gold!

The elements I went with were hot chocolate, stripes, winter foliage, and the wooden star:

Paper, stickers, and glittered snowflake: Pebbles - Winter Wonderland (r)
Stamp: The Greetery - Sentiment Suite: Christmas
Dies: The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics, Avery Elle - Double Pierced Squares (r), Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles (r), Sizzix - Tim Holtz - Mini Holiday Greens

I noticed that the wooden star in the photo had a similar geometric shape to the inside of some of the snowflake ephemera in this collection, so instead of my original plan of having the hot cocoa mugs in the centre of the aperture, I created a little snowflake window and offset my sentiment and embellishment cluster so that the centre of that snowflake would still be visible.

The striped background was cut first with the pierced square die and then a stitched circle die was used for the aperture, so there's some extra interest with the different textures. It brings everything nicely together, despite the "busy" paper patterns.

The mini holiday greens dies from Sizzix were cut from Evergreen C&9th cardstock and really make those cocoa mugs stand out against the papers.

Finally, I added a teeny sentiment from The Greetery that is white heat embossed on Midnight cardstock, also from C&9th.

Slowly, but surely, I am chipping away still at my large collection of random bits of 6x6 papers, ephemera, and stickers that I still have from this collection by Pebbles that came out back in 2015. I tend to make at least one Christmas card a year with it, and there are plenty of bits left to go. ;)

Make sure you check out the fab projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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The Greetery - Sentiment Suite: Christmas stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC	The Greetery - Sentiment Suite Basics dies Shop at: MISC | SHC	Avery Elle - Double Pierced Squares dies (r) Shop at: MISC	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Mats: Circles dies (r) Shop at: MISC
Sizzix - Tim Holtz - Mini Holiday Greens dies Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Versamark ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SHC	Bazzill Cardshoppe - Marshmallow Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Concord & 9th - Assorted cardstock pack Shop at: EH | MISC | SHC
Hero Arts - White embossing powder Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC | SHC	Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH	EK Success powder tool Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Thermoweb iCraft - Purple tape for die-cutting - 1 1/2" Shop at: AZ | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

12 Days of Christmas - Day 1

Hello and welcome to what will be this year's Christmas countdown series on my blog.

Last year I aimed to make a Christmas card a week and shared them all in the run-up to Christmas 2020.

This year I wasn't really feeling the Christmas crafting spirit in the early months of 2021 and by the summer, I definitely wasn't in a Christmas mood.

So, instead, I decided that I would try my hand at making at least 5 cards in one sitting in 12 different designs inspired by my favourite card makes from previous years and some new designs thrown in for good measure.

As many people will know, I am not very good at bulk cardmaking. I often find assembly line cardmaking sucks the joy right out of it for me, and many of my card designs don't really work for making multiples.

So I've chosen a few clean and simple projects that use up papers that are to hand (so they aren't all necessarily matchy, matchy) as well as lots of dies and stamps of course!

Kicking us off, we have the return of a Christmas card staple - mini houses!

Here's a closer look at one of the cards:

Paper: Crate Paper - Bundled Up (r), Basic Grey - B-Side (r)
Stamp: Mama Elephant - Holiday Messages
Dies: Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Stars (r), Neat & Tangled - Skinny Strips (r), Poppy Stamps - Townhouses, The Stamp Market - Jumbo Tag

I cannot tell you how much I love this combo of the Jumbo Tag from The Stamp Market being used to showcase the snowy nighttime street with those Poppy Stamps town houses.

The tag works great against any patterned paper background you have in your stash, especially from old 6x6 pads like the Bundled Up collection from Crate Paper that I used here.

It's also great for adding a really long sentiment strip to your card to divide up the space on the tag, and thankfully the Holiday Messages stamp set from Mama Elephant has the perfect sentiment to fit that strip.

I covered up the hole of the tag with a stitched star popped up on 3D foam tape, and as a finishing touch, each of the cards in this collection has coordinating enamel dots to decorate the sentiment strip. I have a lot of enamel dots in my stash, but really wish manufacturers would just release sheets of these small ones, as those are the ones I use aaaaall the time.

Until next time, happy festive crafting!

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Mama Elephant - Holiday Messages stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC	Lil' Inker Designs - Stitched Stars dies (r) Shop at: MISC	Neat & Tangled - Skinny Strips dies (r) Shop at: MISC	Poppy Stamps - Townhouses dies Shop at: MISC
The Stamp Market - Jumbo Tag dies Shop at: MISC	Versafine - Onyx Black ink pad Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: AZ | EH | SSS	Lawn Fawn - Glue tube Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC
Ranger - Multi-Medium Matte adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH	Lawn Fawn - Stamp shammy cleaner Shop at: EH | SBC | SHC	MISTI stamping tool Shop at: EH | SBC
Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Sizzix - Sidekick machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

DCM - Show us your stockings!

Good morning!

This week over on the Daring Cardmaker's Blog, it's all about stockings - including those of the Christmas variety. :)

Surprisingly, I didn't have as many Christmas Stocking items in my stash as I thought, but I did have three on a sticker sheet from Crate Paper's Merry Days collection that were just perfect for creating a festive little scene:

Paper: Honey Bee Stamps - Fresh Brewed, Crate Paper - Falala (r), Crate Paper - Merry Days (r)
Stickers and ephemera: Crate Paper - Merry Days (r)
Dies: Honey Bee Stamps - Wood Frame Builder, MFT - Tiny Houses

I created a little wooden shelf using woodgrain paper and a woodgrain die (for added texture) from Honey Bee Stamps.

Then I found some papers that would work as a good wallpaper background.

I hung the stockings from the shelf and added the sentiment to look like a hanging picture, plus little green trees as ornaments on the shelf.

Definitely a nice quick make which is very welcome this time of year, and it's always good to make a dent in the sticker and paper stash!

Make sure you check out the lovely projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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Honey Bee Stamps - Wood Frame Builder dies Shop at: EH | MISC | SBC	MFT - Tiny Houses dies Shop at: EH | SHC	Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb smooth Solar White cardstock Shop at: EH | SSS	Honey Bee Stamps - Fresh Brewed 6x6 paper pad Shop at: EH | MISC
Crate Paper - Falala - Very Merry paper (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC	Crate Paper - Merry Days - Tinsel paper (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC	Crate Paper - Merry Days - Ephemera (r) Shop at: MISC | SBC	Crate Paper - Merry Days - Cardstock stickers (r) Shop at: MISC
Tonic Studios Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC	3M Scotch double-sided foam tape Shop at: AZ | EH	Sizzix - Big Shot machine Shop at: AZ | SBC	Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (maxi) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC
Tim Holtz - Tonic guillotine trimmer (small) Shop at: AZ | EH | SBC

DCM - Silver, Aqua, and a Dash...

Good morning!

For this week's Daring Cardmakers challenge, we are working with colour combos of silver, aqua, and a dash of something else...

Stamps: PTI - Brushed Birds, The Greetery - Put a Bow on It
Dies: PTI - Brushed Birds, The Greetery - Put a Bow on It, Hello Bluebird - Holly and Pine, Pinkfresh Studio - Diagonal Stitched Rectangles, Sizzix - Tim Holtz - Holiday Greens
Stencils: The Greetery - Frosty Flakes
Other: Distress Oxides

Sadly, the return of photographing in winter daylight yields rather disappointing results! This card is much more sparkly and vibrant in real life.

I started out by using watercolour paint over the Frosty Flakes stencils from The Greetery. How I wish we could get Pixie stencil spray in the UK to hold detailed stencils in place, but for this look the blue wash through the more detailed elements create a nicely frosty look.

After some more paint and ink splatters were applied, I set the background aside to dry and got down to stamping the sparrows with Distress Oxide ink with ink daubers. I also inked the Holiday Greens branch in various shades of green and brown before leaving them to dry ready for some glittering.

The bow was stamped several times with Lawn Fawn Kiddie Pool and Sage Leaf, I also gave it a good splattering of aqua toned paint before leaving it to dry.

Then followed my glittering session with Rock Candy glitter, and while those elements were drying, I cut some lovely pine boughs from Memory Box silver glitter cardstock to arrange behind the bow when finally assembling the card.

Make sure you check out the lovely projects from the rest of the design team here, and play along if you can!

Happy crafting!

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PTI - Brushed Birds stamps Shop at: MISC | SSS

The Greetery - Put a Bow on It stamps Shop at: MISC | SHC

PTI - Brushed Birds dies Shop at: MISC | SSS