Voila, another Christmas card

Here is the last card that I've got so far using the Lovely as a Tree stamp set. This time I've coupled it with the skaters from Winter Post. I found this card on Splitcoast and figured how hard could it be. There are no layers on this card but that doesn't make it any simpler. I had to make a little skater mask so I could stamp the trees in the background and I'm not the most patient person to do the careful cutting for a mask . My husband thinks I should make a little skating pond for them to be on to ground the image, he thinks they look like they are floating. I think they look fine but maybe I'll humour him next time.

For the images I used Basic Black and for the sponging I used Baja Breeze and Night of Navy for the sky and Bordering Blue for the ground. I coloured the skaters in with pastels and a blender pen (love all the soft look with this technique). I added a bit of texture to the bottom of the card by tearing it (hard to see in the picture) and finished it off with a Night of Navy grosgrain ribbon and voila, another winter themed christmas card.

Holiday Extravaganza Sale!

Wow, this sale really is a Holiday Extravaganza! These bundles are 20% to 50% off the regular price so this is perfect for doing some holiday shopping.

Some things you need to know is:

• that the sale is only for 6 days, it ends on Dec 1.
• quantities are limited so when they run out that is it!
• you can order online or if your order is less than $100 you can order it through me to save on shipping (but then it will come to me so if you are on the island give me a call and we can work out how to get it to you).

Click here to check out the specials

Latest Christmas Card

Here is another Christmas card that I made not using the Christmas stamp sets. I used Lovely as a Tree and Loads of Love for this card. The Loads of Love set is really neat because it comes with lots of different things you can put in the back of the truck so it works for any holiday. And if that isn't enough you can get the LOL Accessory stamp set and it has more things to put in the back and little people you can stamp in the window!

I stamped the truck in black and tree Kiwi Kiss and then cut them out and attached them to the piece with the other trees in Chocolate Chip and the sky in various blues sponged on. The truck is coloured in with blender pens Real Red classic ink and Black craft ink. It turns out that the Black classic ink is no good for watercolouring because it is permanent, but the craft ink isn't so ti works better. That was news to me when I read that.

The happy christmas is in Night of Navy and from a hostess stamp set. I added some brads in the corners and then attached that to the Holiday Treasures DSP. All that is on a Night of Navy card.

Holiday Sale!

So I heard through the grapvine that there will be a Holiday Extravaganza sale from Nov 26 - Dec 1. The catch with this sale is no one knows what is going to be on sale. A little surpise for everyone one on Wednesday morning, it will be like Christmas coming early!

If anyone wants to place an order I will hold off submitting all orders until Dec 1 so I can get the best shipping rate for you. And remember if the order is a gift I can wrap it if it is over $50 so I can be your one-stop holiday shop.

Lovely as a Sparkling Glittery Tree

Here are a few of my favourite Christmas cards to make and teach. For any of you that have been to my Christmas card classes you will recognize a version of this card. It is so simple and elegant and not overly Christmasy. This set really is Lovely as a Tree - it isn't even a Christmas set but it is one of my favourites for Christmas cards. Like the Baroque Motifs you can use it as a background in other cards with other sets (example to come...).

These cards use almost the same supplies - Dazzling Diamonds glitter and 2-way glue, Whisper White and Not Quite Navy CS and NQN ink. The card with the oval was also sponged with Baja Breeze ink. The other card has a piece of NQN grosgrain ribbon which I couldn't manage to fit onto the other card and have it look like it was supposed to be there. For the sentiment I used the Sincere Salutations set which is a great set, if you changed it you could have a great Christmas party invitation or a winter thank-you card.

Christmas ornament card

I was playing around with some stamp sets this morning (while the little one was napping) and created this card. The inspiration came from the SU! catalogue actually (p 30) and I changed it to reflect the goodies that I have. This is the Season of Joy stamp set again. I wanted to use different stamps in it from last time and I sorta succeeded :)

I used Very Vanilla CS for the ornament along with Baja Breeze CS and ink along with Real Red ink. The ribbon is the Riding Hood Red taffeta but it is so close the Real Red that with the texture difference you can't even tell it's different. The DSP on the bottom of the card is either Ski Slope of Holiday Treasures, I can never remeber what I'm using but I like the swirly pattern on it, and you could use this sheet for non-Christmas things too. Oh, and I used the white gel pen to draw on the string.

I read somewhere that there are 37 days until Christmas, I hope everyone is starting to get ready, yah!

Gift Tags

A few days ago I had some friends over to play with all my SU! goodies. We had a great time creating some cards and figuring out new cards to make with the supplies we had out. The girls were having so much fun and I totally caught their enthusiam (not that I'm not usually excited but this was the new stamper kind of excitement). When one of my friends mentioned that she was going to need a gift tag for a present she was giving an idea jumped to mind.

I had seen these gift tags before but had not made any but did want to try. I happened to have lots of little "off cuts" of designer paper handy so these were uber easy to make. We used the Winter Post stamp set and the holiday DSP (ski slope or holiday treasures - not sure exactly which one, maybe both) and punched it out with the tag punches. To finish them off we just punched a hole with the 1/16 punch and looped the silver cord through it.

These are so easy, yet to pretty - a holiday must for sure!

Tins for the Holidays

Stampin' Up! has announced that while supplies last, they will be selling off some of their tins for us to use for Christmas gifts!

"Two of our tins are available for purchase. Our turquoise Punch Box tins are perfect for holiday treats and our silver skinny Accents & Elements tins make great CD or gift card holders. Each tin is sold individually so you can buy the exact number you need. These items are only available while supplies last, so place your order today!

114673 Turquoise Tin $4.75

108333 Silver Skinny Tin $2.50

Versatile Card

This has to be one of my favourite cards and stamp sets. It is the Baroque Motifs set and I love the big swirly thing in the set. It is not immediatly or even eventually and obvious Christmas card (actually got the idea at a workshop I attended) bit with the red and green it totally works. And of course the glitter helps! You may have noticed that this is also the background on the Keep Christmas card that I posted.

For this card I used the Garden Green paper and ink and Real Red ink, but switched it up with the Riding Hood Red paper and tafetta ribbon. Sneaky I know. I added some Dazzling Diamonds Glitter to the center of the red flowers but you could add it to lots more places. I had a friend show me that you can stick glitter to the ribbon for a snow kisssed look, very pretty.

For the greeting I used the Sincere Salutations set, another great set because it come with a greeting for almost any occasion and they are all the same size. This means you can premake the cards when you are feeling crafty and leave the greeting spot blank until you need the card.

Rub-On Promotion

Stampin' Up! has a new promotion starting, yah! Here is the link to the flier.

Details: Nov 10-Nov 30
If you spend $20 you can get a package of rub-ons for 20% off ($10.36 per package, regularly $12.95). Each package comes with 2 sheets, one in Chocolate Chip and one in Whisper White.

Why Rub-Ons: The rub-ons are really neat and you can apply them to more than just paper! You can apply them to glass christmas ornaments, mugs, mirrors, and even ribbon. The possiblities are endless and they would add the perfect tough to a homemade Christmas gift.

Stampbusters

Here is a neat blog that I got the link to. This stamper has a Mythbusters style blog called Stampbusters where she tests different techniques to combat stamping problems. She has tested a flossing method for getting taped and glued paper off projects, sharpening punches and says she will be testing different blender pen refill recipes. I can't wait to see what she tries next, you never know what information you may need until you see it!

Getting what you want for Christmas

For any of you ladies who would like to get some Stampin' Up! goodies under the tree this year here are a few ideas on how your hubby (or boyfriend or relative) can ace this Christmas.

1. You can email me your wishlist and give your husband/boyfriend/relative my phone number and we can talk about what you would like. This option is great if you have multiple people buying SU! for you because then there will be no duplicates.

2. You can give your husband/boyfriend/relative your wishlist and my phone number and we can talk about ideas to fill your stocking.

3. You can give your husband/boyfriend/relative your wishlist and direct them to my website and the "SHOP NOW" link for some online shopping.

To make this offer extra special all order over $50 (before s/h and taxes) I'll gift wrap for him. If your man is like the men in my life then this is much needed.

Country Living Holiday Collection Stampin' Kit

For the holiday season Stampin' Up! has joined forces with Country Living magazine to put together a kit to make ornaments, gift tags and all sorts of other goodies. In their Holiday Collection Stampin' Kit you get oodles of paper, chipboard and even a stamp set! If you are interested in the magazine or more stamps if you subscribe you get a 75% discount AND a holiday mini-stamp kit. For more information click the link on the left or call/email me.

Winter Theme Christmas Card

Currently I have been going crazy making Christmas cards. I love having the Stamp-a-Stacks coming up because then I get to use my stamps and play. Here is the one I made last night for a winter theme SAS, I found it on Splitocoast (surprise, surprise) by melindawharton.

I like it because if you can make it less Christmasy by just using the snowflake stamp. I also like the vintage feel of it, the Riding Hood Red totally has a vintage feel to it because it isn't as bright as the Real Red. I think when I do this one for the SAS I may do some sponging around the edge of the piece with the stamping on it as well for a little more interest.

First Christmas Stamp-a-Stack of the season!

So I had my first Christmas Stamp-a-Stack of the season and it couldn't have gone any better. We made 15 cards, 5 each of 3 designs, one of which I showed in an earlier post. Everyone said there was a good mix of cards and they all seemed to really like the selection too. My mom even had a good time and she only came because she felt she should support me. She now wants to come to my next card making event!

Here is another one of the cards that we made. This one took the longest but only because of the colouring (using the pastels and blender pens from my starter kit, yah). The rest of the card is really simple, a little sponging around the edges and the background in Versa Mark with the Baroque Motifs set, but I think it is one of my favourites.