Bitty Bears Christmas Card

Seriously, who can resist these cute lil' bears? I'm a huge fan of We Bare Bears on Cartoon Network and the My Favorite Things Bitty Bears stamp set reminds me so much of the three lovable cartoon bears, especially when they were babies. I didn't really get around to playing with these bears because I've been trying to get all the "no colouring" Christmas cards out of the way first.

This card is for the MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge #362, which you can see here.

I used the Waffle Flower Lacy Rectangles die to cut out the main frame and a scallop circle die by Kaisercraft to cut out the two holes. The Bitty Bears were coloured with Prismacolor pencils on bristol paper and I added a few cute dots on their accessories with a white gel pen. The sentiment was from the same stamp set and stamped with Versamark ink and then heat embossed with Ranger Fine White Embossing Powder on black cardstock. I also splattered a tiny bit of Dylusions Mica spray in Turquoise but it's quite a light colour.

Even my husband agrees that the bears are really cute :-)

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you have a lovely day!

Little Drummer Boy Christmas Card

This has to be my most involved card. And by most involved, I mean, most layers.

The main focal image, sentiment and background are from a discontinued Graphics45 patterned paper that I got as a gift with purchase from a local scrapbook store. I layered a snowflake and a few doily diecuts from My Favorite Things. The gold foam stars were cut out from the Simon Says Stamp Stacked Stars die. I also added a few fabric pieces and tucked a couple of stitched fall leaves from a Lawn Fawn die behind the focal image. I love how the different layers and textures came together.

Challenge:

• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Starry Gold Christmas Card

I'm really putting this deer die from a Maggie Holmes set through its paces this holiday season. I just love how interesting it looks on a card especially against an interesting background. I'm entering both the Simon Says Stamp challenges again (links below).

I achieved the background by sponging gold acrylic paint through a Tim Holtz stencil on a black cardstock. I think I have to do more of this because I love the effect of gold against a dark background. I also splattered a tiny bit of gold Heidi Swapp Color Shine.

The gold foam stars were cut out from the Simon Says Stamp Stacked Stars die. I layered a torn up bit from a doily and some twine on the back of the deer.

Challenges:

• Simon Says: Star Light Star Bright
• Simon Says: Anything Goes

Tear It Up Snowflake Card

I really like participating in card or journaling challenges because it forces me to use my supplies differently. And usually, no two projects are exactly alike. So there's always variety and I don't have to think of prompts because I'm pretty bad at coming up with them.

The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge has a "Tear It Up" theme. Now I love using torn up bits in my journaling but I don't really use them on my cards. So I whipped out my scrap papers and pretty much stuck them down on top of each other. The snowflake is from a MFT Die-namics die that may be discontinued. I didn't include a sentiment on the cover but I may stamp a Christmas greeting on the inside.

This is a really great way to use up those scraps.

Little Deer and Friend Christmas Card

I am still not done with Christmas cards and made another one with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge in mind. We have "Furry Friends" as a theme and I thought why not add a fawn and his rabbit friend.

Both critters were from a free stamp set that I got with a papercraft magazine last year. The tree was cut from a Kaisercraft die with kraft cardstock. I can't really remember where the blue patterned paper came from. I've used it in a few projects and only had a small rectangle remaining.

I'm starting to enjoy adding twine or thread on my cards. I think they add a bit of interest in quite an organic way.

Faux Stitching Reindeer Card

I was actually working on this card and just so happen to see the latest Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge titled "It's a Stitch Up". Although I do not have any hand or machine stitching on my card, there are faux stitches achieved through stamps and dies.

I used my usual stitched rectangle die to cut out the main base. Then I stamped a stitched circle from Carabelle Studios with Encore Champagne ink, which is a rather subtle gold champagne. I laid a couple of scrap papers and a piece of lace trim. The reindeer was stamped on kraft paper and fussy cut out. I added a little bit of gold DMC thread behind it. The sentiment is from a Kelly Purkey stamp set. Of course I had to add some gold splatters with Heidi Swapp Color Shine. Oh and that tiny gold foam star was a negative shape from the Simon Says Stamp Stacked Stars die. All pieces were shaded with Distress Ink in Vintage Photo around the edges.

I think this is my new favourite card to date. I love how all the little elements came together and would definitely try machine stitching some pieces on my next card. I just find the sewing machine a little intimidating sometimes.

Noel Reindeer Postcards

This is probably my favourite holiday season project so far. I wanted to create a set of postcards and had some leftover music script patterned paper. Each postcard is backed with kraft paper to make it more solid. I'll be sending each without an envelope, so it needs to survive the distance.

I used a stitched postage stamp die to cut out the main base. There are 4 in the patterned paper and 4 in kraft. The reindeer head is from a Maggie Holmes Open Book set and the word "noel" was heat embossed with a glittery gold Nuvo embossing powder. The stamp is by Kelly Purkey. I also stamped some gold and copper words and patterns behind the reindeer and they are all from various Kelly Purkey Christmas stamp sets. Then I darkened the edges of everything with Distress Ink in Rusty Hinge.

I couldn't do anything too dimensional because it's supposed to be a postcard form so it needs to be as flat as possible. I also used very strong glue (Tombow Multi Liquid Glue) to adhere everything. I don't want to risk anything falling apart in the mail.

I can't wait to send these off!

Silver Snowflake Card

For the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, we have the theme "Snow White". Immediately, I thought of embossing snowflakes onto a plain white linen card and sticking a glittery silver snowflake on it.

The snowy embossing folder is by Darice and the silver snowflake is an old MFT die (probably discontinued). The sentiment is from the Kelly Purkey S'no Problem stamp set. I added a light silver foil washi tape along the edges of the base card to create a slim silvery border. The effect is quite subtle.

This simple card is perfect if you're looking to mass produce because it's relatively easy to put together.

Colourful Joy Christmas Card

I was feeling a little experimental and thought of creating my own Christmas patterned paper with Distress Oxide inks. I punched out a couple of snowflake and tree shapes and basically just used the negative space as stencils. I wanted a fun and colourful background so I pretty much used nearly every colour of the rainbow.

I also added subtle gold stencilled stars and irregular yellow splotches. The word "joy" and sentiment are from the Hero Arts Joy Stamp and Cut set that I got from JoAnn's when I visited the States in April. This card measures 3.5 x 4.75 inches, which seems to be my new favourite size. It's quite a bit smaller than the standard A2 card size.

I will continue to churn out more holiday themed cards until I start sending them out next week. This is by far my favourite season to make cards and tags :-)

Celebrate Christmas Tag

I've been a little preoccupied with making Christmas cards and tags for the upcoming holiday season. I decided to play along the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the theme "Christmas Gift Tag".

The background was achieved with sparkly Dylusion mica and Heidi Swapp Color Shine sprays over a Tim Holtz stencil called Holiday Knit. I also splattered some gold Color Shine and stamped a Christmassy sentiment by Kaisercraft in gold ink. The tree is a Kaisercraft die and the word "celebrate" is from a Waffle Flower die. I layered the word three times to make it thicker. The stars were snipped off from the Simon Says Stamp Stacked Stars die and were diecut with glitter gold fun foam.

You can see more of the shimmery background from this photo.

Have you started on your Christmas cards yet?

Celebrate Snow Card

I absolutely love white-on-white cards as I find a simple elegance to them. The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge has the theme of "Let There Be Snow" and thought of white snowy backgrounds. I got the embossing folder free from a UK crafter's magazine and this is probably one of my favorite Christmas themed embossing folders. But I don't own many so this "freebie" was quite a welcomed addition.

So pretty in white! I added some clear Wink of Stellar on the embossed snow designs but it doesn't show up on camera. It's so nice and sparkly in person. Just the right touch. The celebrate word is diecut from glitter white foam, which makes things a bit easier so I don't have fuss around too much by layering the word.

If I get time, I'd likely try to churn out another snowy card. I love these cards!

Icy Snowflake Tags

Here's another one for Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge with the theme "Ice Inspiration". I love embossed snowy backgrounds and used Spellbinders Impressabilities in Snowflake. This embossing piece comes in a thin metal sheet and it took me a while to figure out how to use it because I was more used to embossing folders. But the background effect is worth the hassle and ended up looking quite unique.

The snowflake was cut out using fine silver glitter paper and backed with fun foam. Then I added a simple icy blue pearl in the center and silvery ribbon on the top.

Unfortunately both the snowflake dies and embossing background are discontinued. I especially love the die and it comes in a set of three different snowflakes. I don't own the updated version that MFT released this year and will likely get another set of snowflake dies next year. They are so pretty and fun!

Peace On Earth Fox Card

I am having so much fun participating in these card / papercraft challenges. It gives me an opportunity to create and to think out of the box sometimes. Not to mention I get to use supplies I seem to have accumulated in the last few years. And revive my blog :-)
This one is for MFT's Sketch Challenge #308.

The fox stamp was from a papercraft magazine I got a couple of months' back and the pattern paper was a gift, so I'm not entirely sure where it's from. The rest of the supplies are listed below.

I love adding background textures with embossing and I thought it turned out quite nice on kraft cardstock. Gives the entire card a rather natural, "earthy" feel.

Merry Christmas Snowflakes Card

This card is for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge that is Trio-Tastic. It meant I had to use 3 of something on my card. I had already die-cut the words "merry christmas" on black cardstock and had thought of adding 3 simple punched snowflakes to the side. I like using the negative space sometimes and love how the black looks against silver glitter paper.

It's nice to take a break from complicated cards sometimes :-)

Celebrate Christmas Holly Handmade Card

I meant to participate in the MFT card challenges but I completely missed out on the last two. But Simon Says Stamp recently posted a new Wednesday Challenge, and that is to use Christmas themed dies and I have the perfect card to show for it.

This card is so much more sparkly in person. I love the holly die by Taylored Expressions but can't for the life of me locate in on inlinkz (supplies listed below) so I had to choose the nearest option, which is the embossing folder. The background die cuts out quite an intricate pattern. I adorned the "berry" bits with pink crystals from Daiso and stuck them down with glue. The light green cardstock is a bit shimmery and was purchased at a local stationery shop along with the glitter paper in the background.

The "celebrate" word is die-cut from Tim Holtz' Celebration Words die set. It is quite thin and tends to be a bit fiddly, especially if you're layering a few die-cuts on top of each other. I cut the word out from silver glitter foam and popped it up on top of a simple circle vellum piece.

Are you participating in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge too?