Category Archives: Christmas

Country Nativity Christmas Card

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Country Nativity Christmas Card

(inside: A holiday wish to bring you Cheer, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!)

Back in July, I attended the Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Convention in Lancaster, Pa, and I took a super fun class taught by Jennifer (from Stamplistic) where we played with Guilders Paste Wax. I love the metallic look achieved with this product and decided to use it to create the background for this Christmas card design.

The Christmas embossing folder used is unbranded, and the wax color is Foundry Bronze.

The focal stamp is called “Country Nativity” by Uptown Rubber Stamps (no longer available?). The image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, was colored with Copic markers (E00, E18, E40, E41, E42, E43, E44, E47, G29, Y23, B95, and B97), and was then embossed with the “Subtle” embossing folder from Stampin’ Up (retired). The inside stamp is called “Holiday wish to bring cheer greeting” by DRS Designs.

Nutmeg “History” Medallions Paper from the Indie Chic Collection by My Minds Eye (#IC0204) was used along with Recollections white and black.

The image used on this card is one I had used on a card I made (more than!) a few years back. At that time, I stamped a pile of panels with the intention of making several of that card design. I guess life got in the way, and the pile of uncolored images ended up in a “to be finished later” box. I ended up coloring them (now) the same way I had on that card, but I changed up the rest of the design using the background panels I created with my newly discovered wax. Good to finally finish those panels – lol!

Thank you for checking out my card project!

Vintage Christmas Explosion Gift Box

Posted in Christmas, Interactive, Paper Crafting Projects (other) by

Vintage Christmas Explosion Gift Box

I made a few of these explosion boxes with pockets on the inside for gifting cash or gift cards. I actually had 4 gift cards, but if I needed fewer pockets, the other flaps could just be decorated.

I used the CREAlies “Create A Box Large – Explosion (or not) box Large” die set (#CCABL27) to create the box. The set includes one die to create the top/bottom, a square to create the side panels and several more dies for the decorative panels. There is also a die to create “connectors” if you want the box to stay together and not “explode” when opened.

In addition to this large box (3 3/4″ square), there is also a medium box and a small box (sold separately).

The 3D Christmas Tree in the center was created with the CREAlies “Varia 3D Christmas Tree” die set (#CLVAR09).

I was inspired to create this box with the tree in the center after watching Karen’s videos (HERE and HERE). She shows a partial exploding box in her video which is another way to use this die set.

Just a note – The top and bottom of the box are created with the same die. Usually, the top of a box is slightly larger than the bottom half. As a result, the lid is very tight and a bit tricky to get on, especially if the sides want to keep falling! I ended up using my trimmer (instead of the included die) to create the panels for the sides, and I made these panels 1/16 inch smaller than the die would have made them. This helped a bit. I still used one of the additional (stitched) dies to create the decorative panels. Also, I created my own pockets as there is no die for that. (Karen cut one of the squares in half on the diagonal to create hers.)

The card stock for the base of my box is “French Roast” by Core’dinations. The patterned card stock for the outside is by American Crafts #368494 (no name given), and the paper used for the inside panels/pockets is “Christmas Joy” by Reminisce. The Christmas tree was made with “Merry, Merry” which is also by Reminisce. All of this paper has been in my stash for years, and it felt good to finally use it!

Thanks for checking out my project!

A Few Simple Christmas Cards

Posted in Cards, Christmas, Holiday Cards by

A Few Simple Christmas Cards…

Embossed O Little Town of Bethlehem

Handmade cards are a joy to make and a pleasure to give, but sometimes it’s hard to find the time with everything else that needs to be done to prepare for the holidays. But cards don’t need to be complicated. Here are a few “simple” cards I made that came together pretty quickly…

Beautiful paper + a large scene stamp + embossing powder = done! The above slimline card features some beautiful handmade marbled paper from Emily Romero Marbled Paper & Designs. I paired this with Gina K Designs Metallic Gold and white card stock. The stamp is “Peaceful Night” from Woodware” and was embossed with Gina K Gold Embossing Powder.

Santa’s Hole in One

Someday, I’d like to sit down and color this image, but for now, white embossing powder on blue card stock makes a simple but fun card for golf enthusiasts! The stamp is called “Hole in One” by Gary Patterson/Stamps Happen.

White Warm Wishes

Dry embossing and a stacked die cut greeting were used to make this white on white card design. The embossing folder is “Swirl Baubles” by Crafts-Too, and the greeting was cut with the “Festive Mini Expressions – Warmest Wishes die” by Sue Wilson/Creative Expressions.

Joy

This final sample was made with one die cut and the same papers from the first card above. The die is “Joy Nativity Die” from Cottage Cutz.

Heat embossing on patterned paper (or plain), dry embossing and die cutting – simple techniques but so many possibilities!!

Thanks for checking out my “simple” card projects!

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Santa Slider Window Card

Posted in Cards, Christmas, Holiday Cards, Interactive by

Santa Slider Window Card

I know Christmas isn’t really about the presents, but gift giving is included in our celebration…

Christmas morning looks very different in our house now that my 4 children are adults. A few years ago, we moved from piles of wrapped gifts to a few small things and a monetary gift. I stressed about what we would do in the morning with very little to open and made it my mission to come up with a different “Christmas Morning Activity” for the kids each year instead. The first year was easy. They each received 10 wrapped boxes, each containing various amounts of money, and they needed to open them all to see how much their total gift was. Then it got trickier! We did a scavenger hunt one year where I hid a bunch of envelopes containing money near various holiday decorations around the house. They each got a list of clues, and when they found each decoration, they found the money-filled envelopes with their names on them. They worked in teams/pairs and tried to see which pair could find all their loot first. Another year, I hid puzzle pieces (for 2 identical Christmas puzzles) around the house, and the same teams/pairs had to find all the pieces and build their puzzle first. This year, I found a Christmas themed home version of an “Escape Room Challenge” which the teams raced to solve. I’m amused at the friendly competition between them as they attack the challenges each year!

Another difference for this year was that instead of giving them cash (which required a trip to the bank to make the withdrawl and then another trip back to deposit it into their accounts), I transferred the money directly into their accounts. It felt a little weird to just tell them I transferred the money so I wanted to come up with an interactive card to “present the gift” to them. (It took me a while to get to the card project for this post, but I finally made it – lol!!)

When the ribbon is pulled, Santa slides back to reveal the gift. (Theirs actually had the amount showing!)

(inside: Use it to buy something fun!)

I created the Santa from a Silhouette cut file called “Santa Cartoon” (design #283758) by Sarah Bailey. The slider window card was created from another Silhouette file called “A2 Santa Slider Window Card” (design #100187) by Lori Whitlock. This file includes a Santa as well, but I had already purchased the “Santa Cartoon” file so I thought I would go with that.

The designer paper is called Christmas Cheer Peppermint by Lily Bee Designs. The card stock is Gina K Designs Cherry Red, Christmas Pine, Warm Glow, white, black and a scrap of yellow. All the text was computer generated.

Thanks for checking out my card project (and for putting up with my narrative leading to it)!

Merry Christmas!

Posted in Christmas, Other by

Merry Christmas!

I’d like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I’d also like to take a moment to thank you all for taking the time to visit my blog and for all your support and encouragement this past year.  I really appreciate it!

(The above image was found on google and is not my own.)