My Favorite Christmas Card so far...

(Sorry for the quality of the pic, I find acetate VERY hard to photograph. IRL, the gemstone shimmers and the card looks bright and pretty.)

This is one of those cards that just proves the difference of quality in SU products vs others you find in stores. I attended an event at a local scrapbooking store and one of the make and takes was a Christmas card made exactly like this one. However, the products they used were much lower in quality and not as put together, and I liked the idea, but not the card they made. So, I recreated it at home using SU products, and the difference is unreal!

First I folded a piece of acetate for my outer layer, and stamped the tree from Scandinavian Season in the center a little towards the top with Jet Black Stazon. Then I made a stencil by doing that again on scrap acetate, and cutting around the tree with a hobby blade. I then folded some white textured CS and put between the acetate. I lined the stencil up under where the tree was and sponged it heavily in Kiwi Kiss ink with Stampin' Sponges. I stamped the sentiment from Heard from the Heart in RidingHood Red ink on the bottom of the white CS. I punched two 1/16" holes very close together at the top of the tree and ran Gold Cording through those, and used the cording to tie on the gold know you see. That is the only thing holding the acetate on the card, and it stays perfectly in place, I was amazed! I finished it simply by putting a red gemstone from Hero Arts on the center of the flower shape on the tree. Very simple card that's just a little harder than it looks, and I love the outcome.

Sometimes you just see projects and think, I can do that so much better. I know we all do that, but I am glad I acted on this one. It is remarkably better than the one made at the store, the quality difference in product is unreal.

All items in BOLD print are SU!

Scallop Medallion Christmas Tag

I love this tag! There's snow on the ground here today, we woke up to it falling beautifully and I am now in the Christmas spirit! The tag is made using the technique to make a medallion out of a punch. The tag size is 2.75 x 2.75 inches. I made the medallion out of the Ski Slope DSP, ran Old Olive ribbon through that, tied it up top with Gold Cording, and backed the whole thing with a folded piece of Chocolate Chip CS, folded in half. The inside is lined with Whisper White CS to write To/From message. I figured out how to make a small scallop square to fit inside this, cut a square of CS 2 1/8 inch, then line up in the Scallop Edge Punch center, punch on all sides. The snowflake is from a retired hostess set from last year called Perfect Presentation, it is a round stamp with words around the outside of the flake. I didn't have the exact size circle punch I needed, so I punched the flake out, and to cover the little bit of wording that showed around it, I ran the edges over my CC stamp pad. Popped on a Dimensional over an Old Olive circle. I didn't have any pearls small enough for the edges of the flake, so again I improvised (I am getting better at that!), I had some of the wedding pearls on a string from the craft store. I cut them off the string, and carefully sanded the edges down where they were glued on the sting. Glued onto my flake with Crystal Effects. Whew. Lots of work on one little tag, but I really like how it turned out. I have never used brown at Christmas, but this year I can't seem to stop myself. Hope you like it!

All items SU, minus the pearls, all SU colors, tools are in bold print.

Scandinavian Christmas Card

This is the card my Hostess Club made today along with the tags in the last post. Everyone loved all the projects. This card is CASE'd from the Holiday Mini. The stamp set is Scandinavian Seaon, and the Scandinavian wheel. I really loved the example card in the Mini catalog, and decided just to change a few things about it. This card uses the New Ski Slope DSP, also from the new Mini catalog. I am so in love with this set, and new DSP! This is the first time I have used the New Tafetta ribbon (Kraft) and LOVED it, it's such a pretty, classy ribbon. This is a very simple card, but I loved the finished look! Part of the tree is double stamped, cut out, and popped up on a dimensional for a little depth, and the edge of the Naturals White cardstock is roughed up a little with a bone folder. Hope you like it! This is the FIRST Christmas card I have made this year, I guess I better get rolling, huh?

Scandinavian Christmas Tags

Here's a tag my club is making on Sat. I cut an Old Olive and a Naturals White oval using the CM cutting system. I stamped the mitten image from Scandinavian Season in red, and folded the paper in half at the bottom of the mitten, then cut out. The mittens actually open up to write the recipients name or a small message.

This is my favorite one. I used Kraft CS for the base, it's cut 3x6 and folded in half. I cut a square of Ski Slope DSP for the background, and glued down after sponging the edges in Chocolate Chip ink. The Poinsettia's (I hope that's spelled right) are made using the star image from Scandinavian Season and punched with the 5 Petal Flower punch (I actually discovered this myself!!!) to make the pattern on the flower petals (it has to be angled just right to fill up the punch). Then I pinched the ends of the petals and used glue dots to put two of them together, with a punched Old Olive piece underneath for leaves. Couldn't find dark brads, so I made dots with a Chocolate Chip marker, and topped with dots of Crystal Effects. I love the look of this tag.

I like this one, too. I used Baja Breeze and cut it 6.5x2.5 and scored at 3". I used the slit punch on the long end and out of the short end, punched a scallop circle out of the blue. Then I punched a Very Vanilla scallop, and glued down where the other scallop opening is. Used the snowflake from Scandinavian Season and punched out and layered on top. There are stickles all over the snowflake. The TO/FROM info is written under the scallop inside..

So, I used only ONE stamp set, except for the Merry Christmas, which is from Holidays & Wishes. Now to make a card for the meeting!!! Sorry the pics aren't the best, it's been raining here and I am short on time. Hope you like the tags!!!

**All SU colors and sets are in Bold print.

My Front Entry with Decor Elements...

This is a close up shot of my new Decor Elements that I just hung this morning. I got it on my hostess month (Oct) for my club, and am in LOVE with it! I am amazed at the quality of this product now that I have actually put one on a wall. They are fairly simple to transfer, line up and retransfer, however I will never again do one 7 feet up, on a ladder, by myself. A small one would be fine, but this is 2 feet wide, and it had to be stretched apart (it cannot touch itself) while I climbed a ladder, and tried to tape it for placement. Definitely get help if hanging a big one high up!

This is a shot of how it looks from my living room. This adds SO much to my home. I CANNOT believe it. I keep walking by and looking at it (even though I really do have other things that need to be done...LOL). Well, my two little ones saw the camera and demanded to be in the shot with the new "wall sticker" (that's what Chloe calls it, she's 4). So, here is my decorated entry and my two angels. Don't mind the smears on the glass of the sidelights, they need to be cleaned, off I go!

PS---This particular Decor Element is only available to hostesses. It is a Level 2 choice, however SU has a growing range of these, and the brochure for it is on my sidebar. Also, I have an online ordering button there too if you see any you like and don't have a current demo.

Flight of the Butterfly Set

Is there anything more exciting than opening up that fun box that the big brown truck drops off??? I don't think so!!! Got my club order in yesterday, and in it was my newly ordered Flight of the Butterfly set. I had so much fun creating this little set with it. I made a card with matching envie, bookmark and pen. These projects are for a workshop I have scheduled for next week. I hold classes, and run a full club, but have never done a workshop outside of my home. I am nervous that I will leave and forget something vital, or something silly like that! So, planning for this is much different than my clubs, classes, etc. These are non/new stampers. That means I can't turn to my love of techniques, I had to keep this clean and simple, and showcase my favorite SU products. For me that is our punches, our paper, our ink, and our stamp sets. I chose to use only one set. I am hoping possible future stampers will see how much you can acheive with a small selection of supplies. I kept it all the same color to make a little Thank You set for everyone to have on hand. The THANK YOU on the blue strip on the card is from All Holidays, I tried to incorporate the thanks sentiment from FOTB, but it wouldn't fit where I wanted it.

What do you all think about this as a workshop project? Never having planned for something outside of my club, I was unsure how much/little to plan to make, etc. Thanks for any comments on this one!

Supplies...
SU Cardstock in Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, and Kiwi Kiss.
Ink is Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss.
Punches -- Corner Rounder (it's CM,...shhh), Scallop Circle, Round Tab, 1 3/8 Circle, Handheld 1/16 for brads, Handheld rectangle for bookmark ribbon.
Stamps - SU Flight of the Butterfly (small Thank You from All Holidays)
Accessories -- Choc Chip Grosgrain ribbon, Silver brads, Dimensionals, Pentel RSVP Pen (filled with stamped printer paper, it rolls so much easier than CS), oh and a regular office stapler to really hold on that tab on the bookmark, as the ribbon is knotted under there.

Let me know what you think about this one. I think it turned out great, but how is it for a workshop?

Stacked Thanksgiving

Well, this is one of those cards that you see one way in your head, then you try your very best to put on paper and you are unhappy with the finished result. I saw a tutorial on SCS for a step card and really wanted to give it a try. The fold is definitely easy enough, I just had trouble decorating it! As you can see, this card involved lots of watercoloring and LOTS of cutting. Suprisingly, it only took me about 30 minutes or so without stopping. I really don't think I like it very much, and would love to know what you all think about it. Is it too much, too little??? I used a SU set called Autumn Harvest, and Holiday Wishes. The folded part is Kraft cardstock, and I used a little bit of Chocolate Chip, the sentiment and images are on Naturals White, colored with WWC and blender pens.

This is a side view of the card so you can see how it's made. On a piece of cardstock cut down to 10.5x5, the folds are at 1.25, 2.5, 4.25, 6,& 8.25". I used retired In Color River Rock to stamp leaves all over the paper before folding it.

All Supplies are SU! I think I am about done with Thanksgiving cards, soon on to Christmas!!!