Christmas Cards

A quick post to share with you the Christmas cards I personally sent out this year.  When I went back to review all the cards I made since October to select a card design to send out this season, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had so much to choose from.  I could not decide right away which one I would use.  I wanted something simple and easy because frankly, I'm running out of time.  I really like the red cardinals even though the card itself was more involved than I originally wanted.

I got them all done in one day and mailed with plenty of time to get to their destination before Christmas.  I wanted to do other colors but  in the end I stayed with just crumb cake and summer starfruit.

I have some extras so if you want one or two let me know.

Merry Christmas everyone!  Stay safe and be nice to your neighbors.

Until the next post............. Cheers!!!

Christmas/Holiday Card #25 - Origami Star

The final entry in this series of cards for Christmas or Holiday is something I wanted to do since the beginning.  I made origami trees last year that were the focal point of my card and I wanted to try a different origami this year.

A search on the internet yielded a lot of ideas and I went with modular money origami star found HERE.  Tobias has a great tutorial and I was able to make a star in no time.  I didn't have origami paper and I didn't want to run out and get some just for this project.  I rummaged through my stash of paper and decided on a double sided olive green patterned paper.  Not too heavy and not flimsy either.

I'm not including instructions here for the star because Tobias' tutorial covered all the bases and is excellent.  One thing I would like to mention is if you decide to use regular patterned paper is to make sure you use a bone folder to burnish all the folds.  And I found that the more I burnish the softer and more pliable the paper became and that helps avoid tearing the edges.

Another thing is measurement.  I used 6" x 2-5/8" pieces to minimize scrap papers since most of my patterned papers are 12" x 12".  The star ended up to be about 4.75" x 4.75" too big for a standard A2 card. My card measures 6" x 5".  Here's the front and back of the finished star.

     

Obviously I want the star to stand out so the card layout is really simple but I went all out with the blings.  The star reminded me of the traditional holiday decorations in the Philippines called parol.  They're usually colorful and bright, see pictures below.  The picture of my card is not the best but you get the idea.

These are a few of the parols from the Philippines.

This is the more traditional one.



I enjoyed making all the cards for this series but I'm ready to do something else.  Stay tuned to find out what I tackle next.

Until the next post.............. Cheers!!!

Christmas/Holiday Card #23 - Joy to the World

Hello my silent friends!  Nobody ever talks to me.  I was going through my stamp sets and noticed that I haven't used this stamp set this year.  We can't let that happen now, can we?

This technique is called emboss resist, the first technique I ever learned when I really got into card making over ten years ago.  Basically, you stamp your image with Versamark on a glossy card stock, heat embossed with clear embossing powder and then sponged whatever water based ink you want all over the embossed image.  Wipe excess ink with a paper towel.  The embossed image "resist" the background color you sponged and stays white just like your card stock.

I made a small variation in that I used white and green embossing powders instead of clear.  I started with a glossy card stock, heat embossed Joy in white embossing power.  Then I heat embossed the star with gumball green powder.  I masked the area below Joy and sponged gumball green ink above the masked line.  Then moved the mask above the green area and sponged cherry cobbler all the way to the bottom of the card stock.  I added a ribbon, three punched stars and some blings.  I mounted the panel onto a white card stock with dimensionals.

As you can see, the embossed images resisted the background color I sponged.   I really like how this turned out, hope you do too.

That's it for now, until next time............... Cheers!!!

Christmas/Holiday Card #22 - Poinsettia

Hi there!  Thanks for stopping by today.  My card today also used an image from Stampin'Up's Bells and Bough stamp set.  I love this set.

I wanted to try the water coloring technique with this image.  I stamped the image with black StazOn solvent ink.  Then I started water coloring the poinsettia but my only aqua painter was not cooperating.  I couldn't control the "wetness" and I ended up with colors running all over the place and the bristles kept spreading out even after I trimmed them.  Scrap that first try.

I started over using a blender pen to apply the color.  I think I actually did pretty good with the coloring, I stayed inside the lines, he he he.  The colors here are real red and gumball green.  I found this red card in my stash already dry embossed with poinsettia.  I added tiny pearls to the center of the poinsettia.  I stamped the sentiment and punched with Decorative Label punch.  Tied the lacy ribbon and I'm done.

The biggest disappointment here is the picture.  The poinsettia's are not coming out red no matter what angle I take.  In reality they're red and matched the card perfectly.

Until next time............. Cheers!!!


All supplies used were from Stampin'Up.

Christmas/Holiday Card #21 - Holly Bough

Hello!  There's just not enough time in the day to create and post lately.  This past week, I have been busy making cards and battling a nasty cold plus getting through the Thanksgiving holiday.  Today I'm catching up on the daily holiday cards.

First up is this simple card created using Stampin'Up's Bells and Bough stamp set.  I normally stay away from stamps that need coloring to be a stand out but this set is easy to work with.

I started with a white base card scored with three straight lines in the middle.  I stamped the holly bough with StazOn solvent ink on a 3.5" x 2.5" piece of card stock.  I colored it with Gumball Green ink using a blender pen.  I added the Cherry Cobbler dazzling details on the berries.  Then I matted the main panel on a Gumball Green cardstock.  Tied a ribbon below the three scored lines and stamped the sentiment below the ribbon.  Finally, I mounted the main panel using dimensional off to the left side.

Hope you like it.

Like I said earlier, this stamp set is easy to work with so I will continue with the other image in the set.

Until the next post............ Cheers!!!

All supplies used were from Stampin;Up.

Christmas/Holiday Cards #20 - Stand Up Card

This is another card design/layout I wanted to try for a while now but never got around to it.  I have some flocked window sheets included with Stampin' Up's Candlelight Christmas Specialty DSP  pack that I wanted to use to make something other than a card.  The flocked sheets are so pretty I wanted them to stand out...... what better way to use them than a stand up card!

I didn't add a label to write on or a sentiment because I'm going to use this as a display "stand" for my handmade ornaments.  It folds flat so you can mail it or in my case, it will be easy to store away.

I've only seen a picture of this type of card so I had to come up with the measurements and construction.  It took a couple of tries, I kept cutting the wrong side, but I was able to put it together.  Hopefully, these pictures will give you an idea of how to create one if you want to try this type of card.  It has so much potential.

I used two 4.25” x 5.5” card stocks. Punch or cut an opening in the middle of the two pieces. On the 1^st piece, cut a 1/4” slit on the top and bottom of the opening (inside).  I scored the middle of the card stock to make sure the slits are lined up.  On the 2nd piece, cut a  1/4” slit from the top (outside) and 2-3/4" slit from the bottom (outside).

The tricky part is sliding the 2nd piece into the 1st piece.  Gently guide the 2nd piece with the long slit into the opening of the 1st piece, you need to bend it but with a little patience it should fall into place.  You can use patterned paper instead of cardstock and add embellishments on all four sides.  TIP: try it on an old card stock or paper you're not too fond of so if you messed up the first try you don't waste your good supplies like I did!

Hope that gives you an idea on how to create this card.

Thanks for stopping by.  Until next time............ Cheers!!!

All supplies used are from Stampin'Up.

Christmas/Holiday Card #18 - Bethlehem

City of David - Bethlehem take two!  I finally got a design/layout for this stamp set that I'm satisfied with.

The first one is made with brushed silver card stock cut into a center step card.  I stayed with silver, white and black color combo.  I used silver glimmer paper for the stars, it added just the perfect amount of bling.

Don't you just love it?  Here's the side view, where you can see the steps.

I'm on a roll... can't stop with just that one card.  I tried the same idea but with color and this time I cut the red card stock into a side step card to accommodate the die cut main image.

Here's a side shot.

I'm pleased with these results!  Now onto the poinsettias, I'm still fine tuning the construction and texture to translate the ideas in my head onto paper.

Until the next post my friends............ Cheers!!!

Christmas/Holiday Card #17 - White Christmas

It's a cold and rainy day today here in Berkeley, California.  The weather inspired my card today.  I'm a summer, heat wave kinda person but I wouldn't mind a white Christmas.  I would never live in snow country but a Christmas vacation in the snow appeals to me.

I used white embossing powder for the "snow" effect.  After I masked the bottom of the main panel to create the snow bank, I rubbed the Versamark ink pad directly on the card stock and covered the area with embossing powder.  After the snow bank was heat set, I stamped the tree with Versamark, covered it with embossing powder, then heat set.  I added dazzling diamond on the tree and the snow bank to make the snow glisten.

I don't know what made me reach for that sentiment.  After the card was finished I realized it's not the right sentiment.  Later I'll cover it with a more appropriate one.

Hope you like this one.  It's fairly quick and easy to put together.

Thanks for stopping by.  See you soon............. Cheers!!!

Christmas/Holiday Card #16 - Holly

Hello!  Today I made a super simple card.  I have to admit that it felt like I was cheating because I got  today's card done so quickly.  Earlier today, I was reading Hero Art's blog post about highlighting sentiments and their samples inspired my card.

I dry embossed the white textured card stock with the Mistletoe embossing folder.  Then I stamped the sentiment in cherry cobbler ink.  Finally, I mounted the embossed panel with dimensionals on a white base card.  My card is done.  What do you think?

Remember my two cards rule?  I couldn't resist adding "berries" to the second card.  Just a few.

There you have it.  Some days all you need is a simple card.

Until next time............. Cheers!!!

Christmas/Holiday Card #15 - Trumpeting Angel

Hello, I have another simple and quick card for you today.  I was looking for more holiday images when I found my old Cornish Heritage Farms stamps.  They closed their shop a few years ago but they used to have really fun, exclusive and high quality rubber stamps.

I wanted to get today's card done pretty quickly so I went with supplies I already have on my work table.  Cherry Cobbler cardstock, ink and ribbon.  The image was stamped on vanilla card stock and matted with crumb cake cardstock, both from my pile of scraps.  Not completely sold on the scalloped tulle ribbon but I had it out on my table.  What do you think?

I decided to dig for another ribbon even though I'm pressed for time.  Something light.... aha....... vanilla seam binding ribbon.... perfect!

There you have it.  You can go either way, tone on tone or contrasting color.

Thanks for checking in............. Cheers!!!

Christmas/Holiday Card #14 - Glittery Ornaments

Today I'm sharing more cards featuring ornaments.  I was going through my paper stash looking for inspirations when I found these two patterned papers with ornaments that I thought would look great as background for my die cut ornaments.  The ornament die cuts I have ready where die cut from silver glimmer paper and I wanted colorful ornaments to match the background papers.

A while back I've seen a tutorial where they color silver glimmer paper with dye inks using aqua painter.  Perfect time to try that technique and see what kind of color I end up with.  I already decided that my first card will be turquoise, so I went with turquoise ink.  The end result was not a bright as I hoped for, at least now the ornaments are not silver.  The cards as a whole are bright and festive.  What do you think?

The second set of cards are green.  I colored the silver glimmer paper with Gumball Green, a bright shade of green but the end result was very light green.  

Without the coloring part, these are five-minute cards.  I kept the same layout and got them done very quickly.  And when I do quick cards like these it makes sense, for me, to do two since I already have another base card when I cut the first one.  An 8.5" x 11" card stock will yield two standard size cards.

I really like how they turned out even though the ornament colors were on the light side.  And if I have to pick a favorite I'd say the turquoise!

I hope you got some inspirations from today's post, the patterned papers did it for me.

Thanks for stopping by.   Until the next post............... Cheers!!!

Christmas/Holiday Card #13 - Purple Ornaments

Several years ago, one of the buildings at the Financial District in San Francisco had a Christmas tree decorated with all purple trimmings.  I thought it was gorgeous and everyday I passed by it I smiled and thought to myself that next year I'll have a purple Christmas tree.  Every Christmas since then I've tried but I never end up with a completely purple tree because each year I would still hang my favorite ornaments and they're not purple.

Yesterday, I thought of that purple tree again and that train of thought led to this purple card.  I've done quite a few whimsical cards already so I'm going for elegant this time.  What do you think?  Elegant enough?

Lots of dry embossing here.  The background used Woodgrain embossing folder, not traditional, but I like the effect here.  The ornaments were die cut first then positioned in the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder individually.  I piled on the pearls for contrast and "hanged" them with silver strings.

The photo above was taken with natural light and shows the true color.  I turned on the overhead light for the picture below and got this gorgeous shade.... love it!

If you'd like to see other cards using these Ornament dies and the coordinating stamp set, I have them posted HERE.

Thanks for checking in today.  If you have any questions or comments, please don't be shy and say something.  You can even point out my grammatical errors, after all English is my second language and when I'm in a hurry, it shows.

Until the next post ...........  Cheers!!!

Christmas/Holiday Card #12 - Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!  I recently saw a card made by Sharri Carroll  for Hero Arts that was simply adorable.  Today's card is my version of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree based on Sharri's card.

Like most paper crafter I have tons of paper scraps and this design calls for scraps.  I selected five different patterns and got to work.  I really like how it turned out.

OMG!  I'm looking at the picture and asking myself 'does it look like a tombstone?'  I certainly hope you see a tree that needs to be loved.

Until the next post my friends.......... Cheers!!!

Christmas/Holiday Card #11 - Holy Triptych

Hello!  Today I want to share a card I've been meaning to make since the beginning of this series.  I finally got to the Holy Triptych stamp sets.  In the past, I mostly used these images on vellum and made a "stained glass" look.  This time I wanted to do something different but after a few tries I'm still not getting what I had in mind.

I finally went for a simple card, white embossing, subtle colors and supposed to be no layers but I ended up with a big empty space.  Instead of stamping the Holy family on the empty space, I stamped on a die-cut oval card stock and stacked the dimensionals to elevate the image.  I'm not jumping up and down with the results but at least I was able to get the images to "connect" with each other.

I'll give this stamp set another try some other time...... maybe when I'm feeling better.  Damn this cold!!!

Until next time....... Cheers!!!

Christmas/Holiday Card #10 - O Christmas Tree II

Hello!  Today I'm sharing another Christmas tree.  Same image as this post HERE but with a different look. It's sparkly and bold but also quick and easy.

I stamped the tree with Gumball Green ink on white cardstock.  I sponged the same ink around the image, following the shape of the tree.  From scraps of red Glimmer Paper, I punched out small circles and a star.  I used glue dots to adhere the "ornaments" and star to the tree.  I mounted the main panel onto a black mat and used dimensionals to attach that to the front of the card.  I took a 3" long scalloped tulle ribbon, tied a knot and attached it to the base of the tree.  Isn't that quick and easy?

I couldn't decide where to place the sentiment so I left it out.  It's bright, bold and kinda' retro, don't you think?

I have one more Christmas tree stamped on white background and I was ready to move on to something else so I quickly put together this last one using the same elements as the first two.  You can tell it's like the adopted cousin, not much thought went into it.  LOL.

It looks unfinished to me but I'm moving on, so I'm letting it go.

Thank you for stopping by and looking at the pictures, ha ha ha.  Until the next post......... cheers!!!

Yap, all supplies are from Stampin'Up.

Christmas/Holiday Cards - Recap I

This is a recap of Christmas/Holiday cards so far this year.  For those of you who wants handmade cards to mail in time for the holidays, place your order soon.

-1-  posted HERE

-2- 

-3-   posted HERE

-4-   posted HERE

-5-   posted HERE.  Available as a pop-up gift card holder.

-6-    posted HERE

-7-   posted HERE.  Similar patterned paper maybe used for multiple orders.

 Inside pocket can hold cash or gift card

-8-    posted HERE.  Available poinsettia colors are red, burgundy, pink and coral.

 Inside pocket can hold cash or gift card

-9-   posted HERE

 Inside pop-up holds gift card.  Similar patterned paper maybe used for multiple orders.

-10-   posted HERE

-11-   posted HERE.  Available as a pop-up gift card holder.

-12-   posted HERE, see below for inside view.  Similar patterned paper maybe used for multiple orders.

-13-  

 inside pocket holds cash or gift cards.  

Similar but not identical snowflakes embellishment maybe used for multiple orders.

-14-   posted HERE.  Available as a pop-up gift card holder.

-15-   posted HERE.  Available in shades of green, yellow and blue.  Also available as a pop up gift card holder.

 posted HERE

For additional information, email or call me directly.

Cheers!!!