KittieKraft

Be Jolly Snowman Scene

Card Sale Announcement!

I will be posting another card sale on my blog this Saturday morning.  I hope you can come by and check it out!

I had fun creating this snowman scene for the Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge to use light green, kraft and white.

I pulled out my Our Craft Lounge Be Jolly set and stamped the winter tree on a piece of kraft cardboard.  I stamped the snowman on plane white cardstock and lightly painted with reinkers.  I cut the tree and snowman out to pop up over the white embossed background and framed with a double matted frame using light green and kraft cardstock. 

I think this is such a precious snowman.  He looks so jolly.

I am so happy you stopped by.

Stamps: Our Craft Lounge Be Jolly
Ink: Pumice Stone, Black, Shabby Shutters, Fired Brick, Black Soot
Paper: White, Spring Moss, Kraft
Accessories: Flower soft, Stickles, Nesties, Cuttlebug

Fast and Easy Christmas Tags and Clean and Simple Christmas Window and Wreath

Do you seem to go into overdrive and try to make things harder than they need to be with your Christmas preparations? I sure do!!!Today I want to share some  fast and easy Christmas tags and a clean and simple Christmas card. Who says simple can’t be wonderful!!

 

I used the new Papertrey In The Meadow die collection for the tags.  Aren’t they cute.  The sledding and deer silhouettes were placed in front of trees from my Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose set.  The little snowman was placed in front of a crimped tree made with the Marvy Holiday multi image punch. These projects literally took only minutes each. Here are some closer views.

If you put a gun to my head I wouldn’t be able to tell you what sets the To and From are from but I can tell you they were both Stampin’ Up!

I know I may have gone a little overboard using the new window die but it is just so easy and fun. I think it is perfect layered over the solid pink card base with the mini wreath in the window. The mini wreath only took a few minutes and I think it adds so much to this clean and elegant project.  I added a section in my wreath tutorial on making the mini wreaths if you would like to check it out.

I hope you have a great week.  I have been off work for five days so it will be a little touch to go back.

Stamps:  SU Unknown To and Froms, Kittie Kits The Moose Is Loose
Paper:  Red, White, Brown
Ink:  Forest Moss, Fired Brick
Accessories:  Papertrey In the Meadow Die Set, Marvy Holiday Punch, Gingham, Satin, Grosgrain, Our Daily Bread Tag Die

Paper: Pink, White, Spring Moss
Accessories: Poppy Stamps Grand Madison Window, 1" Circle Punch (to form ring for wreath) Martha Stewart Pine Branch Punch, 1/8" hole Punch, Glossy Accents, Mounting Tape,

Christmas Village

Last night I finished my tiny ornament size school house, the last of the three buildings for my Christmas village made with the Martha Stewart Winter Village templates.  Whew!  I had big plans to do several buildings but three is going to have to be enough. Working with these tiny buildings and images was lots of fun but very tedious and time consuming.

This is my school house.

I cut the tiny windows and door out of one of the houses from Papertrey’s Board and Beams set. The windows seemed perfect to portray the plain windows seen in old fashioned school houses.  I especially love the tiny belfry.

Here is a photo of the complete village.

Here are pictures with snow added to all the roofs.  I think all the snow adds such a magical touch.

I love the little snowy village. 

Click on the images to see a little larger version.

Thanks for looking at my Christmas Village creations.  I hope you have a wonderful week.

Stamps: Papertrey Boards and Beams and Home Made
Paper: White, Blue Bayou, Red, Artichoke
Ink: Black Versafine
Accessories: Martha Stewart Winter Village Templates, Clear Embossing Powder, Snips, Glossy Accents, Gold Twine, MS Pine Punch, Marvy Holiday Multi Image Punch (trees and star), Flower Soft, Satin, Crimper

More Winter Windows

Good Saturday morning!  I hope you didn’t tire yourself out shopping on Black Friday.  There is no way I would venture out shopping in all those crowds.  I usually do all my Christmas shopping on line.  It is so much easier on the feet.  LOL!

I seem to have gone a little crazy over using my new window die.  I have two winter projects to share today both made with the window die but yet very different. My first was made for the Splitcoaststampers Free For All challenge to create a winter card using black and white with black being the major focus.

I love the stark winter trees in Stampin’ Up!’s Lovely As A Tree set and it seemed perfect to pair with the black window.  I couldn’t resist adding a touch of color with the tiny evergreen wreath with red balls and bow.

I made the tiny wreath using just the top portion of the MS pine branch punch,  I created the tiny wreath ring by cutting into a 3/4” punched circle and cutting out the ring. It’s easier to show than tell.

The tiny three sprig top of the pine branch is just the perfect size for the little wreath.

I clear embossed the red cardstock and punched 1/8” circles for the Christmas balls.

My second project is an actual open window on the front that shows through to the tree scene on the inside.

I used a rectangle Nestabilities just a tiny bit smaller than the window to cut an opening in the card front. I made two windows and put one on the inside to finish the opening nicely.

You can see my Winter Snow Scene tutorial if you would like to see step by step pictures of how I painted my trees and added snow.

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for stopping by.

Stamps: Lovely As a Tree
Ink: Black Versafine
Paper: Black, White, Red, Olive
Accessories: Poppy Stamps Grand Madison Window Die, Martha Stewart Pine Branch Punch, 1/8" Hole Punch, Clear Embossing Powder, Glossy Accents, Cuttlebug Folder, 3/4 Circle Punch (for wreath), Satin, Mounting Tape 

Stamps: Rubbernecker Evergreen 689 690 694 SO
Paper: Cottage Christmas, White, Olive
Ink: Black, Shabby Shutters, Vintage Photo, Stormy Sky, White Craft
Accessories: Poppy Stamps Grand Madison Window, Brushes, White Embossing Powder, Oblong Nestabilities, Martha Stewart Pine Branch and Holly Punch, Satin

Gold Framed Poinsettia

Good Friday morning!  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I was up early Thursday morning and had the opportunity before starting my meal preparations to play in the Splitcoaststampers Ways To Use It challenge .  The challenge was to use ribbon in a different manner other than in a bow or straight line across the card front. 

I created a large single poinsettia and a gold embossed frame for my project.  I added heat embossed and curled strands of gold organdy ribbon to embellish the flower and to match the gold frame.

Enjoy the rest of your long holiday weekend.  Beware out there on Black Friday.  I will surely be home and avoiding that awful rush.

Accessories: Nestabilities Lattice Rectangle and Oblong, Spellbinder Poinsettia Die, Gold Embossing Powder, Gold Ribbon, Versa, Brad, Mounting Tape, Stylus, Mouse Pad, Glossy Accents, SU Lattice Folder

Sketch Challenge Inspiration and Christmas Scene

Happy Thanksgiving! I had a wonderful time being off work Wednesday for the holiday and having the opportunity to play in the Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge.  I usually get home to late from work on Wednesdays and don’t get to play often. Here is the sketch we had to work with.

My first project is clean and simple with a punched pine wreath filled with little red flowers and a red multi loop Christmas ribbon.  I love the Wishing You Peace sentiment and have used it several times on my holiday cards.  I think it is perfect on the all white background with the tiny little flower and sprig for embellishment.

My second project was made using the bird punch and the pine branch punch.  I assembled the base of the card and then applied the white scalloped circle to the base.  I created the pine spray for the bird to nest in along with pine branches and my little homemade pinecones.

The pinecones are a little hard to see in the photo to I took a close up for closer view. I cut the roundness off the leaves of the bird punch foliage to create the appearance of branches.

Click on the photo for a close view.

Just for fun today I played with the templates from the Martha Stewart Winter Village. I created the tiny ornament size church and paired it with Papertrey’s Home Made stamps and template. 

I printed the roof from the Papertrey template and reduced the size to fit the church.  I used window images from the Home Made stamps set and cut out the inner sections to create windows and a door to fit. The finishing touch was to add little cut sprigs from the MS pine punch to the windows and doors.  I couldn’t resist adding a tiny, tiny wreath over the entrance that I made it with the cut sprigs as well.

The trees were punched using Marvy’s Holiday multi image punch.  Each tree was made using two punched and crimped trees.  I cut one from the top down the center and one up the center and slid them together to create the dimensional tree.  I cut the bottom off of one set to make a smaller tree.  The star is another image from the Marvy punch. There are trees in the MS Winter village template but I liked being able to punch mine out.

The steeple of this template can be blown up to 140% of the size you see here and fits on the the Papertrey Home Made house. I will try that next.  My husband sized it for me today as I wasn’t smart enough to figure out how to do it.  LOL!

I hope you are having a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving with your family and friends.  Thanks for stopping by.

Stamps: Rubbernecker Wishing You Peace 410-05
Paper: Red, White, Artichoke, Olive
Ink: Forest Moss
Accessories: Martha Stewart Pine Punch (retired I think), Martha Stewart Hydrangea Punch, 1/8" Circle Punch, Grosgrain, Stylus, Mouse Pad, Nestabilities, Glossy Accents, Stickles, Paper Piercer (for picking up and holding tiny pieces)

Accessories: SU Bird Punch, Martha Stewart PATP Snowflake Punch and Pine Branch Punch (retired), Smallest Oval Nestabilities for Pinecones, Sponge, Stylus, Mouse Pad, Glossy Accents, Mounting Tape

Accessories: Martha Stewart Winter Village Templates, Papertrey Home Made Roof Template and Home Made Window Stamps, MS Pine Branch Punch, Black Versafine, Clear EP, Marvy Holiday Multi Image Punch, Glossy, Accents, Bone Folder, Stickles (on star), Satin

Another Snowy Window

The Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge Tuesday was to use Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz and Marina Mist.  I loved the soft color combination although I don’t have some of those colors but substituted with what I had on hand.  Here’s what I came up with.

I created the sky background on white cardstock using a hand cut cloud template and sponge. I punched the tree out of pale green, crimped it, then applied flower soft. The snowman was die cut using a Papertrey die and I hand cut all the pink clothing embellishments. I attached the tree and snowman to the cloud layer and then applied flower soft to the ground area. I layered the window over the scene using mounting tape.

I am off work for the rest of the week and looking forward to a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I am sure I will be getting some inky fingers over the long weekend.

Accessories: Broken China Ink, Poppy Stamps Grand Madison Window Die, Papertrey Snowman Die, Flower Soft, Marvy Multi Image Holiday Punch, Sponge, Hand Cut Cloud Template, Cuttlebug Folder, Crimper

Let It Snow

I have another quick and easy snowy scene to share with you today.  It just takes a couple of tree images, a sponge, ink and a paper mask for the ground area and the big fat moon add a touch of snowflakes and you are all finished.

Check out my Winter Moonlight Snow Scene tutorial if you would like to see step by steps photos of how I created this project.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Stamps: Rubbernecker Kittie Kits The Moose Is Loose
Paper: Buckaroo Blue, Watercolor
Ink: Stormy Sky, White Craft
Accessories: Circle Punch, Hand cut Paper Mask, White Embossing Powder, Nestabilities

Fun Holiday Projects

I’ve had fun this morning creating holiday projects.  One is for a Splitcoaststampers Challenge and the other is for the new Rubbernecker Design Team challenge.

My first project was made for the SCS challenge.

The window was created with a new Poppystamps die called Grand Madison window.  I created the little scene behind it with trees from the Kittie Kits The Moose Is Loose set.  Have you guessed that these are my favorite trees ever.  There is also a matching larger tree in the Evergreen Set.  I sponged the sky using a hand cut scalloped cloud template, stamped the trees and added tiny bits of snow on the branches with white craft ink as well as creating falling snow and then embossed with white embossing powder. The tiny snowman is part of the image from  When At First You Don’t Succeed.  The finishing touches was adding the pine swag on the window as well as touches of Flower Soft snow.

The Rubbernecker Design Team Blog will be hosting weekly challenges every Sunday and the first one is today.  Please go and check it out and participate for a chance to win a weekly prize. The challenge today is an inspiration challenge.

Here is what I came up with.

 

This was a fast and easy project.  I stamped the stocking on red and again on white and green.  I cut out the pieces and paper pieced them to create the different stocking pieces.  I stamped the pine and sentiment on plain white cardstock and and layered over the die punched background.  The stocking was placed to appear hanging from the tree.

Thanks for looking in today.

Stamps: Rubbernecker Kittie Kits The Moose Is Loose KKCS S002 , When At First You Don't Succeed 405-04
Paper: White, Watercolor
Ink: Black Versafine, Forest Moss, Broken China, Fired Brick, White Craft
Accessories: Martha Stewart Pine Branch Punch, Satin, Flower Soft, Glossy Accents, Mounting Tape, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Poppystamps Grand Madison Window
Die

Stamps:  Rubbernecker Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 52-12, Pine Sprig Set 24-0102, Stocking 53-03    Paper:  Red, Green, White    Ink:  Black, Fired Brick, Peeled Paint, White Craft    Accessories:  White Puff, Clear Embossing Powder, Grosgrain, Nestabilities Die

 

Poinsettia Tutorial

I have had many requests for a step by step tutorial on how I make my poinsettias.  They are not complicated at all but there are several simple steps to make them appear lifelike.  No flower or leaf in nature is flat or without texture and dimension.  With my technique I work to recreate the veins in the petals and the leaves.  I used the largest to the smallest dies to create a large flower to better view the steps.  I hope this tutorial will help you create your own beautiful poinsettias for your holiday cards and gifts. Just so you know these flowers will not fit well into an envelope so you may want to create small gift boxes to enclose them in.

Supplies: Spellbinder Poinsettia dies,  stylus, mouse pad or piercing mat, adhesive (I think a liquid adhesive is best), paper piercer, sponges, ink, cardstock, Martha Stewart Pine Branch Punch, 

1.  Carefully remove your flower from the die using a piercer or other sharp object.  Pay close attention to pushing at the center so you don’t tear off your petal.  Don’t worry if you do…you can glue it back on but it shortens the leaf a little bit.

2. Lay your flower face down on the mat and scrunch the leaves down into the mat using your stylus.  Stay clear of the delicate flower center when pushing so you don’t tear off your leaves. I use a larger stylus for the larger leaves and a smaller one for smaller leaves.

When you are finished your flower should look like this. You can choose not to distress it as much as I do so your flower will lay a little flatter.

3.  Lay your flower top side up on the mat and push lightly down in the center to create the little natural well in the center and to raise your leaves up.

Notice I am using the smaller stylus on the smaller flowers.

4.  Hold the flower in the center and lightly sponge ink on each flower petal to highlight the texture created with the stylus. This step provides depth of color on the ridges and allows the flower petal to maintain some of the original color of the cardstock.  I hope that made sense!!  LOL!!!

This photo shows the difference between petals that have been sponged and ones that have not. You can see how much more lifelike the petals looks with the addition of ink. This photo makes the ink look much darker than it really is but I edited it that way so you could see the contrast.

5.  I heat dry all the petals to make sure the ink is dry.  The adhesive doesn’t like to stick very well to damp ink.

6.  As you can see I use the largest flower petal for not only the colorful flower but for the foliage as well. Apply adhesive to the center of your largest flower and attach your next smallest flower.  Push down on the center with the paper piercer to hold it in place. Maneuver the top flower petals to be offset from the base to create the natural appearance of the flower.  You do not want your petals to be stacked right on top of each other. 

Repeat the steps until you have added all the layers.

I added one more layer of green foliage to create a fuller base.  I lightly  manipulated the different layers of leaves to make sure they were offset and natural looking.  I added three little white pearls for the flower center.

6.  I am going to show the additional steps that I take to create a card front that will definitely put the flower on center stage.

I created a frame using a square Fleur De Lis die and a regular square Nestabilities die. Check out my matted frame tutorial if you would like to see how I make my frames.

7.  I attached thin cut strips of mounting tape to the back of the frame and attach the frame to the card base.

8.  Apply plenty of liquid adhesive to the back of the flower and attach in the center of the frame. Push the flower down with your paper piercer in several spots to secure it to the base.

9.  I like to add a bit of punched foliage under the leaves all around the flower to add a soft and natural touch.

Apply a drop of adhesive to the lowest point of the pine. Lift up the leaf with your paper piercer and scoot the pine under.  Push down on the pine with your paper piercer to attach.  This step will also make the top of the pine pop up a little so it doesn’t lay flat and will look more natural. Add as much or as little as you like.

I hope this has been a help to you. I have sure become addicted to making paper flowers so be careful….it may happen to you as well.

Soft Sky Snowy Scene

I love making snowy scenes and I created a new one for my blog banner along wth the sweet little snowman scene below. 

My little snowman was punched with the Marvy Holiday multi image punch and I dressed him up with a top hot and light blue scarf to march the clouds in the sky and the card base. I stamped the trees across the page and sponged the sky with a hand cut cloud template. I painted the ground area and created falling snow with white craft ink and embossed with white embossing powder.  I punched the snowflake border and then created a double matted frame mounted with mounting tape. I couldn’t resist adding a few of the punched snowflakes to the sky.

 

Have a great weekend and I appreciate you stopping by.

Stamps: Rubbernecker Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose
Paper: Soft Sky, Cream, Watercolor, Black
Ink: Forest Moss, Broken China, White Craft, Black Versafine
Accessories: Sponge, Cloud Template, White Embossing Powder, Martha Stewart PATP Snowflake Set, 1/16 Hole Punch, Martha Stewart Pine Punch

 

More Poinsettias

I rarely get to play in the Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge but had the opportunity to yesterday evening.  The minute I saw the sketch I knew I wanted to play  with my Poinsettia die set again.  Here is the sketch for the challenge.

Here’s what I came up with.

I love the red trim on the all white card and the way the poinsettias pop.  I love the simple holiday sentiment and letting the flowers shine.

I hope to post a step by step tutorial this weekend on how I make my poinsettias and add them to a floral spray or wreath.  I have just a couple steps that I do after cutting the die that seems to breath life into the flower.

I hope you are having a great week. Thanks for stopping in.

Stamps: Rubbernecker wishing You The Hope 410-02     Paper: Red, White     Ink: Forest Moss, Cranberry     Accessories: Spellbinders Poinsettia Die Set, Stylus, Mouse Pad, Glossy Accents, Rhinestones, Paper Piercer, Sponge

Snowy Scene Gift Bag

Don't forget to check out the Rubbernecker Holiday Blog Hop going on now and ending Thursday night. You could have a chance to win a Rubbernecker stamp set of your choise.

The Technique Lovers Challenge on Splitcoaststampers was to Wrap It Up! I decided to create a fun snowy scene gift bag that was fast, fun and easy. 

This is one of those cheap bags like you buy in a baker’s dozen for a couple of dollars.  I was surprised at how vibrant the ink showed on the thin paper. Blake the snowman was stamped on watercolor paper, painted and cut out. Both Blake and the Snowflake set are from the new 2011 Winter Holiday collection at Rubbernecker. The trees are from the Evergreen set and Kittie Kits The Moose is Loose.  PS…..these are the best Christmas trees ever.

Stamps: Rubbernecker Blake 593-01, Snowflake Set 587, The Moose is Loose KKCS S002, Evergreen Set 689 690 694 SO
Paper: Watercolor
Ink: Forest Moss, Broken China, Fired Brick, Black
Accessories: Wavy Crimper, Brush, Deckle Scissors

Framed Poinsettia

 

I have a fun and clean and simple project to share with you today. I love to create solid white cards with a pop of color for the main focal point.  This framed poinsettia certainly pops against the all white.  I used green ink for the sentiment for just a little more color.

I used the Spellbinders Poinsettia die set to create the poinsettia and used gold brads for the flower center.  The frame was created with Nestabilities square dies.  I mounted the layer for the flower with mounting tap on the inside of the card.

Check my Kittie’s Korner post today on the Rubbernecker blog if you would like to see a similar framed project using gold embossing and the new Rubbernecker Christmas Tree set. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great week.

Stamps: Rubbernecker Wishing You Peace 410-05
Paper: White, Red, Olive
Ink: Cranberry, Forest Moss
Accessories: Gold Brads, Nestabilities Square, Spellbinders Poinsettia Die Set, Glossy Accents, Stylus, Mouse Pad, Sponge

Rubbernecker Holiday Hop

Good Sunday Morning.  Welcome and thanks for joining us in the Rubbernecker Blog Holiday Hop. Our design team has lots of holiday images to share with you today. Grab a cup of coffee and hop to each design team post to see all the wonderful holiday creations. While you are on your way you may want to leave a comment at each stop so you can qualify for you choice of any Rubbernecker stamp set of your choice. Mr. Rubbernecker wants you to  choose something you would enjoy having. I have listed the design team below to make it easy for you to follow and you will leave your final comment at the Rubbernecker blog. You will have until Thursday 11/17 at midnight to complete the hop and the winner will be announced on the Rubbernecker Blog Friday 11/18.

We are very excited to announce that the design team will start holding Rubbernecker Challenges on Sunday 11/20. We would love to see your creative Rubbernecker projects and hope you will join us in the fun.

The holiday project that am sharing today is made with one of the newly released snowmen from the 2011 Winter Holiday collection. I love snowmen, Christmas trees, snowy scenes and creating dimensional projects. This snowman image gave me the perfect opportunity put all of these things I love into one fun card.

I stamped the image on watercolor paper and again on olive and red.  I cut and paper pieced the tree, hat, mittens and scarf to give more pop against the white snowy background.  I punched the little distant trees on two layers, sponged olive on each tree and then crimped with my wavy crimper to give the appearance of snow.  I cut a couple more wavy crimped layers with deckle scissors to add more dimension and attached to the scene.  I inserted the additional punched and crimped trees along with the snowman in between the deckled snowy layers.  The finishing touch was to pop up all the tiny falling snowflakes.  I may have gotten carried away but I just couldn’t stop myself.  LOL!  Here are a couple other views.

 

Thanks again for joining us and I hope you enjoy our hop as much as we enjoyed presenting it to you.  There is nothing more fun than holiday projects.

Bev Gerard

Charlene Driggs

Charlene Merrick

Frances Gumprecht

Holly McMillen

Jacquie Peifer

Jen Charboneau

Jennifer Cuthbertson

Joan Ervin

Judy Rozema

Julia Aston

Juliana Swanson

Karen Hunsaker

Kecia Waters

Kittie Caracciolo that’s me

Maria Gurnsey

Rubbernecker Stamps

Stamps:  Rubbernecker 2011 Winter Holiday Collection 594-02   Paper:  Watercolor, white, Red, Olive, Blue    Ink:  Peeled Paint, Stormy Sky, Pumpkin Pie, Black Versafine    Accessories:  EK Success Pine Punch, Marvy Multi Image Holiday Punch, Sponge, Crimpers, Martha Stewart Punch Around The Page Snowflake Punch, Glossy Accents

Musical Angels

I have a sweet angelic project to share with you today with a Stampavie Tina Wenke image called Musical Angels.  I think they are so adorable. 

 

I stamped the image with versa on watercolor paper and embossed with gold embossing powder.  I painted with reinkers and framed with gold cardstock.  I used the gold for the poinsettia, holly and pine to create a flower spray that would embellish the image rather than detract.

Thanks for looking in today and I hope you are having a great weekend.

Stamps: Stampavie Tina Wenke Musical Angels
Paper: Watercolor, Papertrey Gold
Ink: Versa, Antique Linen, Scattered Straw, Fired Brick, Peeled Paint
Accessories: Spellbinders Poinsettia Die, Martha Stewart Pine and Holly Punches, Glossy Accents, Stylus, Mouse Pad, Gold EP, Organdy Ribbon

Snowman Stair Step

I have a fun winter holiday project to share with you today using the stair step fold. Rubbernecker’s Blake is the friendly snowman featured in this snowy tree filled scene. I think he is so cute. The sign of the image comes empty and I filled it with the sentiment Holiday Greetings. I thought it was perfect since Blake is waving.

I created the stair step card layout by following the measurements supplied on the stair step fold tutorial found at Splitcoaststampers resource page. Blake was stamped on watercolor paper with black versafine, embossed with clear embossing powder and then painted with reinkers. The fence and large crimped trees are both made from Papertrey dies. The small crimped trees and the star were punched using Marvy’s multi image holiday punch. I cut all the snowy layers using deckle scissors and attached them on each step. The trees and snowman were tucked in behind the layers. I added the little pine sprigs and bows to the fence and added a few little Papertrey die cut cardinals for the finishing touches. Here a couple other views.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Stamps: Rubbernecker Blake 593-01, Holiday Greetings 23-11
Paper: white, Olive, Red, Watercolor
Ink: Black Versafine, Stormy Sky, Fired Brick
Accessories: Papertrey Fence, Tree and Cardinal Dies, Crimper, Stickles, Martha Stewart Pine Branch Punch, Clear EP, Marvy Multi Christmas Image Punch, Satin

More Falling Snowflakes

I have a short post today to share another cute snowy snowman scene with punched falling snowflakes.  No stamping involved here just lots of cute punched and die cut images along with some wavy crimped snow drifts.

I know most people who have been stamping for a while think of the crimper as an old-fashioned tool with not much pizzazz. It really is one of my favorite tools and I have it close at hand all the time.  The corrugated texture adds so much dimension and interest to anything from a leaf to a complete background layer.  If you haven’t used your crimper in a while you may want to pull it out from the bottom of your junk drawer and dust it off. Take another look at a couple other views.

Have a great day.

Paper: Red, White, Olive, Blue, Black
Accessories: Crimper, Martha Stewart Punch around the Page Snowflake set,  Marvy Multi Image Christmas Punch , Sizzix Die, Glossy Accents, Deckle Scissors

Holly and Pine Wreath

I had fun today playing with my Martha Stewart holly punch.  I have wanted to try making a wreath with the foliage but wasn’t quite sure how it would turn out.  When I was finished applying all the holly foliage I knew I had to add springs of the pine branch punch to soften it. I really like how it turned out.

I created a circle for the base of the wreath using Nestabilities dies.  I applied the leaves with Glossy Accent rotating them from side to side.  I applied sprigs of pine between the holly leaves to soften then applied the little red berries made with the holly punch and covered them with Stickles. Sadly the sparkle doesn’t show well in the photos. I thought the red organdy multi loop bow was the perfect finishing touch. If you would like step by step photos of how I create my wreaths check out my paper floral wreath tutorial. The base of the card was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.  Here are a couple other views.

I hope you have a great week and I really appreciate you stopping by.

Paper: Red, White, Olive
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Martha Stewart Holly and Pine Branch Punch, Glossy Accents, Paper Piercer (to hold foliage in place while attaching), Stickles

Falling Snowflakes

Happy Sunday morning!  I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.  I have a fun Christmas card to share with you made totally with punches.  I recently got a multi image Christmas punch made by Marvy that has a tree, snowman, candy cane, dove and a star.  I used the tree and snowman on this project.  The falling snowflakes are from the Martha Stewart Punch Around The Page Snowflake set.  I think they are so cute.

I punched the snowflake border and used  Nestabilities square dies t create the double matted frame. I cut two layers of snowy ground using my deckle scissors and adhered to the card base.  I put mounting tape on the back of the frame and placed it on the card base.  I attached the the crimped Christmas tree and the cute snowman and then the falling snowflakes. There is a tiny bit of green foliage and red berries on the hat but you can’t see it well in the photo. The carrot nose was hand cut and the black coal eyes and buttons were made with 1/18” and 1/16” circle punches.  Here’s a couple other views. 

This was a fairly easy and fast project and would be easy to mass produce for Christmas cards.  Sadly, I get too bored to mass produce anything.

Paper: Blue, White, Green, Black
Accessories: Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch Around The Page and Pine Branch (hat trim) Punches, Marvy Multi Image Christmas Punch, 1.8 and 1/16" circle punches, Crimper, Glossy Accents, Dimensionals, Deckle Scissors, Satin, Glue Dots

Thanks for stopping by.

Pinecone Tutorial

I made a card a few weeks ago created with a couple handmade paper pinecones and I wanted to share a tutorial today on how I made them.  I love what they add to the bows of pine. I made the pinecones in the photo using the smallest Nestabilities scalloped die.  I used a much larger die in the tutorial to make it easier to view in the photos.

Supplies:  Round scallop die or punch, snips, stylus, embossing or mouse pad, adhesive, and cardstock.  I used light tan.

Click on each photo if you would like to see a closer view.

1.  Punch or die cut your scalloped circle.

2.  Cut pie shaped sections from the circle.  I cut every third scallop.

3.  Cut several sections to create your pinecone layers.

4.  Sponge darker brown ink on the sections.  Sponging darker ink on the tan cardstock allows for different tones to show through in the layers rather than using a darker solid brown cardstock.

5.  Cut just a tiny bit in between each scallop to allow the scallop to roll easily when distressed with the stylus.

6.  Turn the section over to the backside on the mouse pad and lightly roll the stylus over it to soften up and distress the cardstock and to round out to help form the cone.

7.  Turn the section back over and push down each scalloped edge with the stylus to make it curl backwards.

8.  Repeat this to create as many layers as you desire.

9. Apply adhesive to the backside of the layer that you want to be the top of the pinecone. Attach to the underside of the top section but moving the second layer up so the scallops stick up above the base scalloped layer. Repeat for as many layers as you desire.

10.  Now you have a lovely pinecone to add to your project.

If you would like to see a tutorial on creating the pine spray check out my Flower Spray tutorial.

Clean And Simple Color

Good morning! I have a quick post for you today.  I played in the Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple color challenge to use cream, red and chocolate brown.  Here is what I came up with.  No stamping involved.

This project was made with the Stampin’ Up! Bird punch and the Martha Stewart Pine Branch punch. I wanted all the focus to be on the stems, bird and nest.  I really like how this turned out. Here is a couple other views.  Click on the photos to see a larger view.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.