Scrappy Christmas Cards

How are you going at getting ready for Christmas? I've been making some Christmas cards and some Christmas jewellery gift boxes for a friend who makes jewellery.

These cards have been made using offcuts and scraps from the Christmas card kits that I prepared for the Rural Women's Retreat a few weeks ago (see one of my earlier blogs). I cut up DSP (Designer Series Paper) for the card fronts and was left with a whole bunch of strips measuring around half an inch wide. I found a video on You Tube about how to use these so I gave it a go.

I made three cards using scraps - I still have plenty of scraps to make some more!

Cut your card base to whatever size you want (mine are 4" x 6"). You'll need a piece of cardboard cut to size for your card (mine are 3.5" x 5.5"). Any old cardboard will do, you won't be able to see it when you've finished - it's a good opportunity to use those pieces of cardboard that come with the packs of DSP! I used Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets on the backing cardboard so I could lay down the strips easily. I could have used glue but I didn't want to be bothered with applying more and using it before it dried, plus the Adhesive Sheets give you full 100% coverage on the backing, no bits falling off later.

Lay down the strips diagonally in any order to make a nice pattern. Start in the middle and work out to the edges. Try to use paper that is the same thickness (but different widths are fine) and don't worry about what piece goes where - there's no right or wrong with this technique. Don't forget to use both sides of the DSP, too. Once the backing is fully covered, just trim off the excess paper around the edges and adhere the front to the card base. Stamp your sentiment onto Whisper White cardstock using coordinating ink, then punch or die-cut the labels, mount them with Stampin' Dimensionals and decorate the card with some rhinestones. You can use coordinating cardstock to make a mat if you choose. Here are close up shots of the three cards that I've made so far.

This one has a Cherry Cobbler mat under the front piece and I punched a Starburst in Garden Green to place under the sentiment label.

I love the Stitched Shapes Framelits dies, that 'stitching' around the edge gives it that extra oomph

This technique works on cards in any format (landscape or portrait)

I also used some scraps to make pinwheel embellishments for those gift boxes that I mentioned earlier, but more about those next time.

Thanks for reading, I hope it's given you some ideas.

Ellen Budden

Two Tone Happy Birthday Card

The 2017 Holiday Catalogue is available NOW!! Lots of lovelies in there. I will include some of the new items in my next blog.

I subscribe to Lisa Curcio's You Tube channel. Lisa is a US Stampin' Up! demonstrator and has some great tips and cards. This is one of her cards and we made this one at our Craft Group get-together this week. Lisa has very kindly allowed me to use her card in my blog. The photos used in the instructions are taken from Lisa's video. The video itself is at the bottom.

This is my version of Lisa's card. I forgot to use Dimensionals for the "Birthday" pennant (doh!).

Materials

·         Pool Party A4 Cardstock 

·         Whisper White A4 Cardstock 

·         Basic Black A4 Cardstock 

·         Mini Stampin' Dimensionals 

·         Multipurpose Liquid Glue 

·         White Stampin' Chalk Marker 

·         Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad 

·         Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad 

·         Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad 

Equipment

·         Paper trimmer 

·         Bone folder 

·         Big Shot 

·         Balloon Celebration Photopolymer Stamp Set 

·         Marquee Messages Photopolymer Stamp Set 

·         Happy Birthday Thinlits Die 

·         Sponge Daubers 

·         Paper Snips 

·         Silicone Craft Sheet 

·         Stampin' Sponge 

Instructions

1.      Cut the cardstock as below:

·         Pool Party cardstock base is cut 5½" x 8½", score at 4¼" on the long edge 

·         Basic Black cardstock layer is cut 3⅞" x 5⅛"

·         Whisper White cardstock layer is cut 3¾" x 5"

·         Whisper White cardstock banner is cut ¾" x 2¾"

2.      Using the two solid balloons from the Balloon Celebration Photopolymer Stamp Set, stamp in Pool Party and Pear Pizzazz as per the picture, don't forget to stamp the strings as well. Use a Chalk marker to put a "!" on the top edge of each balloon to give a bit of depth.

          

3.      Using the Happy Birthday Thinlits Die, die cut the Happy Birthday in Whisper White and Basic Black. Trim them so you just have the "Happy", or just place the cardstock so that you only get the "Happy" - some trimming will probably still be required, however.

4.      Mask half of the Whisper White "Happy" using one or more sticky notes and add colour using a dauber or sponge. Move the mask and do the same to the bottom. Leave a small amount of the first colour showing when you set up the second mask so that you don't end up with a white line across the middle.

        

5.      Adhere the coloured "Happy" to the black one. A good method for doing this is to use the Silicon Craft Sheet and a piece of Stampin' Sponge. Place some Multipurpose Liquid Glue onto a corner of the sheet and then use the sponge to gently daub the glue onto the back of the coloured "Hello". You won't need much glue. Store the piece of sponge in an airtight container to prevent the glue from drying out. You can use this over again whenever you need it. Place the coloured "Hello" onto the black "Hello" positioning it slightly off to create a shadow effect. Adhere to the card using glue or Mini Stampin' Dimensionals.

          

6.      Stamp the "Birthday!" from the Marquee Messages Photopolymer Stamp Set onto the small piece of Whisper White cardstock leaving some room on the left to cut the pennant end. Once the end is cut, adhere to the card with the right side lined up with the right side of the white mat.

The ladies in the Woomera Craft Group had a fun time making this card. Here we are with our cards.

Ladies of the Woomera Craft Group, l to r: Kara, Amanda, Heather, Kieran and me!

This is Lisa's video

Thanks for reading today's blog. I hope you enjoy making your own version of this card, and thanks again to Lisa Curcio for the inspiration and the permission :)

Ellen Budden