12 Days of Christmas--Day 1!

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Hello friends! I am so excited to welcome you back to our 2nd 12 Days of Christmas event! Melanie and I started this last year and have decided to make it a tradition! Each day for the next 12 days you can visit both of our blogs for some Holiday Inspiration! We plan on sharing some great card, project, 3 D and scrapbook inspiration with you!

Melanie and I finally got a chance to meet each other in person this past August when we attended Backstage (a leadership conference held by Stampin’ Up!) and here are a couple of my favorite pictures!

We went on a really awesome horseback ride in the desert and of course had to exchange some gifts with each other!

And here we are a few months later gearing up for the holidays!

It was actually really hard to decide what project to kick the 2023 edition of 12 Days of Christmas off with but I finally decided to share a card made with the Joy of Noel Bundle.

I decided to create a holiday card with a classic color palette of Real Red, Pecan Pie, some Old Olive on the ribbon and crisp Basic White.

I stamped the large image from the Joy of Noel stamp set in Real Red ink on the background/first layer. I colored in the Very Vanilla & Black Gingham ribbon with my Old Olive Blend Marker to give the ribbon a green hue. This is such an easy trick to incorporate or match a color to your project with the ribbon.

I thought it would be fun to use the negative image from NOEL as the focal point for this card. I layered it on top of a piece of DSP from the Joy of Christmas in the Pecan Pie music print using Dimensionals.

I cut the ribbon in half to. make a double bow to tuck in beside the NOEL and give the illusion of it being tied around the card. A few Neutrals sequins and this card was perfect!

I can’t wait to see what Melanie has created and I am looking forward to sharing some amazing things with you over the next 12 days! Click this image to visit Melanie’s blog—Mel’s Inky Fingers!

Be Inspired Blog Hop--Mini Catalogue!

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What has been inspiring you out of the 2023 Mini Catalogue? There are honestly SO MANY fantastic things that I can’t even really choose! But I am excited to see all the awesome creations today from my fellow Blog Teammates as we shared projects featuring this Mini Catalogue!

We had our first snowfall of many this week so I think it is perfect for me to share a set of holiday cards that are on a nice crisp white background. With a bit of a fun and bright color palette!

I created this fun and bright set of holiday cards featuring the Joy of Noel Bundle. I just love being able to stamp and cut out ‘Noel’ with some fabulous dies.

I knew I wanted to create these cards using one of my favorite color combination—Coastal Cabana, Flirty Flamingo, Lemon Lime Twist (welcome back, I have missed you!) and Pool Party (you know, Coastal Cabana’s bestie).

I wanted each letter to be a different color, so why not make 4 cards mixing up the colors of each letter? No brainer and so efficient!

I did a little background stamping with the image from the Joy of Noel stamp set that looks like a sweater pattern. I stamped it off on my scratch pad in Pool Party first so it was just a light color and then flicked my Pool Party Stampin’ Blend over top. I also used my Stampin’ Blend to color some of our Basic Rhinestones.

I cut a 1 1/4 x 4 1/4 inch strip of Basic White that I could add my “Noel” to. I cut the letters (all cut with one die, so awesome!) on the Foam Adhesive Sheets first, then inlaid the individual letters after stamping and die cutting them. This way the letter is raised and completely solid. I love it!

Behind the panel I added three die cut sprigs cut with Lemon Lime Twist card stock and the Joy of Noel Dies.

I also added a bit of Silver Cord and White Iridescent Ribbon (trimmed in half) behind the Noel.

I LOVE how these set of cards turned out and I cannot wait to mail them out to some friends this holiday season. I think they are so bright and festive, even though they are a bit of an unusual holiday color combination.

I am really excited to see what Janneke has designed for us this month! I love her creations and am always so inspired by them! Click on the image to head straight to her blog!

I am so happy if my project inspires you to create some projects using something other than red and green for holiday cards! Please click any image to shop with me and help me keep doing what I love!

Around the World on Wednesday--Sketch Challenge!

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Hello friends and welcome to Around the World on Wednesday, a fun Blog Hop with amazing Stampin’ Up! creators from ‘Around the World’! I am so proud to be in a Hop with so many amazing designers!

This month, we have a sketch challenge! I always love a sketch challenge to see how people interpret the sketch!

I will admit, I did stick pretty true to the original sketch and I focused on the Joy of Christmas suite with a twist on the DSP!

I decided to use the new DSP which is an Online Exclusive called Shining Christmas, instead of the DSP included in the suite. One side of the DSP has a glossy appearance and the other side is more matte.

The two primary colors in the DSP are Cherry Cobbler and Mossy Meadow, so I decided to focus on Mossy Meadow as my base and first layer. I did some background stamping with the large image from the Joy of Noel stamp set in Mossy Meadow ink.

I added a side strip of the holly leaves pattern from the Shining Christmas DSP and used a retired die to add a scallop strip in Cherry Cobbler as an accent.

Instead of 4 separate squares (as shown in the sketch) I chose to just cut one larger piece of DSP in a Cherry Cobbler X pattern. I used this as the base to add all of my other elements.

I stamped out the same image as the background in Momento ink and used my Stampin’ Blends in Mossy Meadow, Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler to color the image. I added some Wink of Stella to the berries as well.

One of my favorite dies sets is the Christmas Classics —I LOVE the label die with the greenery! You can easily snip the greenery separate from the label tot use as accents pieces, which I have done here on my card in Old Olive. I tucked it behind my colored image.

Happy Holidays is stamped from the Christmas Classics stamp set with a little bit of the Black & Very Vanilla Large Check Ribbon.

TOP TIP: If the ribbon feels to big or wide for your project—cut it in half! By doing so on this card, it felt more on scale with the sentiment.

I wanted a little bling so I took some Basic Rhinestones and gave them a quick wash of color with the Mossy Meadow Stampin’ Blend so they would have the perfect color.

I can’t wait to see what the other members of the Team have designed using this sketch! Please make sure to hop all the way around so you don’t miss any fabulous ideas!

Next up on the Hop is Theresa McEntee from the United States, I know you will love what she has made!

 
 
 

Creative Convention--Day 6!

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Welcome back friends! I hope you are enjoying everything I am sharing so far! I have had some much fun preparing all of these “Creative Convention” project ideas for you in anticipation of the new upcoming Holiday Catalogue! We are getting so close to the happiest time of year (which is my world is Sept-Dec!)

My project for today is a card with a fun fold that I make EVERY SINGLE YEAR! Its just one of my go to favorites as its a great way to give a gift card inside or hide some money or even a flat little chocolate.

This project is a combo one that uses both of the stamp sets from the Joy of Christmas Suite collection!

I love how these bundles work together so that you can build off of each one of them and I do appreciate the traditional aspect of this suite. I knew I wanted to add the Shaded Spruce gingham pattern from the Joy of Christmas 12x12 paper so I decided to make the card base the same color.

This is a standard card that is scored at 4 1/4, and then you score one side at 1 1/4 to make the flap that folds down creating the ‘pocket’. I also rounded the pocket on the flap and base for a little extra touch.

I added a 2 1/4 x 5 1/4 layer of Shaded Spruce that I ran through the Exposed Brick 3D folder in the annual catalogue—if you do not have this folder you need #addtocart now as its awesome and works with SO MANY things!

Both the Joy of Noel and the Christmas Classics stamp sets are a part of a bundle and the Christmas Classics dies have all the labels and some greenery, while the Joy of Noel dies of the word ‘Noel’ and some larger greenery. I am going to say that you will just need them both, hahaha!

The fun part of this card for me is the greenery that you see emerging from the top and bottom of this fold. I die cut this shape, which is really designed to be a label with the greenery and I cut it in half!

 

I then tucked this greenery under the DSP on the right and under the flap more in the middle leftish.

I sealed the card with 2 staples that you don’t see, to make the pocket. The I sealed the flap down with some Dimensionls.

Sometimes to keep the card closed I will use twine or ribbon. However, this time I wanted the Pecan Pie ribbon to be more of an accent in between the layers of my sentiment.

The sentiment is stamped in Cherry Cobbler and then I used one of the large images from the Joy of Noel set to stamp some imagery behind the sentiment. I used Crumb Cake ink that I stamped off on my scratch paper (or grid paper) so that it would be faint. I added the sentiment onto of a 2 1/4 inch circle of DSP to bring in a few color just peeking from the outside ring.

Lastly I added some embellishments, Adhesive-Backed Star Trinkets, from the O Holy Night suite. I thought they were a more unique touch to this project than just a gold sequin or such.

I am really really pleased with how this card turned out and I will no doubt be sharing it at my upcoming ‘Joy of Christmas’ Virtual Stamp Camp/Retreat.

Joy of Christmas Stamp Camp —co hosted with Tricia Schaelow from @stampint—if you are not following her, please do!

When: Saturday, Oct 21 at 10:30 am on Zoom (which is awesome as anyone from Canada can join in the fun with us)

Fun Stuff: The stamp camp is $75 and includes everything you see below —Joy of Noel stamp set, full roll of Black & Very Vanilla ribbon, and half a pkg of the Joy of Christmas 12x12 paper PLUS a special guest demonstration from my friend Julie @thepaperhaven and 6-8 make’n takes! These won’t be your ordinary make’n takes either—they will be a mix of 3D, holiday decor and cards!

Registration closes on Sept 30th for this event and your kit can be shipped anywhere in Canada at your expense! Please reach out if you are interested in registering (one of these days I will figure out how to take payment through Squarespace!)

I have one more project to share with you tomorrow as a part of my ‘Creative Convention’ weeklong extravaganza! I hope you will come back and please feel free to leave any comments!