Merry and Bright Cards

What happens you combine Echo Park cardstock with a Stampin' Up stamp and Spellbinder's Nestabilities?  You get fun Christmas cards that are as cute as they are easy!  Including stamping, heat embossing, cutting out the elements and assembling, I made these two card in about thirty minutes!




I began by stamping the Merry and Bright Stampin' Up phrase in embossing ink on smooth white cardstock.  I topped the embossing ink with bright red embossing powder and heat embossed.  Using round nesties, I cut out the Merry and Bright phrase.  I used red chalk to highlight the edge of the white circles and then I used Nestie's Lacey Circles and cut out the lacey matting.




I affixed the Merry and Bright circles to a fun snowflake print by Echo Park atop a glittery blue mat.  Stampin' Up ribbon was added, as well as fun glittery corners and then the entire card front was mounted onto a red card.

The inside of the card was stamped with a Stampin' Up Christmas greeting and two little red snowflakes.  The cards have matching red envelops that were stamped with white snowflakes. 




And now I have to go wrap the two items that UPS delivered after dinner.... And I had foolishly thought I was finished wrapping!!  I checked my list and discovered that I have three more items due in this week and UPS confirms that they are on their way!  So five more packages to wrap and THEN I will be done!!Source URL: http://soniceview.blogspot.com/search/label/Christmas%20Cards
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A quick card with lacey nesties and tiny stamps

I spent a big part of the weekend addressing Christmas cards and made the horrifying discovery that I am eleven cards short!  I do have others I could use - just none that I really like.  So, I will be making some last minute cards for a couple of neighbors and for my husband's staff.  Doug likes to give each staff member gift separate from anything the company does for them and he likes to include one of my cards.




The card was whipped together from leftovers, but came out cute.  I cut a white base card and topped it with a leftover piece of red cardstock, ticket punching the corners.  Atop that I place a scrap of fun snowflake paper with rounded corners.  I attached the HO HO HO festive ribbon, but needed to find something for the center.

That is when I remembered the little dollar stamps I had picked up at Michaels.  I stamped the ornaments in Stampin' Up Red Riding Hood Red ink and added touches of color with Copic markers.  I then added touches of Stickles.  I cut out the ornaments with my circle nesties, at which time I also cut a mat using the lacey nesties.  I affixed the layers together and placed them on the card front.  But something still seemed to be missing.





And that was when I recalled one of the treasures I purchased when MFK (My friend Kathy) and I recently went to Michaels.  I found a large package of red glittery holiday phrases - long enough to be a page border or they can be clipped apart and used individually.  I snipped off a single "Happy Holidays" phrase and affixed it to the front of the card.  Did I mention that the words are self-adhesive?  Nice find, huh?

Here is one last look at my neighbor's card.  I will be giving the tin's with my home baked goodies and a card to each neighbor.  I will be back tomorrow with another of the eleven new cards - after I make it of course!!



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Christmas cards on Parade

I know I do not usually do a new post on Sundays, but I thought we could have a Christmas card parade!  Pictured in the photos are some of the Christmas cards that I have shared on the blog this year.  A few of the cards are single versions, while others were created in groups of four or eight cards.  I counted last night and so far I have completed 64 cards.  Another 6 - 10 cards is all that is necessary to have enough handmade cards to full fill our Christmas card mailing list.



Good thing I still need additional cards - I just received my Just Right Stamps order today!  I ordered a set of Christmas stamps and a set of fall / Thanksgiving stamps.  I have to admit that I am looking forward to sharing the new stamps with you over the next few weeks!!!



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Christmas Tree Stamped Cards

Today my week of Christmas projects continues with Christmas Tree Stamped cards.  The stamp set I used to create these two cards is from Samantha - the Scrapmaster.  I met Samantha last summer at CHA and thought she was so nice.  When she introduced her own line of stamps I knew I just had to have a set or two.  Given the season, I started with this great Christmas tree set. 




I should begin by telling you that I am NOT a great stamper.  Somehow I manage to get the pressure uneven.  I probably should have used a smaller stamp block and stamped the trees one at a time.  But no - I was rushing so I stamped all four trees at once using a large stamp block.  As you can see I did not apply pressure evenly.  Oddly, I still like my images even with their imperfections.  It gives them character and make each tree unique.




I used SEI paper and Bazzill cardstock to create the first card.  Using Stampin' Up ink, the trees were stamped onto Bazzill cardstock.  Each tree was cut out individually and pop dots were applied to the back of the trees.  Using SEI Christmas paper and Nestabilities label (9?), a tag/label shape was cut in white on white shiny paper.  Silver ink was added around the edges of the label.  The trees and their small silver trunks were adhered to the label, and the label was affixed to SEI glitter snowflake cardstock.  The card stock was wrapped in white sheer ribbon and trimmed with silver peel offs before being affixed to a white card.  The front of the card was finished with the Peace on Earth peel off phrase and a couple of Shapability snowflakes.. 




 I stamped the trees on several different papers and in several different colors to get a feel for how different colors and textures worked together.  At a later date (because it is SOOO late as I am finishing this post) I will share with you how pretty these trees look on light pink cardstock with cranberry embossed trees.  In the meantime I will share one more variation.

The trees on this card were stamped in Stampin' Up burgundy ink on to a Christmas red and gold print paper.  The trees were cut out individually and matted on gold metallic cardstock.  Using an SEI Christmas red cardstock, a label shape was cut with my nesties and embossed with a snowflake embossing plate.  The trees were pop dotted to the label.  The label is matted on a piece of gold and red-ish paper and affixed to an SEI red cardstock card. 





The trees and the top edge of the card are embellished with silver and gold angel and star peel offs.  Gold Stickles dots were added around the edge of the label shape.  And finally I created the bottom accent out of necessity - I could not find a ribbon that looked good on this card.  I used Melissa Frances silver trim and a piece of gold rope twisted together to create an unusual lower trim for the card.  And while the glittery trim is very different than my usual style, it does capture both the silver and gold accents in the peel offs. 




This sentiment on this card is also a peel off phrase.  I am so enjoying my peel offs.  I am glad that I went a little peel off crazy at CHA.

I will be back tomorrow with something new to share.Source URL: http://soniceview.blogspot.com/search/label/Christmas%20Cards
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Still Living in the Christmas zone

It is not even officially fall and I have been living in the Christmas zone for a couple of weeks now. I promise that I have not skipped Halloween or Thanksgiving - I am just obsessively trying to finish my Christmas cards.  Using the same design I previously used to make "flat" card, I changed the middle design.




I used one of my favorite Christmas stamps, the circular Merry Christmas and added a cardstock sticker to the center. I stamped the image in embossing ink then added green embossing powder before heat embossing the design.  I then cut the stamped image out using the circle nesties and matted it on the scalloped circle nestie.  I also used one of my favorite new toys, the I-Rock tool and added red, yellow, and green gems to the embossed design and the flowers. 



I finished the card with Merry Christmas ribbon, a Stampin' Up border stamp and silk poinsettias!  I am currently all caught up on Christmas cards and feeling good about moving on to other projects.... Like the Yudu!!!   Coming soon - napkin assortments!!!Source URL: http://soniceview.blogspot.com/search/label/Christmas%20Cards
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Working on "flat" Christmas cards to mail

I have been a bit of a slacker with my Christmas card schedule this year.  The DVD caused me to lose focus on my monthly Christmas card product schedule for several months in a row.  August became my "catch up" month.  I purchased the Creating Keepsakes kit, which since posting I have found more ways to personalize, and I started making flat cards.  Flat card, you ask?  Last year I was hit with a lot of extra postage due to the dimensional "bumpiness" on my cards.  The USPS does not like the dimensional cards!  So I have been working on attractive yet flat cards for mailing.




Through one of my CHA contacts I picked up two stamps that were designed to fit Nestabilities.  The stamp above used the nesties Christmas candle frame stamp.  I stamped the image in embossing ink, then added three colors of embossing powder to the image, green, gold and deep red.  After heat embossing the image I added three additional stamps in a SU ink - Merry Christmas from Stampin' Up and Peace on Earth and Joy from Technique Tuesday.  I then used my Copic markers and colored in the embossed image.  I like how delicate the image stamped, leaving me lot of room to color.  I also used a SU border punch along the bottom edge of the red matting then covered the layered seam with ribbon.




Inside the card I stamped a SU sentiment, perfect for a Christmas greeting. I also created a pocket for the left inside.  The pocket will hold a photograph and letter that we always include with our Christmas cards. And you will notice that the right side of the card contains lots of space for a hand written note.




Thanks to my friends Kathy (MFK) and Andrea I have a couple of personalized stamps for my cards.  I also have the stamp pictured above that was ordered from eBay, super cheap!  This stamp is a bit more elegant than my other personalized stamps so I thought it would be perfect for the Christmas Card.

I am hoping that the color, design and additional stamps will make up for the lack of dimension on the cards.... It will definitely make the USPS happier.

NOTE:  For those interested in my personalized stamp, this is a link to a seller on eBay:  http://shop.ebay.com/loongchai74/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340Source URL: http://soniceview.blogspot.com/search/label/Christmas%20Cards
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Christmas Card Kit from CKC

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Okay, maybe not.  With temperatures still high and our afternoon monsoon-like showers it truly looks nothing like Christmas.  But that does not mean that I cannot work on Christmas cards!!!!  One of the great items for sale by Creating Keepsakes in Charlotte was this awesome $10 (YES, TEN DOLLARS) Christmas card kit. 





The kit contains 10 each of three different patters of cards, complete with inserts, wrap bands, epoxy stickers, and an acetate overlay for each insert.  Thirty cards!  Also in the kit are 30 envelopes and full sheet page inserts on which to print the annual Christmas letter.  Additionally there are 6 photo CD mailers with cards, small gift card with envelopes, and a ton of cute-cute-cute package tags.  .... All for $10.  Nice, huh?





Each card has an insert piece which gets an expoxy sticker added.  The back is lined so a hand written note can be easily added.  Also there is plenty of room to affix a photo onto the card!!  Okay family, SAY CHEESE!





I am so excited about these cuties that I just may use them as a template in Design Studio and cut more on my Cricut.  Usually I have 10-12 different styles of cards as they are homemade, but this year I may go with one or two styles, but this same card design in several paper combinations. 

I am still patting myself on the back for this purchase!
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warm holiday wishes

Happy BBTB2 Monday.  This week the challenge cut at BBTB2 is the cup from the Joys of the Season cartridge.  The design team could use the cup in any project that we wanted.  I jumped ahead and made a Christmas card.  I am SOOOO far behind on my Christmas cards this year!




If that last sentence sound silly, since after all it is only August(!), last year I made six card each month and I was all set to mail cards by December.  I have not been nearly so productive this year.  However, while at CKC this last weekend I did purchase quite a bit of Christmas card making goodies.  Hopefully I will get rolling on them soon.




I used SEI paper to and Core'dinations cardstock to create this card, along with a Technique Tuesday Scalloped tile.  The tiles take ink so much better than chipboard; I just may have a new favorite to add to my long list of favorites!  All of my cuts, except the two background rectangles (Plantin) came from Joys of the Season.  It is such a great cartridge and offers so many wonderful holiday cuts.




If you have not been by BBTB2 and viewed the other fabulous projects you owe it to yourself to do so!




Have a great day.Source URL: http://soniceview.blogspot.com/search/label/Christmas%20Cards
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First Christmas Card of 2010 - Seriously!

No, I am not kidding, I really have already begun my Christmas cards for 2010. Last year I put myself on a card making schedule and it worked wonderfully. I decided that if I crafted six Christmas cards each month, come December I would be all set to mail out my cards.






This was so successful last year that I have decided to do it again this year and this is my first card. I used BasicGrey paper as a background. I used white-washed Core'dination cardstock and embossed the brass Sizzix bell die. I used a sanding block and removed the top layer of white wash from the paper.







I used my rectangular nesties to trim the edges of the embossed bells. I used the scalloped rectangular nestie to cut a mat for the bells.





Finally I cut three foil poinsettias with the cricut and using pop dots mounted two flowers on the front corners and one flat inside the card. The angle of the above photo makes the poinsettia look very scratched up when in reality this is not the real-life effect.  As a mailing tip, the cards will fit into an envelop more smoothly if your do not use pop dots. I paid twenty cents extra to mail several of my Christmas Cards this year.



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