Carrie Stamps

Crafty Christmas Club Hop - June 2020

Welcome my crafty friends, it is the 25th and that means it is time for another Crafty Christmas Club Hop! 

It's the 25th of the month, so we are back to share more Christmas ideas with you!  

Today's card is a long time in the making. Since I got the Oh Gnome stamp set I have wanted to make a Christmas card with it. I am happy that it finally happened. Last month I joked that maybe I would make a slimline card every month for this hop. We will see if I stick to it, but don't be surprised that today's card is in fact a slimline card! 

This card was a ton of fun, die cutting, coloring, and putting it all together to make a scene. 

For this scene I used two Lawn Fawn stamp sets; Oh Gnome and Yeti or Not. 

These gnomes are just so cute, I loved coloring them red and green for Christmas! 

The addition of Fluffy Stuff by Cosmic Shimmer really helps add to the wintery feel of this card.  You just apply it like glue where you want snow. I let mine set for about 1 hour and then heated it with a heat tool to help it puff up. 

I also added a cute little something to see when you open up the door to the mushroom house. 

It's a cherry pie, from the Forest Feast stamp set. I love that each of the gnomes are up to something. 

And I had to finish the sentiment on the inside of the card. 

You can see the making of this card in the video below: 

If you are new to my YouTube channel you can subscribe right here, I have new videos a few times a week. 

Now take a few minutes to see what the rest of the Crafty Christmas Club has designed for June: 

Tanya Boser

Adam Karle

Justin Averill

Brianne Firth

Marcia Caradinta

Tania Cordie

Carrie Rhoades ---------- You Are Here

Below you will find the supply list for today's card with links to everything I used. Affiliate links have been used. These links cost you NO money. What they do is show support to the maker that inspired you.  I encourage you to click the links of makers who inspired you and shop with them. If you choose to shop my links you are not only supporting the small business that you love but also helping to keep this blog and YouTube channel going. THANK YOU! 

My Favorite Place to shop for Copic Markers ----- ScrapbookPal.com

 

 

I hope that you had fun here, checking out my creations and that you will visit me again soon.  If you want an email each time I post to my blog there is a cute little computer image on the right hand side of this blog where you can enter your email to subscribe. 

Thank you

Crafty Christmas Club May Blog Hop

Hello my crafty friends it is the 25th and that means it is time for another Christmas card with the Crafty Christmas Club!  

Every month the Crafty Christmas Club gets together to make Christmas Cards on the 25th and share them with you in a blog hop! 

Take a look at the card I made for this hop. 

I wanted to play with the Holiday Helpers stamp set, as I have only used it once to add elves to a Santa scene.  So, they needed their own card!  I thought they needed to have a wrapping party!  I had so much fun coloring all these images! 

I made the scene on this slimline card with the help of the Whimsy Stamp die, Slimline Wavy Die. Great for waves and for snowy banks, right!?!  

Each section of the cad has another scene of this wrapping party. 

I used Copic Markers to color in my images. 

I think I used just about every image in the Holiday Helpers stamp set, at least all the ones you can color in. I wanted a couple wrapped gifts for the scene too, so I pulled out the Ho-Ho Holidays stamp set to add to this scene for the presents and the reindeer too. 

You can see the making of this card in the video below. 

If you are new to my YouTube channel I'd love for you to subscribe, I have a couple new videos each week!  

Below I have the blog hop list for you for the May Crafty Christmas Club as well as all the supplies I used to make today's card. 

Adam Karle

Tanya Boser

Brianne Firth

Justin Averill

Joe Hux

YOU ARE HERE >>>>> Carrie Rhoades

Marcia Caradinta

Tania Cordie

We'd love for you to hop along with us and let us know what you think of our Christmas cards for May. 

 

 

Affiliate links have been used. It is a NO COST way for you to show support for the makers that inspire you. Clicking and shopping a link on this blog means that a small commission comes back to me, allowing me to continue to bring you fun new ideas and inspiration. THANK YOU so much for your support. My favorite place to shop for Copic Markers is right HERE.  

I hope you are enjoying the hop. I appreciate you stopping by my blog and letting me share my creations with you. See you again very soon! 

April Crafty Christmas Club Hop

Hey there stamping friends!  I know it's April and some of you do not want to start thinking about Christmas. But I thought it would be fun to make a Christmas card on the 25th of every month. And little did I know others had this idea too, in fact it's a month blog hop!  So, I jumped at the chance to join this hop when they asked if I wanted to join!  

Welcome to the April Crafty Christmas Club Hop!  

To be honest, I wasn't sure if I would be feeling the Christmas mojo when it came time to sit down and make this card. But then I got a new die, the Slim Fancy Diagonal Stripes die by Pinkfresh Studio. It reminded me of candy cane stripes and my Christmas mojo was in full swing!  

I thought the Sweet Christmas stamp set by Lawn Fawn would be the perfect thing for the candy stripe Christmas scene that was in my head. 

For the background, I ink blended a panel that measures 3-5/8" x 8-5/8", which is the exact same size as the die cut Slim Fancy Diagonal Stripes panel. 

I used Candied Apple and Spun Sugar for my background. I am not sure why but in the pictures the ink blending has a bit of an orange tint to it, but not in real life. I loved the ombre look this gave to my background. I adhered the ink blended panel to the die cut stripes panel to complete my background. 

I then set about stamping, topic coloring and die cutting my images, all from the Sweet Christmas stamp set. 

Once that was done I used my Fine Tip 2-Way Glue pen to add glitter to all the images. This gave them a candy like look that I LOVE. It has been so long since I played with glitter like this and I remember how much I love it! 

You can watch the making of this card in this video. 

 

 

All of the supplies I used to make today's card are listed for you below. Affiliate links have been used where possible. These links cost you nothing to shop from, it just means you are showing support to the maker who inspired you when you use them. So, a great big thank you from me for your support and allowing me to continue to bring you fun new ideas with paper, stamps and ink. 

Slim Fancy Diagonal Stripes Die

 

 

 

Now it's time to hop along and see some more Christmas creations. 

Adam Karle	https://www.instagram.com/ark513/
Tanya Boser	https://tinkerin-in-ink.blogspot.com/2020/04/CCCapril.html
Carrie Rhoades -YOU ARE HERE	https://www.carriestamps.com/weblog/2020/04/april-crafty-christmas-club-hop.html
Jenny Hall	https://wp.me/p7IXb0-3J6
Justin Averill	https://justanotebyjustin.com/2020/04/25/crafty-christmas-club-blog-hop-dashing-through-the-no/
Tania Cordie	https://paperandme2.blogspot.com/2020/04/crafty-christmas-club-april-edition.html
Sue Plote	https://wp.me/p9GN39-1si
Marcia Caradinta	https://www.thefrolickingfairy.com/blogs/fairy-notes/sketch-saturday-607-and-april-christmas-club

 

Thank you for stopping by and sharing part of your day with me! 

Santa's Workshop Reveal Wheel Card

Hey there stamping friends! This month has been a roller coaster for me!  I am late in bringing you the December stamp set of the month series because my computer crashed.  I am now back in business, Santa came early and brought me a new computer!  

So, this video was in the works when all that happened and I do state that I will be bringing you new ideas with the stamp set of the month each week. Clearly that did not happen, but I will be back next week with another idea with this stamp set. 

I guess this is a good time to announce the December stamp set of the month, HoHo Holidays by Lawn Fawn.  You probably know by now that Lawn Fawn is my spirit animal!  I love everything they put out. And, this Santa themed set is no exception. And I love that there are so many other Lawn Fawn sets and products that I can pair with it. 

Today I am pairing the Build-a-House die set with it. I told you I was not done with this die set!  I am turning the house into Santa's workshop with the toys rotating in the window with the help of the Reveal Wheel. Let's take a look. 

If you have not seen a Reveal Wheel card before it consists of a window in the card and a rotating element that changes the picture in that window. In this case the window shows the different toys being made in Santa's workshop. 

The addition of the Holiday Helpers stamp set made this card possible. That is where all the toy images came from as well as the elf on the front of this card. 

I'd love for you to watch the video so I can show you how I added the brick texture to the house with a tool you probably have at home. 

Check out the video here and if you have not yet done so I'd love for you to subscribe to my channel. Now that I have a new computer I will be back at making a couple video's a week. 

 

Below you will find all the products I used to make this card.

Affiliate links have been used at not cost to you, thank you for your support. 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by and letting me share my creations with you!

December Happy Stamping Box

Get your December Happy Stamping Box NOW!

Ordering is now open for the December Happy Stamping Box!

The Happy Stamping Box is a kit by mail and a LIVE virtual class with me! 

This month we will be making Christmas Gift Tags with a cookie theme! 

For the December Box I have teamed up with Inky Stamper to bring you the Cookies stamp and die set.  

As well as Spellbinders/FSJ with the Cookie Exchange stamp and die set. SO, this month you are getting two stamp sets and two die sets!

In the December Happy Stamping Box you are going to get all the things to make 12 Christmas tags. They are shape tags, all designed by me and unique to this month's box.

PLUS, get a FREE BONUS card when you sign up by December 3rd!  Registration for this box closes on December 5th.

With the purchase of the HSB you will get an invitation to my private facebook group, The Happy Stamping Box. There you will have access to the printable PDF tutorial and this is where the virtual class will take place. If you are not able to make it to the LIVE class, a recording will be available for you to watch at your convenience for up to 3 weeks after the LIVE event.

Here's the breakdown of what is included with the December Happy Stamping Box:

OPTION 1: THE FULL KIT $65 (shipping included)

12 exclusive die cut shape tags, Cookies Stamp and Die set, Cookie Exchange Stamp and Die set, Die cut embellishments, Journey Glaze, Sparkle Cuts glitter, Ribbon and Twine assortment, Wooden button assortment.

OPTION 2: TAG KIT ONLY $30 (shipping included)

 This kit is for those who already have the stamp and die sets and just want the tags to create.

SUBSCRIBE!!!

Subscribing to the Happy Stamping Box means that you will automatically get the Full Kit HSB every month.  You will have an automatic payment so you don't have to worry about going to a website and clicking and paying. Subscribers get a $5 discount on their box, free shipping and automatically get the BONUS card! You can cancel your subscription at anytime by visiting PayPal to adjust your automatic payments.

Click here to SUBSCRIBE for just $60 a month (subscribe by 12/5/19 to get the December Box, subscriptions after that will start with the January box).

FREE BONUS PROJECT:

To earn the 6th BONUS project, purchase your kit or subscribe by 12/3/19.

WHAT YOU NEED:

You will need to have some basic supplies on hand to make these projects. Like: scissors, glue, adhesives, coloring medium of your choice (markers, pencils, etc.), die cutting machine, ink pads, etc.

WHEN IS THE LIVE CLASS?

The December Happy Stamping Box class will be held LIVE in the private Facebook page on Saturday, December 14th at 9:30am MST.  If you can not make it to the LIVE event the recording will be available after the event in the Facebook group page for you to watch at your convenience, for up to 3 weeks.

You will be added to the Facebook group page (The Happy Stamping Box) about 1 week prior to the LIVE class. If we are not currently friends on Facebook please find me and send me a friend request when you sign up for the class, find me under Carrie Cady Rhoades, then I will be able to easily add you to the page. You will then need to go to that page to accept my invite at which point you will have access to the page. 

DETAILS:

All products for the kits will be ordered and prepared by me after the registration deadline of December 5th.  I do not have all the product on hand, it is ordered based on registrations.  The ordering, cutting and preparation of these boxes take 10-14 days after the deadline. The expected shipping date for the boxes is 12/09/19. 

Happy Stamping Boxes can only be mailed with in the United States at this time, send me a special request if you are outside the US at carrie@carriestamps.com

Registration closes on 12/5/19.

The PDF tutorial will be emailed and  posted to the Happy Stamping Box FB page on or around 12/09/19 for you to download and print. Use this to prepare for and along with the LIVE class or recorded video.

Every one is welcome to join the Happy Stamping Box; new stampers, professional stampers, beginners, etc.  Please feel free to share this invitation with your friends.  I hope you try out the Happy Stamping Box, I know we will have fun creating these cards together!

QUESTIONS?

Please leave a comment on this post if you have any questions, I am glad to help. Or contact me by email at carrie@carriestamps.com.

As always, I can not wait to stamp with you!

Tone on Tone Glimmer Hot Foiling

I am excited to be bringing you another fun idea with the Glimmer Hot Foil system. For today's cards I made tone on tone backgrounds with the Art Deco Border Hot Foil Plates. That mean, I used red foil on red card stock. The results are stunning and elegant. Make sure to check out the video on the making of these cards, linked here and at the bottom of this post.

Here you can see the three cards I made using Red, Green and Black foils and card stocks.

I used the same stamps and dies to turn each of the backgrounds into cards. With these shiny, eye catching backgrounds not a lot is needed to create a stunning card.  In the video I will show you my tips and trick for getting these borders dies lined up to make quick backgrounds.

Which one is your favorite?

For the green card I added some ink to the edges of the holly leaves so that they would stand out against the green background.

The black card is a smaller square card. Made to this size because of a booboo that happened when making it. A good lesson in make it work, even when something goes wrong.

I love how these backgrounds and cards turned out. It is so satisfying to hold these cards and turn them in the light to get the full effect of the shine from the foiling.

See the Hot Foil machine in action and the making of these cards in this video.

If you have yet to do so make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel, I upload new videos twice a week.

Below are all the supplies I used to make these cards, listed and linked for you.

 

Thank you so much for stopping by, I will be back again soon with more creative ideas for you.

Pink Hot Cocoa Stand

Hello there and welcome to Episode 3 of my Cocoa Stand series. Every week I am bringing you a new idea with the Avery Elle stamp set, Cocoa Stand. And today I am actually making a Cocoa Stand. In the past two Episodes I have made a Tree Farm Stand and and Sledding Stand.

I knew that I wanted to do a pink, red and brown card for this hot cocoa theme. It is my current fave for Christmas cards. So I started with an ink blended background. Using ink blending brushes that my daughter spotted in the dollar store!

And I have to say, I was very impressed with how well the dollar store blending brushes worked!

These are the three brushes that my Dollar Tree store had. A dollar a piece.  I would like it if they had a bigger size.  However, these worked great for the background I made that was a full card front size.

For the background I ink blended Spun Sugar and Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide inks. Which I then splattered with water and Avery Elle Clear Shimmer Spray.  Can you see why I love pink for Christmas? This background just makes me happy.

Then I set out stamping and coloring all my images from the Cocoa Stand stamp set and Polar Peek-a-Boo Pals stamp set.  It was a lot of images, but I kept the coloring simple with a small selection of Copic Markers for the coloring.

I love that the moose looks like he just busted into the stand and got the lights all tangled up in his antlers.  My other favorite thing about this card, is how I made gave the sides of the stand candy cane stripes.

The creating did not end with this card, as with all the other cards in this series, I made a matching gift tag!

The little bear is popping up out of his pink hot cocoa cup! On both of these cards I used Nuvo Jewel Drops in Cocoa Blush to make it look like there is cocoa spilling out. These drops dry translucent with a tint of brown. Perfect for my creations!

The cup, cup wrap and straw are from the Coffee First Die set by Fun Stampers Journey.

You can check out the making of these projects in the YouTube video below. You also have a chance to win today's card, just by leaving a comment on the video over on my YouTube channel.  Winner will be announced on next week's video.

 

Have  you made any pink Christmas cards?  Or is pink too much for you on a Christmas card?  I'd love to know you thoughts. Feel free to leave a comment below.

All the products I used to make this card are listed and linked for you below.

Affiliate links have been used. That means that I get a small percentage of any sales made through these links, at no cost to you. Shopping links of the bloggers who inspire you means that you get to support that maker and they will keep bringing you creative ideas. Thank you so much for your support, it means so much to me!

 

I appreciate you stopping by to visit me and let me share my creations with you!

 

Penguin Palace

Hey there stamping friends!

I wanted to share with you the card I made using my goodies from Penguin Palace. I won a giveaway and got their newest release of stencils and got to pick out a stamp set. I picked Penguin Agenda.

It's not necessarily a Christmas stamp set, but I wanted to use it to make a Christmas card along with the Crystal Snowflake Stencil. 

See how cute these penguins are! They are excited and ready for some snow!  Unlike me!  I am enjoying this beautiful fall weather we are having in Idaho!  But I adore how the snowflake background turned out! 

I started with an ink blended background using Tumbled Glass and Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide inks.  I used a light hand so that the background would not be too dark.  Then I laid the Crystal Snowflake stencil over the background and stenciled on the same colors of ink, for a subtle snowflake background. After cleaning off the stencil I rotated it and positioned it so that the snowflakes did not overlap too much. Then I stenciled with the new NUVO Glacier Paste in Sea Sprite.  It is SO YUMMY!  This paste is like a mix between Foil and Shimmer!  I love the look I got with it.

The sentiment was stamped with the Peacock Feathers Distress ink and embossed with clear powder so that it would match the background.

You can watch the making of this card in the video below. You have to see the Glacier Paste in action!

 

I have all the supplies I used listed and linked for you below. Affiliate links have been used where applicable. Which means that when you shop my links I get a small percentage of the sale, at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of this blog and my YouTube channel, it means that I get to keep bringing you fun new ideas.

 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by, I will be back again soon with some more stamped creations to share with you!

November Stamp Set of the Month Episode 2

Hello there my stamping friends. Today's post is Episode 2 of my November Stamp Set of the Month series, featuring the Avery Elle stamp set, Cocoa Stand. For this card I am using the stand to make a sledding stand. And because it is more fun to go sledding with friends I am also using the Polar Peek-a-Boo Pals stamp set from Avery Elle to add some friends to the scene.

It wouldn't be a stamp set of the month series with out a shaker card!

I am in love with the Winter Kiss clay snowflakes from HoneyBee Stamps!  They are the perfect winter shaker card element!

This week I did all the coloring with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. They are the easiest markers to color with. They are water based and blend with each other!  I'm a big fan!  My number one tip for using these markers is to use them on Bristol Smooth card stock, otherwise you will not be able to blend them out.  In this photo you can see the coloring on the sledding stand really well. I was going for a white washed look. I used the 901 Gray Tint marker to add the lines to the boards and do shading around them, I love how this turned out.  I also love all the peek-a-boo pals that Avery Elle has, the little paws popping up in the snow, it's just adorable!

This month I will be making gift tags to go with each of the cards. Today's gift tag features the Special Day tag die set by Fun Stampers Journey, it's a die set I use all the time.

I kept this tag simple as I know these things will most likely get tossed. But if you wanted to make a special tag then you could easily make this into a shaker tag. Here's one I made last year: https://www.carriestamps.com/weblog/2018/12/stay-cozy-ornament-card.html

Also, on this tag you can see that I did not do ink blending on the polar bear.  That is because I used white card stock that is not Bristol Smooth. I was able to color, but not blend. Also, the ink saturation is much darker than on Bristol Smooth card stock. So, the lesson learned here is that you can use the Zig Clean Color Markers on card stocks other than Bristol Smooth, but they will not blend and the color will be much darker.

Now, let's watch the video, the making of these two projects. Make sure to click over to my YouTube channel and comment on this video. Every one who comments will be entered to win the this card!

Below I have listed and linked all the things I used to make today's projects. Affiliate links are used, which means I get a small percentage of the sale when you click and shop my links, at no cost to you. Thank you so much for your support, I love bringing you new ideas every week.

 

Thank you so much for stopping by, tune in next week for episode 3! I will be making a Cocoa Stand this time!

 

Tree Stand Episode 1

It's a brand new month and that means its time for a new stamp set of the month! This month my daughter Hannah picked my stamp set!  She chose the Avery Elle stamp set, Cocoa Stand. It is a super cute stamp set that you can make a Hot Cocoa Stand, Tree Stand and Sledding Stand. Hannah also gave me some rules for this week's card. She challenged me to use Colored Pencils to color with, and to use only one color of card stock beside white and I was only allowed to use one pen.

I love challenges like this, it helps me make something I might not think of on my own. If you have an idea to challenge me with for next week's card leave a comment below.

All the coloring was done with colored pencils!  And the only pen I used was a white gel pen for some hightlights. I am very happy with the texture I was able to get with the colored pencils on the wood of the tree stand and on the trees themselves.  You can see how I did this in the video below.  But it is just a matter of adding in lines with a heavy hand and then coloring over them with a light hand and a few shades of your choice of colors.

I really had fun with the colored pencils, it had been a while since I colored with them. I was very happy that I was able to get texture for the wood planks, it turned out better than I thought.

And here are the cute gift tags to go with today's card. I kept them simple because gift tags are usually tossed but you still want them to make a package super cute!

Check out the video here, and be sure to watch it on YouTube and leave a comment for a chance to win today's card.

Thank you so much for watching, commenting, and liking my video's, it means so much to me.

Below I have listed and linked all the things I used to make today's projects. Affiliate links have been used, that means I do get a small percentage of the sale when you make a purchase. At no cost to you.  Thank you so much for your support!

 

I'm so glad you stopped by, I love sharing my creations with you! Don't forget to leave a comment and let me know what you think I should do with this stamp set for next week.

 

 

 

 

Instagram Card Challenge

Today's card was inspired by a challenge I had with @madewithlovebyterri over on Instagram. If you do not follow me on Instagram and would like to you can find me under my user name, @carrierhoades.

On one of her posts, Terri asked, which do you like best; ink blended cards, shaker cards, stamping on card or coloring on cards. I replied, "why not all four?". She said she would take that challenge and so I had to as well. So today's card has ink blending, is a shaker card, has stamping and coloring. It was so much fun, and I used this opportunity to use a new stamp set from Dare2BArtzy, Christmoose. 

I have to say Thank you to Dare2BArtzy for the stamps and die sets I am using in today's cards and video. I won a recent contest they had and got to pick these stamps and die sets!  And I think they are so cute!

The four elements on this card from the challenge are:

1. Ink Blending - I used ink blending on the background of this card along with emboss resist.
2. Shaker Card - I used the Winter Kiss Clay Snowflakes for this shaker card.
3. Stamping - I stamped the moose image as my focal image as well as a sentiment and snowflakes to accent this card. I also stamped snowflakes on the background of this card as part of the emboss resist technique.
4. Coloring - As a novice copic colorist I enjoy every chance I get to practice my coloring skills. So, I used copics to color this image. I love how the vest turned out with the highlight in the center of each section. 

You can see this card being made in the video below. Make sure you do not miss any of my future videos by subscribing to my YouTube channel.

 

I love how this card turned out and plan on sending to my sister for Christmas this year as she has always loved moose.

All the supplies I used to make this card are listed and linked for you below.

Affiliate links have been used. That means that I get a small percentage of the sale when you shop these links, at no cost to you. This helps support this blog and YouTube channel so that I can bring you new ideas and projects. THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by! If you like to stamp with me be sure to check out this post on the Happy Stamping Box.

I am so glad there are 5 Tuesdays in October so that I could bring you another episode of my Die set of the Month series featuring Lawn Fawn's Build-a-House die set. I have more ideas that weeks, that is how much I love the Build-a-House die set!

For this episode I wanted to make a gingerbread house with the use of the Sweet Christmas stamp set by Lawn Fawn.

This gingerbread house is like the gingerbread people just bought their dream house!

The second project in this episode is the Build-a-Gingerbread House shaker ornament!  It's filled with Diamond Dust Glitter, it looks like sugar. You have to check out the video to see it in action!

I have been anxious to make a Christmas card with a pink sky and I love how it looks on this card!

This card has a good deal of shimmer with the use of glitter paper and the Wink of Stella pen to bring all the candy some yumminess!

You can see the the Diamond Dust glitter in the windows in this picture if you look closely. And I decorated the back too, but you have to check that out in the video, not sure why I did not take a picture of that.

The video is here, be sure to click over and watch it on YouTube because I will be giving away this card over there.

All the supplies I used are listed and linked for you below. Affiliate links have been used. That means that you help support my blog and YouTube channel when you click and shop these links, at not cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop and check out my creations, it means a lot to me! I'd love to hear from you, feel free to leave a comment below.

I am back with another Christmas card using a background from my BEST GLIMMER HOT FOIL PLATE video.

I paired up a Gel Press Print and the Scattered Dot Glimmer Hot Foil plate with Aura foil to create this background. My goal was to use another Glimmer Hot Foil plate for this card, the Merry Christmas Tree Glimmer Plate. This plate set was designed by Sharyn Sowell. I once saw a video of how she creates/designs her dies. It was amazing. She cuts them from paper with scissors. Like a very intricate snowflake. I was in awe and knew, based on that video that I wanted to own some of her dies or Glimmer Plates. They are works of art truly. You can watch the video that hooked me right HERE.

Now let's take a look at the card for today.

You wouldn't know it to look at this card, but it too a lot to get it done. It was one of those cards where everything I tried did not work.

Watch the video to see what I mean and let me know if this has ever happened to you.

I am glad a stuck with it and ended up with a card that I like.

I love when you turn this card in the light you get the waves of rainbow over the background and the tree goes from blue to silver. I really do have a lot of fun with that Glimmer machine!

Did you catch the last video I did with another background from the BEST GLIMMER HOT FOIL PLATE video?  You can watch that one HERE and tune in next week for a Halloween card with the background that I double foiled over a Gel Press Print.

Making Christmas cards this early in the year gives me mixed emotions. I am sad to let summer go but I am looking foward to fall. I love fall, it just seems to go so fast and then it's winter and then Christmas and I am never as ready as I want to be. So now I am happy that I am one Christmas card closer to being ready. See, I am all over the place!  How about you, do you like making Christmas cards in summer?

Below I have listed and linked all the things I used to make today's card. Thank you for your support, when you shop these links you are helping to support this blog and my YouTube channel at no cost to you.

 

Thank you so much for taking time out of you day to visit my blog. It means so much to me to get to share my creations with you. If you have any questions I am here to help!

 

Hey there stamping friends. Have you jumped on the Glimmer Hot Foil wagaon?  I did and I'm not sorry!  I'm having so much fun with it I thought I would share with you the BEST Glimmer Hot Foil plate out there. Okay, in my opinion. If you follow me or know you then you already know that I love backgrounds. I love background stamps and making my own backgrounds from all kinds of media. So, it will then come as no surprise to you that the BEST Glimmer Hot Foil plate, I my FAVORITE Glimmer Hot Foil plate is a background plate. Scattered Dots is the BEST Hot Foil plate.

In this video I am going to show you 5 ways to use it. Then I am going to share a card made with one of these background and a video of the making of that card. So much fun on the blog today!

Tell me, is this not the best Glimmer Hot Foil plate??? 

For my first card using one of the backgrounds from this video I am going with the green dots on green paper. Perfect for a Christmas card!

I used the new Spellbinders die set, Santa's Workshop for this card. What a fun stamp set!  I love the dome, it's a fresh new way to make a scene. This card here resembles a snowglobe. I added glaze and sparkle cuts glitter to give it a snowglobe feel. 

I love how the light hits the scattered dots in the background as well as the sparkle cuts glitter on my glass dome.

You can watch the making of this card in this video here:

Stay tuned, I will be back very soon with card 2 with another Scattered Dots background.

Below I have listed and linked all the supplies I have used to make this card.  When you click and shop these links you are helping to support my blog and YouTube channel at no cost to you, thank you for your support!  It means so much to me!

 

 

Not sure if you caught my live video from Michaels back in November. I was on the hunt for something cute my friends Lael has shown me. These adorable Wooden Christmas Scene's.  Once I found them I went a little crazy over them and shared my excitement with you on FB. Here is one of the pieces I bought. 

I had to have this truck piece!  What is cool about these scenes is that the bottom piece slides out and you can pull the inside panels out to paint! And that is what I did. I used my FSJ acrylic paints to add color. 

So much fun!  And pretty easy too. The other fun thing about these is that they light up! So to help with the shine and the feeling of snow, I added glitter to my white paint when it was wet. 

For the look of falling snow over the trees and truck I thinned out some white paint with water and splattered it over the already dry paint. 

The second piece I worked on is the Deer Scene. 

This one might be my favorite. 

I did this one the same as the last. They are not hard to make if you have a thin paint brush for the little details, like the ribbon around the ornaments. But it does not have to be perfect, you can not even tell there are parts on mine that I think are not perfect. It's hand made and it does not have to be perfect. 

The last one is a Gingerbread Scene, this one was painted by my daughter Hannah, my husband and myself. We had a great time listening to Christmas music and painting these. 

We ended up coating this one with Journey Glaze once all the paint was dry and sprinkling the entire piece with Sparkle Cuts glitter. 

And I added a few Sparkle Drops to the centers of the candies. 

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share these hand made Christmas gift with you. I hope you have a blessed Christmas! 

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve!  Once again, it snuck up on me!  I feel ready for Christmas, but still have cute things I want to make!  One of which were my Woodland Critter ornaments from Balsa wood. You may have seen my felt and paper ornaments from these same dies. Today I am sharing two ways to make ornaments with dies and Balsa wood and of course I am using the same little critters. 

First lets start with the painted critters. 

They started with a piece of Balsa wood, which is very light weight and about the thickness of fun foam.  It is commonly used for making models. And it die cuts very nicely! 

I die cut all the pieces to make my raccoon and glued him all together with a hot glue gun.

Then I pulled out my FSJ acrylic paints, Black Licorice and Whip Cream. I love these thick paints with a matte finish.

I mixed the black and white paints to make a custom gray and painted the entire piece that medium shade of gray.  They I added some more black to it and painted his mask with it. Then I used the black paint by itself for the eyes, nose and lines on the tail.  And white paint alone for accenting. 

Then I took a scrap of sandpaper and sanded the edges of the ornament to give him a distressed look. I found that it is best to sand in the direction of the wood grain with a gentle touch as you can easily break this wood. 

To finish him up I added some Journey Glaze to his eyes and nose.  Then I die cut a holly and berries from the balsa wood as well, using the Woodland Critters Winter Add-On die set. I found that when die cutting balsa wood with a wafer die like the holly the die will flatten the wood and make it almost paper thin, so be careful. To color my holly, I wondered if ink could be used, so to test it out I just pressed a scrap of it in to my ink pad.  I loved the look so much I did not paint on the ink or anything, I just pressed my die cut holly leaves on to the Kiwi Slice pad. And the berries onto the Cranberry Bliss pad.  Since these were so thin I die cut a card stock set of leaves and berries from the coordinating colored card stock and glued the wood pieces to that, for stability. I hot glued the holly on and added Journey glaze to the berries. 

I did all the same things for my fox, but I made a lighter gray color for his body than the gray for the raccoon. 

To add the hanger I hot glued a piece of twine to the back of the head and then covered up the twine with a small scrap of balsa wood. 

Now let's chat about the glittered ornaments. 

I loved the look of the raw wood on these ornaments so much I wanted to preserve that look in an ornament too. 

Here is what the fox looks like before glitter was added, just die cut balsa wood pieces hot glued together. 

I then painted the entire fox with Journey Glaze.  I squeezed some out onto a paint palette and used a paint brush I did not care too much about to paint it on the fox.  Then I sprinkled on Sparkle Cuts chunky glitter. I was IN LOVE!  Once the glaze dried I added another layer of glaze to the eyes and nose. 

And then I realized that this ornament needed some holly and berries too. So I just repeated what I did for the painted ornaments and then covered the holly with glaze and sparkles cuts and used the glaze to glue it in place. 

I adhered the twine the same way I did on the painted ornaments, sandwiched between the back of the head and a scrap of balsa wood with hot glue. They hold really well. 

I LOVED making my own ornaments this year. I hung a few on my tree and gifted a few. 

You can see my felt critter ornaments HERE and my paper critter ornaments HERE, made with all the same dies. 

Scroll to the bottom for the links to the products used to make these ornaments. 

 

First of all, I am all about making things over the top cute!  I love layers and all the little details. But I also need a bunch and tags for wrapped gifts. Now, I want them to be cute, but they can be simple. And since I need a bunch I want them to be quick and easy to make. 

So, in today's post I am sharing with you some quick and easy gift tags I made using the Tag Set die set, Gnome for the Holidays stamp set and Tiny Tags Sayings stamp set. 

All the tags shown here are made with the smallest tag from the die. You can see I added in some printed paper from the Cozy Prints pack. I can not get enough of the plaid and buffalo check patterns. 

You can see I kept the tags very simple with just stamps, ink, and paper.  These are the medium sized tags I made, I especially love the one that is stamped with the word JOY in an ombre effect! 

And lastly these are the largest tag on the die, I didn't think I would need very many of these so I only made a few. 

The dies I used were from the Gnome for the Holiday die set and the row of hearts is from the Bunch of Hearts die. I used the little hearts this die cuts for the center of the O in JOY. 

I chose to stick with red and grays for my tags to match the wrapping paper I am using this year. But it would be so easy to change up the colors to have them match any wrapping paper or gift packaging. 

I think these tags are cute, but not so much time went into them that I will be sad if they get thrown away. 

I have a video for you below on the making of these tags, I challenged myself to make 40 tags in about 30 minutes. I went a wee bit over the 30 minutes, but I got all 40 done. But check out how easy these tags are! 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I hope that whatever you are doing for the holidays that you have time to relax and reflect and rejuvenate for next year.  Scroll to the bottom for links of all the products I used to make my tags. 

Affiliate links have been used at no cost to you, thank you for your support! 

 

 

Today I am sharing some fun ornaments you can quickly and easily make out of paper, specifically card stock. These were made to be sturdy and stand the test of time. AND of course they are cute as can be! 

My critters were die cut using four dies from Spellbinders; Who's There, Bandit, Hey Foxy and It's a Bunny Thing.  All four dies are currently on sale, which I loved!  To give them all a Christmas feel I used the Lawn Fawn  die set; Woodland Critter Huggers Winter Add-On. 

To make the ornament sturdy so that they can be used for years to come I die cut 3 of the owl body pieces from Whip Cream card stock. I glued them together, layering them up to make a very sturdy and thick ornament. For the pieces that go on top I did 2 or 3 layers, this help with the sturdiness and give the ornament some dimension. To dress up this owl I used the ear muffs, mug, whip cream and mittens dies from the Woodland Critters Winter Add-On die set.

Isn't he so cute all bundled up? I die cut the mittens from felt to give some added texture. And to bring this owl to life I added some white highlight with a gel pen to his eyes, beak and feet and covered them with Journey Glaze.  I adore glitter, so I add some Journey Glaze to the ear muffs and the heart on the mug and sprinkled it with Sparkle Cuts by FSJ while the glaze was still wet.  I love that this glitter is clear and you can still see the stripes of the ear muffs when it is covered with the glitter, giving it an ice feel. 

Look at the naughty little raccoon, she stole the Christmas goodies!  This raccoon is also 3 layers of card stock, Riverstone by FSJ is the gray card stock I used. I do LOVE FSJ card stock, it is so sturdy and it perfect for these ornaments. I gave my raccoon a Santa hat from the Woodland Critters Winter die set as well as the candy cane and ginger bread boy. I love the look on his face, like he just got caught sneaking candy! 

I added accents to his eyes and nose with a white gel pen before coating them with Journey Glaze, this white line helps give life to the eyes and shine to the nose. I also used Journey Glaze for the candy cane and the white of the hat. The white of the hat also got a dusting of Sparkle Cuts. To make the buttons on the gingerbread boy red, I used Nuvo Drops in Autumn Red. I love that the Autumn Red has a shimmer to it, almost a pearlized look.  To give make the gingerbread boy's eyes white, I sandwiched a piece of white card stock between the Hazelnut blend layers of body. 

This fox is just so darn cute!  He looks like he's going to give you is prized possession, this giant candy cane. The giant candy cane is from Spellbinders, it's the Christmas Candy Canes stamp and die set designed by Joanne Fink. This set has two candy canes, one facing each way with a coordinating die for each as well a bow stamp and die. 

My favorite thing about this fox is his paws!  I got them from the Owl die, they are the owl's feet. Giving him the candy cane to hold really makes this ornament. 

I colored my stamped candy cane in with colored pencils and then painted it with Sparkle Silk. Last I covered it with Journey Glaze. It's one of the prettiest candy canes around!  I added the holly to his ear to finish off the fox and of course covered it with Journey Glaze and Sparkle Cuts for more shine and shimmer.  If you look closely at this fox you can see that one of his layers is white. I tried a middle layer of a light weight white chipboard, as this was my first ornament in the collections. I did not like that the white showed and that is when I decided to use layers of card stock for a more seamless look. 

I had a lot of fun with my bunny!  His neck was a little small for the scarf in the Woodland Critter Winter Add-On die set. So I cut  the long scarf piece and then put this piece  back in the die, scooting it over so that one end hung out one side and die cut it again, making it shorter. Then I die cut the other scarf piece that has a score line where you fold it over the other scarf piece, love that!  This die also cuts the fringe at the end of the scarf!  Genius!  The holly and present are also from the Add-On die set. I got a little gel pen happy on this one, but I love the look of the fine white lines/stripes on his scarf and the delicate dots on the gift.

Now if you are going to have a giant tail, it should be glittered, right!!!  That's all I have to say about that. 

To attach a string to these ornaments I simply glued on the already knotted string between the card stock layers. 

I hope you have enjoyed these ornaments. I had a blast making them!  And think that making sets of ornaments is going to be something new I make for friends and family. My grandma has made me ornaments all my life and it has really become a very special thing to me, I think I want to carry on that tradition. 

If you'd like to see my felt ornaments made with these same dies, you can find that post HERE. 

Thank you so much for stopping by and letting me share my ornaments with you. I hope you are inspired to create some of your own. 

Below you will find links to all the products I used to make today's projects. Affiliate links have been used at no cost to you, thank you for your support. 

I have been having so much fun playing with the December Stamp Set of the month, Stay Cozy by FSJ. My favorite thing about this stamp set is that it takes very little effort to make it look great.  Very little coloring to add life to the stamped images. 

Today's project is made of wood and not paper!  Balsa wood to be exact. It is a very light weight wood that is used a lot to make models, it has the weight of fun foam and is about as thick, depending on what you buy. 

AND, it can be die cut!  So, die cut an ornament for todays project. 

I was able to use my thin wafer die set, Globe and Ornament Shaker Tag by Honey Bee to die cut this ornament. 

I stamped my cabin image with Black Licorice ink then heat set it and stamped it once again using my stamp positioning tool, heating it a second time to make sure the ink was set before coloring it. 

Then I repeated this process with the sentiment. The reason behind heating it and then stamping it again is so that there is not an over saturation of ink. If there is then it can bleed on this wood. 

I added color to my image using Journey Color Burst pencils (#21,27,39,48). Just hints of color here and there, that is what I love about this stamp set, you really only need a little bit of color to bring the images to life. 

I wanted to make sure the colored pencil would not fade over time, hopefully this will hang on someone's tree for a few years, so I embossed the front of the ornament. To do this I pressed the entire ornament into clear embossing powder, covering the entire surface with clear ink. Then I sprinkled Clear Embossing Powder over it and used my Heat Gun to melt the powder. This intensified the ink and gave it a nice shiny surface.  To make my ornament more sturdy I die cut a second ornament from Balsa wood and glued it to the back of the stamped one. You could stamp this other one too, so that both sides have something cute, or sign your name and date it. 

The topper for this ornament is made out of card stock. I did not use the wood because I found that when die cutting out the topper the very thin part of die cut topper kept breaking. This is wood and it does have wood grain and so the thin area could not hold up. So I die cut two of the toppers from white card stock. I dipped one in Clear Pigment ink and embossed the entire piece with Silver Embossing Powder. I really wanted it to look like a metal piece, so I repeated this step two more times, each time melting the powder with my heat gun before dipping it in ink and powder. Make sure to let this cool before touching it.  The three layers of silver embossing powder really give it the look of metal and make the card stock more sturdy. But to ensure that this little piece was going to stand up to being hung on a tree I glued the second topper piece that I die cut from card stock to the back of the embossed one. I set this under an acrylic block to dry. 

Now it is on to the finishing touches. You can see here that I added two pinecones to the top of the ornament. They are die cut with a die set from Spellbinders called, pinecones. They are very easy to make, just die cut the large and small pinecone piece that cuts out a spiral with a zig zag like edge. You then roll these up, I used a small wooden dowel. When you get to the end just add one dot of glue to secure the end to the pinecone. Repeat this with the small piece and you have two different sized pinecones, ones that are small and look like you saved them from the dense forest floor. I sponged a little Whip Cream ink on the edge of mine to give them a snowy look. 

My FAVORITE part of this ornament is the edge. I wanted to cover up the sides, as you could plainly see that I had glued two together.  So I added some Journey Glaze to the edge and dipped it in Silver Shavings!  They are magically delicious!  Not Really, DO NOT EAT THESE! They are actual silver shavings, not a cute name for glitter. I love the vintage look it gave the ornament and really took it up a notch to special. To make it really thick and chunky I added a second layer of the silver shavings. I set this on an Acrylic Block that is smaller than the ornament to dry and then using Journey Glaze I glued on the silver topper. Give this ample time to dry, about 1 hour. Then string the pinecone through a piece of twine, I chose Candy Apple Twine, and string this through the ornament topper and tie it off.  And what an adorable ornament!  

You can have so much fun with Balsa wood making ornaments. I encourage you to give it a try, play with the dies you have and your Christmas stamps, I bet you can make some fun creations! 

Below are some helpful resources for you, the LIVE video demonstration of this ornament as well as links to all the things I used to make this ornament. 

 

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share my love of creating with you! 

What is the best last minute gift?  Gift Cards of course. If you want to dress your gift cards up I have 6 ideas for you!  Make the gift card gift a little more special with cute packaging. 

IDEA 1 - Alter a Tag

For this gift card holder I die cut three tags, using the largest tag die from the Special Day Tag die set by FSJ. Two from the blue snowflake printed paper (from the Dear Santa paper by Spellbinders) and one from white card stock. I glued the two printed paper tags back to back. Then scored the top of this piece at 1" and folded it down. Gluing the tags back to back makes this thinner paper more sturdy and since the paper is one sided, I have the same pattern on the folded down flap as I do on the front of the tag. Adhere this to the white tag using a thin line of glue or 1/8" double sided tape, leaving just enough room for the gift card to slide in. 

The singing tree is from the Dear Santa die cut shapes set that matches the printed paper.  And I used another of the die cut shapes for the back of the tag/holder.

IDEA 2 - Use a gift card die

This is a no brainer, I love that when I just need a quick gift card holder I don't have to create something from scratch. I can die cut this Gift Card Sleeve with cute paper it's ready to go. 

 And using the Dear Santa paper and pre die cut images makes it even easier! 

I used another small die cut on the back to hold the flap of this envelope like sleeve shut, so no need for velcro or for the recipient to rip it open. 

IDEA 3 - Use dies to create a shaped gift card holder

I die cut two of the these mittens to make this holder, just sandwich two back to back and leave an opening at the top for the gift card. Look at the dies you have and see what you might be able to use to make a gift card holder. I also have a stocking die that I made gift card holders with last year.  Here's a little tip for sandwiched shape dies as gift card holders. Use a few layers of double stick tape to adhere them, giving a little dimension to the opening, making it easier to get the gift card in and out. 

With so many cute die cuts in this pack it was fast and easy to not only make the front of my holder cute, but also the back. 

IDEA 4 - What dies do I have that could hold a gift card? 

When creating these gift card holders I did just what I mentioned above and found this Window Pocket die, and found that it will fit a gift card nicely if attached to an insert! 

In the window here you can see the insert with out a gift card, but what is fun about this holder is that the recipient gets a peek at their gift card. 

Just add the gift card to the insert with a few glue dots or foam squares. 

See how the window gives a little look at what's inside!  

IDEA 5 - Use a little box for a gift card plus treat! 

I thought this holder would be perfect for a Starbuck gift card and candy cane! 

IDEA 6 - Put a gift card inside a card, with a sliding holder. 

On the outside it is a normal Christmas card. Made very easily, I might add with the use of the Dear Santa paper and die cut pieces. 

On the inside...

A fun spot for a gift card using the Gift Slider die!  You can die cut this piece and add it to any card. It's fast easy and cute!  I can take the cards I already have on hand and add this to include a gift card very easily.  

I love all of these ideas, because they are fast any easy. I don't use kits that often now days, but I have to say they are a blessing at Christmas time for last minute tags, gift card holder and cards.  I recommend finding one you like to make your holidays a little less stressful and still help you feel like you hand crafted heartfelt gifts. 

At the bottom of this post I have linked all the things I used to make todays projects. But before you go I have one more project with the Dear Santa paper and die cuts.  A mini gift bag, a gift card could be added to this insert too. But I decided to make little gifties for my crafty friends, sharing some of the extra die cuts left from this kit. And a personal note on the insert. 

Thank you so  much for stopping by and spending some time with me!  I hope you are leaving inspired to create. 

 

Build-a-House Episode 5

I am so glad there are 5 Tuesdays in October so that I could bring you another episode of my Die set of the Month series featuring Lawn Fawn's Build-a-House die set. I have more ideas that weeks, that is how much I love the Build-a-House die set!

For this episode I wanted to make a gingerbread house with the use of the Sweet Christmas stamp set by Lawn Fawn.

This gingerbread house is like the gingerbread people just bought their dream house!

The second project in this episode is the Build-a-Gingerbread House shaker ornament!  It's filled with Diamond Dust Glitter, it looks like sugar. You have to check out the video to see it in action!

I have been anxious to make a Christmas card with a pink sky and I love how it looks on this card!

This card has a good deal of shimmer with the use of glitter paper and the Wink of Stella pen to bring all the candy some yumminess!

You can see the the Diamond Dust glitter in the windows in this picture if you look closely. And I decorated the back too, but you have to check that out in the video, not sure why I did not take a picture of that.

The video is here, be sure to click over and watch it on YouTube because I will be giving away this card over there.

All the supplies I used are listed and linked for you below. Affiliate links have been used. That means that you help support my blog and YouTube channel when you click and shop these links, at not cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop and check out my creations, it means a lot to me! I'd love to hear from you, feel free to leave a comment below.

2 Glimmer Hot Foil Plate 2 Foils 1 Card

I am back with another Christmas card using a background from my BEST GLIMMER HOT FOIL PLATE video.

I paired up a Gel Press Print and the Scattered Dot Glimmer Hot Foil plate with Aura foil to create this background. My goal was to use another Glimmer Hot Foil plate for this card, the Merry Christmas Tree Glimmer Plate. This plate set was designed by Sharyn Sowell. I once saw a video of how she creates/designs her dies. It was amazing. She cuts them from paper with scissors. Like a very intricate snowflake. I was in awe and knew, based on that video that I wanted to own some of her dies or Glimmer Plates. They are works of art truly. You can watch the video that hooked me right HERE.

Now let's take a look at the card for today.

You wouldn't know it to look at this card, but it too a lot to get it done. It was one of those cards where everything I tried did not work.

Watch the video to see what I mean and let me know if this has ever happened to you.

I am glad a stuck with it and ended up with a card that I like.

I love when you turn this card in the light you get the waves of rainbow over the background and the tree goes from blue to silver. I really do have a lot of fun with that Glimmer machine!

Did you catch the last video I did with another background from the BEST GLIMMER HOT FOIL PLATE video?  You can watch that one HERE and tune in next week for a Halloween card with the background that I double foiled over a Gel Press Print.

Making Christmas cards this early in the year gives me mixed emotions. I am sad to let summer go but I am looking foward to fall. I love fall, it just seems to go so fast and then it's winter and then Christmas and I am never as ready as I want to be. So now I am happy that I am one Christmas card closer to being ready. See, I am all over the place!  How about you, do you like making Christmas cards in summer?

Below I have listed and linked all the things I used to make today's card. Thank you for your support, when you shop these links you are helping to support this blog and my YouTube channel at no cost to you.

 

Thank you so much for taking time out of you day to visit my blog. It means so much to me to get to share my creations with you. If you have any questions I am here to help!

 

THE BEST Glimmer Hot Foil Plate and a card!

Hey there stamping friends. Have you jumped on the Glimmer Hot Foil wagaon?  I did and I'm not sorry!  I'm having so much fun with it I thought I would share with you the BEST Glimmer Hot Foil plate out there. Okay, in my opinion. If you follow me or know you then you already know that I love backgrounds. I love background stamps and making my own backgrounds from all kinds of media. So, it will then come as no surprise to you that the BEST Glimmer Hot Foil plate, I my FAVORITE Glimmer Hot Foil plate is a background plate. Scattered Dots is the BEST Hot Foil plate.

In this video I am going to show you 5 ways to use it. Then I am going to share a card made with one of these background and a video of the making of that card. So much fun on the blog today!

Tell me, is this not the best Glimmer Hot Foil plate??? 

For my first card using one of the backgrounds from this video I am going with the green dots on green paper. Perfect for a Christmas card!

I used the new Spellbinders die set, Santa's Workshop for this card. What a fun stamp set!  I love the dome, it's a fresh new way to make a scene. This card here resembles a snowglobe. I added glaze and sparkle cuts glitter to give it a snowglobe feel. 

I love how the light hits the scattered dots in the background as well as the sparkle cuts glitter on my glass dome.

You can watch the making of this card in this video here:

Stay tuned, I will be back very soon with card 2 with another Scattered Dots background.

Below I have listed and linked all the supplies I have used to make this card.  When you click and shop these links you are helping to support my blog and YouTube channel at no cost to you, thank you for your support!  It means so much to me!

 

 

Wooden Christmas Scenes

Not sure if you caught my live video from Michaels back in November. I was on the hunt for something cute my friends Lael has shown me. These adorable Wooden Christmas Scene's.  Once I found them I went a little crazy over them and shared my excitement with you on FB. Here is one of the pieces I bought. 

I had to have this truck piece!  What is cool about these scenes is that the bottom piece slides out and you can pull the inside panels out to paint! And that is what I did. I used my FSJ acrylic paints to add color. 

So much fun!  And pretty easy too. The other fun thing about these is that they light up! So to help with the shine and the feeling of snow, I added glitter to my white paint when it was wet. 

For the look of falling snow over the trees and truck I thinned out some white paint with water and splattered it over the already dry paint. 

The second piece I worked on is the Deer Scene. 

This one might be my favorite. 

I did this one the same as the last. They are not hard to make if you have a thin paint brush for the little details, like the ribbon around the ornaments. But it does not have to be perfect, you can not even tell there are parts on mine that I think are not perfect. It's hand made and it does not have to be perfect. 

The last one is a Gingerbread Scene, this one was painted by my daughter Hannah, my husband and myself. We had a great time listening to Christmas music and painting these. 

We ended up coating this one with Journey Glaze once all the paint was dry and sprinkling the entire piece with Sparkle Cuts glitter. 

And I added a few Sparkle Drops to the centers of the candies. 

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share these hand made Christmas gift with you. I hope you have a blessed Christmas! 

Balsa Wood Ornaments

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve!  Once again, it snuck up on me!  I feel ready for Christmas, but still have cute things I want to make!  One of which were my Woodland Critter ornaments from Balsa wood. You may have seen my felt and paper ornaments from these same dies. Today I am sharing two ways to make ornaments with dies and Balsa wood and of course I am using the same little critters. 

First lets start with the painted critters. 

They started with a piece of Balsa wood, which is very light weight and about the thickness of fun foam.  It is commonly used for making models. And it die cuts very nicely! 

I die cut all the pieces to make my raccoon and glued him all together with a hot glue gun.

Then I pulled out my FSJ acrylic paints, Black Licorice and Whip Cream. I love these thick paints with a matte finish.

I mixed the black and white paints to make a custom gray and painted the entire piece that medium shade of gray.  They I added some more black to it and painted his mask with it. Then I used the black paint by itself for the eyes, nose and lines on the tail.  And white paint alone for accenting. 

Then I took a scrap of sandpaper and sanded the edges of the ornament to give him a distressed look. I found that it is best to sand in the direction of the wood grain with a gentle touch as you can easily break this wood. 

To finish him up I added some Journey Glaze to his eyes and nose.  Then I die cut a holly and berries from the balsa wood as well, using the Woodland Critters Winter Add-On die set. I found that when die cutting balsa wood with a wafer die like the holly the die will flatten the wood and make it almost paper thin, so be careful. To color my holly, I wondered if ink could be used, so to test it out I just pressed a scrap of it in to my ink pad.  I loved the look so much I did not paint on the ink or anything, I just pressed my die cut holly leaves on to the Kiwi Slice pad. And the berries onto the Cranberry Bliss pad.  Since these were so thin I die cut a card stock set of leaves and berries from the coordinating colored card stock and glued the wood pieces to that, for stability. I hot glued the holly on and added Journey glaze to the berries. 

I did all the same things for my fox, but I made a lighter gray color for his body than the gray for the raccoon. 

To add the hanger I hot glued a piece of twine to the back of the head and then covered up the twine with a small scrap of balsa wood. 

Now let's chat about the glittered ornaments. 

I loved the look of the raw wood on these ornaments so much I wanted to preserve that look in an ornament too. 

Here is what the fox looks like before glitter was added, just die cut balsa wood pieces hot glued together. 

I then painted the entire fox with Journey Glaze.  I squeezed some out onto a paint palette and used a paint brush I did not care too much about to paint it on the fox.  Then I sprinkled on Sparkle Cuts chunky glitter. I was IN LOVE!  Once the glaze dried I added another layer of glaze to the eyes and nose. 

And then I realized that this ornament needed some holly and berries too. So I just repeated what I did for the painted ornaments and then covered the holly with glaze and sparkles cuts and used the glaze to glue it in place. 

I adhered the twine the same way I did on the painted ornaments, sandwiched between the back of the head and a scrap of balsa wood with hot glue. They hold really well. 

I LOVED making my own ornaments this year. I hung a few on my tree and gifted a few. 

You can see my felt critter ornaments HERE and my paper critter ornaments HERE, made with all the same dies. 

Scroll to the bottom for the links to the products used to make these ornaments. 

 

Last minute gift tags

First of all, I am all about making things over the top cute!  I love layers and all the little details. But I also need a bunch and tags for wrapped gifts. Now, I want them to be cute, but they can be simple. And since I need a bunch I want them to be quick and easy to make. 

So, in today's post I am sharing with you some quick and easy gift tags I made using the Tag Set die set, Gnome for the Holidays stamp set and Tiny Tags Sayings stamp set. 

All the tags shown here are made with the smallest tag from the die. You can see I added in some printed paper from the Cozy Prints pack. I can not get enough of the plaid and buffalo check patterns. 

You can see I kept the tags very simple with just stamps, ink, and paper.  These are the medium sized tags I made, I especially love the one that is stamped with the word JOY in an ombre effect! 

And lastly these are the largest tag on the die, I didn't think I would need very many of these so I only made a few. 

The dies I used were from the Gnome for the Holiday die set and the row of hearts is from the Bunch of Hearts die. I used the little hearts this die cuts for the center of the O in JOY. 

I chose to stick with red and grays for my tags to match the wrapping paper I am using this year. But it would be so easy to change up the colors to have them match any wrapping paper or gift packaging. 

I think these tags are cute, but not so much time went into them that I will be sad if they get thrown away. 

I have a video for you below on the making of these tags, I challenged myself to make 40 tags in about 30 minutes. I went a wee bit over the 30 minutes, but I got all 40 done. But check out how easy these tags are! 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I hope that whatever you are doing for the holidays that you have time to relax and reflect and rejuvenate for next year.  Scroll to the bottom for links of all the products I used to make my tags. 

Affiliate links have been used at no cost to you, thank you for your support! 

 

 

Woodland Paper Ornaments

Today I am sharing some fun ornaments you can quickly and easily make out of paper, specifically card stock. These were made to be sturdy and stand the test of time. AND of course they are cute as can be! 

My critters were die cut using four dies from Spellbinders; Who's There, Bandit, Hey Foxy and It's a Bunny Thing.  All four dies are currently on sale, which I loved!  To give them all a Christmas feel I used the Lawn Fawn  die set; Woodland Critter Huggers Winter Add-On. 

To make the ornament sturdy so that they can be used for years to come I die cut 3 of the owl body pieces from Whip Cream card stock. I glued them together, layering them up to make a very sturdy and thick ornament. For the pieces that go on top I did 2 or 3 layers, this help with the sturdiness and give the ornament some dimension. To dress up this owl I used the ear muffs, mug, whip cream and mittens dies from the Woodland Critters Winter Add-On die set.

Isn't he so cute all bundled up? I die cut the mittens from felt to give some added texture. And to bring this owl to life I added some white highlight with a gel pen to his eyes, beak and feet and covered them with Journey Glaze.  I adore glitter, so I add some Journey Glaze to the ear muffs and the heart on the mug and sprinkled it with Sparkle Cuts by FSJ while the glaze was still wet.  I love that this glitter is clear and you can still see the stripes of the ear muffs when it is covered with the glitter, giving it an ice feel. 

Look at the naughty little raccoon, she stole the Christmas goodies!  This raccoon is also 3 layers of card stock, Riverstone by FSJ is the gray card stock I used. I do LOVE FSJ card stock, it is so sturdy and it perfect for these ornaments. I gave my raccoon a Santa hat from the Woodland Critters Winter die set as well as the candy cane and ginger bread boy. I love the look on his face, like he just got caught sneaking candy! 

I added accents to his eyes and nose with a white gel pen before coating them with Journey Glaze, this white line helps give life to the eyes and shine to the nose. I also used Journey Glaze for the candy cane and the white of the hat. The white of the hat also got a dusting of Sparkle Cuts. To make the buttons on the gingerbread boy red, I used Nuvo Drops in Autumn Red. I love that the Autumn Red has a shimmer to it, almost a pearlized look.  To give make the gingerbread boy's eyes white, I sandwiched a piece of white card stock between the Hazelnut blend layers of body. 

This fox is just so darn cute!  He looks like he's going to give you is prized possession, this giant candy cane. The giant candy cane is from Spellbinders, it's the Christmas Candy Canes stamp and die set designed by Joanne Fink. This set has two candy canes, one facing each way with a coordinating die for each as well a bow stamp and die. 

My favorite thing about this fox is his paws!  I got them from the Owl die, they are the owl's feet. Giving him the candy cane to hold really makes this ornament. 

I colored my stamped candy cane in with colored pencils and then painted it with Sparkle Silk. Last I covered it with Journey Glaze. It's one of the prettiest candy canes around!  I added the holly to his ear to finish off the fox and of course covered it with Journey Glaze and Sparkle Cuts for more shine and shimmer.  If you look closely at this fox you can see that one of his layers is white. I tried a middle layer of a light weight white chipboard, as this was my first ornament in the collections. I did not like that the white showed and that is when I decided to use layers of card stock for a more seamless look. 

I had a lot of fun with my bunny!  His neck was a little small for the scarf in the Woodland Critter Winter Add-On die set. So I cut  the long scarf piece and then put this piece  back in the die, scooting it over so that one end hung out one side and die cut it again, making it shorter. Then I die cut the other scarf piece that has a score line where you fold it over the other scarf piece, love that!  This die also cuts the fringe at the end of the scarf!  Genius!  The holly and present are also from the Add-On die set. I got a little gel pen happy on this one, but I love the look of the fine white lines/stripes on his scarf and the delicate dots on the gift.

Now if you are going to have a giant tail, it should be glittered, right!!!  That's all I have to say about that. 

To attach a string to these ornaments I simply glued on the already knotted string between the card stock layers. 

I hope you have enjoyed these ornaments. I had a blast making them!  And think that making sets of ornaments is going to be something new I make for friends and family. My grandma has made me ornaments all my life and it has really become a very special thing to me, I think I want to carry on that tradition. 

If you'd like to see my felt ornaments made with these same dies, you can find that post HERE. 

Thank you so much for stopping by and letting me share my ornaments with you. I hope you are inspired to create some of your own. 

Below you will find links to all the products I used to make today's projects. Affiliate links have been used at no cost to you, thank you for your support. 

Stay Cozy Balsa Wood Ornament

I have been having so much fun playing with the December Stamp Set of the month, Stay Cozy by FSJ. My favorite thing about this stamp set is that it takes very little effort to make it look great.  Very little coloring to add life to the stamped images. 

Today's project is made of wood and not paper!  Balsa wood to be exact. It is a very light weight wood that is used a lot to make models, it has the weight of fun foam and is about as thick, depending on what you buy. 

AND, it can be die cut!  So, die cut an ornament for todays project. 

I was able to use my thin wafer die set, Globe and Ornament Shaker Tag by Honey Bee to die cut this ornament. 

I stamped my cabin image with Black Licorice ink then heat set it and stamped it once again using my stamp positioning tool, heating it a second time to make sure the ink was set before coloring it. 

Then I repeated this process with the sentiment. The reason behind heating it and then stamping it again is so that there is not an over saturation of ink. If there is then it can bleed on this wood. 

I added color to my image using Journey Color Burst pencils (#21,27,39,48). Just hints of color here and there, that is what I love about this stamp set, you really only need a little bit of color to bring the images to life. 

I wanted to make sure the colored pencil would not fade over time, hopefully this will hang on someone's tree for a few years, so I embossed the front of the ornament. To do this I pressed the entire ornament into clear embossing powder, covering the entire surface with clear ink. Then I sprinkled Clear Embossing Powder over it and used my Heat Gun to melt the powder. This intensified the ink and gave it a nice shiny surface.  To make my ornament more sturdy I die cut a second ornament from Balsa wood and glued it to the back of the stamped one. You could stamp this other one too, so that both sides have something cute, or sign your name and date it. 

The topper for this ornament is made out of card stock. I did not use the wood because I found that when die cutting out the topper the very thin part of die cut topper kept breaking. This is wood and it does have wood grain and so the thin area could not hold up. So I die cut two of the toppers from white card stock. I dipped one in Clear Pigment ink and embossed the entire piece with Silver Embossing Powder. I really wanted it to look like a metal piece, so I repeated this step two more times, each time melting the powder with my heat gun before dipping it in ink and powder. Make sure to let this cool before touching it.  The three layers of silver embossing powder really give it the look of metal and make the card stock more sturdy. But to ensure that this little piece was going to stand up to being hung on a tree I glued the second topper piece that I die cut from card stock to the back of the embossed one. I set this under an acrylic block to dry. 

Now it is on to the finishing touches. You can see here that I added two pinecones to the top of the ornament. They are die cut with a die set from Spellbinders called, pinecones. They are very easy to make, just die cut the large and small pinecone piece that cuts out a spiral with a zig zag like edge. You then roll these up, I used a small wooden dowel. When you get to the end just add one dot of glue to secure the end to the pinecone. Repeat this with the small piece and you have two different sized pinecones, ones that are small and look like you saved them from the dense forest floor. I sponged a little Whip Cream ink on the edge of mine to give them a snowy look. 

My FAVORITE part of this ornament is the edge. I wanted to cover up the sides, as you could plainly see that I had glued two together.  So I added some Journey Glaze to the edge and dipped it in Silver Shavings!  They are magically delicious!  Not Really, DO NOT EAT THESE! They are actual silver shavings, not a cute name for glitter. I love the vintage look it gave the ornament and really took it up a notch to special. To make it really thick and chunky I added a second layer of the silver shavings. I set this on an Acrylic Block that is smaller than the ornament to dry and then using Journey Glaze I glued on the silver topper. Give this ample time to dry, about 1 hour. Then string the pinecone through a piece of twine, I chose Candy Apple Twine, and string this through the ornament topper and tie it off.  And what an adorable ornament!  

You can have so much fun with Balsa wood making ornaments. I encourage you to give it a try, play with the dies you have and your Christmas stamps, I bet you can make some fun creations! 

Below are some helpful resources for you, the LIVE video demonstration of this ornament as well as links to all the things I used to make this ornament. 

 

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share my love of creating with you! 

6 Gift Card Packaging ideas

What is the best last minute gift?  Gift Cards of course. If you want to dress your gift cards up I have 6 ideas for you!  Make the gift card gift a little more special with cute packaging. 

IDEA 1 - Alter a Tag

For this gift card holder I die cut three tags, using the largest tag die from the Special Day Tag die set by FSJ. Two from the blue snowflake printed paper (from the Dear Santa paper by Spellbinders) and one from white card stock. I glued the two printed paper tags back to back. Then scored the top of this piece at 1" and folded it down. Gluing the tags back to back makes this thinner paper more sturdy and since the paper is one sided, I have the same pattern on the folded down flap as I do on the front of the tag. Adhere this to the white tag using a thin line of glue or 1/8" double sided tape, leaving just enough room for the gift card to slide in. 

The singing tree is from the Dear Santa die cut shapes set that matches the printed paper.  And I used another of the die cut shapes for the back of the tag/holder.

IDEA 2 - Use a gift card die

This is a no brainer, I love that when I just need a quick gift card holder I don't have to create something from scratch. I can die cut this Gift Card Sleeve with cute paper it's ready to go. 

 And using the Dear Santa paper and pre die cut images makes it even easier! 

I used another small die cut on the back to hold the flap of this envelope like sleeve shut, so no need for velcro or for the recipient to rip it open. 

IDEA 3 - Use dies to create a shaped gift card holder

I die cut two of the these mittens to make this holder, just sandwich two back to back and leave an opening at the top for the gift card. Look at the dies you have and see what you might be able to use to make a gift card holder. I also have a stocking die that I made gift card holders with last year.  Here's a little tip for sandwiched shape dies as gift card holders. Use a few layers of double stick tape to adhere them, giving a little dimension to the opening, making it easier to get the gift card in and out. 

With so many cute die cuts in this pack it was fast and easy to not only make the front of my holder cute, but also the back. 

IDEA 4 - What dies do I have that could hold a gift card? 

When creating these gift card holders I did just what I mentioned above and found this Window Pocket die, and found that it will fit a gift card nicely if attached to an insert! 

In the window here you can see the insert with out a gift card, but what is fun about this holder is that the recipient gets a peek at their gift card. 

Just add the gift card to the insert with a few glue dots or foam squares. 

See how the window gives a little look at what's inside!  

IDEA 5 - Use a little box for a gift card plus treat! 

I thought this holder would be perfect for a Starbuck gift card and candy cane! 

IDEA 6 - Put a gift card inside a card, with a sliding holder. 

On the outside it is a normal Christmas card. Made very easily, I might add with the use of the Dear Santa paper and die cut pieces. 

On the inside...

A fun spot for a gift card using the Gift Slider die!  You can die cut this piece and add it to any card. It's fast easy and cute!  I can take the cards I already have on hand and add this to include a gift card very easily.  

I love all of these ideas, because they are fast any easy. I don't use kits that often now days, but I have to say they are a blessing at Christmas time for last minute tags, gift card holder and cards.  I recommend finding one you like to make your holidays a little less stressful and still help you feel like you hand crafted heartfelt gifts. 

At the bottom of this post I have linked all the things I used to make todays projects. But before you go I have one more project with the Dear Santa paper and die cuts.  A mini gift bag, a gift card could be added to this insert too. But I decided to make little gifties for my crafty friends, sharing some of the extra die cuts left from this kit. And a personal note on the insert. 

Thank you so  much for stopping by and spending some time with me!  I hope you are leaving inspired to create.