25 Cards of Christmas - December 25th

My final installment is for those cardmakers who just didn't get their Christmas cards done on time! Send a Happy New Year card instead!!!!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 24th

Remember the Reflection Technique card featuring Lovely As A Tree? Well, the transparency I used for that card will be featured in today's card. I didn't restamp it at all - just reused it as the focal point.

25 Cards of Christmas - December 23rd

Sorry for the late posts - but after scurrying around prior to Christmas, and then enjoying Christmas with my family, my back decided to go out. Ouch...I am still recouperating, but will finish up my 25 Cards of Christmas.

Here is my 23rd card:

This card has a faux denim background and features many SU punches. This could easily be transformed into a birthday card by changing the "noel" phrase!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 22nd

I have been using the new set Snow Swirled all season. I just love this set!

Here's a card showing an example of a poinsettia made with punches (the 5 flower punch and the 1/4" circle punch). I also used the long scallop punch for the bottom of the tree piece. There's a brad on top inside the "star".

25 Cards of Christmas - December 21st

Today's card is a gift certificate holder. I won't tell who it is for so I don't wreck the surprise! I used the new holly wheel! I embossed the saying in white ep on the coordinating tag. Mellow Moss, Riding Hood Red, and Always Artichoke are a great color combo!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 20th

Today's card is an example of Reverse Poppin' Pastels. This card uses Snow Swirled and To You and Yours.
Reverse Poppin' Pastels is such an easy technique. All you need is dark colored cardstock and lighter pastels. I use a QTip or a cotton ball and spread the pastel (in this case I used white) all over the piece of cardstock. Then ink your image with Versamark and stamp onto the pastel piece. The Versamark takes off the pastel to leave the image.

Enjoy!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 19th

The kids had off today - we had a total of about 12 inches of snow since 1:00 am last night. This was the third snow day in a month! I usually adore snow days, but today I had really wanted to get some Christmas wrapping done. Very hard to be sneaky when kids are coming in and out with wet gloves etc.

For today's card, I used Big on Christmas. A very simple card, but it shows a faux button - made with the 2-hole circle punch and then punched out with the 3/4" circle punch. Tie a knot with a piece of hemp or ribbon and pop it up with mini glue dots.

25 Cards of Christmas - December 18th

Where does the time go in the day? As it gets closer to Christmas, my to-do list is only getting longer, not shorter!

Here is my card to December 18th - it features Cardinal Christmas - one of my favorite sets from the Holiday Mini.

25 Cards of Christmas - December 17th

My second stair step card features Jolliest Time of the Year. Here it is!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 16th

For December 16th and December 17th, I will be showcasing a card format called the stair step card. I learned this technique online from a fellow blogger (thanks, Gretchen!). This card was tweaked from her example. The Holy Triptych stamp set is perfect for this format!

I taught my stampers this technique/format at my latest Technique Tuesday class. Here were the instructions I gave them:

STAIR STEP TECHNIQUE

Supplies
Holy Triptych/Many Merry Messages Stamp Set
Snow Swirled Stamp Set (for Star)
Confetti White/Night of Navy CS
VersaMark/Gold Glory EP/Emb Buddy/Heat Gun
AquaPainter/Various Inkpads
Scoring Blade/Pencil/SU Grid Paper

Cardbase
5 ½” x 11 piece of CW CS
Score as follows:
1 ½”; 3”; 5”; 7”; 9”
Fold on the score lines like an accordion.
5 ½” x 4 ¼” piece of CW CS for back base.
Attach back base to front of last “mountain”.

Stamp images in Stazon.
Cut out images (leave off star on Holy Family image).
Color in images with AquaPainters and inkpads.
Let dry.
Emboss star to center of large Night of Navy piece.
Emboss phrase on right end of small Night of Navy piece.
Adhere pieces.
Wise men on left, Holy Family in Center, Angel on right.

25 Cards of Christmas - December 15th

It was a chilly day around here today...and I luckily got to do some stamping. This card is a shaker card featuring the Santa from Jolliest Time of the Year.

I used some tiny gold star confetti and Christmas cookie decorations for inside the shaker. I hope you like this one!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 14th

Today's post includes one of my favorite stamp sets and one of my favorite techniques.




Lovely as a Tree is just one of those sets I hope never retires. I use it for almost every occasion (and see I don't even have a greeting on this card - just in case I need it!). The technique I used is called polished stone - I used Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, and Silver Encore refills for the background.

25 Cards of Christmas - December 13th

Ok, so it is not really December 13th when I am posting this. Sorry, but I just couldn't fit this in on Saturday.

Here is my card using Holiday Lineups and Sincere Greetings:

I used the Big Shot Top Note die and the Button die. I have used the direct-to-paper technique for the background and embossed the snowman on the Top Note. I just love these snowmen!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 12th

Today's card is really a gift card holder. This time of year there are plenty of gift cards floating around - why not dress it up a bit with a stamped gift card holder? This gift card holder is actually an envelope. We made this at my Christmas Gifts Stamp Camp last month.

Here are the instructions.

Happy Holidays Gift Card Instructions

1. Fold envelope in half
2. At midsection, cut to top of envelope
3. Punch holes for ribbon and insert ribbon through holes
4. Seal left side of envelope
5. Using marker, ink up phrase from Loads of Love and stamp on scrap piece of Whisper White. Punch out with oval punch
6. Punch out Always Artichoke Wide Oval tag. Adhere to envelope with only one Stampin’ Dimensional on left side
7. Stamp Happy Holidays image in Stazon on Whisper White cardstock. Color words, tree, and star with markers
8. Add glitter to star using 2-Way Glue and Dazzling Diamonds
9. Adhere all pieces and tie ribbon in bow

I hope this inspires all of you to go buy gift cards!!!!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 11th

Today's card is a bit "out of the box" as you may not think of this stamp set when making Christmas cards. I used the Wow Flowers stamp set along with Heard from the Heart.

The flowers look quite like snowflakes when embossed in white. Here it is!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 10th

The card I am featuring today uses Holy Triptych, Sincere Salutations, and Baroque Motifs. I love the large stamp from Baroque Motifs as a background. The color combination uses Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, and Naturals White with silver accents (Silver EP and Silver Mini Library Clip).

I love the softness yet richness these colors invoke. Enjoy!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 9th

The kids were home from school as we had 9 inches of snow at least since last night. I am just as happy (I think even happier) when the kids have off of school.

Today's card is a very simple card - with limited coloring on purpose. I was trying to go for the look that you oftentimes see in artwork -you know - the bright red cardinal in a snowy birch forest. The stamp set is Home for Christmas from the Holiday Mini Catalog.

I like the simple look of this card - hope you do too!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 8th

For today's card, I chose one that uses a technique that I have always been scared of. I know this sounds silly, but although I have been stamping since I was 15 years old (I'm closing in on my mid-40s right now), there are just a few techniques that intimidate me.

The reflection technique used to incorporate using the Stamp-a-ma-jig. I have owned one ever since I became a demo...but honestly, I've never used it. Shame on me.

I learned a different way to do the reflection technique using an acetate sheet (much like the SAMJ, I know). However, all you had to do is stamp the image with Stazon on the top of the base piece and then once on the acetate and then flip the acetate and smoosh it down at the bottom of the base piece. Voila! OMG! I was giddy with excitement when I tried it the first time and it worked!!!!!! My Technique Tuesday class loved learning this easy method!

To be honest, I didn't have too many stamps that I immediately thought of when I wanted to try out the technique EXCEPT Lovely As A Tree. That stamp set is the PERFECT choice for this technique...and I am crossing my fingers and toes that it is not one of those on the chopping block tomorrow morning when the 2008 Fall Winter Stamp Set retirement list comes out.

Ok, enough talking and typing....here is my card!

What technique(s) intimidate you?????

25 Cards of Christmas - December 7th

For today's card I used Punch Pals. This set was perfect for a mug template card - which you can insert a package of hot cocoa! That little penguin is just soo cute. I added the tag with the three snowballs on the bottom. The sparkly glitter adds a nice touch too! I should use this set more often - I am glad it is on my stamping table as tomorrow I have some time to stamp!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 6th

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas! Today's card features the stamp set Holy Triptych. This is actually a ZFold card. The main image is created by stamping in Stazon and coloring in with WCCrayons and an Aquapainter.

25 Cards of Christmas - December 5th

Well, we are at Day 5 - here is my card using the To You and Yours stamp set. Sadly, you cannot see the lovely swirl dry embossing on the bottom. I used the swirl from the Priceless Brass Template. This was one of my Technique Tuesday cards last month. Dry embossing isn't something I do often, but when I do I just love the look. Dry embossing always steps up a card!

The Ski Slope Designer Series Paper and Felt Flurries were also highlighted on this card. Enjoy!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 4th

Today's card features the Big on Christmas stamp set. Paint chips are great to use as a canvas for your stamping! The only trick to using them is they can be a bit slippery so I don't usually use my Classic inkpads. I use my Stazon pad or emboss on them to have the best effect.

The jeweled brad adds a nice touch too!

In my neck of the woods, we have had about 10 inches of snow this week...my boys love it (they even had off of school on Monday). My yard looks like a race track with all the snowmobile tracks! They are so happy when they get to ride!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 3rd

Don't you love the different color combinations of the holidays? I would have to admit I am not a Glorious Green and Real Red gal for the holidays...my color palette centers around deeper, richer colors like Always Artichoke, Elegant Eggplant, and Bravo Burgundy. My other favorite color combination celebrates the blue theme. This is my card for December 3rd using Night of Navy, Brocade Blue, and Brushed Silver:

I demonstrated this flip card at my Snow Swirled Stamp Camp. I love the look of Brushed Silver Paper when it is embossed with Silver!

Hope you like it!

25 Cards of Christmas - December 2nd

Tonight I held my December Technique Tuesday class. I adore these ladies - they are the core of my business and are fabulous and fun to be around.

One of the techniques I taught tonight was Faux Quilting. This is a great technique to use with bits and pieces of your Designer Series Paper. Many samples I found online used the larger square punches. For the card below, I actually used the 3/4" square punch. It made a smaller quilt, but it was easier to plan a card around this size. Here it is:

To make the quilt - punch out 6 squares. Take one square and cut in half diagonally and then cut each of those again diagonally. The Old Olive piece is 2.5" x 2.5" for the 3/4" punch quilt. Start and ahdere one full square, and then use one of the squares as your spacer. Get the four corners done this way (using the spacer square really helps line it up). Then use those four cut pieces in between the full squares. Finally adhere the spacer square in the middle. It is hard to see, but there is some paper piercing on the upper right and lower left of the More Mustard piece.

25 Cards of Christmas - December 1st

Hello everyone!

Today I am starting a new event on my blog - 25 Cards of Christmas. I will be posting a new Christmas card every day for 25 days!

Here is my first one - using the To You and Yours stamp set.

The colors on this card are Pacific Point and Baja Breeze. Love these new in colors! For the dove piece, I used the bleach brushing technique to whiten (or in this case "vanillan") the Baja Breeze cardstock. I love using bleach with stamping! The little variances of cardstock can really change what results when you use bleach. My scanner didn't pick up the ribbon color too well or the base card (both are Vanilla).

Happy December 1st!