Christmas-y Notes in a Little Box

Hello hello! It’s like 2 weeks ’til Christmas, and 2 days ’til Hanukkah  – how’s your holiday crafting going?? A while ago, in the thick of my card-production haze, I decided that what I absolutely needed to do–at that very moment–was to make something different. And then the Power Poppy 12 Days of Christmas December Challenge rolled in with some fabulous not-the-usual-cards-and-stuff inspiration. (Seriously, if you haven’t checked it out–click that link!)

So I’ve been dying to play with the Under Glass: Christmas Traditions set from Power Poppy, and what I came up with were some little holiday-adjacent notes that can be used for post-holiday thank yous, or for tucking into a gift, or as just something to send when you get an unexpected card and need to reciprocate (!!) I love the little scenes that you can put into the cloches, to create your own little world in there…

I colored these cards with colored pencils, in that same color palette I’ve been working with lately (below).

I’ve really enjoyed working with a few select colors. It seems to streamline how I choose to color each element of my projects (limited choices!), and I’ve learned a lot about shading/under coloring, because I can’t go looking for more colors to add in. Bonus: I can be lazy and just leave the pencils out on my table for a few weeks 😉

Once these cards were colored, I added sparkle with Stickles and Wink of Stella, but these cards can also be colored very simply. I just like to get all extra sometimes.

Oh, and the “Holiday Hello” sentiment is from Power Poppy.  The others are from a Waffle Flower set (“Heartfelt Thanks”) and Simon Says Stamp (“Thanking you for thanking me”). My notecards and envelopes came from Paper Source.

To contain and present my cards, I finally got to use my Gift Box die from Lawn Fawn.  While I’m only showing off three card designs in this post, the completed box is sized to hold six 4 bar-sized notecards and envelopes (that’s 3-1/2″ x 4-7/8″ or 8.9 cm x 12.4 cm). What’s really ingenious about the die set is that you use one die for both the bottom of the box and the lid! That’s because you also cut some paper corners for assembling the top, and therefore ensure a perfect fit! If that sounds confusing, Lawn Fawn has a video demonstrating how to use the set, and it’s really much simpler than it sounds.

I stamped Flowering Santa onto some grey cardstock, and colored him in with that same color palette. Of course, I needed some more sparkle, so I sprayed the whole thing with some shimmer spray, as well as stenciled on shiny aqua embellishment mousse around my Santa.  I also added some glittery Nuvo drops to the flower centers, and a glittery heat-embossed “Merry” sentiment.  Then I assembled the box lid and bottom, and packed it with the note cards.

This was a fun project to put together.  You can go as simple or as all-out as you want for decorating and coloring, and customize the contents for any recipient.

Gingerbread Family – the sweetest new digi from Power Poppy!

There’s a new digital stamp coming out for Power Poppy’s Happiest Holidays 2017, and it’s all about the cookies! Meet Gingerbread Family:

This set has unlimited “decorating” potential! Have lots of fun coloring up all that icing, and making a sweet scene with the gingerbread house and ginger folk.  There’s also some great sentiments that can be used on all sorts of gifting and holiday tags and cards.

For my post today, I took one look at the gingerbread boy and girl and knew I needed to make some tags! Especially because there’s a back side to each cookie! How fun is that?

I copied the images into Pages, and sized each one to about 3″ x 4″ (7.6 cm x 10.2 cm), then printed them on some kraft card stock.  One thing I love about digital stamps is that you can make stuff as small or as big your printer can handle, and this size is perfect for a gift tag, as there’s plenty of room for writing “To” and “From” or even a little note.

Because the images are designed to fit together, I needed to do some fussy cutting. Fortunately, Marcella designed the ginger folk with nice and distinct edges, so running the scissors around was fast and easy (Fact: Each image took me approximately the run time of “Hungry Like the Wolf” by Duran Duran or 3 minutes 40 seconds). If you have one of those digital/scanning electronic cutters, you can make a whole troop of gingerbread tags in a flash (are you listening Santa?).

Ever since I heard rumors that a new cookie-themed digi stamp stamp set was in the works, I’ve wanted to try using enamel drops to mimic frosting/icing, and I finally got my chance.  To add decorative details to my ginger people, I tried out the Nuvo Crystal Drops in Gloss White and Red Berry. I love the dimensional look, although you can see that the white cracked a bit: looks like real royal icing to me, but I’m going to blame the incredibly dry heat wave we’ve been having in Southern California as well.  It was 90F in the room when I applied the drops and I think they got a little baked!

I also added a little more color with some pencils.  I chose a darker brown for the cookie edges to give dimension, and scarlet red and emerald green for greenery, bows and bowties. I also used just pencil on the back of the ginger boy, but you could go for dimension on both sides.  I think the pencil looks wonderful and surprisingly bright on top of that brown base.

I assembled the ginger boy as a folding tag, tying the string through one of his hands.  I did the same with the ginger girl, although I left as a flat tag. Look at how nicely that ginger boy stands up – I bet these ginger folk would make the cutest placecards for a cookie-decorating party.

Ready to see more sweet ideas from this new holiday digital stamp set?
Nancy
Cheryl
Power Poppy blog

 

 

It’s Never Too Late For Tags!

Hi there! I had grand plans to write several blog posts about my Christmas crafting, but then I caught a bug over Thanksgiving that has really thrown a wrench into those plans! However, I’ve really enjoyed making all sorts of tags this season, and I thought I’d share those with you.

The tag on the left is my take on the chalkboard trend. I heat embossed (with white powder) a sentiment from Power Poppy’s Joyful Arrangement Stamp set onto a a die-cut tag from Papertrey Ink.  I couldn’t believe how perfectly everything fit! I added some sweet greenery cut  with Impression Obsession dies. The candy-striped twine is by Lawn Fawn.

The center tag uses that great cool santa from Ellen Huston’s Tis the Season stamp set. A little copic coloring, a pom-pom and a few jingles bells finished this tag off. I’ve got a variation on this tag further down the post.

The right-hand tag is my CASE of Nichol McGuirk’s super cute No Peeking tag, using Mama Elephant stamps and Pretty Pink Posh dies and sequins.

I really enjoyed making these ticket tags! Instead of making punching holes and using twine, I decorated some small clothespins (washi tape, super easy) and used those for attaching my tickets.  These tickets are only 2″ long, so tiny die cuts, gems and stickers look right at home.

Punched tree shapes let me make use of all of those sequins and enamel dots I seem to be hoarding 😉

Here’s that santa again, but this time the tag has a built-in pocket (I know it’s hard to see!). I made this pocket tag by die cutting a folded piece of card stock, with the left edge of the die just off of that fold when I ran it through my Big Shot. I secured the edges of the tag with 1/8″ Scor-tape, and it will juuuuust fit a gift card in that pocket, so using strong adhesive is key.

These round tags use stamps and a die from Papertrey Ink’s Tinsel and Tags kit. I created an ombre look with Avery Elle pigment inks.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas Cards: 1 Stamp, 2 Ways

It’s already December and time to start crankin’ out those Holiday Cards!  I usually make a large batch of cards for my Mom to send out, and they usually need to be completed by Thanksgiving (!). This year, I had a time crunch (travel for a wedding), so I decided to keep it simple.

I found a real show-stopper of a stamp set called Nature’s Peace by Stampin Up! The main stamp will cover an A2 card base, and I just loved that hand-lettered-looking sentiment, as well as all of the animals, flowers and flourishes around the edges.

For my first set of cards, I wanted a folk art look, something that reminded me of Redwork. I decided on pigment ink, because I wanted a bright and smooth and vibrant effect, and “Cherry” from Avery Elle fit the bill.   I decided to heat emboss with clear powder to add just a bit of textural interest and deepen that red color.  I experimented with adding twine or a little sparkle, but I found the image striking enough. I did round the bottom corners. This card was entirely one layer, btw.

For the second set of cards, I thought about a starry night sky, and did my stamping (with Versamark ink) on deep blue card stock. I used silver glitter embossing powder and just love the way there’s sparkly bling, but you can still pick out the details of the snowflakes and the stars hanging off the tree.

I attached the blue card stock to a white base, using Scrappy Glue.  I’m one of those people who can’t line ANYTHING up, ever. So I find that glue gives me enough “slide time” to get everything straight.

I get my envelopes from Paper Source.  There’s one near me, and they have soooo many colors of card stock and envelopes. I typically bring my cards into the store and compare and select right there.

Comments? Questions? Let me know 😀