Christmas Decor without a Speck of Green

It seems there are no rules when it comes to what is considered Christmas colors. A few years ago, when pink was added, I wondered if people had lost their minds. PINK?! Royal blue and navy have been part of traditional Christmas color schemes, paired with gold and silver, but lately light blue, as in BABY blue, has found a place.

If you can't tell by now, I'm a traditional red and green kind of gal when it comes to decorating for Christmas. But this year, I saw a color combination that changed my views. Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla, and Crumb Cake.

I know! Can you believe it? But as soon as I saw it I was lovin' it, and I knew it would only be a matter of time before I caved and made something for the holidays with this palette.

This ornament and candle set is the result of that creative catalyst. I received the Northern Frost Decorative Strip Die for the Big Shot Friday, and I knew at once that I wanted to break it in by making Baja Breeze snowflakes. The rest evolved from there.

The base is a Cherry Cobbler cut out of the Top Note Bigz Die. The Crumb Cake layer is also a cut out of the die, but the perforated edge has been removed to create a layer. I also ran a strip of Very Vanilla through the Big Shot with the die and stamped the greeting from Seasonal Sentiments on it to complete the package. Then I added the snowflakes! This strip has 8 snowflakes in various sizes and all have intricate details you'd expect to find when viewing a snowflake, all able to be punched out after they're cut. They're BEAUTIFUL!

The ribbon is a three-layered creation of retired Baja Breeze ribbon, 1/2" Cherry Cobbler seam binding from the current Holiday Mini, and retired Crumb Cake 3/8" taffeta ribbon. I started out with just the CC seam binding, but it wasn't sturdy enough.

The back of the ornament has plenty of space for writing a special message to friends and family. That way, when the recipient pulls it out with the rest of the ornaments yearly, you will be part of their decorating and celebrating! I also think this has potential as a photo card, but the only suggestion is that the picture be in portrait orientation. Landscape orientation works, but it's not the full size of the die.

Now about the candle...I was making a banana run (translation? a quick in and out stop, but not for produce) to Walmart the other day and I came across these little candles--for $1! Who doesn't want a little candle on hand for those times when you need to infuse a little aromatherapy into an environment? Well, I snatched up a few and after the ornament came together, I thought I'd try my hand at snazzing up this little jar. A simple 1.5" x 8.5" strip of Baja Breeze, a thinner strip of Very Vanilla, a few Cherry Cobbler snowflakes, and some hemp twine, and I was in business! The lid is covered with a 1.75" scalloped circle, a 1 3/8" circle, and a snowflake. Seriously simple but simply adorable!

These are going to be mass produced for friends and family this year, as we don't have a lot of money but we'd like to give something in celebration of the relationships we've been blessed with.

A Quickie

Everyone needs a card in their stash that comes together quickly, especially during the holidays. This is a flat 4.25" x 5.5" card that would be suitable as the front for a photo card (who would miss .5" from the bottom of a 4" x 6" photo?) or as a thank you note. We all have need of those, right? There's a lot going on in this simple, elegant card, so let me describe the details so you know what I did.

First, I cut 1-8.5" x 11" sheet of Old Olive card stock into quarters. Then I cut a piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock to 4 1/8" x 5 3/8". Then I took a piece of Whisper White card stock, originally measuring 4.25" x 5.5", and ran it through the Big Shot inside the Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Folder. Such visual appeal this little thing creates!

Then I punched out the corners with my Scalloped Trim Corner Punch. Fancy lookin', huh!

The main eye catching element of this card is the Merry Christmas label from Seasonal Sentiments in the Holiday Mini Catalog. This uses 3 of the Decorative Label punches. The first one contains the sentiment. The Old Olive one is cut in half horizontally and separated slightly. The Cherry Cobbler one is cut in half vertically and spaced to create this unique focal image. I must confess I was inspired by this card on SCS. Doing this with the Decorative Label Punch is brilliant! I added a rhinestone to cover up an unintentional ink spot, and I think it adds a little something.

I wanted to incorporate ribbon into this card, and I ended up using 3/8" Whisper White taffeta ribbon and 1/8" Old Olive taffeta ribbon. I'm super thrilled with this result.

Giving Thanks

Halloween cards are all the rage on the card blogs these days, but I don't know anyone who actually SENDS Halloween cards, so I'm skipping that holiday and giving you a glimpse at a great card you can make for Thanksgiving. Yesterday I shared how I made a non-traditional baby card using the Friends Never Fade set, and while I had it out I thought I'd see if I could adapt the same color scheme and image for use as a Thanksgiving card.

I chose Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, Soft Suede, and Old Olive as my color scheme and colored direct to rubber using my InColor Collection Stampin' Write Markers. I love having markers for this kind of detail work, and I like that I can try the colors out by purchasing the markers. Ink pads used to be the only options for the InColors, and I'm so happy SU! listened to us demonstrators and gave us markers!

Once I'd stamped the image on Very Vanilla card stock, I used my 2" scallop circle punch to crop it. I just bought the latest circle punch size, 2.5", from the Holiday Mini Catalog, and I wanted to put that to use, so I punched a circle from Poppy Parade card stock and layered the two together.

Then I inked up the Thanksgiving message from Seasonal Sentiments in Soft Suede and stamped it on Very Vanilla. It measures 1.75" x 3" so I could tuck it behind the circle image. I like how the wording seems to curve along the edge!

The patterned paper is from Greenhouse Gala, cut at 3" x 5.5". Did you know it was designed to coordinate with Friends Never Fade? I had scraps of Very Vanilla and Poppy Parade laying around, so I layered them behind to create a matting that ties everything together. Again, as with the last card, I added some Chantilly Crochet Trim and placed a thin strip of Soft Suede behind it so that the pattern shows more.

This card is one I'd really like to receive, as the message communicates how the sender feels about me and is so encouraging. Perhaps Christmas is just too crazy a time for you to think about making cards or even getting cards you've purchased in the mail.

Why not adopt a different approach this season and send out Thanksgiving cards instead! Your card would be a great way to bless those who've invested in your life this year. I'd be happy to help you calculate what you'd need in terms of supplies to make these.

Quick and Easy Gift Card Holder

When that "most wonderful time of the year" comes around, many people struggle to know what to buy folks so they purchase gift cards. Nothin' wrong with gift cards, except there's not much to give. No package to unwrap most times, and just handing over what the store gives you to put it in can leave you feeling like you didn't quite do enough. Am I alone in this? I don't think so.

So, why not take a few moments and create some great packaging for these little cards? That's what I did the other day when I had this great scrap left over from SU!'s new Decorative Label Punch after I punched a sentiment out of a piece of Whisper White card stock. It made such a sweet frame that I began to wonder what sentiments might fit inside it. Since I had the stamps from Seasonal Sentiments, also from the current Holiday Mini Catalog, on my table, I pulled out the beautiful Christmas greeting.

The complete stamp says "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year", but all of that wouldn't fit. So I used my Basic Black SU! Marker and just colored the Merry Christmas part and stamped it on a scrap of Real Red card stock. I popped the frame up on Stampin' Dimensionals and had a nice greeting...in like 2 minutes!

Then I reached for a scrap of Garden Green card stock. Conveniently, it measured 3.5" x 8.5", so I scored it at 4.25" and began to play around with the placement of the greeting I'd created. While I liked it, it needed something, and when I discovered what it was, I had to order it and wait until late last week for it to arrive.

"It" was the Petals A Plenty Textured Impressions Embossing Folder for the Big Shot. It creates a sea of poinsettias, perfect for Christmas! I placed just the front of the Garden Green card stock in the folder, ran it through the Big Shot, and was stunned at the difference that the dry embossed look made. I added some small Rhinestones to give some shimmer and more visual interest. WOW! I'm lovin' this, and so far it has taken, oh, maybe 5 min.

I used the now-retired Slit Punch to create a place for the gift card to rest inside, but Mono Adhesive or Glue Dots would work equally well.

See how easy it is to make a simple gift card a more special gift? The time to get started is NOW, friends, so don't delay. The highlighted items, and the card stock, are all you need to make this sweet holder. If you don't have the resources to purchase the Big Shot, let's work together to plan an event for you and your friends so that you will have a stash of gift card holders ready for holiday gift giving. This is just one of 4 different holders I've created that we can make in a private class. Contact me!

Halloween Treat Box

When I was hosting my monthly Stamp-A-Stack this weekend, one of the gals saw this project I had prepared for another set of stampers. She asked if I had posted this on my blog, and I replied with certainty that I had. She didn't remember seeing it, so I lugged my laptop over to the table and, sure enough, I hadn't posted it!

This is evidence of my brain going in many directions in the past weeks, and I'll attempt to be a more regular contributor in the days ahead. Apology accepted? Okay, let's get on with today's project.

I first saw the template for this box on Vicki Burdick's blog, and I followed the link to Angie Kennedy Juda's blog. (Some might wonder why I send you away from here, but I'm not about to "reinvent the wheel" when someone as talented as Angie has already made a great tutorial. Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/user/ChicnScratch#p/u/11/yMbujJsmxxE)

I loved the idea of this little box for sharing Halloween candy treats with classmates at school, and I modified hers twice to suit my purposes. I'll show you what I did today and tomorrow. I used Pumpkin Pie card stock, of course. While Angie tied a ribbon around her box, I wanted something more secure because I was making these with the idea that they would be transported for parties and would need to stay closed.

I used a retired punch, the horizontal slot, to create some slits for Early Espresso 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, but you could also use a 1/2" circle punch to accomplish this. I didn't want a scary Halloween image, since the crafters I was creating this for have young children. So I chose the XL 2-Step Owl Punch and added googly eyes.

The sentiment is from Seasonal Sentiments, a variety pack of sayings for the holidays of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentine's Day being offered in the Holiday Mini Catalog. I stamped it with Early Espresso ink and then used our new XL Label Punch, which has such a neat shape, to give it some visual interest on the box. To create the shadow effect, I punched the shape and cut it in half horizontally at the points in the middle and adhered it, slightly separated, behind the sentiment. You could also cut it vertically and achieve a different shadowed look.

The owl and the sentiment were mounted on a 3" x 3" square of Peach Parfait Designer Series Paper from the InColor Collection. The crafters were quite pleased with this, and my favorite part of this project is that it uses 1-8.5" x 11" sheet and requires no cutting.

I'll be back tomorrow with a second modification made with this template, this time making a little goodie box for Christmas.