Snowflakes galore ...

... Morning! I'll bet this is a bit of a surprise. It is for me too! Yesterday afternoon, mum asked me if I had any Christmas cards left - no!! So, I spent a couple of fun hours in my craft room playing with my new snowflake suite from The Greetery. I made three cards for mum, this is the first:

Stamps: Altenew - Warm Blessings; The Greetery - Snowflake Soiree

Inks: Gina K - Lipstick, Cherry Red, Turquoise Sea, Tranquil Teal

Accessories: White Card; The Greetery - Snowflake Soiree Stencils

I'm submitting this card to AAA Cards - AAA#205 where they want to see Christmas with the option of slimline, I skipped the slimline option. Also to CAS Colours & Sketches - CASC&S#450 - pick a previous 2021 challenge and make it festive; I picked challenge #405 - the colours are pretty close!!

It's so easy to create the snowflake border - the stencil is a six-piece set made up of Set A1 & A2, Set B2 & B2 - which together create the border, a stencil for separate snowflakes, and a mask to cover the completed border. I used two shades of red inks for Set A and blue and green inks for for Set B. I covered the completed border with the mask and then lightly inked the bottom of the card and finished by adding a simple greeting in dark blue. I left the inside of the card blank for mum to write her own message.

I was having fun with the stencils so I made a couple more cards - this time I went for shades of pink and purple:

Stamps: Altenew - Warm Blessings; The Greetery - Snowflake Soiree

Inks: Gina K - Dusty Rose, Passionate Pink, Lovely Lavender, Wild Lilac

Accessories: White Card; The Greetery - Snowflake Soiree Stencils

I'm submitting this card to Never-Before-Used-Schtuff - NBUS#33 - this is the first time I've used the set, but it won't be the last!!

I used exactly the same technique as outlined above, but this time in non-traditional colours. I love this one!

Here's my final card:

Stamps: Altenew - Warm Blessings; The Greetery - Snowflake Soiree

Inks: Gina K - Applemint, Lucky Clover, Powder Blue, Blue Denim

Accessories: White Card; The Greetery - Snowflake Soiree Stencils

I'm submitting this card to Happy Little Stampers Stencil Challenge - HLSSC#12 where it is Anything Goes. 

This time, as well as the snowflake border at the top of the card, I used the extra stencil to add some large stencilled snowflakes around the edge, as well as stamp a few from the stamp set. Once again, the inside is blank for mum to write her own message.

That's all from me today. See you again soon.

SHC - Christmas in July 3 ....

... Wow! Summer has finally arrived, it's been baking here in North Wales. And I've been continuing with my theme of Christmas in July for my Seven Hills Craft blog post. I have three more cards to share with you today. Here's the first:

Stamps: Altenew - Majestic Mistletoe, Beautiful Inside, Warm Blessings

Inks: Gina K - Innocent Pink, Dusty Rose, Key Lime, Jelly Bean Green, Grass Green, Christmas Pine; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: MFT - A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax Set 2 #9

Accessories: SU Card - Shaded Spruce; White Card

I'm submitting this card to Cardz 4 Galz - C4Glz#151 where the theme is Christmas in July - check!!

This card started out as a one-layer card. I used my MISTI to stamp the multi-layer mistletoe leaves in shades of green at the corners of the card. One of the leaves has spaces for berries, so I added them with pink inks. I then filled in the gaps with the smaller mistletoe leaf and some berry images in pink. I stamped the greeting in the centre of the card. I then decided to use a stitch edged die to cut out the panel and adhered it to the front of an A2 dark green note card. Inside the card, I used the stitch edge die to cut a piece of white card onto which I stamped a scripty greeting and a verse in black ink. I also added another small mistletoe leaf in green ink.

My next card is cleaner and simpler and has a non-traditional colour theme:

Stamps: Altenew - Majestic Mistletoe, Beautiful Inside, Warm Blessings; Concord & 9th - Mistletoe Messages

Inks: Gina K - Peach Bellini, Tangerine Twist, Sea Glass, Turquoise Sea, Tranquil Teal

Dies: Gina K - Master Layout 2

Accessories: SU Card - Bermuda Bay, Island Indigo; White Card

I'm submitting this card to Sunday Stamps Challenge - SSC#261 where they have these gorgeous colours, and to Less is More - LIM#447 where their theme is Christmas in July.

I used the MISTI to stamp the multi-layer mistletoe leaf and berries. I used shades of teal and orange for a non-traditional look. I used a stitch edged die to cut out the panel and adhered it to a mat layer of dark teal card. I finished the panel by stamping the word 'noel' in bright orange. I adhered the whole panel in the centre of a side opening A2 light teal card. Inside the card, I cut a mat layer of dark teal card and on the white panel I stamped another mistletoe leaf, along with a scripty greeting and a verse in black ink.

My last card features a big bunch of mistletoe leaves:

Stamps: Altenew - Majestic Mistletoe, Beautiful Inside, Warm Blessings; Concord & 9th - Mistletoe Messages

Inks: Gina K - Dusty Rose, Red Velvet, Key Lime, Jelly Bean Green, Sea Glass, Ocean Mist; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: MFT - A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax Set 2 #9; C&9 Mistletoe Messages

Accessories: SU Card - Pool Party, Island Indigo; White Card; Vellum; C&9 - Summer Glitter Pack Lime Green; Red Glitter Card

I'm submitting this card to Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies - HLSAGD#07 - where the theme is Anything Goes.

I started by making a top folding A2 white note card. I stamped a selection of mistletoe leaves, berry branches and small poinsettia over the front to make my own background. I then used a stitch edged die to cut out a piece of vellum which I adhered over the front of the card. I used the large mistletoe leaf die to cut three pieces - dark teal, light aqua and lime green glitter card. I adhered these pieces to the front of the car. I finished the front by adding a red glitter bow and a greeting which I adhered with dimensional pads. Inside the card, I cut a piece of dark teal card for the mat layer and on the white panel I stamped a leaf and scripty greeting.

That's another three cards ready for Christmas. I'm really enjoying making these cards.

When this post goes live, we will be at the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park. My mum loves flower shows and, as we're now back in the UK and things are opening up, we thought it would be a great day out. That's all for now. See you soon.

SHC - Iconic Christmas and More! ...

.... Hello! Sorry to have been missing for a while, I've not been feeling totally great, but I think all is well now. Not Covid related!! Anyway, I'm here with some Christmas cards - several in fact! I ordered some lovely new Concord & 9th and Altenew stamps from Seven Hills Crafts and they arrived last Friday, so I was able to spend the weekend crafting. I love the turnabout stamps that Concord & 9th make and I got the Iconic Christmas turnabout and made lots of backgrounds. Here's the first card I made:

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Iconic Christmas Turnabout, Merry Mantle

Inks: Gina K - Wild Dandelion, Peach Bellini, Prickly Pear, Tomato Soup; Versafine - Onyx Black

Accessories: White Card; Clear Embossing Powder; Nuvo - Midas Touch Aquashimmer Brush; Copic Markers

I'm submitting this card to The Holly & Ivy Christmas Challenge - H&ICC#81, where it's Anything Christmas Goes.

I've used non-traditional colours here - I like the feeling of warmth they give. I used my MISTI to stamp the background and then trimmed the panel to fit the front of a top folding A2 card (US size). I edged it with an orange marker and adhered it flat to the card. I stamped the stockings and mantle on white card, coloured the images with Copic markers, repositioned the images in the MISTI and stamped with Versafine black ink and heat embossed with clear powder. Then I carefully cut around the images. I adhered the stockings to the front of the card, added the mantle above and finished with a simple greeting. The inside is, as yet, unfinished. 

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Iconic Christmas Turnabout, Joy

Inks: Gina K - Powder Blue, Dusty Rose, Blue Denim; Versamark

Dies: Concord & 9th - Joy

Accessories: White Card; Clear Embossing Powder; Pink Satin Mirri Card; Silver Embossing Powder; Vellum

This is a large 8" square card. I used the whole 6" stamped panel for the centre of the card. I edged it with a blue marker, adhered it to some satin mirri card and added it to the front of the card. I finished the card with a large 'Joy' word. I stamped the large solid word in pink and carefully cut it out. I stamped the thin 'joy' word onto some vellum, and heat embossed it with clear powder. I used the matching die to cut out the word and layered the vellum letters onto the background word and added it to the centre of the card. I finished the front with a simple greeting from the Joy stamp set. The inside has yet to be done!

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Iconic Christmas Turnabout; Altenew - Warm Blessings

Inks: Gina K - Jelly Bean Green, Red Velvet, Christmas Pine, Obsidian Amalgam; Versamark

Dies: Altenew - Holiday Tag

Accessories: White Card; Gold Embossing Powder; Gold Satin Mirri Card; Green Fibres

This card has a much more traditional Christmas feel with greens, red and gold. It's a standard A2 card (US size). I layered the stamped panel on gold satin mirri card and added it to the front of the card. I made the tag with an Altenew die. I cut gold and white pieces and used a fancy edge to cut the zig-zag on the white card. I added a simple greetings and some stamped holly. I attached some green fibres to the tag and adhered to the card. Once again, the inside still has to be completed.

Stamps: Concord & 9th - Iconic Christmas Turnabout, Merry Mantle, Joy; Altenew - Warm Blessings

Inks: Gina K - Key Lime, Sea Glass, Lovely Lavender, Kraft, Sandy Beach; Versafine - Onyx Black

Dies: Concord & 9th - Merry Mantle

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Crumb Cake; Clear Embossing Powder; Green Mulberry Paper; Copic Markers

I made the card bases from kraft card. I cut the stamped panel to fit the card, layered it on some green mulberry paper and attached it to the card base. I stamped the wreath on white card, coloured with Copics, and cut it out with the matching die. I also used the word 'Noel' from the die set. I cut one black and three white words, adhered them together to give a more dimension to the word and added it to the card. I used the left over strip on another card. I stamped some snowflakes on the card, added the strip of card and finished by stamping the bold greeting in black and heat embossing it with clear powder. I still have to complete the inside of both cards.

That's all from me today. Do come by again tomorrow when I'll be sharing another Christmas card for Christmas 24 Challenge. See you soon.