Christmas offerings

Here is a selection of the cards I sent this year.

 

Tri shutter santa card - Kanban topper and backgrounds



 

HOTP background paper, topper from Hobbycraft, Silver greeting and embossed panel created with the Cuttlebug.





Tri shutter bauble card. Made with a bought gift tag. Background papers by Craft Creations.



Toppers by Hobbycraft, embossed greetings and embossed panels by Cuttlebug, background papers by HOTP and Artylicious, Snowflake punch by Martha Stewart



New England cottage stamp and Silent Night text by Elusive images, snowflake embossing by Cuttlebug, Distress Inks in Broken China, corner punch by Anna Griffin, tiny gems by Glitterati



Background paper free download from GlendaWaterworth.com

Embossed background by Cuttlebug, poinsettia die cut by Marianne Createables, angel stamp by Elusive Images

Poinsettia die cuts by Marianne, punched fern leaves by L-Em

Holly flourish stamp by Stampendous



Noel stamp by Stamps Away



Cottage stamp by Elusive Images, background Sketchy Flourishes by Inkadinkado, colouring Distress Inks in Scattered Straw and Broken China



Colouring Distress Inks in Vintage Photo and various green markers for the trees





Gorjuss

I like the Gorjuss designs but don't really go for colouring stamps so have avoided buying the stamps. When I saw the Gorjuss designs in die cut packs I decided that was my chance to use the designs on some cards. I have also been looking for opportunities to use the fantastic  DCWV Mariposa papers. They are so scrummy that I couldn't see how I could make a card to live up to them. This is my attempt to combine the two. I hope it works. The Gorjuss girl is a tag die cut which I have slotted into the design on the paper, curling the flower to fit over the tag. The fibres on the left hold a tiny gold key.  The 21 is stamped onto an oval cut with a Nestie. The photo below shows the card closed with the Papermania embellishment on the back edge. The strong sunshine sadly is casting very long shadows which look a bit weird on the card.

While I wasn't looking

This is one of those cards that made itself while I was in bed one night. I had a card all planned out for my friend Judith but I had also been playing with these Viva stencils. When I'd finished experimenting I left a green and purple version out on my workspace overnight. In the morning it had talked itself into becoming Judith's card. I wanted to redo it in creams and pinks though. I used Distress Inks (in Vintage Photo and Victorian Velvet I think) to sponge through the stencil. The same inks also make a frame around the flourish

The flowers were punched from basic Grey paper which had been inked and stamped with a text stamp. I then shaped them and applied gems and pearls to the centres.

The background of the card has been stamped and clear embossed with Inkadinkado's Sketchy Flourishes. The sentiment is by Hobby Art.

Coming up trumps

I have been crafting - honest! I need to do a few catch up posts to get up to date. This one goes back to the end of November when I needed a birthday card for Peter. He is a fan of playing card tricks but also collects playing cards and finds them quite inspiring artistically. His final piece for his A level Graphics was a huge playing card. So choosing this project for him wasn't a huge stretch of the imagination. I made it at a time when I was wanting to experiment with stepper cards. I had also just acquired Sir Tim's gorgeous Baroque die and was desperate to use it. So this is what Peter opened on his birthday.

The cards and background paper are by Kanban. The corner punch is by Anna Griffin. The King is mounted on the red satin card Baroque die cut. The card is so luxurious and you can see it better in this photo.

I felt a bit of a cheat using die cuts but I was pleased with the result and felt I'd improved my skills by working with very tiny margins in measuring the layers for the different sections.