Inspired Stamps - Christmas Card

Welcome to another week of Christmas in July with Inspired Stamps!  This week, we are focusing on Christmas cards.

I went for a non-traditional Christmas card with pinks and cream. ;)  The cardbase is a cream cardstock, measuring 4.5 x 12", folded into a trifold card.  I scored the first and second panel at 3-5/8" and the last panel measures 4-3/4".

Winter Ruth was stamped on a piece of white cardstock, and coloured with Copic Markers, cut out and adhered onto the front panel.  Her coat was paper pieced with patterned paper.  A strip of the same patterned paper was adhered to the last panel of the card, stamped with the "Merry Christmas" greeting from the Perfect Sentiments stamp set.

Don't forget that there is a fantastic sale happening at Inspired Stamps.  Use the code "JULY12" at checkout, and you will get 25% off your entire order.  What a perfect time to shop for all those stamps on your wishlist.

 

Thank you for stopping by.  

Have a lovely day!

Kary

HLO Winter Girl

Today I have an Inspired Stamps Christmas card to share.  This card is one of my favourites, I love the bright colours and the cute Winter Girl. I simply Adore all the Inspired Stamps HLO characters.  They are so much fun and perfect for paper piecing or colouring.

I coloured HLO Winter Girl with copic markers (see list below) and used a Spellbinders circle die to diecut the image. Then I added some sponging around the edges of the card using Distress Ink Evergreen Bough and  adhere it to two other stacked die-cuts from Labels 9 and Picot Edge die. All papers are from Echo Park Holly Jolly Christmas. The sentiment is from Winter Ruth set, and I split the words so they fit on the card.  Before placing the stamped image & sentiment onto the cardbase, I tied a red organza ribbon around the card and secure it with Baker's twine and adhered a green button with Glossy Accents.  The finished card measures 4.25 x 4.25" and opens upwards.

Don't forget to Register at the Inspired Stamps store as Antoinette is having a secret stamp giveaway - read all about it here.

Now, it's time to visit the Inspired Stamps blog for more inspiration from the Design Team. Enjoy the hop.

Have a great day!

Stamps : Inspired Stamps His Little Ones - Winter Girl, Winter Ruth

Paper : Echo Park Holly Jolly Christmas 6x6 pad

Ink : Memento Rich Cocoa, Distress Ink Evergreen Bough

Copic Markers : Skin (E000, E02, E13, R21), Eyes (YG25), Hair (Y11, Y21, YR23, YR24), Outfit (RV02, RV04, R32, R35, R37, R39), Shoes (C3, C5, C9)

Monday cards & A Winner!!

Hi Friends!  It's Monday and the start of another new week.  This is the week to get all Christmas cards mailed.  I am determined to get really organised and finish what is required.  These are my recent creations - I guess you could say they are based on the same layout/sketch.

I am seriously in love with the Lily Bee Jingle papers, most of my Christmas cards are made using them.  And, I used the same sentiment & image stamps and dies from Taylored Expressions - Wreath of Joy, Seasonal Wreath Die & Basic Bow Die. 

Now, to announce the final Winner of my Birthday Giveaway.  Instead of checking through all comments, I decided to just take the comments from the first post of the week (as of midnight Sunday my timezone), and then have random.org to pick out a number.  Then I'll check that the person has commented on all my postings.  So... here's the result:

From the 15 comments on this post, random.org picked out Commentor No. 1, and so... the prize goes to...

Wendy ten Hove

Hoi, Wendy, Big Congrats for winning the Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles dies!! Woo-hoo, I know you have been wanting them, and I am SO glad your number was chosen.  And because you are a follower, I'll be sending you a special something too.  I'll let that be a surprise.  

Thank you, Everyone, for sharing the Birthday celebration month with me.  Your kind words and comments have meant a lot.  I hope you'll be back to visit soon.

  

Have a Happy Week!!

Stamps : Taylored Expressions Wreaths of Joy, The Craft's Meow Timeless Tags (the sentiment frame on the second card)

Dies : Taylored Expressions Seasonal Wreath, Basic Bow 

Paper : Lily Bee Design Jingle 6x6 pad

Ink : Memento Tuxedo Black & Bamboo Leaves

Inspired Stamps Sneak Peek #3

Hello!  Welcome to the Inspired Stamps Sneak Peek #3.  Today, I'm so excited to share with you a card using Inspired Stamps' latest HLO Winter Boy.  I LOVE this little guy, and he will be on sale NOON time this Friday, together with all the other wonderful new sets.
Here's my card:

I tore two strips of white cardstock to create the snow landscape & inked the edges with Distress Ink Tumbled Glass.  The HLO Winter Boy was coloured with Copic markers (Cap - R32, R35, R37; Skin - E000, E02, E11, R21; Scarf- YG03, YG17; Outfit & shoes - B91, B93, B95, B99; Hair - Y21, Y26, Y38) & cut out and adhered to the cardbase with pop dots.  I added some glitter to the boy's scarf using a glue pen and fine glitter & attached a tiny bling to the centre of the snowflake he holds.  The tiny snowman in the background is from the 1" Snowmen set which goes so well with the scene created (Copics: Outfit - R22, B91; Nose - Y38).  The sentiment is from Winter Ruth set and the snowflakes from Let It Snow set. 

I hope you like the card.  Don't forget to visit Jenn and Amber to see their Amazing samples today and also the Inspired Stamps blog.

Hugs!

Giveaway Week 5 & Winner!!

Hello Friends!  I can't believe we're at the last week of November, which means it's also the last week of my Birthday Giveaway.  Thank you so much for your kind & sweet comments the past few weeks - I can't tell you how fun it has been for me.  Be sure to visit me this whole week, as I'll have some exciting prizes for you.

But, first, I have a card to share.  This card was made for the MFT sketch challenge this week.  I think this Pure Innocence girl is one of my favourite Christmas stamps.  It's a little challenging to colour her esp with the candle, and I still need more practice.

And, here's another view:

So, here's the bit that everyone is waiting for - This week's Giveaway item is sponsored by Inspiration Emporium.  I am so amazed by the generosity of Joy Kennedy - I had ordered some products from IE's online store and when the order arrived I discovered an additional item sent in error.  I wrote to Joy and she suggested that I give it away on my blog.  So awesome!  For those of you who live outside the US, I would suggest you check out Inspiration Emporium as their overseas shipping is the BEST!  So, here's the prize for this week - Spellbinders Wonky Rectangles dies!!

The rule is really easy - be sure to comment on every post this week to qualify to win this set of dies.  As per the previous weeks, if the winner is a follower of my blog, there will be an additional prize.  I'll leave that as a surprise once again, but you're going to love it.

Thank you everyone who participated last week.  Random.org helped me picked a number from all comments from last week.  The winner for Week 3 giveaway is....

lisa arana!!

Woo-hoo, Congrats Lisa!!  You win the Inspired Stamps set!   I have emailed you and look forward to hear from you.

Thanks to some of you who wrote to me offering feedback and what you'd like to see.  I'll work on it and hopefully be able to do more next year.  December is a crazy month and so is January as we'll be celebrating Chinese New Year, and I guess it's the busiest time for my family.

Have a great week!

Stamp : My Favorite Things Pure Innocence Christmas Caroler

Paper : Echo Park Holly Jolly Christmas

Ink : Distress Ink Ripe Persimmon, Memento Rich Cocoa

Other : MFT Die-namics Crown border, i-rock glam rocks, Spellbinders Labels 10, Stampendous Champagne Crushed Glass Glitter, Scor-tape, seam binding

Copic Markers : Hair - Y26, Y11, YR23, Boots - R32, R35, R39, Skin - E000, E01, E11, Dress - shadows C1.

Fun Fold Christmas Card

Hello Friends!  At Inspired Stamps, we are focusing on Fun Fold Christmas cards today.  I haven't made a fun fold card in a long while, and after thinking about it for days I finally worked out one I was happy with.

I used the Inspired Stamps set Choir Boy/Angel and Nativity (sentiments) for the card.  The finished card measures 4.5x4.5".  Here are some pictures to show you how the card is folded and decorated.

Untie the silk ribbon, and open the top flap:

Open the horizontal folds, to the inside of the card.

On the inside left panel, I adhered  the Scripture sentiment and a tiny die-cut star decorated with a tiny i-rock glam rock.  The sentiment piece was sponged with Distress Inks Old Paper and Shabby Shutters and some faux stitch lines with a black pen.

On the inside right panel, I decorated it with die-cut snowflakes and tiny blings.

Here's a closer look at the stacked hearts and the cute HLO Choir Boy.  He was coloured with Copic Markers (Skin - E000, E11, E31, R20  Hair - YR23, YR24, Y21, E31, E35  Shoes & Tunic - BG000, B91, B93) and adhered with some pop dots onto the hearts.

For list of products used and detailed instructions for making this card, please click here for the download, if you are interested.

Thanks for putting up with this long post.  Please visit the Inspired Stamps Blog or click on the Design Team's names at the sidebar here, to check out what they are sharing today.  

Have a great day!

Warm Thoughts

Today, I have a card for the October Hero Arts contest.  The challenge is to make a Holiday card using non-holiday stamps or based on one of the sketches given.  I decided to give it a go and make a card which fits both the requirements.

My card is based on this sketch:

For the background, I pulled out all the tiny hearts I could find from all my Hero Arts stamps and a tiny star.  Using Versamark, I stamped them on a white cardstock and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.   For some colour, I sponged Distress Inks Tumbled Glass, Crushed Olive and Scattered Straw.  Then I brushed some Perfect Pearls Blue Raspberry before the inks dry to give it a nice shimmer and set it with fine mists of water.  When dry, I distressed the edges with Distress Ink Vintage Photo.

For the tree, I stamped the die-cut pieces using non-Holiday stamps Flower Swirl Vine on the tree pieces, and the trunk with a stamp from set You Are The Best.  Then I added colour with Copic Markers YG91, YG93, YG95, R22, R29 & YG25 and assembled the tree by adhering the tree pieces onto the solid tree die-cut with pop dots.  I spritzed some Perfect Pearls Mist on the finished tree and then added some Glossy Accents around the edges and threw some fine glitter on it.

Here's a closer look at the tree:

The sentiment is from the stamp set, Find Joy which is also a non-holiday stamp.

As always, I look forward to read your feedback and comments on the card.  It's always so fun to read what you think.

Have a great week!

Stamps : Flower Swirl Vine & You Are the Best (Tree), Find Joy (sentiment), Background hearts from various different sets.

Inks : Distress Inks Tumbled Glass, Scattered Straw, Crushed Olive, Vintage Photo, Perfect Pearls Mist -Sunflower Sparkle
Paper : Lily Bee Design Jingle 6x6 pad, Kraft cardstock
Other : Taylored Expressions die Trim The Tree, Spellbinders Classic Scallop Oval, Sakura Pigma Micron Black & White gel pen, Hero Arts gems

Unity Friends with Flair (21 October)

It's Happy Friday again!  What a busy week it's been.  How about you?  Time to chill out and see the fabulous inspiration from Unity Friends with Flair.  Enjoy the hop!

I've been pretty determined to make more Christmas cards..hehe. So here's the card for today:

Love the cute ticket stamps by Joslyn Nielson, Itty Bitty Ticket to Christmas!  I stamped it on white cardstock with Memento Rich Cocoa, and distressed it with Distress Ink Tea Dye.  The gorgeous patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Christmas.  I cut a slit along the rays near the Santa image, just long enough for me to tuck the tickets underneath.  With some quick dash lines and a bow with a button, the card is done.
Here's a closer look :

That's it from me.  I can't believe we're coming to the last week of October already!  Here's a little teaser... be sure to visit me in November, because I'm planning some little giveaways as it's my birthday month.  So, I thought it would be fun to reward faithful readers of my blog.  Your encouragement means the world to me, and I just want to say Thank You from my heart.


Big Smiles...

Stamps : Unity Itty Bitty Ticket to Christmas

Paper : My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Christmas, Gina K PLC Cranberry Cardstock, Brown cardstock

Ink : Memento Rich Cocoa

Other : Sakura White Gel Pen & Pigma Micron 0.1 Black, Red button from Gina K, Seam binding

Unity Friends with Flair (23 September)

Hello! Today, I have a card and a tag to share which are probably not my usual style.  {{laughing}} Do you have days like this?  I couldn't think of what to do, with absolutely zero inspiration in my head for this post.  Here's what I came up with after a really late night...struggling ;)

I had just received my September KOM, and I really wanted to play with it.  I had just completed a non-traditional coloured Christmas card challenge (post coming up), and I really wanted to make another.  Hence, the above result, which I wasn't entirely happy with.  So, I thought perhaps I ought try a tag instead with another theme...

 

I die-cut the tag from a Tim Holtz sizzix die, and sponged Distress Inks all over, and stamped a couple of images randomly on the tag.  Then I added the frame (from the same die) over the hearts image, and finished off the card with a sentiment, seam binding and button.

What do you think?  I am in serious need of some Unity Friends with Flair inspiration, I reckon.  Would you like to join me?  Just head to Unity's blog and you can see all the participants this week, and remember to comment along for a chance to win some stamps.

Enjoy!

Stamps : September 2011 KOM

Inks : Memento Rich Cocoa, Distress Inks Crushed Olive (tree), Distress Inks Scattered Straw, Tea Dye, Tattered Rose, Pumice Stone, Frayed Burlap (tag)

A Bunch of Cards

Hi. Today I thought it might be nice to post some cards I made for challenges which I've not posted on my blog before.  They are made with some of my favourite Unity stamps.  There's a card for every season and I've enjoyed creating them.



A sketch challenge

For this card, I used Graphic 45's tag & papers, with a sentiment stamp.  This is a really quick way to whip up Christmas cards.

This card was for a challenge where I used black and white with  a burst of colour.  The card is almost like a gatefold card with the top flap held closed by the embossed hearts.

This was a challenge where I had to create a card & envelope set.  I used scor-buddy to create some texture on the cardbase.

This was a really simple Christmas card with just one stamped image and embossed with White embossing powder.

This challenge was to make a card with a handmade flower.  I cut a strip of paper measuring 1 1/4" and used Fiskars Apron Lace border punch along one edge of the paper.  Scored the strip (every 1/2") and make accordian folds and adhere both ends of the paper strip together. Added a button to finish up the flower.  I love the sentiment by Mother Teresa.

This last card is a shaker card.  I placed the stamped image inside the shaker, just for some fun.  It's a fun card to make.

I hope these will inspire you to create this weekend.

Have a good one!

Emmanuel - God With Us

Earlier this week, I received a lovely gift from my friend, Christine.  She made me a felt gingerbread man which is so, SO Cute!!  And, with the gingerbread man is a beautiful poem she composed.  I thought it would be lovely to share this in today's post, and Christine said I could ;) 

Here's the poem:

              Emmanuel - God With Us

                      (composed by Christine Ang)

      In a humble manger the child King laid
 Shepherds found Him, just like the angels said
         Three wise men traveled from afar
  To offer gifts by following a shining star. 

       To all, God brings a message of hope
And to those who find life too difficult to cope
     You may seem alone on life's rough road
   But God is there to carry your heavy load. 

           Though silent He may be to you
    His abiding presence will see you through
      In His loving arms you will find refuge
    A safe haven when storms of life deluge. 

    With His hands, He wipes away your tears
   With His comfort, He allays all your fears
    Or through the valley of sorrow and pain
   God's love is there to uphold and sustain.

       He is faithful, always by your side
      And in your heart, He wants to reside
   He came to seek the lost, not worldly fame
  Emmanuel - God with us is His blessed Name.
                      ************
Such a lovely poem, so appropriate as we prepare for Christmas this December.

I've also made some really quick and easy cards using the Making Memories card pad & some stamps.  Here are some of the cards, and you can see the super cute gingerbread man Christine made amongst the cards..

I hope your hearts are encouraged today by Christine's poem.  Have a lovely day!

Stamps : Unity Bright & Merry Winter Wishes, Unity Snow Wonderful, Unity Snowflakes Fall From Heaven, Unity Peace Joy Love, GKD A Year of Borders, Hero Arts sentiment

Paper : Making Memories Noel Card pad

Inks : Copic Markers, Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamagic, Distress Inks

Others : Making Memories Poinsettia Notes, MS Vintage Lace punch, MS Frond punch

Season's Greetings

It's been a long while since I got my Waltzing Mouse stamps, and I haven't had time to ink them up!  And, there's the Graphic 45 Christmas Past paper pad sitting near my desk still waiting to be used.  And (gosh!)...there's actually more than one Christmas paper pads, LOL!  Sometimes I think I don't have enough Christmas papers and I'd buy some, then realised oops Christmas is almost around the corner and I don't have enough time to make all that I wanted to.. ;) Get to work, girl!!

Here's one of the cards I made:

The card was made based on Waltzing Mouse (WM)'s sketch #25.  The card measures 4 1/4" x 4 1/4", using WM Vintage Labels 1 stamp,with Spellbinders Label 1 die for the focal image with a tag from Graphic 45's Christmas Past.  Really fast and easy one.

I'll post more cards over the next few days.

Have a Lovely day!

Stamps : Waltzing Mouse Vintage Labels 1, Hero Arts (sentiment, I forgot the name of the set)
Paper : Red cardstock, Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather, Graphic 45 Christmas Past
Ink : Versamark
Others : White embossing powder, Epoxy button (Little Yellow Bicycle), Jute twine, PTI Twill ribbon, Spellbinders Labels 1, Sakura White gel pen.

Everything handmade is "fixable"...

Have you ever made a card, and decided it didn't look right?  Well, I had one of those moments a few days ago.  I wanted to use my new Christmas stamp set from Unity, Bright & Merry Winter Wishes (I like to make good use of every stamp set I purchase).  Had a workable card idea in mind, so I started stamping... but, half way through I was not happy with the work-in-progress.  I didn't like the placement of the stamped images and also the ribbon didn't look right.  Decided then to leave it aside and perhaps I could come back and fix it later.

Well, here's the "fixed" card:

It now looks totally different from my initial idea, but I think it's pretty ok.  The focal image section was what I had problems with earlier.  I trimmed down the size of the cream cardstock, added a patterned paper which complemented the colours of the stamped images below the bauble. Then I added a tab at the left side of the cardstock, as well as a bow for the bauble & also distressed the edges.  On a kraft cardbase, I stamped the text all over, followed by some branches in green ink.  Finally added a cream satin ribbon at the bottom.  Adhered the focal image onto the kraft cardbase.  I then decided the cream ribbon was not very interesting, so I added another tied bow using a gingham red ribbon.  Added a pearl on the knot of the ribbon plus the greeting on the bottom of the cream cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!

Stamps : Unity Merry & Bright Winter Wishes, Give It All Meaning, Artist In You
Inks : Versamagic Sea Breeze & Aspen Mist & Tea Leaves, Versafine Onyx Black & Distress Ink Tea Dye (Text & edges)  
Paper : PTI Kraft & Vintage Cream
Others : Ribbon, WRMK Corner Chomper, Zva Creative pearls, fine glitter

 

CAS Christmas card

Today I'm sharing a CAS Christmas card.  After making several cards with patterned papers, I guess you could say I needed a break.  It was time to have a clean & simple card with more stamping and no patterned papers.

Here's the card:

What I did was mask the outer edges of the card with removable scotch tape (abt 1" from the sides). Then ink up the flourish stamp (Unity's Artist In You) with red chalk ink and stamp randomly. There's room to stamp the flourish only 3 times, really. Ensure the ink has dried, then remove the tape, and use the Scor-buddy to score 1/2" from the sides as shown.

Stamp the bauble (from Unity's Bright & Merry Winter Wishes) on a white cardstock and color as shown (I used a red watercolour pencil and a blender pen to blend the colour).  Then add glitters (I used the Sakura Quickie Glue pen before thowing on the glitters) onto the centre section as well as around the coloured areas & cut out the bauble. Cut as close as you can to the outline of the bauble.  Punch a tiny hole at the top of the bauble and tie a bow with silver embroidery thread and the sentiment.  The sentiment in the set was really long so I only used the top 2 words - I inked up "merry" 1st and stamped it then inked up "christmas" and stamped below the word "merry".  Mount the bauble with foam adhesive as shown.

Then..hmmm... I felt it needed a little more interest, so I used a fine black pen and drew the frames as shown.  And added some pearls to finish off the card.

As an alternative, I guess one could use a glue pad to ink the flourish stamp & add some flocking - this would really jazz up the card base.  Maybe I'll try that and see if it works.

I hope you enjoy the card.  Have a fun week!

Stamps : Unity Artist In You (flourish), Unity Bright & Merry Winter Wishes
Inks : Versamagic Red Magic, Versafine Onyx Black
Paper : White & Ivory Cardstock (PTI)
Others : Scor-buddy, fine glitter, Sakura Quickie Glue pen, Sakura Pigma Micron black (0.1), Scotch removable tape, Silver Embroidery thread, Pearls

Making more Christmas cards

Lately, I'm inspired to make Christmas cards.  Today's cards are made with some help form the challenges at StampTV this week.

First card:

This card was inspired by the colour challenge: to use black, red and chartreuse on a card.  I've never used black for a Christmas card before... but there's always a first time ;)

Second card:

This card was based on the sketch challenge found here.  Decided to use pinks with the Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather papers.

Hope you have a happy Sunday!!

First card:
Stamps : GKD Blessed is the Season, GKD Fanciful Tags
Papers : Pink Paislee, GKD cardstocks
Inks : Versamark, Colorbox Frost White, Versafine Smokey Gray
Others : Judi Kins Sticky Stuff Embossing Powder, Stampendous Detailed White Embossing Powder, Fine glitter, white gel pen, PTI notebook die

Second card:
Stamps : GKD Blessed is the Season (sentiment), GKD Vintage Borders (ornaments), GKD Vintage Backgrounds
Papers : Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather (6x6 pad), PTI Sweet Blush cardstock
Inks : Versamark, Versafine Onyx Black, Memento markers
Others : Sakura Clear Glitter pen, ribbons, Hero Arts poinsettias, Zva Creative crystal brad, Scor-buddy