In Mirrored Teal

Hello everyone,

Today's post is another version of yesterday's cards.

The image is Rubber Stampede Santa Collage stamped in Altenew Dusk on Bazzill White and layered on a mirrored Teal of unknown origin.  The background text panel is a stamp of unknown origin stamped in an ink of unknown origin on a white of unknown origin and layered on Bazzill Metallic Silver Foil.  The image is highlighted with Silver Stickles.

Not only did Crop A While donate the wonderful text backgrounds but also a huge number of card bases including this gorgeous one in metallic teal.  I ended up crafting three of these exact cards.  I love the silver, white and teal combination.  I think the contrast between the very traditional images in the non-traditional colours are especially appealing.  It is always amazing to me that using similar elements in different colours leads to such different, but still beautiful, results.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

In Red And Green

Hello everyone,

Today's post is a two-carder!

The printed paper is of unknown origin layered on Bazzill red and green.  The background text panel is a stamp of unknown origin stamped in an ink of unknown origin on a white of unknown origin.  The image is Rubber Stampede Santa Collage stamped in Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler and Close To My Heart Topiary on Bazzill White.  The images are highlighted with Holly Stickles.

In the latest boxes of donated supplies from Crop A While, I found a whole bunch of these fantastic Christmas words stamped background panels and figured they'd be perfect for a series of cards which show how the same elements can be used to create very different cards.  These two cards are exactly the same just switching out the red and green in the card bases and layers.  I didn't add any sentiments because the background provides enough text.  This is, by far, my favourite Santa stamp.  Whenever I use to craft cards for the charity sale we can be guaranteed that they won't stick around long.

I hope you enjoy these cards and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

A Simple Snowflake

Hello everyone,

Today's French Christmas card post is as simple as yesterday's tree card.

The printed paper is Marianne Design Country Christmas layered on a brushed silver of unknown origin.  The sentiment is Bonnidee C'est Noel stamped in Altenew Desert Night on Recollections White and layered on more brushed silver.  The snowflake and brad are of unknown origin.

The 'flocon de neige' sentiment is what got me started on the snowflake theme for this card.  I do love a blue Christmas card!  The snowflake embellishment was gifted to me by a friend a few years back.  I can't believe it took me so long to figure out that a small brad would fit in the center.  Duh!  This card was intended to be as neutral as possible and I think it succeeds.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Glittered Tree

Hello everyone,

Today's Christmas card post is another French card for the fall charity sale at work.

The printed paper is Joy! Crafts Happy Holidays.  The image is Frog's Whiskers Ink Christmas Tree stamped in Ranger Glacier White and heat embossed with Stampin' Up White embossing powder.  The tree is highlighted with Stampendous Crystal Snow Glitter.  The sentiment is Bonnidee C'es Noel.

I don't have a huge variety of French sentiment stamps so I use them often when crafting French cards.  I wanted to make a more masculine French card and I had yet to try this great tree stamp.  A tree stamp which begs for glitter.  I do wish it had been just a little more opaque so it would really look likely sparkly snow.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Rocking Santa

Hello everyone,

Today's post is the last card using a wooden Christmas sticker.

The printed paper is Recollections Sugar Plums layered on a Bazzill green.  The sentiment is Bonnidee C'est Noel stamped in Stampin' Up Real Red on Recollections White.  The ribbon is Multicrafts.  The embellishment is Crafts Wooden Stickers.  The card is highlighted with Xmas Red Stickles.

I don't know how such a large scrap of holly paper ended up in the leftovers envelop!  I love the different green of this card.  This background paper doesn't really evoke Christmas but I like how it coordinated with the green of the holly and the green of Santa's saddle.  The red ribbon was a bit of an after thought, as I didn't want to CASE yesterday's cards too closely.  The Stickles add just that little bit extra without being over the top.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Starring Reindeer

Hello everyone,

Today's Christmas card post uses another cute wooden reindeer.

The printed paper is Recollections Merry & Bright layered on Bazzill green and Red Devil.  The sentiment is Bonnidee C'est Noël stamped in Stampin' Up Real Red on Recollections White.  The embellishment is Crafts Wooden Stickers.

I really love this cheerful diamond patterned paper.  When I found this piece in the scrap envelop, I knew I'd find a way to use it.  I thought the vertical element would foil the diamond shapes nicely.  I thought that by placing the sentiment right next to the printed paper would be more interesting than leaving a gap.  This is a really great card!

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Simplement père noël

Hello everyone,

Today's post is the french version of yesterday's card.

The printed paper is American Crafts Stockings layered on Bazzill red and green.  The sentiment is Bonnidee C'est Noël stamped in Stampin' Up Real Red on Recollections White.  The embellishment is Crafts Wooden Stickers.

I figured out simple for using these wooden stickers!  The only challenge for this Santa was to hid the weird yellow bell in his hand.  I'm quite familiar with the 'cover-up' which was perfect for this application. I did add a dimensional on the left side of the sentiment but just used glue on the right side.  I love this one!

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Simply Santa

Hello everyone,

I'm back on track with the wooden Christmas stickers.

The printed paper is of unknown origin layered on Bazzill red and green.  The sentiment is Hero Arts Very Merry Christmas stamped in Stampin' Up Real Red on a white of unknown origin.  The embellishments is Crafts Wooden Stickers.

Sometimes the best option is to just keep it simple.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

All Santas

Hello everyone,

Today's card is a blip in the wooden sticker series.

The printed paper is of unknown origin layered on Bazzill white.  The sentiment is Technique Tuesday Jingle All The Way stamped in Versafine Onyx Black on more Bazzill white and layered on Bazzill Red Devil.  The card is highlighted with Diamond Stickles.

This card was suppose to use another sweet wooden sticker but once I got everything together, the wooden stickers just didn't work.  I thought, given how busy yesterday's background paper was, this Santa paper would work equally well.  I was wrong.  Every sticker I laid out either got lost or looked awful against the all these images.  Instead of getting frustrated by the issue, I just decided to add some Stickles and let it go.  Funnily, I really like this card!  It's as fun as yesterday's! Go figure!

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Christmas Reindeer

Hello everyone,

Today's Christmas cards uses some wooden stickers I found at the local dollar store.

The printed paper is of unknown origin layered on Bazzill white and green.  The sentiment is Annabelle Stamps Jeweled Tree stamped in Stampin' Up Real Red of more Bazzill white.  The embellishment is Crafts Wooden Stickers.

I fell in love with these wooden stickers at the dollar store, buying a few different packages.  The next few cards will use them in few different ways.  I didn't originally intend to add a sentiment as the printed paper more than covers it but as I was pulling it all together I felt the sticker needed an anchor and though I tried a ribbon, it just wasn't working.  I offset the sentiment a little to accommodate the rocking horse and I quite like the end result.  This is a really fun card!

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Very Vintage Italian

Hello everyone,

Today's Christmas card is the last one using the Italian paper that I found in my stash.

The printed paper is Grafiche Tassotti layered on a vanilla of unknown origin and Bazzill navy.  The sentiment is Rubbernecker stamped in Stampin' Up Midnight Muse on more vanilla of unknown origin.  The embellishment is Dress It Up.

This is another very beautiful piece of Christmas paper.  Unfortunately, it's not a great scale for cards, especially smaller card bases.  I had to be very careful cutting for this layout otherwise I would have cut off some of the images.  I know I will lose a lot of this sheet because of the images but they're so lovely, I'll live with it.  I left the rest of the card very simple, again, not wanting to cover up any more of the printed images than necessary.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

All Snowflakes

Hello everyone,

Today's post is another Christmas card crafted with some great Italian paper.

The printed paper is Grafiche Tassotti layered on Bazzill Bitter Chocolate.  The sentiment is Cornish Heritage Farms stamped in Stampin' Up Early Espresso on Recollections Vanilla.  The embellishments were punch from more Bitter Chocolate and highlighted with White Opal Liquid Pearls.

I really like this paper with it's beautiful snowflakes and vintage feel.  I'm not sure what I was thinking however with dark brown snowflakes.  I know the brown makes them visible against the paper and the sentiment but snowflakes shouldn't be brown.  In hindsight, I should have made a brown vertical strip, wider than the sentiment, affixed the sentiment then punched vanilla snowflakes.  This isn't a bad card, it's just a little weird.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Pine Cones And Ribbon

Hello everyone,

Today's Christmas card uses another sheet of vintage Italian paper.

The printed paper is Rossi layered on Stampin' Up Mossy Meadow.  The images are Stampin' Up Watercolor Winter stamped in Mossy Meadow and Altenew Espresso and Mocha, on Recollections Vanilla.  The sentiment is Fiskars Vintage Christmas stamped in Mocha.

This paper has such traditional images, I couldn't resist adding it my cart.  I intended to use it for more masculine cards, and it will still work, but the ribbons are a lot more feminine than I thought they'd be.  I love this Stampin' Up stamp set.  Not only are the images wonderful but it's a two-step set that I really enjoy using.  This sentiment is also one of my favourites for vintage-style cards.  In the hopes of a masculine card, I didn't add any extra embellishments or glitter.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

More Traditional Holly

Hello everyone,

Today's Christmas card uses another piece of vintage Italian holly paper.

The printed paper is Rossi layered on a shimmery gold and red of unknown origin.  The sentiment is Hero Arts Very Merry Christmas stamped in Altenew Jet Black on Recollections Vanilla and layered on more red.  The banners are punched from more shimmery gold.  The red gems are of unknown origin.

The images on this sheet of paper has a much better scale.  This is a very traditional sentiment, in keeping with the vintage aspect of the paper.  I think the font also works really well with the holly.  The red isn't a perfect match with the berries but it's the best I had available.  I used the shimmery gold because the images also have a hint of gold - hard to tell in this photo.  I love this card.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Traditional Holly

Hello everyone,

The next few posts are Christmas cards that use some beautiful Italian paper that I bought years ago but only recently 'found' in my stash.

The printed paper is Rossi layered on Stampin' Up Soft Suede.  The sentiment is Inkadinkado stamped in Soft Suede on Recollections Vanilla and layered on more Soft Suede.  The ribbon is Multicrafts.

This paper was purchased years ago at the online store 32° North when I was looking for vintage Christmas papers.  It is actually decoupage paper so the scale of the images is not great but with careful trimming, I can make it work.  It also come is pretty large sizes - 19.5" x 13.5", which is challenging because it doesn't fit into my paper cutter.  All that said, I love the final result and I certainly won't shy away from using this great paper.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Bold Christmas

Hello everyone,

Today's card uses another holiday die cut that I recently acquired.

The printed paper is Stampin' Up This Christmas layered on Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green.  The sentiment is Joy! Crafts die 6002/2027 cut from Stampin' Up Basic Black and layered on Very Vanilla.  The embellishment is a Recollections brad.

This is the last card using the Stampin' Up This Christmas designer series paper that was gifted to me by a girlfriend.  It also uses the second Joy! Crafts sentiment die that I bought recently.  Again I chose to use black in order to make the sentiment pop even more.  This die is quite a bit longer than yesterday's so unless I used the same layout, this had to be a horizontal card.  I figured it would be a great masculine Christmas card so I added only a brad, no sparkle or glitter.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Bold Holidays

Hello everyone,

Today's Christmas card uses a new die cut that I picked up during Ecstasy Crafts 150th sale.

The printed paper is Stampin' Up This Christmas layered on Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green.  The sentiment is Joy! Crafts die 6002/2028 cut from Stampin' Up Basic Black and layered on Recollections Vanilla and more Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green.  The card is highlighted with Diamond Stickles.

It's not often that I craft a card without stamping.  This past year I began using a few die cut sentiments that were donated (by Crop A While) and really liked the results.  I decided to look for a few Christmas dies and was quite pleased to find today's (and tomorrow's) on sale.  I chose to use black paper because I thought it would back this bold font even more bold.  I think it works great because the rest of the card is so simple.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

More Stampin' Up Christmas

Hello everyone,

Today's post demonstrates that when something is working, run with it!

The printed papers are Stampin' Up This Christmas.  The sentiment is Stampin' Up Seasonal Sayings - Christams stamped in Versafine Onyx Black on Very Vanilla and layered on Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green.  The embellishment is Martha Stewart Woodland Felt Icon Die-cuts.

This printed paper was gifted to me by a girlfriend.  I just love the delicate but somewhat retro images.  I just love the hints of black which I think works especially well against the vanilla.  It was what prompted me to use this sentiment, stamped in black.  I really love this sentiment and could really use it for every card.  This great poinsettia embellishment isn't the perfect shade of red but it's so perfectly Christmas I couldn't resist adding it.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Wonderfully Winter

Hello everyone,

I so liked yesterday's card, I decided to craft another with some more of the Stampin' Up Christmas stash.

The printed paper is Stampin' Up Home For Christmas layered on Mint Macaroon and Mossy Meadow.  The sentiment is Stampin' Up Wondrous Wreath stamped in Real Red on Very Vanilla and layered on more Real Red.  The pearl embellishments are of unknown origin.

This is one of my favourite papers in this series of papers.  Once again, the scale is just perfect for cards.  I used my recently acquired triple banner punch which I'm absolutely loving!  I just love the pop of Real Red.  It is wonderful with the hints of red in the printed paper and just pops against the mint macaroon.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Stampin' Up Greetings

Hello everyone,

Today's Christmas card is pretty much a Stampin' Up card.

The printed paper is Stampin' Up Home For Christmas layered on Mint Macaroon and Delightful Dijon.  The sentiment is Stampin' Up Curly Cute stamped in Early Espresso on Very Vanilla.  The embellishments are Crafts Rhinestone Stickers.

I don't understand why I balk at all Stampin' Up cards.  Maybe because I can spot them a mile away or maybe because I've got so many different products that I love to mix and match.  The most wonderful thing about Stampin' Up products is how perfectly they work together.  The colours are true so it's really easy to combine prints and solids.  Why wouldn't you?  I wouldn't normally choose mint for a Christmas card but it, as well as the dijon, just make the colours of the printed paper pop!

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Christmas In Purple

Hello everyone,

Today's post is a fantastic non-traditional coloured card with a traditional sentiment.

The printed paper is of unknown origin layered on Stampin' Up Blackberry Bliss.  The sentiment is Altenew Halftone Holiday stamped in Blackberry Bliss on a vanilla of unknown origin and cut with the coordinating die.  The card is highlighted with Diamond Stickles.

I think this is one of my favourite cards so far this month.  I love the pattern and the colours.  This was another Crop A While donation.  As there was a fair bit of it, I anticipate crafting multiple similar cards using different colours.  What a lovely set that would be.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Sprigs Of Holly

Hello everyone,

Today's Christmas card is full of holly.

The printed paper is of unknown origin layered on Bazzill green.  The sentiment is Bonnidee C'est Noel stamped in Altenew Olive on Stampin' Up Very Vanilla.  The ribbon is Crafts.  The embellishment is Jolee's Boutique Holly Repeats.

It's inevitable that when I'm in Christmas card mode, I'll craft some holly cards.  I found a pretty decent size scrap of this holly paper from the Crop A While donations.  I decided to use the sole vertical French Christmas sentiment is my stash because I didn't want to cover up any more of this great paper than necessary.  This sentiment is not too wide and it is the perfect scale for this size card.  The ribbon and stickers add just that extra bit of sparkle that make this a really great, if somewhat simple, Christmas card.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

A Little Vintage Christmas

Hello everyone,

Today’s post is another charity card for this month’s ‘Christmas In July’ series.

The patterned paper is of unknown origin layered on Bazzill red and black.  The sentiment is Bonnidee Christmas Wording #3 stamped in Altenew Jet Black on Stampin’ Up Very Vanilla.  The embellishments are Want 2 Scrap Red Baby Bling.

This vintage-feeling card is pretty simple.  I found the paper among the great donations from Crop A While.  I really love Santa’s image.  I ended up doing a cover-up with the sentiment which hides a partial ‘Merry Christmas’.  It looked really strange when I trimmed the paper to fit the card base so this seemed a pretty obvious solution.  Overall, this card was quick and easy with a really great result.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Wreaths And Ribbon

Hello everyone,

Today's post is an extraordinarily simple French card.

The printed paper is of unknown origin layered on a Bazzill red and dark green.  The sentiment is Bonnidee C'est Noel stamped in Stampin' Up Soft Suede on a vanilla of unknown origin and layered on more dark green Bazzill.  The ribbon is Ribbon Bowtique.

This is another charity sale card.  Some French cards are needed but I've only a couple of French sentiment sets as well as a couple borrowed from a girlfriend.  I can get bored re-using the same sentiments but once I retire, the number of French cards I needed will be limited.  I love this printed paper, the wreaths are so beautiful.  I debated using an image but this is a smaller card base so it would have covered too much of the paper.  I thought a lovely ribbon was a nice way to complement the images.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Vintage Poinsettia

Hello everyone,

Today's post is a pretty vintage poinsettia card.

The printed paper is of unknown origin layered on a gold also of unknown origin.  The image is Deep Red stamped in Stampin' Up Soft Suede on a vanilla of unknown origin.  The poinsettia is painted with LuminArte Mango Mamba, Olive Vine and Poppy Red Twinkling H2Os.  The sentiment is Rubbernecker also stamped in Soft Suede on an unknown vanilla and layered on more gold.

I was in the mood for some painting and thought a little shimmer wouldn't hurt.  This is a pretty flimsy card base and it's also quite a dark red so I added a panel on the inside.  I figured with the extra panel and the top layers, it would be a little more stable.  I love this poinsettia paper and chose the image carefully because I knew I'd cut it out and didn't want anything too intricate.  I'm especially pleased with out the green leave pop!

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Snowflake Celebration

Hello everyone,

Today's post has no red or green in sight.

The printed paper is of unknown origin layered on Recollections White.  The sentiment is Stamp Barn stamped in Altenew Dusk on Recollections White.  The banner was punched from a mirrored silver of unknown origin.  The snowflake brad is of unknown origin.

I never craft Christmas cards without doing a few that are non-traditional.  This paper couldn't work any better with this silver/grey card base.  Though the sentiment may be a little on the formal side for the paper, it was the perfect size and scale for what I had in mind.  Finding a perfect ink colour was pretty easy now that I have the Altenew inks.  I recently ordered the triple banner punch from Stampin' Up and wanted an excuse to use it.  It did not disappoint!

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

A Christmas Tag

Hello everyone,

Today's post uses more of the surplus card bases from my stash.

The printed paper is of unknown origin layered on Stampin' Up Bravo Burgundy.  The sentiment is Stampabilities Merry Christmas 06 stamped in Bravo Burgundy.  The embellishment is K & Company Susan Winget Glad Tidings Word Adhesive Chipboard.

I have a bunch of coloured card bases that have coordinating tags but this vanilla one is the only one suitable for Christmas cards.  I've no idea where they came from.  It's a pretty yellow vanilla so I chose this somewhat vintage paper (donated from Crop A While) and think it works wonderfully.  I went outside my box by placing the tag on an angle.  It all works really well and was very quick and easy.  The hardest part was finding a suitable embellishment.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Santa's Window II

Hello everyone,

Yesterday's card turned out so well (notwithstanding the smooshed ink on the inside) that I decided to try again with a red card base.

The image is Rubber Stamped Santa Collage stamped in VersaMark and heat embossed with Stampin' Up white embossing powder.  The sentiment is Technique Tuesday Jingle All The Way also stamped in VersaMark and heat embossed with Stampin' Up white embossing powder.  The embellishments are Recollections enamel dots.

I knew that using this red card base would require embossing for any image/sentiment to work.  Unfortunately, this image is so detailed, it wasn't the best choice for heat embossing.  I did everything right, I used my embossing buddy, I tried not to press the stamp to hard, I wasn't overly generous with the embossing powder, but the image still isn't as sharp as I would have liked.  The sentiment is perfect!  I'll likely keep this card for myself too just because the quality of the image isn't what I'd want to put forward for the sale.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Santa's Window

Hello everyone,

Today's Christmas card has the most wonderful window panel.

The image is Rubber Stampede Santa Collage stamped in Altenew Desert Night ink.  The sentiment is Technique Tuesday Jingle All The Way also stamped in Desert Night.  The embellishments are TPC Studio Heartfelt Travel mini jewels.

I've had this card base for years but never had the nerve to try a card.  It was a little finicky trying to get the image properly centered.  I'm grateful for Post-It Notes.  This card, as beautifully clean and simple as it is, won't be going in the charity sale because I managed to smoosh some blue ink from my fingers onto the inside.  I tried my best to cover them up but it's really hard to hide dark blue ink. Thankfully it was on the inside, not the front. I'm going to use it for myself as I know a few people who won't mind a few blotches.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Poinsettia Row

Hello everyone,

Today's post is a traditional green and red.

The printed paper is Echo Park I Love Christmas layered on Close To My Heart Clover Meadow.  The sentiment is Hero Arts Merry Christmas Writing stamped in Close To My Heart Cranberry on Recollections White and layered on more Cranberry.  The card is highlighted with Diamond Stickles.

I have a collection of random card bases in my stash, as well as a ton which have been donated, so this Christmas in July I'm challenging myself to use them up.  The majority of these cards will be donated to the office charity card sale this fall and we always sell a lot of Christmas cards.  This is the perfect red card base for a Christmas card and it worked perfectly with this last little piece of poinsettia strip that I had on hand.

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle

Christmas In July Eh!

Hello everyone,

Happy Canada Day!

Today marks I SPI's Christmas In July series.

The printed paper is of unknown origin.  The sentiment is Magenta stamped in Stampin' Up Real Red on Recollections White and layered on more Real Red.  The card is highlighted with Diamond Stickles.

Today Canada celebrates it's 150th so this card is all about red and white.  It's simple and cheerful and Canadian, eh!

I hope you enjoy this card and come back to SPI again soon.

Gisèle