'Tis the Season

I love all the cute village dies & when I saw this tri-fold slim-line card using a Hero Art's die I knew it had to be one of my Christmas cards this year.  I watched the video by Ilina who made it look so easy.  After making a prototype, I did make a few changes. 

I used Hero Arts Tri-Fold Edge Village Fancy Die Set & Stampendous Tis the Season Stamp Set.  This stamp set is one of my favorites for Christmas sentiments.

In Ilina's video, she cuts white cardstock: 3 @ 4" x 8 1/2" for the card front & 2 @ 3 1/2" x 8 1/2" for the base.  I substituted 1 @ 3 1/2" x 8 1/2" white with SU Night of Navy for the base.  This eliminated one piece of cardstock & a lot of inking since I made quite of few cards.

These will be the tallest & middle panels of the tri-fold.  Looking at the back of the 4" cardstock on the right, you can see how I positioned the village die & on the left you can see the results.

These will be the mid-size & right panels of the tri-fold.  Looking at the back of the 4" cardstock on the right, you can see how I positioned the village die & on the left you can see the results.

These will be the shortest & left panels of the tri-fold.  Looking at the back of the 4" cardstock on the right, you can see how I positioned the village die & on the left you can see the results.

The 4" die cut for the tallest & middle panels had 1/2" cut off the left side so they are 3 1/2" wide.

The 4" die cuts for the mid-size & right panels have a 1/2" tab on the right side.  This tab will be used to attach it to right side of the tallest/middle panel.  To make the tab, I used a trimmer to make a cut down just past the house & 1/2" from the right side.  I removed this small section by cutting the cardstock at an angle to meet the trimmer cut just below the house.

The 4" die cuts for the shortest & left panels have a 1/2" tab on the left side.  This tab will be used to attach it to the left side of the tallest/middle panel.  To make the tab, I used a trimmer to make a cut down just past the house & 1/2" from the left side.  I removed this small section by cutting the cardstock at an angle to meet the trimmer cut just below the house.

Using my Scor-Buddy, I lined up the cut I had made on the right of the panel & scored it to finish making the 1/2" right tab.  After folding & burnishing the tab, the panel will be 3 1/2".

In Ilina's video, she scores first then cuts out the section at the top.  I wasn't getting a good cut on the score line.  Doing it this way it was easier for me to line up with a groove in the Scor-Buddy without measuring.

I repeated the steps above except I lined up the cut I had made on the left of the panel & scored it to finish making the 1/2" left tab.  After folding & burnishing the tab, the panel will be 3 1/2" also.

I forgot to take photos of the next couple of steps:

I lined up the tops of the 3 panels to get the spacing.  All the panels are different lengths so I held them together with the navy base to see how much to cut off the bottom.  After marking the white panels at the bottom of the navy base, I continued to hold the 3 panels together & placed them in my Cutterpillar to trim off the bottom.  For the remaining 18 of each panel, I measured from the top of a flat roof to the bottom & cut them to match.

The sentiments need to be stamped before putting the panels together starting with the front panel.  After positioning the stamp in my Misti I stamped all the front panels in SU Night of Navy.  I then stamped the middle & bottom sentiments after lining them up so they had the same spacing from the bottom of the panels.

To put the panels together, I placed 1/2" Scor-tape on the back of each tab of the top & middle panels.  I lined up the middle panel with the bottom panel then adhered them together on the right side.  With the middle panel closed, I then lined up the top panel & adhered to the bottom panels on the left.   

The SU Night of Navy base was stamped with Stampscapes Cloud Space in SU Night of Navy then lightly spattered it with diluted white paint.

I used double sided tape to adhere the front tri-fold panel to the SU Night of Navy base.

Here's the finished card with bling for a star.

TFL!

A Gift for You!

I made 11 of these gift cards for our NEPA Stamp & Swap that was held a few weeks ago.

I wanted something fairly simple so I decided to use the Stampendous Gift Card Wallet Dies so I didn't have to do all the cutting, scoring, etc.  This is a very nice die set with several options of accessories to go with the basic gift card die.

I chose a DSP with snowflakes for the mat.  I was going to try to cut the notches for the gift card at the same time but I couldn't get it centered so I decided to make a 2nd pass.

Once the mat was cut, I used sticky notes to hold the notch die in place.  Probably could have done that when I cut the mat.  Oh well you know what they say about hind sight...LOL!

I used Stampendous Penguin Gift Stamp Set stamped in Memento Lux Back Ink.  I probably wouldn't use this ink again because it dries VERY slow even after heat setting it.  I just love those penguins & that cute snowman!

I recently rediscovered coloring with pencils & gamsol blending solution. 

After coloring the penguins, I used a light gray marker under them.  I stamped the snowflakes around the penguins in tumbled glass.

This was the finished inside.

I made a small tag with one of the sentiments in the stamp set & add a silver brad.  It was attached to the back of the outside after I had stamp "to:" & "from:".


 

O' Christmas Tree ATCoin

I was looking for an idea to make 11 ATCoins for our NEPA Stamp & Swap.  I'm not sure where I first saw the idea, probably Pinterest, but there is a video on the Sizzix site that I watched. 

I used the Sizzix Bigz Die w/Texture Fades Embossing Folder - Tree Rings, Mini by Tim Holtz.  ATCoins are 2 1/2" & the smaller die is about 1/8" smaller.  For each coin I cut 3 layers - 2 from SU Brown Sugar CS for the front & back of the coin & 1 from a coaster which made it sturdy without a lot of thickness.  

Once die cut, I paint the edges of the coaster brown.

I went around the edges of the cardstock with a brown Sharpie.

 

  

Next I stamped the 'O Christmas Tree sentiment from Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous Scribbly Christmas in Ranger Coffee Archival Ink,  I wanted the sentiment to curve so I used a little adhesive to stick it to the block.  It worked OK but I did have to occasionally adjust the stamp on the block. 

I also stamp one of the trees from the same stamp set in Ranger Olive Archival Ink.

All the pieces of cardstock were then embossed.

The embossing was quite deep & some of the stamped image seemed lost.  I decided to flatten them out a little.  My thought was if I ran them back through the Big Shot it would lose all the embossing.  I tried a brayer but I couldn't apply enough pressure.  I used a rolling pin & that was just enough to achieve the look I wanted

To adhere the front to the coaster, I used a small paint brush to apply Tombow Liquid Glue to the coaster so I would save full coverage without it oozing out the side.

I printed all the backs on a sheet of cardstock & cut them out in squares with scissors.  I carefully centered the printing on the bigz die to cut them out.  They were adhered to the back of the ATCoin (& I didn't get this one on very straight...LOL).

I did touch them up a little with the brown Sharpie then added a mirrored star to the front.

TFL!

Tis the Season

This is the Christmas card I did for my stamping friends.  I decided to use a buffalo plaid since it's "in" this year and a shifter stencil because I hadn't played with them yet.  I think they were both good choices!  Sorry this one is a little crooked but it was the only one I had left!!

The background was made by stamping a piece of 5 1/44 X 4'  Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler CS in VersaFine Black Onyx Ink with Concord & 9th's Plaid Background Stamp.

Instead of using a stamping platform, I laid the stamp on my Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat.  It worked as a giant block!

After laying the cherry cobbler CS over the inked stamp, it was covered it with piece of copy paper.  I rolled a Tim Holtz Brayer over the copy paper instead of using my hand.

This gave a nice even image.

I wanted to use one of the new shifter stencils & decided on the Tim Holtz Tree Shifter Tree Stencil.  A tip Tim has for using the shifter stencils is to paint the back of the stencil with Tim Holtz Black Soot Paint.  The paint will fill in the laser cut outline of the image so you will be able to see where to line it up.   REMEMBER to quickly wipes away the paint with a wet paper towel so just the laser lines are filled in.  If you don't once the paint dries it will be permanent!

I started by positioning Stampin' Up Crumb Cake CS under the stencil & taping it down to hold it in place.  Using a Ranger Blending Tool, it was inked with Tim Holtz Twisted Citron Ink.  Using taping the stencil on the edge, I was able to raise it up to make sure it was completely inked.

The stencil was cleaned & dried before moving onto the next color. The 1st image on the CS was lined up under the painted laser lines.  See how painting the lines helped?  The next set of trees were inked with Tim Holtz Peeled Paint.

The edges were inked with Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Ink.

I decided to add "snow" using Dina Wakley White Gesso.  I put a little gesso on my media mat & sprayed it with water until it was a thin consistency.  After placing the panel in Tim Holtz Splat Box, I used a brush to spatter the panel.

I stamped "Tis the Season" from Stampendous Tis the Season Stamp Set at the top of the panel & added it to the plaid card front.  I'm not sure where I got the reindeer charms but threaded jute string though the hole & wrapped the jute around the card front & secured it in the back with tape.  It was then added to the Stampin' Up Crumb Cake card base using double sided tape.  I added a small matching bow over the reindeer with a glue dot.

I made 19 of these & it really didn't take very long.  TFL!!

Have A Holly Jolly Christmas

I'm usually not one for 3D paper craft projects but since it's a Christmas ornament I was in.  I made 12 of them for a Christmas ornament swap at our annual shoebox event.  The theme was Have A Holly Jolly Christmas so this die couldn't have been more perfect!

I started with a 3" wooden hoop & took it apart.  The inside hoop was traced onto the back of the cardstock.  The front of the cardstock has holly leaves & berries.

I fussy cut all the circles but don't ask me why I didn't use my Cricut.

I ran a thin line of adhesive around the edge of the inside hoop & added the card stock over it.  They were then set aside so the adhesive was completely dry.

I trimmed the card stock as close as I could.

I used a file to clean & smooth the edges.  I did this by going down over the edge at an angle.  A dusty job but it's kinda fun!

The edges were inked with frayed burlap then the hoop was reassembled.

I cut 3X3 pieces of SU Real Red cardstock & back it with Stick-it.  This is a double sided adhesive. 

I used my Sidekick to die cut Have A Holly Jolly Christmas by Creative Expressions Festive Craft Dies.

Because the cardstock had Stick-it on the back, I removed the release paper from the die cut to reveal an adhesive backed die cut.

I centered the die cut on the cardstock that had been adhered to the hoop.

I cut out 4 sets of holly leaves & 2 sets of holly berries for each ornament from Tim Holtz Coredinations Kraft Core Seasonal Paper using Tim Holtz Mini Holiday Greens Die Set.

For each side of the ornament, I arranged 2 sprigs of holly leaves & 1 stem of holly berries.  They are adhered them together with mini glue dots.  Isn't that a cute glue dot dispenser?

The holly & berries were then adhered to the top of the hoop with another glue dot.  They are very delicate but can be rearranged a little since the glue dot is flexible.

I cut 9" of 1/8" ribbon, threaded it through the bracket at the top of the hoop & made a loop to hang the ornament.  I then tied another 9" of ribbon around the metal top of the hoop & tied a bow then trimmed the ends.

TFL!