2024 Holiday Series #1 | Merry Christmas

Hi friends!  Since November is here, I figured I had better get a start on my holiday card series so that I would get my Christmas cards made before the actual season arrived.  Let’s get started…

The supplies used were:

Altenew “Forest Canopy” Glitter Cardstock Set (Peridot, Titanite, Jadeite, & Emerald)

Simon Says Stamp “Christmas Wishes” Sentiment Strips (Reverse)

Pinkfresh Studio “Classic Edgers” Die Set

Crafty Critta “Merry Red” Hot Foil

Honey Bee Stamps “Make It Merry” Gem Stickers          

Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Distress Collage Medium

Heidi Swapp Mini Minc Machine

Ranger Stickles “Christmas Red”

I began the project by trimming each of the three darkest colors in the Altenew “Forest Canopy” glitter cardstock set at the long edge using a Pinkfresh Studio “Classic Edgers” die (I chose the scallop one) – these will form the boughs of each of the glittery Christmas tree layers on the card front.  To reduce the bulk/weight of the card, I decided to trim approximately one inch from the flat (non-scallop), long edge of my glitter cardstock pieces – the remainder will be trimmed off once they are adhered to the card base. 

I used an A2 size card base with a side fold for today’s card – I’m going to turn this card base in the landscape orientation so that the fold will be on the long side at the top of the card.  I drew a pencil line at 2-3/4” down the center of the 5-1/2” side (landscape orientation) to aid me with centering each of the glitter cardstock panels.  I then proceeded to glue each glitter cardstock layer, starting with the lightest color at the bottom and working my way up the card base, ensuring each strip of glitter cardstock is basically centered with that pencil line I drew on the card base.  I also attempted to layer each glitter cardstock strip approximately ¾” apart from each other and this measurement was taken at the lowest point of each panel.  Once the glue dried on all the pieces of glitter card stock on the card front, I used the paper trimmer to cut off all the excess that exceeded the A2 size card base.

Using the Sizzix “Funky Baubles” die set and an assortment of Christmasy cardstock colors, I began die cutting each of the ornament’s layers that I chose to use for the card.  I selected the cardstock colors from a 12x12 paper pack from American Crafts called “Christmas Cardstock” in addition to these I also selected Spellbinders’ “Cosmic Sky” for my blue cardstock.  I glued all the layers of the ornaments together using the packaging as a guide, added foam squares to the back sides and adhered them to the card front.  I also die cut the bow and two sets of holly from this die set and added those to the tops of the ornaments.  I added Ranger Glossy Accents to the holly berries and the red bow.

For my sentiment, I chose the sentiment strip set from Simon Says Stamp called “Holiday Greetings Reverse” that says Merry Christmas and I used a sheet of Craft Critta “Merry Red” foil to foil the entire page of sentiments using my Minc machine.  So pretty!

After removing the release paper from the ornaments and placing them and their ornament hanging strings to the card front, I put a strip of foam tape to the reverse side of my foiled sentiment strip and adhered it to the lower center of the card.  My final touches to this sparkly holiday card were when I added red gems from Honey Bee Stamps’ “Make It Merry” gem stickers to the ornaments and a small amount of Ranger “Christmas Red” Stickles to each of the holly berries.

I hope you enjoyed the card and found inspiration for some of your own card making projects!  Until next time… happy making!

Thanksgiving 2024 | Thankful For You

Hi friends!  For today’s card I am joining the Spellbinders Lilac Lovelies Contest where participants are asked to create a lilac-colored project using Spellbinders products.  I’ve been wanting to make a card using the cute Spellbinders “Happy Turkey Day” die set ever since I received it and this contest gave me the perfect – not-so-traditional – chance for another fun Thanksgiving card.

The supplies used were:

  Spellbinders Cardstock - Plum, Royal Amethyst, Lilac Blossom, and Purple Mist

  Spellbinders “Happy Turkey Day” Die Set

  Uniball Signo Broad Silver Metallic Pen

  Spellbinders “Make A Wish Arch Labels” Die Set

  Spellbinders “Essential Arches” Die Set

  Spellbinders Treasured Cardstock – Silver Assorted

  Spellbinders / Simon Hurley – “Plaster” 3D Embossing Folder

  Spellbinders “Sentiment Labels” Die Set

  Ranger / Tim Holtz Distress Ink – Villainous Potion

  Spellbinders Mini Blending Brush Set

  Ranger / Tim Holtz Distress “Sterling” Foundry Wax

  Spellbinders “Silver” Glimmer Foil

  Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue in Spellbinders Precision Tip Bottle

  Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares

  Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Silver Glitter Gloss

  Ranger Heat It Craft Tool

  Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil System

I started the project by cutting all my turkey layers from Spellbinders cardstocks – the colors I used were Plum, Royal Amethyst, Lilac Blossom, and Purple Mist.  I assembled the turkey using liquid glue to adhere the individual pieces, then I used the Copic marker 100 (Black) to color the turkey’s eye and Copic marker RV93 (Smoky Purple) to color the blush oval for his cheek.  I placed a very small piece of redline tape on the back side of the turkey’s head to allow me to adhere the eye and cheek die cuts back into place and thin foam squares to adhere the main turkey body to the tail feathers for extra dimension.  Using a Uniball Signo silver metallic pen, I colored the metal buckle on the turkey’s hat and applied Nuvo Aqua Shimmer to the snood that hangs over the turkey’s beak.

Using the largest die from the Spellbinders “Essential Arches” die set, I cut a panel from the Silver Glitter Metallic cardstock that is part of Spellbinders’ Treasured Silver Assorted cardstock pack and trimmed about 0.25” off the bottom and using the third largest die from this set, I die cut a white cardstock panel to serve as a matting layer from which I also had to trim approximately 0.25” off the bottom.  Then using the Spellbinders “Make a Wish Arch Labels” die set, I used the largest die placed all the way past the edge of the fold of an A2, side folding card panel and cut it to be a shaped card to serve as my card base.  Next, I used a Spellbinders Mini Blending Brush to apply Tim Holtz Distress “Villainous Potion” Ink to the bottom/scalloped edge of my card base.  Once the ink had dried, I used a small paint brush and a little bit of Tim Holtz Distress “Sterling” Foundry Wax and painted it onto the tips of the bottom scalloped edge and heat set it with my Heat It Tool.

I added texture to the white cardstock matting layer by running it through my die cutting machine using the Spellbinders / Simon Hurley “Plaster” 3D embossing folder.  I attached the glitter cardstock layer directly onto the card base using thin foam strips.  Using liquid glue, I attached the white matting layer onto the glitter cardstock layer.

For the sentiment, I used the Spellbinders “Windy Fall Leaves” Betterpress die set and foiled the three sentiments from that die set onto Spellbinders “Royal Amethyst” cardstock using Spellbinders Silver Glimmer Foil.  I die cut the sentiment strip using the Spellbinders “Sentiment Labels” die set, adhered it to the card front using thin foam squares and embellished the ends of the label with two silver/glass AB pearls.

I hope you enjoyed the card and found inspiration for some of your own card making projects!  Until next time… happy making!

Thanksgiving 2024 | Happy Thanksgiving

Hi friends!  For today’s card I will be doing some ink smooshing with Tim Holtz Distress Inks and cutting some autumn leaves to frame this cheerful Thanksgiving (or Autumn card if you aren’t in the U.S.).   This project can also be found on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@VeehattInspired .

The supplies used were:

  Distress Watercolor Cardstock

  Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Crackling Campfire, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick,

Candied Apple, Fossilized Amber, Squeezed Lemonade, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint)

  Sizzix/Tim Holtz Thinlits – “Fall Foliage” Dies

  Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz – “Falling Leaves” Stamp Set

Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Archival Ink “Ground Espresso”

Studio Katia - "Autumn Borders" Stamp Set

  Spellbinders “Precision Layering A2 A” Dies

  Spellbinders “Crimson” Color Essentials Cardstock

  Brutus Monroe – “Penny” Embossing Powder

  Simon Says Stamp Clear Embossing Ink

  Taylored Expressions Anti-static Powder Tool

  My Sweet Petunia Misti Stamp Positioner

I started the project with ink smooshing Tim Holtz Distress Ink in the colors Crackling Campfire, Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, Candied Apple, Fossilized Amber, Squeezed Lemonade, Shabby Shutters, and Peeled Paint onto pieces of Distress Watercolor Cardstock.  I made four total panels using a random layer of the different ink colors.  I set these aside to dry (sidebar – I also used my Ranger Heat It tool to complete the drying when I was ready to die cut them).

Using Spellbinders’ “Precision Layering A2 A” dies, I cut my two matting layers – the largest die to cut an A2 size panel from Spellbinders Crimson cardstock and the next to largest die to cut a panel of from a scrap Distress Oxide sprayed background I already had in my stash.  If you would like to make a similar looking panel, I believe I used Distress Oxide in the colors Gathered Twigs, Mustard Seed, and Shabby Shutters.

Once the ink smooshed cardstock panels were dry, I used the Tim Holtz/Sizzix die set called “Fall Foliage” and selected some leaf dies in different sizes and die cut them from the inky panels.  Next, I selected three of the leaf diecuts that I liked most and used a foam applicator to apply ink to the edges of the leaves for a distressed look.  I followed that up by stamping a layer of interest to each of the three leaves using Ground Espresso Distress Archival Ink and the Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz stamp set called Falling Leaves.  I simply selected one of the rubber stamps that would accommodate each leaf’s size and stamped the oversized image onto the diecut.

I placed my yellow-ish colored top panel into my Misti Stamp Positioning Tool and placed the “Happy Thanksgiving” sentiment from the Studio Katia “Autumn Borders” stamp set near the lower center of my panel.  To ensure no embossing powder would stick where I didn’t want it, I applied a layer of Taylored Expressions anti-static powder to the area to be embossed and applied Simon Says Stamp’s clear embossing ink to the greeting and gently stamped it onto the cardstock.  I generously sprinkled Brutus Monroe’s “Penny” embossing powder to the inked greeting and used my heat tool to melt the embossing powder.

For the next step, I placed strips of Simon Says Stamp Big Momma Foam tape to the back of the front card panel and adhered it to the Crimson cardstock panel.  I placed thin foam squares onto the backs of the three leaf diecuts and adhered them above the sentiment on the card front in a single row.  Lastly, I glued the completed card front to an A2 size, side folding card base.

I hope you enjoyed the card and found inspiration for some of your own card making projects!  Until next time… happy making!