Peace on Earth Christmas Card

A last minute card to send a thank you to a pen friend in Arizona. An unexpected package arrived last week with a pair of winter booties inside. Just what I needed as the temps dropped to the 30s! I had recently purchaed a couple of holiday cardstock tablets, so used a couple of the designs to make the card. I love the little houses surrounded by trees, snow and deer, so put that at the top. I added a smaller panel of green trees on white at the bottom. To divide the two panels, I added some white ribbon. I chose a sentiment then stamped it in green on white. I die cut the sentiment into an oval shape, backed it with a silver oval die-cut and attached it to the card.

Designer Card Stock - Park Lane Christmas Yultide (Joanns)
Sentiment - Stampin' Up! Peaceful Season

Christmas Penguins

I just received the cutest set of penguin dies and could not wait to make cards. The first card I made was a tri-fold Christmas card featuring all three of the penguin die cuts. They were easy to die cut and I really like how the card turned out.

The second card I made was using one penguin inside a wreath and adding a little bow, a candy cane and hot cocoa cup. I added a Merry Christmas sentiment below the wreath. I've decided this one will be my main card this year. So cute!

Sizzix Fold-A-Long Thinlits Fox

This card was fun. A new die to make a cute fox card arrived in my mailbox a few days ago. I couldn't wait to make a birthday card to go along with the fox minagerie I was giving my friend for her birthday.

I started with a rust orange colored card stock for the fox and die cut it out. I used a cream colored card stock for the die cut accents on the fox then die cut the eyes and nose out of black. For the inside message I die cut a smaller fox shape and stamped my greeting in brown. It turned out so well, I had to make a second one in brown.

I also purchased an Owl Fold-A-Long Card die, so will be starting those soon.

Fox Treat Box

I just love making these little FOX BOXES. One of my dear friends (who just had a birthday) collects foxes, so I thought a little fox box filled with candy would be a perfect gift. I started by making a pattern for the little bag/box and cutting them out of a red card stock. I had the pattern for the eye mask, ears and tail so cut them out and attached it to the box. I die cut two black circles for the eyes (adding a little white punched circle for the light reflection) and attached it to the eye mask. Lastly I stamped a sentiment on white and die cut it out with an oval shape (cutting the bottom off) and attached it to the bottom of the fox. I made the female fox a little shorter than the male and added a couple of small bows to her ears.

Sentiment - Stampin' Up!

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Nutcracker

I was very surprised and thankful that my poinsettia card was chosen as winner of the September 21st Flower/Flourish challenge over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown. I was asked to be a guest designer for the October 19th challenge where the theme is NUTCRACKER.

I had so much fun making the card for the challenge. I thought about it a while and then decided I wanted to make a Z-Fold type card. Before making the base card I made two die-cut nutcrackers using a die set that I recently purchased. The die, which contains several pieces, makes a really cute 5-1/2" nutcracker. It took a while to piece it all together but the end result was worth it. Once I had my nutcrackers made I began on the white z-fold base card, cutting it 13-1/2" x 4-1/2". I scored the card at 4-1/2 and 9" and folded it into a z-fold. To highlight the nutcrackers I cut out three arch panels out of white card stock (with silver dots) and framed it with a dark red frame.

On the first and last arch panel I added my nutcrackers. The center arched panel was for the Christmas greeting that I stamped in red on a white circle. Before gluing the greeting to the card I backed it with a slightly larger silver circle to frame it. The card does fold flat for mailing and can be displayed as a stand up card folded into the z-fold shape.

Nutcracker Die - KS Craft
Merry Christmas Greeting - Gina K. Holiday Tapestry
Arch Dies - The Greetery A-2 Arches

52 Christmas Card Throwdown Challenge - Flower/Flourish

When I think of a Christmas flower, my mind quickly goes to poinsettias. The latest card challenge at the 52 Christmas Card Throwndown blog is to make a card using a flower, flourish or both. I had made a few cards using poinsettia designer paper from Stampin' Up! last year, so decided to make one more for this challenge.

I started by making a stair-step card using white card stock. On the left and right panel I attached a strip of poinsettia designer paper. I then made a panel using a leaf and berries designer paper backed with a gold cardstock. I attached it to the center panel of the card. I cut out a large poinsettia image from the designer paper and attached it to the center of the panel using foam mount tape to raise it off the card. For the sentiment, I stamped "Season's Greetings" in green on a white strip and attached it to the bottom of the card using foam mount tape to raise it off the card. Lastly I added a gem on each side of the sentiment for a little bling.

Poinsettia and Leaf and Berries Paper - Stampin' Up! Poinsettia Place
Season's Greetings Sentiment - Stampin' Up! Bright & Beautiful

September Christmas Sketch Challenge

52 Christmas Card Challenge blog has an interesting card sketch for this week's challenge. I knew exactly the die cut images I wanted to use for the sketch.

I started with a red 5" x 7" base card. On a white layer I die cut my Santa at the top leaving the bottom of the layer blank. I attached die cut mini stars in the open space of the die cut. I die cut a 'Ho ho Ho' sentiment out of red and attached it to the bottom of the layer. I cut a curved piece out of red and white (adding a Merry Christmas sentiment on the white piece) and attached it under the santa.

Santa Die - Stampin' Up!
Ho ho Ho Die - Impression Obsession