Christmas Mistletoe Love

Today's card is a special one.  As it gets close to Christmas it is time to start spending time with those you hold most dear to you and to show them how much they mean to you.  This card is for my husband so I had to reel in the glitter and glam to make a card he would appreciate without it being too girly.  Of course, there is still some glitter on there.......well it is Christmas after all!  I think he is getting used to the glitter and sparkle by now.

I cannot seem to find a place in the house to take a photo with enough light at the moment so I am not sure you can see the best of this card.  It uses a background of Cherry Cobbler and then a mat of that glitter Glimmer Paper.  There is also some added subtle glistening from the top layer of Shimmery White.  This last layer also gives the card a subtle off-white colouring which I like.

I have had this card layout in mind for some time.  After my last couple of projects with the Expressions Thinlits I knew I would be using them again soon for this card.  I have simply used the 'Love' saying from the set and cut it out from the Shimmery White layer.  I have then cut it again in the Cherry Cobbler cardstock and then used both of these, one either side of the cutout in the shimmery white layer for my stack of 'Love'.

I had wanted to add the mistletoe for the symbol of love at Christmas and also for some Christmas kisses.  I have a lovely set of mistletoe lights as a garland on my mantle piece and I had these as my inspiration.  The Little Leaves sizzlit die gave me my bunch of leaves. I cut from some Always Artichoke scraps I had as the nearest colour to the mistletoe green leaves.  I went for the Large pearls for the berries as these stood out the most on the card.    

I have added some Cherry Cobbler Chevron Ribbon in a couple of accents round the bunch of mistletoe and as a tab on the right hand side.  Just enough to keep the card simple.  There is also an Antique Brad to secure the ribbon wrap on the mistletoe.  I trimmed the ribbon in half along the length to use it for my wrap. 

I am just loving my Envelope Punch Board too.  Making custom cards means I can just cut the card to any size I want and then just quickly make a custom envelope afterwards.  No more trying to make the designs work in a standard card size and I can make larger cards for those dearest and then make a beautiful envelope out of designer paper to make it even more special.

I think my Christmas crafting is nearing it's final stages, not least as I need to tidy up the craft room (aka the guest bedroom) for our visitors on the big day!  Just a few more tags to make now as the elves have been busy wrapping here (finally).  I hope you are all feeling organised too and enjoying some time of rest.

Here is the list of what I used again:

Glimmer Paper (124005)

Shimmery White (121717)

Expressions Thinlits (132171)

Little Leaves Sizzlit (114511)

Antique Brads (117273)

Large Pearls (125577)

Chevron Ribbon (130012)

Don't forget too the Envelope Board, only £17.95 to make all your envelopes and much more! (133774)

Suzanne

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To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too.

Washi Tape Pegs and Tags

The weather outside is certainly frightful, I hope you are all safe and warm inside.............as I write this my hubby is currently outside shoring up our fence which is about to take it's very own Christmas flight. I am here, inside, keeping dry with the kettle on for a nice warm drink when the rescue crew return. So, my second post in a day - Wow! I must be on a crafting roll for Christmas!

As promised here is a picture of some little extra tags and Washi Tape Pegs I have made to decorate and label my parcels.  Earlier I mentioned the Very Merry Tags (130393) stamp set in my post, well here they are again.  The tags are cut again with the Chalk Talk dies .  I cut a bunch in one craft session so I had some ready cut and then have just decorated as I found time.  I made these tags for gifting so I have made them into a little gift package with the Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine (123125) wound ready for cutting to the required length.

There are several designs which match punches that you may or may not already have in your collection so some easy stamp and punching and you have beautiful homemade tags to use!  I loved the cheeky 'Naughty Nice' checkbox tag design which matches the Decorative Label Punch (120907) .  I have also used the little 'Very Merry' and 'I ~heart~ Santa' stamps from the set with the matching 7/8" (2.2cm) scallop circle (129404) and Petite Curly Label (129405) punches.  I did also sneek in that small snowflake again from the Snow Day (131892) set too.

The Pegs are just plain wooden washing pegs which I picked up at a local discount store and all I have done to smarten these up is  use the Season of Style Designer Washi Tape (132155) to cover them. Just perfect for adding to a parcel, gift bag or gift tag.  To sit them on the card background for my gift package I have punched with the Word Window Punch (119857)  to create and opening and then pegged them through.

I hope you like them and have some ideas for making your own tags for that extra personal wrapping.

I'll be back soon with some more Christmas crafting so make sure you keep dropping by.

Before you go, here's that list of items used:

Very Merry Tags (130393)

Decorative Label Punch (120907)

7/8" (2.2cm) scallop circle (129404)

Petite Curly Label (129405)

Snow Day (131892) 

Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine (123125) 

Season of Style Designer Washi Tape (132155) 

Word Window Punch (119857)  

Suzanne

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To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too.

'Tis the Season of Style - Merry Christmas Banner

How many times do you see a beautiful decoration or card in a retail outlet and you think "I can make that"?  Well here is my take on a banner my Sister placed an order for after seeing one in a Christmas catalogue and asked me to make her something simliar.

It was supposed to be a simple design based around the Crumb Cake cardstock, but I wanted to use the Season of Style papers (132340) too.  These papers are in the Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive colours, a change from all the Festive Flurry and blue hues I have been using a lot of lately.

It took me a while to work out how I was going to fit 'Merry' and 'Christmas' on the banner, given that it was going to be on a fireplace mantle and could not been too long.  I settled on using the 'Merry' from the thinlits again and adding it on the first pennant.

I cut all my pennants just using a template I made, but I was really pleased I had my new Circles Collection dies (130911) for the circle layers.  It made cutting circles of all sizes so much easier.  To save paper too I was able to cut the patterned paper pennant and then cut the circle I needed for the top layers from the middle of the pennant.

To keep it a little rustic I have threaded the pennants on some of the twine I had from my Simply Created Banners kit.  If you look closely you can see a little of the Natural Trim (129287) from the annual catalogue tied at points along the banner too.

My banner does have some retired products included.  The large eyelets are no longer available and the lettering I have used is the retired Alphabet Soup chipboard letters from last year.

Come back later I will have some more Christmas tags and projects to show you ............

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too.

It's a Wrap!

At least there is something being wrapped in our house right now and it's in this lovely gift wrapped box.  In it is a Festive Flurry banner I made which I have gifted to my Mum. I wanted to make a box to protect it and, in a recycle and make-do-and-mend moment, I found a perfect size box.  Of course I needed to make sure it was empty of all the lovely chocolates that it contained first, but needs must!! 

You can just see a little of the banner peeking through the windows of the box.  I re-shaped the windows to match the design of the Winter Frost papers, but cutting the paper with the Festive Flurry dies first.  Remember the Stamps and dies come in a bundle deal (133284) saving you money when you buy them together.

I then added a lovely finished Festive Flurry decoration.  You may recognise this from the pages of the Autumn/Winter catalogue.  The centre of the decoration, under the Frosted Finish (132150) embellishment, is a Silver embossed snowflake, embossed onto a window sheet. The box look fabulously expensive when finished and almost another present in itself!

Wrapping the gifts is one of the tasks I just have not started yet despite best intentions.  It has been traditionally a marathon Christmas Eve event, but I have promised myself this year I will have it all done before then so I can sit back and enter the Christmas Day festivities relaxed and ready for some family fun!

When I do finally start the wrapping, I have some extra decorations to add to my beautifully wrapped gifts as toppers.  I am hoping they can be attached so they can be removed carefully to be used as decorations by the recipients and enjoyed throughout the Christmas period.  That is, if they make it through the frenzied unwrapping!

Here too in the picture, are some simple tags which I have made stock of ready for the wrapping to begin!  The tags were cut with the Chalk Talk die set (129983) for the Big shot.  This set has several labels of a really useful size and I love the little cutouts included in the set to make your decorative holes for the baker's twine or ribbon that you choose.  On the back, I have used the 'To: From:' stamp which is in the Very Merry Tags stamp set (130393) to create my instant tags.  The mini snowflakes are from the Snow Day stamp set (131826) which I have used previously for my Snowman projects.

I have also photos of the banner I have made for my sister so pop back tomorrow when I will be able to show that and some more tags ideas too!

Winter Frost Sepciality (132341)
Festive Flurry Bundle(133284)
Frosted Finishes (132150)
Chalk Talk die set (129983)
Snow Day (131826)
Very Merry Tags  (130393

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too.

Waste Not - Using Your Leftovers!

Well we all know that using the leftover turkey on Boxing Day for some kitchen creations is just part of the Christmas traditions we all follow, but as crafters it is also very wise to make the most of your products wherever you can too!  I don't know about you, but I have a scraps box and it is full to the brim of off-cuts of cardstock which I dip into from time to time to add small punched shapes and stamp sentiments onto cards.

Did you realise that it is always good to keep the remainder of card when cutting with dies also? Often the outline cut-out left in the card can be incorporated into a design too.  Today's card does just that!

You will have seen the Merry banners I created for the Craft Stalls I ran recently which each featured the 'Merry' sentiment from the Expressions Thinlits ( 132171).  Well when cutting the sentiment I spaced the die so that I had a enough card surrounding it to be able to cut out the leftover and re-use it.

Here is one of the pieces which I have also run through the Perfect Polka Dots emboss folder (117335).  Now for the thinlits sentiments like the one I have used you do need to make sure you catch the small pieces that are cut that sit in the middle of the letter 'e' and the tail of the 'y' so that you can stick them in place to form the letter after.  I must admit I did not try and put these little pieces through the emboss folder as this was a little too fiddly to place.

Tip: If you are not going to use your 'leftovers' straight away, just pop them in a little cello bag and keep them.  I find it is so easy to make a follow-on card when you have ready cut pieces waiting to be used.  I especially do this when using a lettering/numbering set of dies I have which have mutiple of letters or numbers on one die.  I cut all of the die contents then pop the other pieces in a cello to use another time.  As long as I am needing the same colours, I already have some pieces to play with!

There is a lovely mat of Glimmer Paper (124005 Silver) behind the 'Merry' for the Christmas sparkle, but remember, sparkle isn't just for Christmas, this one is available all year round!  The papers on the card are the Winter Frost Speciality Papers (132341) which I have used the Smoky Slate coloured piece from and, you can just see it on the little banners, there is the fantastic silver foil design from the papers too.

OK, I am on a mission to make a Christmas banner for my big sister so off to craft I go.......

Don't forget TODAY is the last day to order in time for Christmas so if you have something on your list for Santa from Stampin' Up! get in touch I am here ready to take an order.

Suzanne
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To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too.

Festive preparations are away

Christmas preparations are progressing, but there has definitely been a lot of shopping trips backwards and forwards, and that was just to sort out the tree!  Still, at least we have finally got a tree up and have made a first attempt at decorating it with my special 'little helper'.  I think there may be a little re-arranging to do now, but he enjoyed helping adding the baubles and thankfully we suffered no breakages despite a few tree wobbles in the process!

I can also say that the first flurry of cards has made it out the house too - yey!  Hopefully I am not spoiling the surprise for anyone, but just to say we had an interesting family photo shoot with the self-timer on the camera - there were quite a few takes!

Our cards for close family were the Holly Jolly Greetings Simply Sent (132159 £13.50) which I was amazed at when I saw them as they were so beautifully made.  I should not have been so surprised for Stampin' Up!, after all one of the things I loved most when first introduced was the quality.

Now for another card for today to show a technique which uses my favourite tool - daubers of course!

I guess you are familiar with the Festive Flurry set by now as it has featured on most of my Christmas cards, but here is the largest of the stamps on a card.  The colour is applied to the stamp with daubers with a shaded affect. I have used the beautiful Smoky Slate on the outside edges, then the Coastal Cabana, through to the Bemuda Bay in the centre.  This also works really well with contrast of brighter colours.

I could not resist a little dimension to the card so the snowflake was cut with the matching dies and then added with dimensional pads.  It was so tempting to add a Frosted Finishes Embellishment (132150) to the centre, but I wanted to keep it simple and show the most of the colour so I add a single large Rhinestone.

Just peeping behind the card there is an envelope in the Winter Frost Specialty Designer Series Papers (132341 £11.50).  This card was larger so needed a custom size envelope.  Luckily I had my new toy...I mean tool........the Envelope Punch Board (133774 £17.95).

It really is so easy to make an envelope as the tool has a wealth of sizes already worked out (inches and metric).  The corner punch is a dream as well, with a precise professional finish to form lovely curved corners.

There is still time for festive orders and don't forget your seasonal scrapbook pages or thank yous for post Christmas and the Clearance Rack items to check out!.  The last date to order for Christmas now is 16th December.

Hopefully Christmas is all so well organised I will be able to come back with some more to show you in the next few days.

Suzanne
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Clearance Rack Pre-Christmas Blitz!

It's the lead up to Christmas and Sales are all around, it's time to be out shopping, but wait, there are crafting bargains to be found!!!!

Stampin' Up! are giving us an early Christmas present.  They have released even more retired products into the clearance rack with up to a whopping 80% off! There are packs of card stock and also designer paper stacks at amazing prices! These items will be in limited supply and only available while supplies last.

Go take a look...................pop over to my online store, just click here to start shopping now.

Merry Christmas Festive Banners

Hey there!  I have had another weekend of craft stall at my little one's nursery which was a lovely small fayre of stalls and activities for the children.  Elliot came home with his very own creation, a fluffy cotton wool snowman, and I enjoyed chatting to everyone about Stampin' Up! and showing my crafted items on display so that everyone could see what can be made with them.

Now both Christmas Fayres are done though I am glad to be able to start some other Christmas tasks, including my own cards (eek!), but I thought I would show you some more from the stalls today.

This is a fantastic banner made using the Build a Banner Simply Created Kit (133507) and some of the Christmas Banner Simply Created Accessory Kit (132697).

The Christmas Banner Accessory Kit is just full of pieces to make a full banner like the 'Noel' and 'Joy' banners on the front of my stall (see my previous post) or, as I have done here, you can split the contents and make lots of lovely projects to gift for your friends and family (or just keep for yourself!).

The accessory kit contains over 27 pieces of glitz and glamour to add to your creations (if my maths is right!). The best of which are the 3 glittered snowflake accent pieces and the gorgeous Bermuda Bay/Pool party two tone ribbon (used here to hang the banner).

The background for the first banner you might recognise as this is one of the stamps from the Gorgeous Grunge set (130514), but hey, I don't think there is anything 'grunge' about this lovely decorative hanging!  I am definitely hanging one in pride of place in my house!

Now, the first banner has two of the rosette pieces from the kit to make a really full rosette, but the second one here only has a single piece for each of the rosettes.  Once I made one banner I just wanted to have a play around so I made some more. After all there was so much in the kit I could make lots!

For those of you who do not know, the Build a Banner Simply Created Kit (133507) comes with two Stampin' Spritzers to work with the background and lettering stencils that come in the pack.  I had a play with using the spritzers to spray the background through the stencils and I also tried just using sponges.  I had equal success after a little play around with the spritzers and the sponges although there was a little more kitchen paper towel to hand to assist with the spritzer method!

My third design here was trialing using the other banner shapes from the pack and playing with the Festive Flurry stamps (131778)  to overlay the background.  I really liked the spot background so I used it again for this one, but I also did a version of this one with the stripes that looked good too.

There was no gluing or stitching on the banner ribbon, just the silver ribbon included in the accessory kit pack tied round the ends which were folded back through the eyelets.  Clever!  I finished all the banners with the 'Merry' expressions thinlit (132171), perfect sizing to fit across the banner.

Well that's probably quite enough banners for one day, but the options are endless.  These are just for Christmas, but you can create your own banners for Birthdays, Anniversaries, Baby Showers or lots more.  The alphabet stencils mean that the lettering and wording can be anything you would like it to be.


If you fancy having a go, I thought I would share some tips for working with the banners from my experiences:

• Make sure you protect your work area and surroundings so that you do not spray other areas.  
• Do not hold the spritzer too close to the project when spraying and move evenly across the project trying not to pause or hesitate in one spot for too long.  
• Trial on a piece of paper or card to get the method right first before trying one of your banners.
• Try a mix of 15 drops of coloured ink and then fill with water to approx the top of the stampin' up! logo on the spritzer bottle.
• I had kitchen paper towel to hand.  I found this helpful to be on hand for spills, but also placed a piece over my sprayed project and (keeping everything in place) I gently patted off any excess on the top of the stencil and project to stop any uneven colour or pooling of ink before removing the stencil.
• I laid the finished banner to dry with something weighty and flat on top to help stop any curling.
• Don't forget to order your ink refills with your kit and sponges if you need them too!

I you do want to have a go.......here's the main list of what you need, just add ink and sponges if you need them too:

Build a Banner Simply Created Kit (133507) 

Christmas Banner Simply Created Accessory Kit (132697)

Expressions Thinlits Dies (132171)

Gorgeous Grunge set (130514 Wood) - Optional 

Festive Flurry stamps (131778 Wood) - Optional

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too.

Craft Stall Delights

On Saturday I had a little stall at my local community centre Christmas Fayre and thought I would just share with you today a quick few snaps I took of the stall whilst I was there.  It was pretty full of goodies as you can see!  

I have been been busy in the last few weeks making for the stall so that's explains my little blog post silence occurrence.  Now though you can see the wonderful gift ideas I was busy crafting.  (Apologies for the photo quality, my mobile phone camera was all I had with me and I am waiting to see if Santa brings me an upgrade.....and possibly a course in photography!)

There was lots to see, Cards, tags, sweet treats, candles and gift bags and boxes.  I will try and show a few more things in detail in the next few posts.  I love the 'Noel' and 'Joy' banners which just about managed to stay pinned long enough to the front of the stall!  Everyone loved to come and browse and there were lots of complimentary comments so thank you all if you were one of those who were able to stop by.

Here's a few more shots of the table...............

There were some familiar decorations from the front of the catalogue last year made with the Delightful Decorations stamp set and matching dies.  Remember this set of beautiful baubles is still available nowas part of the Christmas carryover.  

There was definitely a colour theme of the blue Coastal Cabana, Pool Party combination going on too.  Possibly as all my Christmas baubles are blue/silver, but also as my Snow Day snowman (see previous posts) was featured on some of the items and the Festive Flurry just looks so lovely in the icy cool shades of blue too.

After a successful Christmas shopping trip yesterday too where we managed to tick a few more gifts off the list,  I am feeling a little more in control of Christmas planning than usual at this time.  I am sure it all just a smoke screen over all the things I haven't organised yet, like my own Christmas Cards - eek!

Right, off to review the goodies for the next stall this Saturday at my little one's nursery and then back to Christmas organising.  I hope yours is all going extremely well!  Come back soon to see what easy projects you can try for yourself for Christmas gifting.

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too.