Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Tidings of Christmas for Hand Stamped Sentiments


I don’t know about you, but I can totally get into adding some steally blue tones to traditional and rich Christmas tones.  So; that’s what I did. I tucked in touches of Misty Moonlight into the three challenge colors Evening Evergreen, Soft Succulent, and Merry Merlot brought to you this week by Hand Stamped Sentiments


To make this Kraft Gift Box extra special I made a rather fancy belly band.  The band starts with Tidings of Christmas DSP and then a cross piece of Evening Evergreen and Be Dazzling Paper set the stage for some pretty details.  I used the Merriest Moments Bundle for the poinsettias, holly, pine boughs, and the greeting.

When crafting for Christmas don't forget your amazing elements.  I used up all of my Gold Holly Leaves and Holiday Rhinestones.  The Gold Holly Leaves (156311) come 30 to a pack, 15 of two sizes, and are $7.50.  The Holiday Rhinestone Basic Jewels (150457) include 140 pieces in five colors: Cherry Cobbler, Shaded Spruce, Pumpkin Pie, Night of Navy, and Coastal Cabana.  The best thing about these rhinestones is they are sticky backed.


If you need a few extra embellishments click my "shop now" button.  Have fun stampin' and creating.



Sunday, November 21, 2021

Pretty Stuff for Monday Montage



Hello stamp friends and welcome to another Monday Montage Blog Hop.  For today I thought I would share a few pretty things I made using the Blackberry Beauty Suite.  I also want to share that we have some pretty exciting news... a new team member has been added to our hop line up.  Give a big friendly welcome to Emily Miller Kimmey.

In the first picture and this one below you'll see that I decorated a Kraft Gift Box with all kinds of gorgeous details.  I stamped the corners of the box with an image from the Beauty of Tomorrow Stamp Set and then added a panel of Blackberry Beauty DSP.  Tucked to each side are die cut Gold Shimmer Vellum leaves, die cut stamped images, and a gold floral stem from the Blackberry Beauty Ephemera Pack.



While I had the Blackberry Beauty Suite out on my stamp table I created a couple cards.  

This card below is filled with some amazing texture.  There are ink splatters, silky gold ribbon, gold foil details on the tag, and a ruffle of cardstock.  To make the ruffle I first cut a strip of Early Espresso Cardstock and then repeatedly pulled it across a bone folder to breakdown the fibers of the paper.  Then I carefully pulled the strip apart to reveal the inside which is suede-like.



The texture in this second card is incredible.  I used the large multi-leaf die from the Beautiful Leaves Dies to emoboss a background.  To emboss instead of cut the leaf die I used a Silcone Craft Sheet in the "sandwich" when running the paper through the Stampin' Cut and Emboss Machine.



Thanks for stopping by my blog and for hopping along with all of us at Monday Montage.  Next up is Emily Miller Kimmey.  Be sure to give her a happy welcome to our team.  You can also hop through Instagram @emkcreationsil.

Emily Miller Kimmey

Dani Dziama


Friday, November 19, 2021

#TGIF343 is Adding to the Table Setting


Welcome to a project challenge for #TGIF343.  For this challenge it's all about using our paper crafting talents and supplies to add a splash of color and texture to our table settings.  Whether it's a name card, party favor, or whatever your heart desires the possibilities are huge.


This beautiful gold polka-dotted box is decorated with a belly band that is decorated for a special occasion and shows love and appreciation for all my guests.  These boxes are found on page 137 of Stampin' Up!'s Annual Catalog.  They measure 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 2 1/2" which makes them nice and roomy.  

I opted to create rosette in lieu of a tied bow.  I used three 1 3/4" x 5 1/2" strips of Tidings of Christmas DSP scored every 1/2" to make my rosette.  A swoosh of Just Jade gingham ribbon from the Flowers for Every Season Combo Pack went down first and then a layer of Merriest Moments Hybrid Die cuts in Soft Succulent.  I clipped the die cut apart so I could tuck smaller pieces here and there to accent the Cherry Cobbler Tasteful Label Die cut layer.  The greeting is from the Merriest Moments Stamp Set and is stamped in Cherry Cobbler on Basic White and Evening Evergreen on Misty Moonlight.









Tuesday, November 16, 2021

My Sketch Challenge


I drew this sketch for our current challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I had one idea in mind and then when I sat down to create a card using this layout something totally different happened.  I was planning a wreath, but as I was thumbing through my stash of dies I saw the Delicate Baubles set and my switched plans.


I did something a bit different for this card.  For the right side narrower panel rather than adding a layer of paper on top of my card base I slit the cardstock and tucked the white layer of DSP in-between.  The finished card has two pages.  


Here you can see the narrow "first page."  This is where all the focal pieces are arranged and attached.  To make the narrow "first page" I used my paper trimmer to make two cuts both from the center scoreline to the bottom edge.  You can see I adhered a contrasting piece of DSP on top and a second underneath.


When the card is open here is what you see.  The strip of DSP behind the greeting is the back side of the white print front layer.


Main Products Used

Tidings of Christmas DSP
Peaceful Christmas Paper Pumpkin Kit Stamps
Delicate Baubles Dies
Sounds of the Season Dies (retired)


Monday, November 15, 2021

Stampin' Fancy Friday is Getting Giftable


Are you in need of a gift idea for a friend who loves hand made works of heART?  Give them a hand-crafted loaded envelope and have tons of fun making things to fill it up and make it extra fancy and special.


If you search "loaded envelope" on Pinterest you'l be inspired by all the pins you will see.  Once I had a good idea of what I wanted to create I made my own pattern which includes two expanding pockets.  These pockets are roomy enough to hold lots of goodies.


I put together a short video tutorial to show you how to make the base envelope.  It includes the cutting and scoring measurements.  At the bottom of this post are the cutting and scoring details.


Here's a closer look at the decorated front pocket.  I used the Merriest Moments Bundle to add lots of fancy Christmassy elements along with the Peaceful Place Specialty DSP and Silver Foil to make this entire gift sparkle and shine.


Take a look at the expanding pockets.  You can see these allow for plenty of room for lots of goodies.  Goodies like: special gift tags, gift card holders, candy canes, chocolates, covered hot chocolate packets, and a Christmas wand.


This style gift card holder is super quick and easy to put together.  Cut a 6" x 6" piece of pattern paper and fold it in half.  Fold the upper front right corner down to create a lapel.  Add a thin bead of glue to the bottom and the open side to create a pocket.  Add any stamped embellishments you like to the lapel.  Last, tuck a gift card inside that is glue dotted to a Stitched So Sweetly scalloped rectangle--easy to do and fun.



Making a handful of extra-special gift tags gives the loaded envelope a festive look.  All the ribbons and twines add color and fullness to the finished packed envelope.


Just like the decor on the front pocket, these tags were made using the same Peaceful Place DSP and the Merriest Moments Bundle.


A handmade rossette and a black and white paper straw are the base for the Christmas wand.  It includes a Snowy White Velvet flower, paper curls, and if you look close you'll see an iridescent chenille tucked around the white greeting.  Are you wondering what to do with a wand?  I've inserted the straw/handle into a gift basket in lieu of a bow and it looked fabulous.  Another idea would be to slip it into a wreath, greenery garland, or Christmas tree.  It would also look awesome tied to a loaf of bread to give to a neighbor or coworker.


I truly hope you have been inspired by my loaded envelope and that you might want to create one too for someone special this Christmas season.




Sunday, November 7, 2021

Bring On Christmas the Creating Has Begun


Today is November 7th and when it comes to stampin' I am just about ready for Christmas!  I started with cards, tags, and packaging back in August and September and now I've created quite the stack for what I need this coming holiday season.


For this Christmas I bought two stamp bundles, Peaceful Deer and Merriest Moments.  I have made tons of things with the Merriest Moments and this is one of them.


This interlocking gate fold card is intricately layered and is visually dimensional, but it's mailable and doesn't require any extra postage!  Two tricks made this card mailable.  One the gems are fake and flat and two I didn't use any Stampin' Dimensionals.  The second was SUPER hard for me as I believe dimensionals make everything awesome.


To make fake gems I colored some of the SAB Be Dazzling Paper with a Shaded Spruce Stampin' Blend and then punched out tiny circles to mimic rhinestones.  The trick worked like a gem!

Fyi this card includes the Tidings of Christmas DSP, Mint Macaron Ink and Cardstock, Evening Evergreen Ink and Cardstock, Soft Succulent Ink, Vellum Cardstock, Basic White Cardstock, and Be Dazzling Specialty Paper from SAB.


Thank you for joining us for our Monday Montage Blog Hop.  We hope you enjoy each of the stops along our hop.  Next is Julie's blog or click back and you'll land on Cheryl's blog.


Creation Station is All About Specialty Paper


The air is getting crisp, it's time for sweaters and coats, stores are selling Christmas decorations, and I've even heard Holiday songs on the radio. And folks, I'm happy to welcome Christmas crafting to prep for a season of celebrating.  So, I have been inspired to create with the Peaceful Place Specialty papers that wonderfully set the stage for winter themed paper crafting and our November Creation Station Blog Hop.


These Peaceful Place Specialty papers are so smartly designed.  Their designs help to create fancy cards rather quick.  Simply add a festive greeting and a punched or die cut element and you have a super cool card in a flash.  If you haven't seen the papers in real life they are grey scale and white designs filled with silver foil details which equals FESTIVE-FANCY!!  And who doesn't love festive and fancy during the holiday season.


The recipe for all three of these cards is the same.  I adhered a 3 3/4" x 5" panel of the Peaceful Place DSP on a 3 7/8" x 5 1/8" panel of cardstock and then used Stampin' Dimensionals to attach that to a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card base.

I've used the Peaceful Deer Stamp Set and matching Deer Builder Punch for the main/anchor element which I nestled in with a die cut greeting.  The deer are stamped with Memento Black Ink on Crumb Cake, the greetings are stamped on Basic White with Evening Evergreen.


One last thing to mention is that I used the Tasteful Labels Dies to cut out my greetings on each of these cards.  If you study this last card you might be able to tell that I stretched the small banner die.  You see the die wasn't quite long enough for the "Merry Christmas" image so I ran the die through my Stampin' Cut and Emboss Machine twice.  


If you are passionate about getting your hands on lots of DSP aka printed paper then you should stick around for our entire Creation Station Blog Hop.  We're here to share specialty paper so click through and be inspired to use those awesome papers in your stamp stash.  "Next up" along our hop is the adorable and fabulous Jeanna Bohanon.  Her stampin' is always off the charts awesome!