Mitering with a Twisted Oval Christmas!

I seem to be on a short hiatus from cardmaking of late! I've been really busy with other activities at home, away from home, and with family.  As usual, I have lots of cardmaking events that have pasted me by!

One thing that has been passing me by quite regularly is getting started on my Christmas stash this year.  I have been worrying about it, and since we've seen "Christmas in July" come and go, I actually got the yen to make a card very late in July!   I had a lot of incentive from Splitcoaststampers' challenges as well, and I will be posting it there as well.

I received some new free paper through the Stampin' Up Sale-A-Bration event going on in July and August, called Silver and Gold Specialty dsp (white glossy with gold or silver foiling), and somehow it got me interested in getting at least one Christmas card in July finished.  Take a peak below at my finished card, though I have not completed the inside verse or design, which I usually post.  I'm actually realizing that Christmas cards do not usually get a peak at the inside verse, because I'm not usually mailing them at the time that I make them!

Ingredients: Papers--White Metallic Shimmer cs (Amazon), Recollections-Gold Foil, SU-Silver & Gold Specialty dsp (Jul-Aug 2022 SAB). Dies--Spellbinders-Elegant Twist Etched Ovals, Ovals-Large; SU-Into the Woods (tree/ 2018 Holiday--2019-20 AC); Reverse Confetti Cuts-Winter Words (Oct.2015). Studio 112-Metallic Gems. Wink of Stella-Gold (3 of 4 peace layers colorized). Chatterbox verse-inside. 4-3/4 x 6 inches.

Mother's Day for My Youngest Daughter

Our family decided to celebrate Mothers' Day and Father's Day together for several reasons. . .not everyone's double COVID vaccine would be optimally effective, plus there were so many mothers to celebrate, it just seemed the best solution to make it easier on everyone!  Here's the problem. . .did I remember this particularly important fact when it came to making the cards needed for this celebration?  NO!  I had just finished my third Father's Day card when I realized I should have made three Mother's Day cards as well.  Simultaneously, I also realized that I just had no time to fit them in before the week-end!  

Not the optimum solution, but this is how I solved my dilemma with no time to make three more cards. . .  My  youngest daughter, Jackie, lives the furthest away, and therefore, not as easy to just pop over to make a belated card delivery, which was my plan for the other two.  My oldest daughter and daughter-in-law live within a 10-minute drive from me.  So, I focused on at least getting Jackie's card done and delivered at our family barbeque event.  Another reason I chose her is that Jackie will be celebrating her third Mother's Day, and I have not yet been able to spend this holiday with her as I have with the other two. 

 

Back in May when we delayed our Mother's Day celebrations, I had already decided to do a flower garden theme for all my family Moms.  I had just bought a new Mother's Day die that I was anxious to incorporate in some manner.  For Jackie's card, I decided to use some papers and florals from Stampin' Up's Made to Bloom card kit from the 2019 Occasions catalog.  One thing that I've noticed is that there haven't been many who have branched out and made other alternative designs than those provided in the original kit.  But, if you've followed me at all, you know that I just can't make the card designs provided in the kits.  I usually make alternative designs before the kit designs, and this card is no exception.

For my card front design, I love layers, so I added a Blackberry Bliss cardbase and a gold foil mat layer before adding a third layer of one of the patterned papers provided in the kit.  I added a gold foil horizontal band to anchor the kit-provided gold-edged floral bouquet, plus I ink-distressed its edges.  My finishing touch was to sprinkle on a few gems for interest.  I decided to incorporate that new Mother's Day die on the inside as the sentiment and "verse" combined...how pretty it is in the gold foil!  Take a look below at the inside and outside finished card.  I think my youngest daughter will enjoy her card.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Made to Bloom Card Kit (2019 Occ./ retired)--BG patterned paper, Gold foil-edged flowers.  Cardstocks--Blackberry Bliss, Calypso Coral, Gold Foil.  Ink--Crumb Cake (ink distressing).  Gems--Glitter Enamel Dots.  Punch--Curvy Corner Trio (retired).  Other: Sargent Art--Acrylic Glitter Glaze (flower centers).  Papertrey Ink die--To Die for Sentiments--Happy Mother's Day die.  Size--4-3/4 x 6 inches.

Magic & Wonder At Christmas!

This is another card fashioned during my January New Year's resolution binge cardmaking marathon.  I was so happy with the end result that I resolved to go back and make more of this design at a later date.  I just finished a total of four more replicas for my card stash, but I still want to make at least three more!  I did add some Copic-colored sequins for the poinsettia stamin to add even more dimension on several versions. 

My card is a modified CASE of a card originally designed by Dar Peterson, a friend and one-half of my Stampin' Up demonstrator duo, plus side-kick Luci Kirschbaum.  Because of COVID-19, they were not able to host card classes for well over 15 months; therefore, they issued card kits from time to time for their friends and followers to purchase and complete in their homes.  This CASE original was from their Christmas kit issued in late October 2020.  Take a peek at the beautiful results of this truly elegant card and read below for the particulars on the modifications that I made.

One of my favorite Christmas card themes is poinsettia blooms that come in a myriad of colors and usually make elegant cards.  This  card uses the Poinsettia Petals and coordinating die set, which is still available in the 2021-22 Annual catalog.  I was so happy with the end results of my January CASE that I just finished a total of seven replicas for my card stash!  I did add some Copic-colored sequins for more dimension of several versions. 

I modified Dar's design by enlarging my card and changing the sizing on the kit papers to fit.  I added two more color layers to the base layering in So Saffron and Garden Green to bring out the beautiful color shades in the Poinsettia Place dsp paper.  Garden Green became my card's new card base and I built the card's layering from this base instead of white as in the original design.   The original design used the gold oval background layer in the sentiment as in my card, but I added it as a background layer behind the horizontal ribbon band as well.  I added some Acrylic Glitter Glaze to the poinsettia's petals to add sparkle and sheen, but kept the rest of the card similar to the original design.  

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstock--Garden Green, So Saffron, Whisper White. Specialty Papers--Translucent Vellum, Gold Foil. Patterned paper--Poinsettia Place dsp (2020 Holiday).  Stamps--Poinsettia Petals.  Dies--Poinsettia Dies, Layering Ovals, Stitched Shapes.  Ink--Garden Green.  Ribbon--3/8" Metallic Gold Edged--Vanilla.  Other:  Copic-colored sequins, EK Victorian Corner punch, Acrylic Glitter Glaze (Sargent Art), Chatterbox verse.  Size: 4-3/4 x 6 inches.

Stepping To Church for Christmas!

Here is my first center-step card that I've made from start to finish with my own template design for a larger 4-3/4 x 6-inch card.  To help me redesign the dimensions, it is a remake of a card I made at my Stampin' Up demonstrator duo's card event back in the fall of 2017, which I loved!  What can I say, I'm not very adventuresome, especially since it involved refiguring the template dimensions in order to remake it into the larger size.  I kept the original card to use as a guide, which helped me figure it all out much easier. 

Because the card was larger, I was able to add a third layer.  I ended up with a black cardbase, followed by a white mat layer, followed by the card front layer with the die-cut pieces.  I really like the white on black look.  The original design just started off with the white cardbase, which didn't allow for as much contrast.  I really like my added contrast by having three layers, and starting with the black first, then white, then black again.  I stuck to the original card design, and I thank Luci Kirschbaum for always allowing us to CASE our class cards and modify them as we like.  Here is my enlarged, finished card below:

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstocks--Basic Black, Whisper White, Gold foil.  Patterned paper--Merry Music Specialty (2017 Holiday).  Stamps--Hearts Come Home/ Dies--Home Town Greeting.  Punch--Confetti Stars Border.  Embossing Powder: Gold.  Size:  4-3/4 x 6-inches.

Happy Christmas & To All Goodnight!

I made Christmas cards while visiting my 94-year old Mom in California during October and early November.  We made a crafting mess on her dining room table for two week...but what fun it was!  I traveled down with a 10-card kit with pictures from Liz Thayer's Totally Loving Christmas cardmaking session in November.  As her cards are traditional the A2 size (4-1/4 x 5-1/2 inches), and I prefer cards a bit larger, I usually remodel them to fit my preferred size.  Meanwhile, I make modifications to the design by adding or subtracting bits and pieces to make it more me.  Sometimes I change a lot and sometimes I change just a little.

To help Mom out, I decided to give her the A2 card kits and make new pieces for myself, adding to the designs as desired.  But, then Mom saw what I was doing to mine and she liked that too, so I ended up adding new pieces to the card kits as well.

Below is my first remodel.  The card was originally done in gray, red, and white.  I decided that it needed a bit more sparkle by bringing out the lovely gold metallic ribbon edging.  I removed the gray panel and added a gold foil layer that I texturized by embossing with the Sparkle embossing folder.  This really brought the card to life!  I then designed an inside that coordinated with the outside.  Take a peek below at the finished card.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstock--Whisper White, Real Red.  Patterned:  Wrapped in Plaid 6x6 Pack (2019 Holiday).  Stamps: Greatest Part of Christmas (2019 Holiday).  Dies: Frosted Frames (2019 Holiday).  Sparkle Embossing Folder.  Ribbon: 3/8" Gold Metallic Edge--Very Vanilla (2019-20 Annual).  Iced Stampin' Glitter (2019 Holiday).   Recollections 8-1/2 x 11 Gold Foil Paper Pack.  Memento Tuxedo Black Ink.  EK Punch: Victorian Corners.  Chatterbox verse.  Size: 4-1/2 x 6-1/4.  (Thank you Liz Thayer for basic card design).