I have been “busy as a bee” making my holiday cards, as I need about 70 of them. I figured it would be a good idea to give you another “sneak peek” of some of the goodies coming in the holiday mini catalog, which you should have already received. Just a few more days (September 1) and you will be able to order your own new goodies to play with.

This card was made for an upcoming card swap here at CARDScraps. It highlights “A Cute Christmas” stamp set and Deck the Halls DSP.

This was a quick, easy and a FUN card to make. I even got into the gold embossing powder for a bit. I was going for an “old fashioned rustic” look and the materials that I used definitely gave me that appearance.

Stay tuned … I will have another gorgeous holiday card for you tomorrow.

Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator
Tarboro, NC

Stamps:  A Cute Christmas, Season of Joy
Paper:  Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla CS, Deck the Halls DSP
Inks:  Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Always Artichoke
Other:  Big Shot, Lattice Embossing Folder, Various SU Markers, Sponge, Blender Pen, Twine, Designer Buttons – Regals Collection, Gold EP, Heat Gun, Glue Dots, Snail, Snips

Well, not really, but it sure looks like it could! I am not much of a cold weather person, as I tend to stay inside, as much as possible. When it snows, I go on the front or back steps and take pictures, but do not venture out in it much. I do love watching Buffy, my cocker spaniel, bouncing around in the snow, as it seems to make her frisky and she definitely loves playing in the snow. Don’t get me wrong – I love to see it snow, but I want to be inside where it is warm and cozy.

I made this card using a tutorial by Zindorf. I did not do mine exactly as her card, but for the most part, I followed the techniques. You can’t see it, but it is embossed and very shiny and snowy! It was a fun card to make because I got to use one of my favorite techniques, which is sponging. And, I just LOVE how the embossing resists the sponged ink. When you emboss first with clear embossing powder, you can add ink colors to your heart’s content and still have a sharp and clean image.

Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator
Tarboro, NC

Supply List:

Stamp: Season of Joy, Serene Snowflakes
Paper: Night of Navy, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White CS
Ink: Night of Navy, Tempting Turquoise, Brilliant Blue, Versamark
Other: White Signo Gel Pen, Going Gray Marker, I. Ice EP, Sponge(s), Snail
Technique: Embossing

Technorati Tags: Brenda Cook,Stampin’ Up!,card,Season of Joy,Serene Snowflakes,embossing,Christmas,sponging

On day 7 of my vacation at Brenda’s house in Tarboro, NC, we didn’t CASE a card.  I thought we needed little notebooks to match our cute new holiday purses that we made a couple of days ago, so that became our project for the day.  I’m going to run through how we made these since they are an original design.

We did a couple of different techniques to these cuties – using fabric for starters.  We did some machine sewing to attach our fabric to the front and we did some hand sewing to attach our buttons.

We had our local print shop cut our Jr. Legal Pads from Staples in half vertically.  I believe Staples will do this for you as well for a small fee.  The tip is to have them do several at one time because they charge you per cut and it’s the same price to get one cut as it is to get 4 or 5 cut.

Here’s how we did it:

1.  Cut a piece of Real Red card stock to 8-1/4″ x 5-3/4″.  Score the card stock at 2-3/4″ from both 8-1/4″ sides (if using a Scor-Pal, the 5/3/4″ side will be at the top).

2.  Cut a piece of Glorious Green card stock to 8″ x 2-1/2″.  This is the notebook front main matte.

3.  Fold a piece of fabric in quarters and place the folded edges on the interior of the Scallop Square Die as shown – approximately 1-3/16″ from the top edge and all but the last scallop on the side as shown.

4.  Run the fabric through the Big Shot.  It’s ok if it’s not perfect as you’ll be fraying up the edges anyway.

5.  Glue the center of the fabric to the Glorious Green card stock matte.  Sew around the fabric approximately 1/4″ in on all 4 sides.

6.  Snip each of the scallops in half and ruffle them with your fingers to start them fraying.

7.  Using markers, color the tree from Season of Joy stamp set (#110384) Glorious Green, Chocolate Chip and More Mustard directly on the stamp. Huff on the stamp to remoisten the ink and stamp onto a piece of Whisper White cut to 3″ x 1-3/4″.

8.  Mount the stamped image to a piece of Glorious Green card stock cut to 3-1/8″ x 1-7/8″.  Using Sticky Tape, attach this to the top half of the fabric.

9.  With Sticky Tape, attach a strip of 1-1/4″ x 2-1/2″ Glorious Green just below the stamped tree image.  Glue a piece of 1″ Double Stitched Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon to this and wrap the ends around to the back.

10.  Stitch 3 buttons across the ribbon using thread or DMC floss (cross stitch floss).

11.  With Sticky Tape, attach the decorated panel the the notebook front.

12.  Cut a piece of fabric to fit the top of the Jr. Legal Pad.  Ours was cut to 2-1/2″ wide x 2″ tall which we wrapped around the back to secure. 

13.  Use Sticky Tape to attach the back of the notepad to the inside of the notebook.

Below you’ll see a shot of our notebooks sitting side by side.  Mine (left) is much more ruffled than Brenda’s is right now.  But over time, here’s will get more ruffled too being in her purse.  These are perfect for all of those Christmas lists that you’re going to need to keep up with.

Also, for those of you wondering, we returned to the salon today and they “fixed” my hair.  I got a full refund and they did fix it.  Even though it’s a lot shorter than I wanted, at least it looks ok now.

Anyway, these little notebooks are the perfect little gift for those teachers, friends and anyone who just happens to drop by during the holiday season.  So quick and easy to make as well as inexpensive which is always helpful – especially in this economy. 

Hope you enjoyed the little tutorial today.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask!  Happy stamping!

Lianne Carper
CS partner and DTM for Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator

Supplies:  (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted)

Stamps:  Season of Joy (#110384 – shown right)
Paper:  Real Red, Glorious Green and Whisper White card stock
Accessories:  1″ Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Sticky Tape, Glue Stick, Stampin’ Write Markers, Big Shot, Scallop Square Clear Die,  Buttons (from stash), Holiday Fabric (from stash), Jr. Legal Pad (Staples), thread & DMC floss (from stash) 

I tend to go a little overboard with my cards, and while these are fabulous for special one-of-a-kind cards for that certain someone, sometimes you need to produce a bunch of cards quickly.  That’s what makes this next card perfect for your upcoming holiday cards.  My inspiration came from a card created by Nichole Heady although mine looks nothing like hers.I loved the simplicity of her card and knew that I had to come up with something similar.

Here’s how I did it:

I started with a Kraft card stock card base.  To create my “snow bank”, I took a strip of vellum card stock and drew a random wavy line and cut it out.  I then lightly traced this line onto my card base with a pencil so I’d know where to stamp my trees.  I then applied Crystal Effects to the edge of the vellum and sprinkled on some snow-like glitter that I had in my stash and set it aside to dry.

I then used one of the tree top stamps from Trendy Trees (#113258) and stamped them in Always Artichoke, Old Olive and Kiwi Kiss (retired) classic inks.  I then used Chocolate Chip ink to stamp the tree trunks.  Although I did use my Stamp-a-ma-jig, I purposely wasn’t too precise with lining up the trunk with the tree which you see best with the tree on the far left.  This just adds a little more whimsy to the card.

Once my “snow” was dry on my vellum, I stamped Merry Christmas from the Season of Joy stamp set (#110384) with Chocolate Chip ink into the bottom right corner.  I glued a piece the Old Olive taffeta ribbon from the new Mistletoe Ribbon Originals from the Holiday Mini Catalog across the middle and then attached it to the backside and on the right side on the front using SNAIL adhesive.  I then tied another piece around it on the left hand side into a bow.  To attach the vellum to the card front, I strategically ran SNAIL adhesive across the back where the ribbon is and used the 2-way Glue Pen to add glue to the top under the snow glitter.  This conceals my glue so that it doesn’t show through the vellum.  To finish up the card, I tied Linen Thread through my buttons and used Mini Glue Dots to attach them to the ribbon.

I also did a couple more of this cards and varied them slightly for different looks. The one in the center is my favorite of the three although it does require extra buttons.  For the one on the right, rather than use buttons, I randomly dabbed Crystal Effects and added some snow.  Of the three, I think this is my least favorite and I think it’s because I got a little carried away with my snow dots.  In this case, I think I should have followed the “less is more” rule.  However, all in all, I’m very pleased with my little card trio.  And regardless which design you like, they are all easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Happy Stamping!

Supplies (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted)

Stamps:  Trendy Trees (shown right) and Season of Joy
Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Old Olive and Kiwi Kiss (retired)
Paper:  Kraft card stock and Vellum card stock
Accessories:  Mistletoe Ribbon Originals, buttons (from stash), Linen Thread, SNAIL Adhesive, 2-way Glue Pen, Glue Dots, Snow Glitter (Martha Stewart)

Technorati Tags: Trendy Trees,Season of Joy,Christmas,Card