Punched Daisies and Stitching

The daisies on this card were made using a 1.5" Woodware Daisy Punch and a half inch circle punch. There are two layers for the petals, punched out of computer paper, shaped as here (scroll about half way down for the petal shaping), and coloured with pink chalk on the petal tips, and a touch of green in the centres. The centres were cut from yellow paper, and shaped with a large embossing ball tool to cup them. The two daisy layers are stuck together with the petals offset, and then the cupped centre piece turned upside down, with just a tiny bit of pva glue around the rim to stick it down to the centre of the petals. The leaves were punched from dark green paper using a Leone Em Ash Branch punch.

The stitching pattern is a free download from Ann's Paper Art, although I don't know if it is still available as I think they are changed periodically, and I've had it a long while. I used pink and yellow machine embroidery thread. The corners of the white card are punched using an EK Success Corner Adorner Shaper Punch called Iron Eagle. The embroidered piece is mounted onto a square of the same dark green paper that I used to punch out the leaves.

ETA: Ann has very kindly put this free pattern back up on her site. You can find it under the free patterns link to the left of the main page. Thanks Ann!

Birthday Blooms

Ingredients:

Card/Paper: Whisper White, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery
Ink: Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Regal Rose
Stamps: Botanical Blooms, Sincere Salutations
Other: Certainly Celery Brad
Card Size: 15cm x 10.5cm (approx 4" x 6")

Method:

Stamped the image using the Botanical Blooms set in Old Olive, Certainly Celery and Regal Rose ink onto Whisper White card. Mounted onto Certainly Celery card stamped with a greeting from the Sincere Salutations set. Scored lines above and below the greeting. Stamped the Regal Rose card with the Canvas Background stamp before mounting the image onto it. Finished off with a little strip of the Regal Rose stamped with the canvas stamp also, and the end rounded using a 1/2" circle punch. Once all the layers were assembled, but before adding to the card base, I punched a hole and added the brad. Also pricked the decorative holes using the mat pack from the Stampin' Up! Crafter's Tool Kit.

Burgundy and Ivory Christmas Card

Ingredients:

Card/Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Naturals Ivory
Ink: Always Artichoke, Versamark
Stamps: Season of Joy
Other: Clear Embossing Powder, 1/4" Always Artichoke Grosgrain Ribbon
Card Size: 15cm x 10.5cm (approx 4" x 6")

Method:

The trees were stamped on the card base using Always Artichoke ink - the two outer ones were stamped off on scrap paper first to lighten them. Scored lines on the Bravo Burgundy card before stamping the greeting and swirl with Versamark and embossing with clear powder. Wrapped a piece of ribbon between the two upper score lines before sticking the burgundy piece to the card base.

Snowman Card for ILWS SKC12

Ingredients:

Card/Paper: Not Quite Navy, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie
Stamps: Cold Play, Season of Joy
Card Size: 15cm x 10.5cm (approx. 4" x 6")
Other: Diamond Stickles

Method:

This card was made for the SKC12 sketch challenge on In Love With Stamping. I varied the sketch by turning it upside down, and moving the square off centre.

The card base is Not Quite Navy, stamped with the snowflake stamp from Cold Play. I used Not Quite Navy ink, but stamped it off on scrap paper twice before stamping on the base card. Then embossed two lines across the bottom of the card, and cut a strip of Real Red to fit in between. Used my Stamp-a-majig to position the wording, which is from Season of Joy, and stamped in Real Red.

The Cold Play set contains various different snowman parts, in different sizes, and you can build one in whatever way takes your fancy. I used my Stamp-a-majig, and post-it notes for masking, so that I could stamp mine all on one layer. Not Quite Navy for the body and head - stamped off four times first to considerably lighten the colour. Real Red for the hat and scarf. Chocolate Chip for his arms, face and buttons. And Pumpkin Pie for his nose. I stamped some snowflakes around him, and also used a piece of scrunched up paper towel to very lightly dab on some blue in the sky area. The image is matted onto Real Red before gluing onto the card base. I stamped another hat on scrap card, and cut out the bobble to stick over the edge of the square. Finished with Stickles on the snowman, his hat, the ground and snowflakes. You can probably see it a little better if you click to enlarge the image. But the weather is far too dull today to get any twinkle out of it!

Little Christmas Card

Ingredients:

Card/Paper: Real Red, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Old Olive
Stamps: Season of Joy, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Card Size: 9.5cm x 9.5cm ( 3.75" x 3.75")
Other: Diamond Stickles

Method:

Well, so far I have made a grand total of 10 Christmas cards - all the same. Although, by my usual timetable, I'm still early! This is just a very simple one. Stamped the tree in Old Olive on Whisper White, and cut out. Mounted with foam pads onto a background stamped using Real Red on Whisper White, and matted onto an offset square of Certainly Celery. The card base is Real Red, stamped with one of the stamps from Itty Bitty Backgrounds - a US set borrowed from one of my downline who is from the US, now living in the UK. Finished off with some stickles on the tree and background to add a bit of twinkle, which of course you can't see in the photo.

Note Cards and Gift Box - Oh So Lovely Apricot and Moss

Ingredients:

Card/Paper: Mellow Moss, Apricot Appeal, Very Vanilla, Very Vanilla Textured Card
Ink: Mellow Moss, Apricot Appeal
Stamps: Oh So Lovely, Sincere Salutations, Canvas background
Card Size: 9.5cm x 9.5cm (3.75" x 3.75")

Method:

The images were stamped on Very Vanilla using Mellow Moss ink. Coloured in using the matching Stampin' Write Markers. Used a 1/2" circle punch to shape the corners. For both designs of card the image is matted onto a square of Apricot Appeal, but on the card standing on the box, I first stamped the Apricot card with the background stamp from the Oh So Lovely stamp. The card on the windowsill has a background stamped with the Canvas background stamp using Mellow Moss onto Mellow Moss card. The card on the box has a background stamped with one of the flowers from the Oh So Lovely set, and a greeting from Sincere Salutations. Both cards have a Very Vanilla card base.

There are five of each design of card in the box, which I decorated to match. Instructions on making the box are here.

Thinking of You Trees

Ingredients:

Card/Paper: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, water colour paper for image
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Sincere Salutations, Canvas Background Stamp
Other: Cuttlebug Forest Branches folder, clear embossing powder

Method:

I inked up the tree stamp first with Versamark, and then with Chocolate Chip ink. Stamped onto water colour paper and then embossed with clear powder. I used an Aquabrush to paint the grass and sky using Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, and Not Quite Navy ink. As the embossing over the trees wasn't perfect, the brush picked up tiny amounts of the Chocolate Chip, and turned it to purplish hues mixed with the blue of the sky - quite accidental, but turned out fairly effective!

Matted the image onto Chocolate Chip, and then mounted onto Creamy Caramel embossed on one side with the Forest Branches folder, and stamped with a greeting from Sincere Salutations in Chocolate Chip ink. Card base of Chocolate Chip stamped with the Canvas Background stamp in Chocolate Chip ink.

Pocket Silhouettes Note Card Bag

Click on the image to download a pdf with step by step instructions on how to make the box.

Ingredients:

Card/Paper: Rose Red, Whisper White
Ink: Rose Red, Mellow Moss
Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes
Other: 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon

Method:

This is a little bag that holds a set of 6 note cards and envelopes. The design of the cards is the same as the decoration on the front of the bag.
I cut and embossed a square of Whisper White with a Nestability die, then masked off the outer embossed edges with post it notes. The image was stamped with two of the stamps from the Pocket Silhouettes set. The first stamp inked with Mellow Moss, and then stamped off once onto scrap paper before stamping on the card. Then inked up the flower stamp using Mellow Moss and Rose Red markers and stamped over the top of the first image. Matted onto a Rose Red scalloped square cut with a Nestability die. The background white square was embossed on one edge with a Cuttlebug Forest Branches folder.
The bag was made from one piece of Rose Red A4 card, folded and glued. No cutting involved! Held closed at the top with the ribbon.

Poinsettia Card

Ingredients:

Card/Paper: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Whisper White, Holiday Treasures Designer Paper
Ink: Old Olive
Stamps: Season of Joy, Seasonal Wishes
Other:5/8" grosgrain ribbon old olive, gold sequins

Method:

I used the Stampin' Up! 5 Petal flower punch to punch out two red and one green shape for each poinsettia flower. Then I snipped between the petals towards the centre a little, before putting vein markings on both red and green pieces using a DEET tool in the same way that the leaves were made in this tutorial. Layered the pieces with a spot of pva, and stuck three cupped sequins in the centre of each flower.

The background to the flowers was stamped using the flourish stamp from Season of Joy, and the greeting from Seasonal Wishes. Mounted onto Chocolate Chip, with a strip of Holiday Treasures designer paper across the bottom. Fixed on the ribbon before mounting all onto an Old Olive card base. The card is a C6 size.

Simple Gift Box

Ingredients:

Card/Paper: Perfect Plum, Whisper White, Stiffener Sheet from Designer Paper Pack
Ink: Perfect Plum, Mellow Moss
Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes

Method:

I made this box to hold 6" x 6" designer papers to give as a gift. After cutting all the designer paper from my recent paper share, I had all the stiffener cards from the packs, so I used two of those to make the box. It's just a very simple box measuring about 3/4" high and holds exactly one share of the paper.

To decorate the box I cut a band of Perfect Plum card from the length of an A4 sheet, and about 6cm wide. It doesn't wrap all the way around the box, but goes far enough underneath the oval scallops for the edges to be covered up. The scallops were cut and embossed using Nestabilities in my Cuttlebug.

For the image, I stamped the dotted stem stamp from Pocket Silhouettes in Mellow Moss three times - each time I made a first stamping on scrap paper to get a lighter impression. Then I inked up the little flower stamp using Perfect Plum and Mellow Moss markers and stamped that over the background stamping. I repeated the image four times, putting the stamp at different heights and angles each time. I placed a post it note across the bottom of the oval to mask off where I didn't want any stamping.

The band is not fixed to the box, but slips off to enable stroking of all the lovely papers inside, and on again to keep the box closed - and the papers safe!