Christmas Card Crank

 It's Christmas Card Crank time again!  20 cards for $28.  I'll even tie your bows for you if you ask.  I'll try to add the registration form on the sidebar, but if that's not successful, email me and I'll email it back to you. 
This first card uses the stocking punch, Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade, and glimmer paper. 

 Here's the second card.  Heat embossed in Copper, it also combines Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, and Real Red.

 This third card uses the Lovely as a Tree and Delighful Decorations stamp sets.  The colors are Garden Green and Riding Hood Red.  In case you can't see it, there is a pearl in the center of the ornament.

 This is one of my favorites.  White on White with double scoring lines around the images.  And I totally love the blue and white look for Christmas.

Here's the last one.  Two textured scallop circles and you have a wreath.  The Cherry Cobbler color is one of my all-time favorites and really jazzes up this card.

So, what do you think?  Want to come over on December 2, 3, or 10?  Let me know.  These projects are also available through mail order, without the stamps and adhesives. 

Yuletide Christmas

This picture looks so peaceful. I wish my house looked like that! The kids are all home this week and I have a major headache, aftermath from my fibro attack yesterday. Arg! So I hid downstairs and finished this card. I had the main image done weeks ago, but had to set it aside to get ready for my Christmas Card Cranks. What do I like about this card? The non-traditional colors and how simple it is. That Petals A Plenty folder really is great enough to carry this whole card.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

Ingredients: Rose Red, Whisper White, and Certainly Celery Cardstock. Mistletoe Ribbon. Yuletide Christmas stamp set. Black Stazon and Certainly Celery inks. Vintage Brads. Scallop Oval Punch. SU! Petals A Plenty Texturz Folder.

It's Christmas Card Crank Time

Ok, so who's ready to pump out some Christmas cards? These are the cards that we'll be making here at my house this year. I only have 4 spots left on November 21 and 6 left on December 5, so contact me right away if you'd like to attend. Both events will be held from 1 pm to 5 pm. The cost is 20 cards for $25.
This card uses Tree Trimmings. It's a CASE of a Stampin' Up! card that I saw at convention.
This is a quick and simple card made with Serene Snowflakes. The great thing about this card is that you could also use it for a winter birthday.
I'm really excited about the colors on this card. I think the Bella Bleu DSP goes quite well with the Bashful Blue.

Yes, we MUST have at least one card that uses the Big Shot. I think the Top Note Die is perfect for the poinsettia swirls. The ribbon is retired Metallic Gold.
This last card looks a lot more complicated than it really is. A bit of quick coloring with marker, punching, and glue it all together.

Ready for Christmas! I've already started playing the music occasionally.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

The Card That Didn't Win

Here's a card for you. It's one that I dreamed up over the course of a couple of nights. I worked and worked on it to get it just right and then sent it in for the Winter Wonderland contest at SU! Guess I didn't win, because I didn't hear anything. Bummer!
The curtain is made by pulling a thread or two on the 5/8" Real Red Grosgrain. The curtains are DSP scored every 1/4" and folded accordion style. The curtain pull-backs are elastic cord with Pretties Kit beads. I stamped the nutcracker from Yuletide Christmas in StazOn Black, colored with my markers and then covered with Crystal Effects. Merry Christmas was embossed with the Classic Ink embossing technique. (email me if you'd like instructions.)
After cutting out the lattice with my SU! Lattice Bigz Die, I put the lattice back in the frame and made a glitter window out of it. The window is popped up on dimensionals with a tree, bird, and snowflakes stamped behind it. It's so hard to capture the 3-D effect with my camera. Hope you get a bit of the feel of this one.
So, while I didn't win, I am very happy that after dreaming this one up for awhile, it did turn out as I had hoped.

Oh, and don't forget that the Blog Carnival is still going on. Just click the link on the right to go see some great projects featuring the many uses of My Digital Studio, Stampin' Up!'s new digital program.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

p.s. Anne, did you notice all the red? ;-)

I'm Stamping...Really...I Am!

I've decided to enter a special card into this month's Winter Wonderland contest through Stampin' Up! so I've been a little busy here. I don't have anything new to show you, so I'm giving you a sneak peak of on element on my contest entry. This is the sweetest Nutcracker and because he's so small, he doesn't take long to color. Yahoo on that one! After coloring him in with the small tip on my SU markers, I covered him with Crystal Effects so that he would have the patina of a lacquered toy. I'm not counting on winning, but I really put a lot of thought and dreaming into this project, so I hope it at least makes the board at convention next year.

Well, back to the stamp room to work on this week's class. I'll try to upload some projects from the class next week. Until then....

Blessings,
Julie

What Do I Need Those Sanding Blocks For?

See those gorgeous poinsettia flowers? I used my new Petals A Plenty texture folder (in the new mini catalog) for them. Put a piece of Designer Series Paper in the folder, run it through the Big Shot, and then use your sanding block across the raised design. Because the DSP has a white core, the white will show up after sanding off the color. It also feels very soft, like flocked paper. Merry Christmas was stamped in Craft White and embossed with White EP. The little doodles around the sentiment were drawn on with my white gel pen. The holly frame was stamped in Old Olive and then the berries were colored in with the fine tip of my Real Red SU marker. A bit of White Organza ribbon finishes off this card.

I can hear you asking me, "So, what else can I use my sanding blocks for?" Ever had an ink smudge on your card? The sanding blocks take off about 50% of them. And if you're using SU! cardstock, the color goes through the core, so it won't really matter how much you sand off. You can also rub the block across your glossy cardstock vertically and horizontally and then brayer color across it. This is called the Faux Linen technique and it's a very attractive, subtle background.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station once again. I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Blessings,
Julie

Easy Christmas

Here's my weekly easy Christmas card. This one is quite simple. I stamped the holly frame in Old Olive and then used my the fine tip of my Real Red SU! marker to color over the berries. I markered the greeting inside and then colored over the stamped berries again. The paper piercing along the bottom is an idea from my friend Cheryl. A bit of grosgrain ribbon finishes this off.

This is the same card, dressed up a little. I used my color spritzer and my Olive and Real Red markers to create a frame around the holly frame. Very easy to do and maybe added 3 minutes on to the card. Both of these cards are quick and would make a great design for mass production.

Well, that's all I have for today. Come back tomorrow for a Christmas card with the same stamps, taken up a few notches.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

CAS (Clean and Simple) Cards

CAS, Clean And Simple, with large open spaces and not a lot of fuss. It's getting harder and harder for me to follow these guidelines, but I always stick to at least one mat under almost every layer and at least one embellishment. Those two rules can really make the difference on your card. Here, I stamped the adorable stocking from Yuletide Christmas (from the Mini Catalog) in StazOn Black and colored it in with markers. The red stocking was colored in with Ruby Red and then the accents were highlighted with Bravo Burgundy.

Can you see the defect on this card? Up in the right, next to the bear, there's a smudge of red. I hate to re-stamp something when it's a perfectly good image, so I used my Color Spritzer and my Ruby Red and Old Olive markers to splotch color on the background. "Now you see it, now you don't." So, there's my tip for the day. Don't throw your image away, spritz some color onto the background.

To finish the card off, I matted the stocking on Old Olive, stamped "merry christmas" in Ruby Red onto Confetti White cardstock, attached the Always Artichoke 1/4" Grosgrain around the back, and matted again on Old Olive. Sweet and simple.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station once again.

Blessings,
Julie