Stamping with the Stars

Christmas Swap Card

This is the card I sent to Dawn's Glitter Queen Swap this year.  I wanted to wait until after the deadline for submitting them before posting the tutorial.

Here are the supplies I used:

Stamp sets:  Lovely as a Tree, Pg. 110 #115026; Holiday Best, Level 1 Hostess Set, Pg. 13 #115364

Paper:  Bride Specialty Paper, Pg. 158 #115669; Not Quite Navy Cardstock (CS), Pg. 156 #101722; Whisper White CS, Pg. 155 #100730

Ink:  Whisper White Craft Pad, Pg. 155 #101731; Not Quite Navy, Pg. 156 #103008

Accessories:  Whisper White Organza Ribbon, Pg. 183 #114319; White Embossing Powder, Pg. 188 #109132; Clear Embossing Powder, Pg. 188 #109130; VersaMark Pad, Pg. 190 #102283; Heat Tool, Pg. 188 #100005; 2-Way Glue Pen, Pg. 192 #100425; Dazzling Diamonds, Pg. 182 #102023; Mat Pack, Pg. 191 #105826; Snail Adhesive, Pg. 192 #104332; Stampin' Dimensionals, Pg. 192 #104430

Cut Not Quite Navy CS 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" and score at 4-1/4" to form the card base.

Cut Not Quite Navy CS 2-1/2" x 3-1/2".  Stamp the tree image with Whisper White Craft Ink, then heat emboss with White Embossing Powder.

Use the 2-Way Glue Pen to apply Dazzling Diamonds.

Cut Whisper White CS 2-3/4" x 3-3/4" and use Mat Pack and Needle to pierce holes in the corners.

Attach the tree image to the Whisper White mat with Snail Adhesive.

 Cut Whisper White CS 2" x 2".  Load the image up with VersaMark and then Not Quite Navy ink and stamp in center of CS.  (You may want to use a Stamp-a-ma-jig to center the images. Pg. 191 #101049)

Use the Mat Pack to pierce holes in the corners.

Cut Bride Specialty Paper 4" x 5-1/4" for the card front.  Wrap Whisper White Organza ribbon around the Bride Specialty and tie in a bow.  Attach to the card front with Snail adhesive.

Attach the matted tree image and the greeting to the card front with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Repeat 19 times and you have your swaps done!  I can't wait to get my swaps back from the other Glitter Queens.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial.  My posts will be a little slower during the holidays.  I just retired last March, so this will be the first Christmas that I don't have to rush all of the shopping, decorating, baking and stuff.  I plan to take it easy and enjoy the season for a change. As soon as I finish the 45-50 handmade Christmas cards that is. And then there's the cookie exchange.....  *sigh*

Happy Holidays!

Mickey

Thankful Thoughts Card

I thought I was all done posting Thanksgiving cards this year, but this idea sort of popped into my head while I was working on my MOJO Monday entry this morning.  I think the In Colors are perfect for this card.  

Here are the supplies I used:

Stamp sets:  Lovely as a Tree, Pg. 110 #115026; Autumn Splendor, Holiday Mini Catalog, Pg. 12 #116503; Grateful Greetings, Holiday Mini Catalog, Pg. 8 #116511

Paper: Crushed Curry Cardstock (CS), Pg. 155 #115319; Dusty Durango CS, Pg. 155 #115321; Soft Suede CS, Pg. 155 #115318; Bermuda Bay CS, Pg. 155 #115317; Very Vanilla Naturals CS, Pg. 157 #106530; Autumn Meadows, Holiday Mini Catalog, Pg. 13 #116769; Optional: Scrap of Really Rust CS, Pg. 156 #100661;

Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Pg. 156 #100908; Dusty Durango, Pg. 155 #115654

Accessories:  Big Shot Die-Cut Machine, Pg. 194 #113439; Stampin' Up! Two Tags Die, Pg. 198 #115954; Gold Embossing Powder, Pg. 188 #109129; Clear Embossing Powder, Pg. 188 #109130; Heat Tool, Pg. 188 #100005; Embossing Buddy, Pg. 188 #103083; VersaMark, Pg. 190 #102283; Button Latte Designer Button, Pg. 181 #114333; Gold Elastic Cord, Holiday Mini Catalog, Pg. 27 #109867; Paper Piercing Tool, Pg. 191 #116631; Stamp-a-ma-jig, Pg. 191 #101049; Blender Pens, Pg. 192 #102845; Sponge Daubers, Pg. 192 #102892; Snail Adhesive, Pg. 192 #104332; Stampin' Dimensionals, Pg. 192 #104430

Cut Very Vanilla Naturals CS 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" and score at 4-1/4" to form the card base.  Cut Soft Suede 4" x 5-1/4" for the card front.

Cut the four In Colors CS 1-1/4" x 2". Line them up as shown and tape across all of the strips.   I wanted to make two cards so I cut the strips 1-1/4" x 4" and taped at the top and bottom.  Then I cut down the center.

 Use the Sponge Dauber to ink around the edges with Chocolate Chip.  Fold the strips where they meet to ink between the strips.

Dust the CS with the Embossing Buddy and use the Stamp-a-ma-jig to position the Lovely as a Tree image across the strips.  Load the stamp up with VersaMark and then Chocolate Chip ink and stamp the image.  Heat emboss the image.

Die cut the tag from Very Vanilla Naturals CS.  Heat emboss the sentiment the same way you did the trees. Ink around the edges.

Attach the tree image and tag to the Soft Suede card front with Snail.

Use the Paper Piercing Tool to pierce holes to fasten the button to card front with gold cord. 

Stamp the oak leaf on Autumn Meadows paper with VersaMark.  Apply Gold Embossing Powder and heat emboss.  Squeeze the inkpads to deposit some of the ink on the inside lid.  Pick up some of the color with the Blender Pen and fill in some of the lines on the leaf. 

Stamp the acorns on Dusty Durango or a scrap of Really Rust and shade in with the Chocolate Chip and Dusty Durango.  I used Really Rust to give it a little more contrast with the Dusty Durango ink.

Cut out the images with paper snips and attach to the card front with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Attach the card front to the card base and you're all done!

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Mickey

Americana Christmas Card

Good morning!  I haven't posted anything for a few days because I've been busy making all of my swap cards for Dawn's Glitter Queen Swap.  The swap is only for Dawn's downlines, but I'll try to share some of them with you with their permission, along with a tutorial for my own swap card.  There are 19 downlines participating and I can't wait to get all of those cards in the mail!  Can you tell this is the very first card swap I've ever done?

There's something about this card that has that sort of old world-y Americana look to it, don't you think?  I'm a little disappointed in the picture.  Even though I tried to photograph this card in every room in my house, I just couldn't pick up the red glitter on the tree. 

Here are the supplies I used:

Stamp sets:  Lovely as a Tree, Pg. 110 #115026; Yuletide Christmas, Holiday Mini Catalog, Pg. 22 #116855; Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Pg. 132 #114996

Paper:  Natural Ivory Card Stock (CS) , Pg. 159 #101849; Old Olive CS, Pg. 156 #100702; Ruby Red CS, Pg. 156 #102030

Ink:  Old Olive, Pg. 156 #102277; Ruby Red, Pg. 156 #102259

Accessories:  Mat Pack, Pg. 191 #105826; Punches Plus Template, Pg. 188 #109539; Sleigh Bells Ribbon, Holiday Mini Catalog, Pg. 17 #116795; Fine Supernova Stampin' Glitter, Pg. 180 #114287; Snail Adhesive, Pg. 192 #104332; Stampin' Dimensionals, Pg. 192 #104430; Sponge Daubers, Pg. 192 #102892; Stamp-a-ma-jig, Pg. 191 #101049; 2-Way Glue Pen, Pg. 192 #100425;  Needle; Post-it note or other masking material.

Cut Old Olive CS 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" and score at 4-1/4" to form the card base.  Cut Natural Ivory CS 5-1/4" x 4" for card front.

Position the star template in the upper right corner of the card front. Punch holes with a needle.

Use the Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the greeting in the lower right corner.

Wrap ribbon across the card front as shown and tape in back.  Now you can attach the card front to the card base.

Stamp the tree image on 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" Natural Ivory CS.

Now I'll show you how I added the tree decorations.  You could just dot the image with the 2-way glue pen and add glitter, but I wanted nice neat circles.

Stamp a tree image onto masking material and carefully cut out with paper snips or hobby blade.  (Save the masking and the tree cut out---we may be using them in a future project.)

Place the mask over the tree image and use the Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp random circles on the tree with Ruby Red ink.  I know, it sounds goofy to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp a random pattern, but I didn't want the dots to overlap.

Remove the mask and put a tiny dot of glue on each cirlce and add red glitter.  I think this would also look nice with emblossed red circles.

Attach the tree image to a 2-3/4" x 3-3/4" Ruby Red mat with Snail.  Position on the card as shown and attach with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Stampin' Dimensionals between the image and the Ruby Red mat would look nice, too, but you have to be kind of scimpy with the dimensionals if you're going to mail your card.  Last year, I wasn't sure if my cards would fit the new post office guidelines so I took them to the post office and ask the clerk how much postage I needed---just to be safe.  And I still got half of them back for more postage!!!  Oh man, now I'm getting mad all over again just thinking about it. Okay, shake it off, Mickey....

Thanks for stopping by today.  If you'd like to purchase the supplies to make this project, you can find them here:  Mickey's Stampin' Up! Website.

Now I'm off to the post office to mail my swaps to Dawn.  Then I can get busy on this month's "thank you" cards.  Then, my own Christmas cards!

Mickey