Tag Archives: Christmas card

Traditions of St. Nick Little Stockings Card

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Traditions of St. Nick Little Stockings Card

I wanted to make a card with this cute stocking patterned paper in the Traditions of St. Nick Designer Series Paper. I came up with this very easy, basic card, Traditions of St. Nick Little Stockings Card using the “other side” of the stocking paper!

This card turned out a lot like the card that I made a month ago with a different designer paper, the Joy of Christmas Designer Series Paper. That card I made looks more like a wrapped package with two rows of ribbon on it.

The card on this blog post has a card base of Cherry Cobbler. I could have used Real Red and maybe would have preferred that, but I hadn’t used Cherry Cobbler cardstock in a while. Originally, I cut the stocking pattern to be the full layer on the card, which would have been fine, but when I saw the pretty green damask design on the other side, I wanted to show some of that off to the side. I simply cut off 1 1/4″ of the stocking pattern and turned it over on the other side. When I plan ahead, I leave a little extra space for overlap of the two papers. In this case, since I wanted to wrap the ribbon around the designer paper, I adhered both pieces of designer paper onto a 4″ x 5 1/4″ piece of Basic White. Then I could add the strip of ribbon, adhered on each end on the back of the Basic White.

The ribbon I used is the very pretty Real Red & Gold 3/8″ Dotted Ribbon. I tied a bow separately and adhered it to the card front using Mini Glue Dots.

The greeting is stamped on Cherry Cobbler using the Brightest Glow Stamp Set. It is a carry-over from last year’s holiday catalog. It has great holiday sentiments in it so I pulled it out to use this season! I decided to emboss it with Gold Embossing Powder using Versamark ink to stamp. You will find three colors of embossing powder in the Metallic Embossing Powders trio. I thought the gold embossing would go well with the gold in the ribbon. I die cut the greeting and the Mossy Meadow layer with two of the Deckled Circles Dies. Another choice would be to emboss the greeting in white. Depending on the lighting, white would show up better, but I do like the look of the gold. To further emphasize the gold, I added two strips of the Gold Trim, which is part of the Gold & Silver 1/8″ Trim Combo Pack, underneath the greeting, sticking out on each side. I like that little touch.

You will find this designer series paper, Traditions of St. Nick, in the Online Exclusives category of the Online Store. The Online Exclusives are new products Stampin’ Up! wanted to get out to use without waiting for the next catalog! So they are only available while supplies last. Be sure to get any of the Online Exclusives that you like lest they be sold out or backordered if Stampin’ Up! is able to add more.

As you think about holiday card designs you might like to make, something like this card would be easy to duplicate. If you wanted to make it easier you could just stamp the greeting in colored ink rather than embossing. Check out all the choices in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog and the Online Exclusives. Don’t forget the Clearance Rack, too!

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A Merry & Bright Christmas Card

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A Merry & Bright Christmas Card

I had purchased this designer paper knowing I could make plenty of Christmas cards with just the paper and not the stamp set. But at some point, I could no longer resist the stamp set! Being able to stamp the words and make a little tree or being able to stamp several different styles of Christmas light bulbs was just too fun to pass up!

The card base is Real Red card stock, but you could choose from a lot of different colors because of all the colors of the Christmas light bulbs in the paper! This Merry Bold & Bright Designer Series Paper is wonderful! It has bright colors, Christmas patterns, and generic bold colorful patterns that can be used at other times of the year.

On top of the designer paper is a circle of vellum to soften the little light bulbs a bit so the tree with the greeting would show up. I used one of the Deckled Circles Dies to cut a circle out of Vellum Cardstock. I stamped all the words in the Merry & Bright Stamp Set in various colors – Pool Party, Granny Apple Green, Melon Mambo, Poppy Parade, Lemon Lime Twist. The little star at the top of the tree is stamped in Daffodil Delight Ink. The little trunk of the tree is a scrap of Pool Party cardstock.

The good thing about this card is that I could use Multipurpose Liquid Glue on the back of all the words on the back of the vellum that I glued flat on the card, and of course, none of the glue showed through the vellum. Sometimes it is difficult to hide adhesive under vellum. I placed some of the words (cut out by hand) a little crooked so it wouldn’t matter if they weren’t perfectly straight. But you could place them as straight as possible too!

I thought about using some bling on the card, but I resisted and stopped where I was! I think this paper and stamp set is going to be fun to work with. It would be nice to have the dies as well, the Merry & Bright Dies. Get the Merry & Bright Stamp Set and the Dies together in a Bundle and save 10%. It’s a fun change of pace to use these bright, non-traditional colors for the holidays!

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Joy of Noel Foliage Christmas Card

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Joy of Noel Foliage Christmas Card

The way this Joy of Noel Foliage Christmas Card turned out was a surprise to me! I really wasn’t sure what kind of card I was going to make but it wasn’t this one! I was reminded of this red and black plaid paper in the Joy of Christmas Designer Series Paper and after that I knew I had to use it!

First I stamped the image of the holly leaves and berries in Memento Ink and then had some fun with my Stampin’ Blends coloring them in. I hadn’t done any coloring in a little while. I used the Old Olive Combo, Granny Apple Green Combo, Mossy Meadow Combo, and the Real Red Combo for the berries. I used the die in the Joy of Noel Dies to cut out this piece.

The card base is Garden Green. One of the main things that interested me in this Joy of Noel Bundle was the stamp for “NOEL” and the die that would cut out the letters individually. I stamped the letters in Real Red and then diecut them. With the white border around the letters, I thought they showed up fine against the red plaid so I didn’t have to layer them on anything.

I also diecut some other foliage pieces to slip underneath my holly leaves piece. The holly leaves are popped up on Dimensionals and everything else is glued down flat on the card. I resisted the urge to add some kind of jewels or sparkle but I did add a red bow to the base of the holly leaves bouquet. I used the Real Red Ribbon in the Combo Pack with the Burlap ribbon. You can use whatever ribbon you have. This one was good because it was narrower than some other Real Red ribbon I had.

Be sure to check out the entire Joy of Christmas Suite and choose all or some of it!

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Joy of Noel Slimline Christmas Card

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Joy of Noel Slimline Christmas Card

This Joy of Noel Slimline Christmas Card was my first card after recently getting the Joy of Noel Bundle. There are two different Bundles in the Joy of Christmas Suite Collection. Of course, I wanted everything in the Suite, but I chose this bundle because I liked the NOEL stamp.

To get started, I chose to copy a sample in the Holiday Mini on page 28. Of course, mine turned out a little different, but it was fun to make. You can always start by copying an idea in a catalog and then as your idea develops, you can make it your own, as they say.

This is a slimline card. I started with a 6″ x 6″ piece of Pebble Path cardstock and folded it in half to make a 3″ x 6″ card. I cut a piece of the Joy of Christmas Designer Series Paper, the music pattern to go all the way across the middle of the card. It is 2 1/4″ x 6″. Then a smaller piece of the holly leaves and berries patterned paper is 1 1/4″ x 5″.

I stamped two of the foliage pieces in Garden Green ink on Garden Green cardstock and used a die in the Joy of Noel Dies to cut them out. I also cut other foliage pieces out of Granny Apple Green cardstock to add some additional foliage and color.

The greeting is stamped from the Joy of Noel Stamp Set in Real Red ink on Basic White with a layer of Real Red. I just cut a rectangular piece without a die. I popped up the greeting just in the center at first with a Stampin’ Dimensional until I got the foliage pieces placed where I wanted them. I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue so I had some “wiggle” time to put them in the right places. There is even a die for little red berries so I cut some of those out and glued them to the holly leaves. When I had all the pieces adhered where I wanted them, I slipped another Dimensional underneath each end of the greeting.

For some embellishment, not that I needed it, I wanted to play with the new Loose Holly Gems and Sequins. These are currently unavailable but should be back in stock next week, the week of September 18th. They have no adhesive so you need to use a tiny dot of glue to adhere them. There are even little gold music notes in there so I added a few since I was using the music paper.

It’s time to be thinking about Christmas cards so check out the Holiday Mini for some great ideas!

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Old-Fashioned Santa Christmas Card

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Old-Fashioned Santa Christmas Card

This week Stampin’ Up! released not only the September-December 2023 Mini Catalog but also five new designer series papers in the Online Exclusives! One of them I especially loved with these classic Santas as one of the paper patterns. As soon as my Holiday Mini order came with this Traditions of St. Nick Designer Series Paper I had to make a card with it and this Old-Fashioned Santa Christmas Card is what I came up with!

The card base is Mossy Meadow cardstock with a layer of the damask pattern of paper in the same Traditions of St. Nick paper. This damask pattern gives a really elegant look without taking away from the Santa. Before adhering the designer paper layer, I wrapped a piece of Real Red Ribbon around it.

The Santa is diecut using the Deckled Rectangles Dies. If you take the die that is the right size and place it on the designer paper, you can figure out where you have to cut out that area of the image from the designer paper. It’s a killer to cut into the paper the first time but it must be done! It seemed impossible to me to omit just the bottom of a couple of tree trunks in the area but you have to make the Santa fit plus some nice trees without bumping into part of another Santa. You could also just fussy cut a Santa if you don’t want a rectangle. Circles probably wouldn’t work. Then I cut another larger deckled rectangle in Real Red for a layer. You could pop up the Santa on Stampin’ Dimensionals but I just adhered it flat on the card.

The greeting is from the Joy of Noel Stamp Set that I just got. I stamped it in Real Red ink and diecut it with a stitched rectangle in the Timeless Arrangements Dies. The word just barely fit but it did! It is popped up with Dimensionals. There are other Christmas greetings that you could use as well.

I really like this paper and this card and plan to make more Santa cards! Remember, this Traditions of St. Nick Designer Series Paper is NOT in the Holiday Mini Catalog. You have to search under “Online Exclusives” which are new releases that Stampin’ Up! is going to bring out now and then so we don’t have to wait to see them in a catalog! That keeps life exciting! The only thing is Online Exclusives are not guaranteed to be around for any particular length of time. So if you see something you like a lot, don’t wait.

I hope you are enjoying the new mini catalog and getting ideas for your fall and holiday cards and projects!

Traditions of St. Nick Designer Series Paper

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Beary Cute Polar Bear Christmas Card

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Beary Cute Polar Bear Christmas Card

This Beary Cute Polar Bear Christmas Card is made with one of the new designer papers coming TOMORROW in the new September – December 2023 Mini Catalog. The more I use it the more taken I am with it! You can do so many fun things with these cute polar bears of all sizes! I knew the paper was cute when I saw it in the catalog, but it could possibly be my favorite paper in the Mini.

I can guarantee that you will hate to cut into this paper with all the bears and the other forest creatures. But cut into it you must! You can use the Beary Cute Punch to punch out certain of the bears but to really have fun with the paper you can “fussy-cut” the images or diecut some.

To make this card, I simply cut out an area of the Beary Cute Designer Series Paper and adhered it to the card. Now it may not seem simple to do. You just have to figure out an area that can be cut out, either with a die or using the Paper Trimmer, that won’t cut off anything that you really want or won’t include something you don’t want from a neighboring image. You may have to cut it smaller than a normal layer on a card but that will work out. I used a ruler to help me see what part of the paper would work. Just kind of measure the piece you want. You may even initially cut it larger than you want so then you can carefully trim down the piece to have the images you want that will fit on your card or project.

Beary Cute DSP

I liked having the Real Red layer underneath the designer paper for this card to bring out the red on the bears. The card base is Misty Moonlight but Night of Navy looks good, too. You might notice that Very Vanilla is one of the coordinating colors for the designer paper, not Basic White. Most people wouldn’t notice if you sent a card with this paper with Basic White, but officially I guess the color to use for a neutral is Very Vanilla.

For the greeting, I embossed this one with white embossing powder on a scrap of Real Red cardstock. The greeting is in the Brightest Glow Stamp Set. It is carried over so you will find it online if you search but it is not in the Annual Catalog. To add a little accent to the greeting I simply stuck a folded piece of Gold Trim underneath the edge. And you won’t be able to resist using the Glitter Sequins on page 23 in the Holiday Mini! I stuck a few on the Christmas tree on the paper for a little sparkle!

The area I cut out of the designer paper is a little larger than I used for just the front of the card. After I finished the front of the card I decided I would like a strip of the designer paper on the inside layer of the card. When I looked back at the paper, it looked like a perfect strip of paper just to the side of what I had already cut out for the front of the card. It has a small tree and a small bear! You can see the photo below.

Beary Cute Polar Bear Christmas Card Inside

Get ready with your Shopping List for tomorrow when the Holiday Mini goes live! Remember, the website could be busy but hopefully you won’t have any problems!

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Merriest Trees Stenciled Christmas Card

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Merriest Trees Stenciled Christmas Card

You’ll find many ways to work with the Merriest Trees Bundle in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Mini Catalog. This Merriest Trees Stenciled Christmas Card was inspired by a scrap piece of cardstock from which I had diecut a tree for another card I made. That scrap laid around here and every time I saw it I thought of using it as a stencil.

Merriest Trees Stencil

My intention was to use several colors to give the tree kind of an ombre effect. I used Parakeet Party, Lemon Lime Twist, and Granny Apple Green. The Granny Apple Green stood out a little more against the other two and I also used it as a little bit of shading on each side. But in the end, it seemed all three colors blended together and the tree looked like one green! But it was still fun doing it. I used one of the Small Blending Brushes to add the color, starting with the lightest color. When I was finished, I just rinsed the Blending Brush under the faucet to rinse out the ink. Let it dry before you use that brush again. After you are finished with the stenciling, you can stamp with the detailed branch stamp in the Merriest Trees Stamp Set to add some interest to the tree. I stamped that using Granny Apple Green Ink.

To decorate the tree, I used the More Dazzle 6″ x 6″ Specialty Paper (or you may have some left of the Champagne color from Sale-A-Bration a little while ago). There is a die in the Merriest Trees Dies in the Bundle that cuts out these cute little chains. There are also several stars you can choose from for the top of the tree. The little red starry images are stamped with Real Red ink with one of the small Merriest Trees stamps. The gifts under the tree are cut from the Beary Christmas Designer Series Paper. I actually trimmed some of them smaller to make them fit under the tree better.

The colored circles on the tree that look like decorations are actually punched out pieces from the Festive Tags Kit in the Kits Collection after I made all the tags. They looked too cute to just trash so I saved them. Gluing a few to the tree seemed like a perfect idea!

For the greeting, I needed to choose something small. In fact, I considered not even adding a greeting to the front of the card since the card is pretty busy already. But the smallest die in the Countryside Corners Dies was the perfect size to make this little banner with the greeting that fit on the tree without being too big or distracting.

Here is the other card I made with the Merriest Tree Bundle.

Today is the last day to purchase on sale any of the kits in the Stampin’ Up! Kits Collection! If there is one you like be sure to get it and save a little bit of money. I especially like the Festive Tags Kit, as I have said before. It will be so useful in a couple of months!

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Fa La La La La Christmas Card

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Fa La La La La Christmas Card

I often say sometimes all you have to do is get out your designer papers and you will be inspired with at least one idea for making a card. That’s what happened with this Fa La La La La Christmas Card. In just a little over a week, you will be able to order this Merry Bold & Bright Designer Series Paper (161945) in the September-December 2023 Mini Catalog, or the Holiday Mini as I prefer to call it (and type it!).

So far (so far!!) I have only ordered the paper in this cute Merry Bold & Bright Suite and I really love it! When you spread those papers out with their bold & bright colors and designs, it just brings joy to your heart! Except for the Christmas lights, it’s not exactly your traditional Christmas designs, but it’s fresh and new! I love working with it!

For this card, I chose a card base of Shady Spruce and the Fa La La La La pattern in the package of designer paper. I thought a layer of Basic White underneath helped it stand out a little bit. I made the Basic White layer a little smaller for a slightly wider card base margin. The designer paper piece is 3 1/2″ x 4 3/4″.

The greeting is stamped with Poppy Parade Ink on Basic White and then diecut with this label in the Something Fancy Dies. I used a larger die to cut out a piece of Shaded Spruce for a layer. The greeting is from the Brightest Glow Stamp Set, a carry-over set from last year’s holiday mini. You can find it online, still available, but not in a catalog. It’s a perfect set for holiday greetings.

To jazz things up, I added two folded bits of the White Iridescent Ribbon (161955) which you will find on page 9 of the Holiday Mini, and adhered them under the greeting on each side, then popped up the greeting on Stampin’ Dimensionals. And I love the Iridescent Adhesive-Backed Discs (161954) in the Holiday Mini. I added three of the different colors to the greeting. They’re very cute and shiny.

Turn that Christmas paper pattern over to the other side and see what you can make! I’ll have an example in my Tuesday newsletter later today! If you want to see it, sign up in the red box here on my blog! You’ll be glad you did because before we know it, I’ll be sending out my exclusive 12 Weeks of Christmas newsletter with a holiday idea every week.

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Beary Christmas Spirit of the Season Card

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Beary Christmas Spirit of the Season Card

I didn’t even know what card I was going to make when I started, but when I saw my package of this designer paper, I had an idea right away. I decided to use this bear and Christmas tree and came up with this Beary Christmas Spirit of the Season Card.

This Beary Christmas Designer Series Paper (162015) is a fun one for holiday cards with all the cute polar bears and other animals! For this card, I chose to use this one piece with the bear and bunny decorating the Christmas tree in the forest. If you want to cut out just a piece of this designer paper, you will have to figure out how to cut out that area properly. I used a ruler to see about how wide and tall the bear and tree were. Then I used my Paper Trimmer to cut out that image while trying not to get any neighboring images. I had to cut it down pretty close.

After I had my image cut out of the designer paper, I layered it on a piece of Real Red and then on a larger layer of Balmy Blue.

The card base is Balmy Blue with a layer of Basic White. It almost looked fine and simple with just the plain white layer, but I decided to emboss it with the Quatrefoil Tile Embossing Folder. Another good choice would be the Snowflake Sky 3D Embossing Folder.

The greeting is in the Merriest Trees Stamp Set and is stamped in Real Red ink just on a narrow strip of Basic White. I added two Iridescent Adhesive-Backed Discs (161954). They are red (really Poppy Parade) but they appear very dark in the photo. You definitely want this Discs for fun additions to your cards!

The Holiday Mini Catalog is coming next week! Woohoo!

Joy of Christmas Merry & Bright Christmas Card

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Joy of Christmas Merry & Bright Christmas Card

This Joy of Christmas Merry & Bright Christmas Card idea came to me and I followed through on it and made the card. Something about this designer paper made me think of wrapping paper, and I got the idea to make the card front look like a wrapped package for Christmas. It’s an easy card to create so it might be good if you are looking for ideas for making multiple Christmas cards to send.

The card base is Real Red cardstock. The layer is one of the patterns in the Joy of Christmas Designer Series Paper (161958). You’ll find it in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Mini Catalog on page 29 in the Joy of Christmas Suite. This whole Suite is beautiful and you get two different stamp sets and two sets of dies plus the paper and embellishments. I only bought the paper and ribbon at this point, but we’ll see how long I can resist the rest!

The ribbon I used is one of the Online Exclusives that you will find in the online store. It is the Real Red & Gold 3/8″ Dotted Ribbon. It is a very nice ribbon, a little heavier and stiffer than some, but it worked fine on this card. Since I love red, I had to have it and I really like the gold dots on it for something different. I added two pieces of ribbon, one horizontal and one vertical. I even applied a little Stampin’ Seal to the back of the pieces so it would lay flat and stay in place. The bow is tied separately and adhered with a few Glue Dots. To make sure the bow stayed on, I even added a glue dot under each loop of the bow and under each tail. Since the ribbon is a little heavy, the glue dots don’t show at all.

The greeting is in the Brightest Glow Stamp Set (159542), which was carried over from last year’s Holiday Mini catalog. This is a great stamp set for holiday greetings. I stamped this sentiment in Real Red ink and die-cut it with the new Deckled Circles Dies. I also cut a larger Deckled Circle out of Real Red for the layer. You will be AMAZED to open this package of Deckled Circle Dies and see the size and the number of dies you get! They are in the Holiday Mini on page 63 in the upper right corner. It’s not a small picture but I think it’s not very noticeable. I didn’t notice it until I heard about “Deckled Circles” from other Demonstrators! Of course, with so many new beautiful products it’s hard to take it all in!

You could add a little bling to the greeting or on the card if you wanted, maybe some Iridescent Rhinestones or sequins, but I left this card as is. I’m pretty sure I will be making more of this card to send in December! Once you have the idea, it’s easy to make more cards assembly-line style. Get an early start!

Remember to spend your July Bonus Coupons if you have some. Check your email for the codes if you ordered $50 or more in one order in July. The codes expire August 31 and that is coming up soon!

The September-December 2023 Mini Catalog (the Holiday Mini) goes LIVE on Wednesday, September 6th! Make your Shopping List!

Merriest Trees Decorated Christmas Card

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Merriest Trees Decorated Christmas Card

This Merriest Trees Decorated Christmas Card is the first card I’ve made with this Merriest Trees Bundle (162048) in the upcoming Stampin’ Up! Holiday Mini Catalog! You can make all kinds of cards with this Bundle from simple to fancy. I think I started with fancy on this one! This card is for someone who likes “little bitty” things. I’ll explain as I go along in this blog post!

This Merriest Trees Bundle comes with the Merriest Trees Stamp Set and the Merriest Trees Dies. (Do you like how they are now naming the stamp set and dies the SAME?!) If you buy them both together in the Bundle, you will save 10% on the price. The stamp set has a tree that you can ink up and stamp as is, or you can use the second tree stamp for some added highlights on that tree. There are some nice sentiments to use and several accessories. There is a tree trunk, gifts, bows, ornaments, a star, and some little twinkles I suppose you would call them! The trees are actually pretty large so you will need Clear Block E for sure!

Merriest Trees Bundle

As you can see in the set of dies, there are LOTS of extra pieces! On the one hand, that is extra-fun and on the other hand, there are some LITTLE pieces there to work with! One great thing is that when you stamp the little ornaments, they are on one stamp and there is a die that matches that arrangement so the die will cut out all three ornaments at one time! The other great thing is that there are THREE ornament dies so you can stamp three sets of three ornaments and die-cut them all in one fell swoop with your machine! You can cut out chains or garlands for the tree with the one die that makes all the different lengths of garlands from that one die. It would be good if you used Adhesive Sheets on the back of the paper before you cut those out! I don’t know how you would get glue on the back of those except with the teeniest drop of glue. Even with the Adhesive Sheets on the back to turn them into stickers, they are very fragile although even if you accidentally tear them apart you can match the ends back up again.

If you stamp the solid tree, it may work better to lay the stamp and block face up on the table and then apply the ink rather than try to ink up the tree by patting it on the ink pad. Even better if you have the retired Stamparatus. Be sure to use a cushion underneath your stamp. It’s often a little difficult to get a perfect impression the first time with a large solid image like this tree.

This card has a card base of Shaded Spruce. I added a layer of Gold Foil underneath this interesting red pattern of designer paper in the Joy of Christmas Designer Series Paper (161958). This designer paper has all kinds of different patterns that can be for Christmas or for other occasions.

The Christmas tree is die-cut from Shaded Spruce. I used the other tree piece with Versamark Ink to stamp and embossed with white embossing powder using a Heat Tool. This makes it look like a little bit of snow on the Christmas tree! Then I used Adhesive Sheets on the back of a small piece of gold More Dazzle 6″ x 6″ Specialty Paper. It’s in the Annual Catalog but you may already have some from a previous catalog. Then I used the die to cut out several different lengths of garlands. If you have the Take a Pick Tool or some other piercing tool it makes it easier to pry off the backing sheet. As I said before, these little diecut garlands are very delicate and fragile.

The little ornaments are stamped in Real Red on Basic White and then diecut. They just need a tiny drop of glue on the back to adhere to the tree however you would like to place them. Use different colors of ornaments if you like. There are two different styles of stars to choose from to put at the top of the tree.

No Christmas tree would be complete without packages! You can stamp little gift boxes and bows and die-cut them, or you could die-cut the presents out of solid cardstock or scraps of designer paper.

The greeting is one in the Merriest Trees Stamp Set. It is stamped in Real Red Ink and die cut with a small banner in the Stylish Shapes Dies. I cut off the banner end on the right so it would line up with the edge of the designer paper background. Once again I will point out that this greeting is very small.

If you like lots of detail when you make a card, this card might be for you. If you want to make a few of these cards to send for Christmas, I say go for it! Once you have your design and make everything in an assembly-line fashion it will be easier than it looks. But if you are making 50 Christmas cards to send, maybe you want a simpler design with fewer little pieces! This exact card takes more than a few minutes to make, so plan ahead!

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A Walk in the Forest Christmas Card

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A Walk in the Forest Christmas Card

It’s the first Christmas card of the season! It’s the A Walk in the Forest Christmas Card! One of the perks of being a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator is getting to preorder new products coming up in the next catalog so that we can become acquainted with the new things and make samples to show our customers. I’m not usually into animals, but there are brown bears and polar bears in this upcoming Holiday Mini Catalog. For some reason, this time I had to have them! The designer paper, anyway!

For this card, I used the new A Walk in the Forest Designer Series Paper (162377), which you will find at the top of page 5. You might miss it even though there are many samples across the two-page spread, but this paper stands alone. It is not part of a suite or bundle or anything. It’s just paper.

However, if you read the Stampin’ Up! Making a Difference box on page 5, you will find that with each purchase of this designer paper, Stampin’ Up! will donate $3 to support organizations dedicated to spreading cheer and providing support to those in need. So with your fun purchase, you will be helping others during this holiday season.

This A Walk in the Forest Designer Series Paper has bears, trees, snowflakes, stripes, evergreen branches and red berries. Some of the images work with the Merriest Trees Dies and some of the bears can be punched with the Beary Cute Punch.

For this card, I decided to use Pecan Pie cardstock although I was tempted to use Real Red or Cherry Cobbler. I decided Pecan Pie would go better with the outdoor, rustic theme of the card. The “other side” of this paper with the trees and the bears, is this Garden Green with tiny little triangle trees all over it. I chose that side of the paper for the layer on the Pecan Pie card base.

The top layer with the tree in the forest was strategically cut out of the designer paper so that I would have that big tree but not part of a bear along the edge. It worked out to cut it a little smaller than a normal layer which was fine because then a larger margin of the green paper would show. The tree layer is 3 1/2″ x 4. Out of another section of the paper, I cut out the brown bear. You can purchase the Beary Cute Punch, on page 67. It is actually part of a Bundle with the Beary Cute Stamp Set. But for this card, I just used my Paper Snips to cut out the bear by hand. I used a LOT of Stampin’ Dimensionals on the back of the bear because I wanted him popped up but sturdy! It was easy enough with my mostly used-up Dimensionals because I cut along the edges and cut itty bitty pieces for on his legs.

The greeting is in the Merriest Trees Stamp Set on page 12 of the Holiday Mini. I stamped it with Garden Green ink on Pecan Pie cardstock. I wasn’t sure if it would show up well enough but it does. It was diecut with a banner in the Stylish Shapes Dies. It just barely fit but I like it. I popped it up on Stampin’ Dimensionals also.

I have to be honest and say it took everything in me to NOT put any rhinestones or jewels or bling of any kind on this card! I really wanted to add some sparkle to the tree, but I also liked the rustic look of the trees and the bear and didn’t want to spoil that.

The Holiday Mini (officially known as the September – December 2023 Mini Catalog) goes live on September 6 for you to order from. It ends on January 3 (which right now we can’t imagine!). Be sure to order your very favorite things as soon as you can so you don’t have to wait for a backorder situation.

If you liked this A Walk in the Forest Christmas Card just know that it is an easy card to make although you couldn’t make a ton of the same card because you need to work with the trees and the bears on the paper. But otherwise, you just have to glue the layers to the card, punch or cut out the bear and add a greeting. That’s it!

Shop the Holiday Mini Sept. 6th!

Snowman Magic Christmas Card

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Snowman Magic Christmas Card

Back in July, I saw a card on the Stampin’ Pretty blog by Mary Fish using the Snowman Magic Bundle and I just loved it! I didn’t even own this Bundle so after a while I order just the Snowman Dies. At any moment, I was going to copy Mary’s card, but it didn’t happen until now! I guess it’s now or never now that it is just a week until Christmas.

My card isn’t “exactly” like hers because I didn’t buy the stamp set and I used a different background. But it is pretty close! I used Tahitian Tide for this card. It’s one of the “new” In Colors that came out in the Annual Catalog. Such a pretty blue to use with a snow scene!

It has turned cold here in Houston and will get even colder for Christmas so I’m hoping for snow, but I don’t think my wish will come true! It did snow many years ago here on Christmas Eve and we went out and played in the snow a bit on Christmas morning! I even made a tiny snowman that I kept in the freezer for months! It probably wasn’t much bigger than the snowman on this card!

Even without the Snowman Magic Stamp Set, I knew I could use the diecut snowman and make him look okay! I added a bit of the Light Gray Granite Stampin’ Blend on the edges of the snowman plus diecut the scarf and hat and added my own stripes and color with the Dark Real Red Stampin’ Blend. The snowman carrot nose is the smallest thing I have ever seen as a diecut! I just colored it with the Pumpkin Pie Stampin’ Blend and somehow managed to glue it down on the snowman’s face. Then I drew in the eyes and mouth with the Gray Granite marker. The arms are the next smallest things I’ve ever die cut! I had a brown scrap of cardstock handy.

The frame of snowflakes is a diecut that does all that work for you! Before adhering to the card base, I embossed a piece of vellum using the Whimsical Woodland 3D Embossing Folder. You can see the trees in the background. I also diecut the two green trees on each side of the snowman and three white snowflakes that I added.

I adhered the vellum to the back of this frame piece and since the snowflakes aren’t adhered except to the edges, I just cut a piece of snow for the base by hand and slipped it down into the frame. The snowman and trees are adhered flat to the vellum. Just slip them in where you want them. Then adhere the whole thing with Stampin’ Dimensionals to the card base.

The greeting is stamped in Tahitian Tide ink and die cut with a narrow banner shape in the Stylish Shapes Dies. It is popped up on Dimensionals also.

This was a fun card to make, maybe a little too much for multiples, but there are many things you can do creatively with this set of dies!

Monochromatic Jingle Christmas Card

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Monochromatic Jingle Christmas Card

You can make this simple Monochromatic Jingle Christmas Card in red and white, and if you have them, you can add a Flat Jingle Bell Trinket (no longer available). It’s so funny how you can “know” when you have your card right. I kind of tried out some different layouts with the designer paper and cardstock layers but the card was too plain. Once I added the ribbon and bow across the bottom, and especially the Jingle Bell, I knew that was IT! Just that little touch, for me, made it perfect!

The card base is Real Red and I used the ever-popular Sweetest Christmas Designer Series Paper. This paper will be retiring with the Holiday Mini Catalog on January 4th or while supplies last. It’s not discounted but it is on the Last Chance List. It’s best now that the sale started to just look in the Online Store and see what is still available rather than looking at the original list.

The diagonal stripe paper is 5 1/4″ x 4″. The “Jingle” is stamped in Real Red ink on Basic White Cardstock. The name of the stamp set is Jingle Jingle Jingle so that is easy to remember! I diecut it with one of the Stitched Rectangles Dies. At first, I was going to layer it on another rectangle in Real Red but I wasn’t happy with that. Then I decided to add the red piece with the white polka dots as a layer under the greeting. It measures 4″ x 1 1/4″. The “Jingle” rectangle is 3 1/4″ x 1 1/4″. You can vary the sizes of both.

The ribbon is the Real Red Ribbon in the Combo Pack with Garden Green. I just adhered a strip across the bottom portion of the designer paper and added a bow separately, adhered with Mini Glue Dots.

As I said, for the finishing touch I added one of the Flat Jingle Bell Trinkets that I already had. They are sold out now, unfortunately. I looked in my retired stash and found this red & white twine so I used that on the bell. Otherwise, you can just add some white twine or Linen Thread, whatever you have. If you don’t have the bell, you can stamp one in the Jingle Jingle Jingle Stamp Set.

Now that you have all the information to make this card, it would be pretty quick & easy to make! On the inside, I added a layer of Basic White stamped with a greeting from the Brightest Glow Stamp Set. And in the corner, I stamped the little bell in the Jingle Jingle Jingle Stamp Set and the little bow that goes with it.

This is the fun season of making Christmas cards so put on some Christmas music and just enjoy the process (if you are still working on Christmas cards!).

Painted Christmas Z-Fold Card

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Painted Christmas Z-Fold Card

If you are looking for a fairly quick Christmas card to make but still something a little special, this Painted Christmas Z-Fold Card might be the card for you! I have always thought a Z-Fold card, while easy to make, looks a little fancy. The only difference from a regular card is that you fold the front of the card back on itself.

This Christmas card starts with a Real Red card base. After cutting the cardstock at 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″, score it at 2 1/8″ and 4 1/4″. That gives you a score line on the front of the card. After creasing the card in half as you usually do, fold on the 2 1/8″ score line, which is the center of the card front, back toward the fold. See the photo below.

Painted Christmas Z-Fold Card Open

Depending on where you want to put the designer paper on this card, or stamping, choose which patterns you want to use and where you want to adhere them. On this sample, I cut a piece of the Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper for that narrow front area at 2″ x 5 3/8″. You can make it a bit narrower and shorter if you want. You could also add a piece on the inside of the front fold. I did not on this card.

Since the inside of the card is a somewhat dark color, I added a layer of Basic White. When I saw this light green pattern of designer paper, I decided to add that as another layer that would show from the front and coordinate with the design on the front. Another choice would be to just add a narrow strip of designer paper to the right side of the inside of the card on the Real Red cardstock or on the Basic White layer if that was added.

For the greeting, I chose one from the Framed & Festive Stamp Set, a new offering in the Fitting Florets Suite. It is only available until January 4th or while supplies last. I love the font and the variety of greetings for Christmas cards and projects in this set! I stamped the greeting on Basic White with Real Red ink and diecut with one of the squares in the Stylish Shapes Dies. Then I cut out the next larger square in Real Red to be a layer for the greeting. When you adhere this to the front of the card, make sure you are only putting adhesive on half of the back so it only adheres to that folded front part of the card and not the inside too!

The “tricky” part is adding a greeting to the inside of the card. Ideally, you would like it not to show from the front of the card, so you want the greeting on the inside of the card to be completely behind the greeting on the front of the card. You could mark lightly with a pencil the area where that front greeting covers the inside so you know your boundaries. For this card, I stamped a greeting on Basic White the same size as on the front. I put adhesive on the back of that greeting and layered it face down on the back of the greeting on the front from the inside. When I had it placed properly, I folded the back of the card over so that the greeting would then adhere to the inside of the card in the correct spot. That worked pretty well, but you could use pencil marks or eyeball it!

For a finishing touch, I added some Real Red Ribbon tied around the front fold of the card. I anchored it under the bow and inside the fold with some Mini Glue Dots. You could add a Basic White panel to the back of the card if you wanted to write a note so that it wouldn’t show from the front.

This Painted Christmas Z-Fold Card is an easy one to make and the recipient will think you are a talented cardmaker! Try it today!

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