Welcome back to the Sparkles monthly Christmas Challenge # 155. Our host for December, Helen, chose holiday animals for the theme. When you are finished here, I hope you will visit the challenge site to see the fabulous projects from the rest of the design team members. We’d love to see your creations in our gallery, so please play along.
I’ve been posting so many polar bears lately, and you can see my most recent polar bear card here, which is a twist and pop polar bear, here. I didn’t want to post another polar bear, so I went through my stash of Christmas DSP (designer series paper) and created a set of four Christmas cards using the Peaceful Prints DSP.
Here are my reindeer and other Bash My Stash cards:
For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved the red, black, and white color combination. All four cards use the Real Red, Basic Black, and Basic White colors.
Yesterday, I posted a z-fold card with measurements for the same pieces I used for the z-fold card today. You can see that post here.
You might be asking yourself where I got the black and red gingham ribbon because you somehow missed it in the catalogs. It’s actually the black and white gingham, and I used the dark Real Red blends combo to color it. Pretty nifty, isn’t it? You can use blends to color your bakers’ twine as well. HINT: Make sure you let the ribbon or twine completely dry before you try to use it on your card. Trust me on this one.
Hopefully, I have inspired you to Bash Your Own Stash. I can’t wait for this weekend so I can continue bashing mine!
It’s time to sign up for your December Paper Pumpkin kit!
Send a wish to all your loved ones with the December Paper Pumpkin Kit! It comes with nine card fronts, three each of three designs, and nine coordinating envelopes. It has paper pieces detailed with gold foil, embellishments, an all-occasion stamp set, and an acetate box where you can store your finished cards! You can gift the kit itself or the finished product in the acetate box; either way, it’s the perfect last minute gift for any occasion.
If you live in the U.S. and don’t already have a Stampin’ UP! demo from whom you order, I would be honored to work with you.
When prompted, please enter the following HOST CODE:
Welcome back to the monthly Sparkles Christmas Challenges! Our host for challenge #154, Zowie, chose Christmas stockings for the theme. When you finish here, I hope you will head over to the challenge site to see what the rest of the design team created. As always, we’d love for you to play along with us and then upload your creations to our gallery.
Amazingly, the only Christmas stockings product I have is retired DSP (designer series paper) Sweet Stockings. I am actually just about finished with any card I could do for dogs, and probably have enough for two cat cards if I am careful. For this challenge, I created two cards using some of the different DSP patterns.
Here are my cards:
Not only is the DSP retired, but the Cherry Cobbler dots, ribbon, and the Framed and Festive stamp set are retired as well. The cardstock and the Stylish Shapes dies are current. Therefore, this post is going to be short and sweet.
Good to Know:
The cardstock bases measure 11 by 4-1/4 inches, scored at 5-1/2 inches to create a tent card.
The mats for the front of each card measure 4-1/8 by 5-3/8 inches.
I used Mossy Meadow and Old Olive 6 x 6 inch DSP for the envelope flaps. Each piece of DSP measures 2-1/2 by 6 inches.
I used Stamping Write Markers to create a stitched line in the ditch of the sentiment squares.
HINT: Go slow and steady and be sure to use the bullet end of the marker when working on the stitches in the ditch.
I added dimensionals under each sentiment square so that they would straddle the ribbon.
This ribbon is a bit too thick to tie in a bow, so I tied it in square knots instead.
HINT: Whenever I am tying a square knot I repeat something I heard Connie Stewart say years ago: Left over right, pull it tight, right over left, pull only from the left. Works every time!
Add a glue dot under each square knot.
Use multipurpose liquid glue to adhere the rest of the elements together.
See….. short and sweet.
Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Have a Peachy Day!
Sue
On November 7, 2023, you will be able to order from the new online exclusive products.
I think one of the cutest bundles is the Fluffiest Friends bundle. You can see a card I made with this bundle here and here. So stinking cute!
If you live in the U.S. and don’t already have a Stampin’ UP! demo from whom you order, I would be honored to work with you.
Welcome back to the October Sparkles Christmas Challenge #153! Our host for this month, Melanie, chose flowers or foliage for the theme. When you finish here, I hope you’ll visit the challenge site to see what the rest of the design team members created. I’m always so impressed by everyone’s creations. We hope you will play along with us and then upload your creation to our gallery. I’m playing along with the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #544 for the layout of my card.
You can download the following catalog, or find the link on the Stampin’ UP! website. Not surprisingly, some items have already gone on backorder. Now is the time to order your Halloween and some of your Autumn supplies.
Welcome to the September edition of the Sparkles Christmas Challenge! Our host for this month, Caz, chose the theme of snowman for challenge # 152. When you finish here, I hope you will visit the challenge site to see the wide variety of snowman cards from the rest of the design team members. I can’t wait to see what you create and upload to the gallery!
I found this fun fold videos about 6 weeks ago and knew I would be making three of these for the great-nieces and great-nephew for Christmas. MayMay, from MayMay Made It, has two videos for this fun fold. You can find the links for them here and here. The first one explains the mechanism made with one sheet of cardstock and some scoring. The second one explains how to create the snowman. She even included a pattern for the mittens which can be printed from her blog post..
Here’s the inside of my stinking adorable snowman card:
I feel like the outside is just for show, but here it is:
I will be uploading this snowman to the Creative Creases Challenge as well. You can find the link for that challenge here.
MayMay Made It:
I used the directions and measurements found in MayMay’s videos, with a few adjustments.
After I did all the scoring and folding for the white inside pop and twist part, I closed it up and trimmed an extra 1/8 off of the top and bottom so the Misty Moonlight cardstock border was more even on the inside.
I trimmed the mechanism that holds the mittens to an inch wide in order to accommodate the size of the mittens.
I adhered both mittens to the bottom parts of the mechanism.
HINTS:
Before I did anything with the snowman parts, I turned the white cardstock over and used my bone folder to try to flatten out the vertical score line as much as possible.
Before drawing the face, adhere the DSP 9designer series paper) you are using for the scarf. Trust me, you want to adhere this piece first
I used a 1-inch circle punch for the buttons. I created the dots using the biggest end of a scoring tool and white craft ink.
I used a banner die from the Stylish Shapes die set for the letter banners.
I punched the eyes with a 1/2-inch hole punch and just trimmed a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock for the nose.
The embossing folder for the front is included in the new mini-catalog which goes llive in just a few days. YEAH! After embossing the snowflakes, I very lightly swiped the StayzOn white ink pad over the top.
This card will tightly fit in the medium basic white envelopes. However, it will require extra postage.
MayMay’s videos are very easy to follow. I’ll be posting my other versions of this card soon!
The new mini catalog for the holidays goes live on September 6th, 2023. While I can’t show you the inside of the catalog yet, I can show you the gorgeous cover:
If you live in the U.S. and don’t already have a SU! demo from whom you order, I would be honored to work with you.
When prompted, please enter the current HOST CODE:
VZ9ZYYMD
Again, thank you for stopping by! I’d love to hear your comments or thoughts. Sue
The host for our July, 2023 Sparkles Christmas Challenge, Billie A. chose to have us add some gold to our projects. When you finish here, I hope you will visit the challenge website to see the projects created by the other design team members. I’m always inspired by each of the projects. We hope you are inspired as well and play along with our challenge. I’m looking forward to seeing your cards in our gallery!
Here’s my card:
The Polished Pink and gold DSP (designer series paper) really did all the work here. This DSP belonged to the 2021-2023 retired In Colors which retired at the end of May. I have just enough left for a couple more cards. Sadly the ribbon also retired this past May. However, his card could fall into the almost easy-peesy category and be recreated using any DSP.
Details for the Card:
Trim a piece of cardstock to 4-1/4 by 11 inches. Score it at 5-1/2 inches to create a tent card base.
Trim a piece of gold foil specialty paper to 4-1/8 by 5-3/8 inches.
The pink, gold, and white DSP measures 4 by 5-1/4 inches.
Using the Natural Prints wreath die, crop it from gold foil.
HINT: I am very (!!) stingy, um make that frugal, with my foil specialty papers. Therefore, I make sure to crop as much as possible from the foil piece since it will be covered with the DSP. This gold foil wreath is cropped from the center of the gold foil layer.
Use your embossing buddy to clean off a scrap piece of cardstock that matches the base color.
Stamp the sentiment from the Hope & Peace stamp set using Versamark ink
Cover the sentiment in gold embossing powder and heat set it.
Using a circle from the Stylish Shapes die set, crop the sentiment.
For this card, I tried something new with the edge of the sentiment circle, and it worked. I rolled the circle through the VersaMark ink pad two or three times, then added gold embossing powder. Heat setting the powder was made easier by using my opposable (reverse) tweezers. If you don’t have a pair, I highly recommend the Stampin’ Up! embossing additions tool kit. These reverse tweezers act like another hand when crafting. There are all kinds of the tweezers on the market, but the SU! ones have wider and stronger tips. The set also includes an embossing buddy (invaluable when embossing, a small brush to wipe away excess flecks of powder, and a Powder Pal, which will keep your space tidy. You can see the kit below:
Use multipurpose liquid glue to adhere the gold foil and DSP together.
Wrap a length of ribbon vertically around the left side of the foil/DSP layer and tie it in a bow.
Use liquid glue to attach the gold foil wreath.
HINT: Be very careful when using adhesives with foil specialty papers. If you get adhesive on the foil side, that piece of paper will become dull. You’ll be able to wipe off the excess glue, but you will not have shiny foil where the glue touched it.
Add dimensionals under the sentiment circle and adhere to the card.
Since the ribbon I used is very thin, I was able to use liquid glue to adhere the foil/DSP layer to the base of the card.
Trim a piece of white cardstock to 4 by 5-1/4 inches for the inside.
Trim a piece of coordinating DSP to 6 inches by 2-1/2 inches for the envelope flap. . Don’t use foil specialty paper for the flap because it won’t stand up to the wear and tear of the postal machines.
Finally, punch a 1-inch circle from coordinating DSP for the envelope seal.
With that, I finished this coordinated card, envelope, and envelope seal.
Take a look at this Boho Beach kit! The colors are gorgeous and, just like all the SU! kits, they are all inclusive. The only thing you need to add is a stamping block and a pair of paper snips.
Check out this unboxing and demonstration video for this kit:
If you live in the U.S., the HOST CODE for July is QXMZMSQC.
If you don’t already have a Stampin’ UP! demo with whom you work, I would be honored to be your demo. I thoroughly enjoy sharing stamping with others and am always looking for new and exciting ways to create cards.
Welcome to the June Sparkles Christmas Buddy Challenge. How is it possible that it’s already June, 2023? The good thing is that I start my summer break on June 6th. When you finish here, I hope you will visit the challenge website when you finish here. Every month I am so impressed with the creative interpretations of the challenge theme by the design team members. I look forward to seeing what you create and upload to our gallery.
Here’s my tent fold trees card:
This post is going to be pretty short and sweet since the curvy dies and stamp set, the 3D Brick and Mortar embossing folder, and the layering dioramas dies are all retired. The Santa’s sleigh stamp comes from a past Paper Pumpkin kit.
However, the Starry Sky cardstock is gorgeous! If you haven’t gotten any yet, I would strongly recommend that you do! It’s absolutely fabulous!
The sentiment and trees were stamped in VersaMark ink, then covered in white embossing powder and heat set with my heat tool.
I placed a few drops of silver Wink of Stella on an acrylic stamp block to get the splatters on the bottom layer of the card. I use an empty Wink of Stella pen and just dip it in the ink on the block. By tapping the empty pen on the lid, I created the splatters.
HINT: Make sure you really cover your desk even further than you think the splatters will go. A few years ago, I made the mistake of not covering double the size of the grid paper and had a mess to clean up. Trust me – you need more of your desk area covered than just one piece of grid paper.
The top layer of the brick cardstock is adhered directly to the white cardstock using multipurpose liquid glue. You can’t see the underside, but it has many, many dimensionals and mini- dimensionals on it.
The ribbon bow actually is covering a tiny happy accident of an ink smudge. Once I saw it, I couldn’t unsee it and had to do something.
Welcome to Just Peachy Stamping by Sue Jackson: an independent Stampin' Up demonstrator.
Through Stampin' Up!, I happily share my love of papercrafting through sales, classes, small stamping group meet-ups and workshops. I think that being a teacher in my "real life", I have a unique approach to sharing my fantastic hobby. I look forward to connecting with you!
