Welcome to the July, 2024 edition of the Sparkles Christmas Challenge! Our host for # 162, Caz., chose Handmade Ornaments or Ornaments for our theme. When you get finished here, I hope you will visit the challenge site to view the creations from the very talented members of our design team. After you’ve created your own themed card, please don’t forget to upload it to our gallery.
Here’s my ornaments card:
While I used the retired Whimsical Trees products for the DSP, and stamp set with coordinating dies, this layout can be found on page 22 of the Stampin’ Up! 2024 -2025 annual catalog. Here’s a look at those templates:
I used the third from the left on the bottom for this card. I’ve already posted cards I’ve made using other templates and you can find them here, and I included four cards from the templates here,, These templates have been instrumental in helping me get some of my mojo back after being sick for almost a month. I’ve been told that full recovery could take two to three months. I encourage you to use them as well when you feel stuck in your creative space.
Welcome to the March, 2024 edition of the Sparkles Christmas Challenge! Our host for # 160, Billie A., chose Using Ribbon or Twine for our theme. When you get finished here, I hope you will visit the challenge site to view the creations from the very talented members of our design team. After you’ve created your own themed card, please don’t forget to upload it to our gallery.
Here’s my Real Red ribbon Christmas card:
While I used retired products for this card, I hope you can use the layout to create easy-peasy Christmas cards for yourself. Actually, this layout would be fabulous for so many other occasions for which you need a quick card.
Measurements & Assembly:
Unless otherwise noted, I used multipurpose liquid glue to adhere the pieces together.
The Real Red base measures 8-1/2 by 5-1/2, scored at 4-1/4 to create a tent card.
After you run a piece of Balmy Blue cardstock through your Cut & Emboss machine in the Christmas Tidings 3d embossing folder, trim the cardstock to 4-1/8 by 5-3/4 inches.
The Beary Christmas piece of DSP (designer series paper) measures 2 by 5-3/8 inches.
Trim another piece of DSP to 6 by 2-1/2 inches for the envelope flap.
Punch a 1-inch circle from coordinating DSP and run it through your XYRON create-a-sticker for the envelope seal.
Trim two pieces of Real Red cardstock to 5-3/8 by 1/2 inches to adhere to the back of the DSP so it forms a border.
Wrap a length of Real Red ribbon around the DSP piece and tie it in a bow.
Adhere to the embossed Balmy Blue cardstock.
Stamp your sentiment on white cardstock using Real Red ink.
Crop the sentiment using a square die from the Stylish Shapes die set.
Trim a piece of Real Red cardstock to create a border for the sentiment block.
Adhere the sentiment piece to the red cardstock.
Add dimensionals to the back of the red cardstock so that they will straddle the ribbon, and adhere to the DSP.
Trim a piece of white cardstock to 4 by 5-1/4 inches and stamp your sentiment on it using Real Red ink.
Adhere the white cardstock to the inside of the card.
With that, you’ve finished this easy-peasy coordinated card, envelope, and envelope seal set.
TODAY IS THE DAY!!! THE NEW 2024 – 2025 CATALOG IS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE!
Did someone say CLEARANCE?
Everyone loves a good bargain, and Stampin’ Up! provides a great selection of savings on the clearance rack. The products below are from the clearance rack as of Monday evening, 04/29/2024:
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 to the March, 2024 edition of the Sparkles Christmas Challenge! Our host for # 158, Debbie, chose Plaid or Tartan for our theme. When you get finished here, I hope you will visit the challenge site to view the creations from the very talented members of our design team. After you’ve created your own themed card, please don’t forget to upload it to our gallery.
Speaking of galleries, I want to thank everyone for playing along with my February hosted theme of Kraft Paper. I’m honored that you played along and all the entries were so creative and individual.
Here’s my Bash Your Stash Plaid or Tartan card:
The DSP (designer series paper), the embossing folder, and the Christmas tree die set are all retired. I used them with current cardstock, sentiment, deckled rectangle dies, and gold embossing powder. I think the retired and current items worked for this card.
Measurements:
The Cherry Cobbler base measures 8-1/2 by 5-1/2 inches, scored at 4-1/4 inches.
The plaid DSP measures 4 by 5-1/5 inches.
I also trimmed a piece of this DSP to 6 by 2-1/2 inches for the envelope flap. Then, I punched a 1-inch circle from the white and gold DSP for the envelope seal.
After embossing the white cardstock, I trimmed it to 2-3/4 by 5 inches.
I used a Cherry Cobbler marker and a gold Wink of Stella pen to outline the white cardstock.
I used a scrap piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock for the sentiment panel. After setting the gold embossing powder sentiment, I outlined it using the gold Wink of Stella pen.
The white cardstock for the inside measures 4 by 5-1/4 inches.
The Christmas tree was cropped from Cherry Cobbler cardstock. I used a gold and white patterned foil DSP for the zigzag on the front of the tree.
I stamped a retired Christmas sentiment in Cherry Cobbler ink on the inside.
I used multipurpose liquid glue to adhere the layers together. There are dimensionals under the tree. The sentiment is adhered to the tree with liquid glue, and I added dimensionals to the other side of the sentiment panel.
After I figured out what I was going to do, this Bash Your Stash card came together very quickly.
I have another post going live at 7 am ET this morning for the Creative Creases Challenge. I hope you will come back to visit to see my new-to-me stadium wave card. Here’s a sneak peek:
Welcome to the February, 2024 Sparkles Christmas Challenge #217! I’m the host for this month’s challenge and I chose using kraft paper as the theme. When you finish here, I hope you will visit the challenge site to see the creations from the rest of the design team. We’d love for you to play along with us and post your creations to our gallery.
Here’s my card:
Measurements:
The Night of Navy base measures 8-1/2 by 5-1/2 inches, scored at 4-1/4 inches.
After embossing the kraft paper with the Snowflake Sky embossing folder, I trimmed it to 4-1/8 by 5-3/8 inches.
I used a piece of Night of Navy cardstock for the focal image stamp.
I embossed the envelope flap using the same embossing folder. Then, I punched a 1-inch circle from a piece of kraft paper to use for an envelope seal and ran it through my XYRON create-a-sticker.
Trim a piece of white cardstock to 4 by 5-1/4 inches for the inside of the card.
Stamping, Embossing, and Assembly:
First, I dry-embossed the kraft paper. Then, I gently swiped a white craft ink stamp pad over the embossing to enhance it. The craft ink needs to have ink added pretty much every time you use it. However, I didn’t add any this time so I could have more control.
After rubbing my embossing buddy on scraps of Night of Navy and a piece of kraft paper, I used the Magical Meadow stamp set and VersaMark ink for all the elements on the card.
Then, I covered all the stamped areas with white embossing powder and used my heat tool to set it.
I used the Magical Meadow dies to crop out the trees and the foliage behind the trees on Night of Navy.
I cropped the sentiment using a deckled rectangle die.
Next, I added dimensionals under all the cropped pieces and adhered them to the the front of the card. I did have to use a little bit of liquid glue on the top of the Night of Navy tree piece to adhere it to the embossed foliage pieces.
I wound a piece of Night of Navy ribbon around the kraft paper and tied it in a bow.
After adding the kraft paper to the base using liquid glue, I added some sequins to the center of the embossed snowflakes and one on the sentiment panel.
Finally, I stamped the inside sentiment on the white cardstock using Night of Navy ink and adhered the cardstock to the base using liquid glue.
With that, I’d finished this coordinated card, envelope, and envelope seal set.
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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 to the first Sparkles Christmas Challenge for 2024! We, the design team, look forward to the New Year of challenges and hope to see your creations each month. When you finish here, I hope you will visit the challenge site to see the creations from the rest of the design team members. Debs is our host for challenge #156 and she chose Winter Wonderland.
Here’s my card:
I know that it’s supposed to be a Christmas card, but I need to mail a card out and, because of the time of the year, I need a New Year’s card. However, it definitely is a winter wonderland fun fold using the now retired One Horse Open Sleigh DSP (designer series paper) and silver trimmed ribbon. While this card may look like it took a long time to create, I’d put it in the easy-peasy category. There are no dimensionals, no cropping dies or punches. I adhered all the DSP using multipurpose liquid adhesive. The DSP does all the work!
Measurements and Assembly:
The Misty Moonlight cardstock base measures 5-1/2 by 8-1/2 inches, scored at 2-1/8 and 3/8 inches. That leaves the center panel measuring 4-1/4 by 5-1/2 inches.
This card used two pieces of the 6 x 6 inch DSP, and I was able to line everything up on the outside and inside so it all flows.
The two DSP panels for the outside measure 5-3/8 by 2 inches.
There are two panels on the inside with the same measurements.
The middle panel measures 4-1/8 by 5-3/8 inches.
I trimmed a piece of Misty Moonlight 6 x 6 inch DSP to6 by 2-1/2 inches for the envelope flap.
Each piece of ribbon measures about 7-1/2 inches long. I adhered the end of each piece using tear & tape adhesive so that the ribbon goes off the sides of the front panels.
The two sentiments, stamped in Misty Moonlight ink, were stamped directly on the DSP.
That’s it – easy-peasy, just don’t tell anyone and it will be our secret!
I hope you all have a very safe, healthy, and happy 2024!
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 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!
