Welcome to InKing Royalty’s December Blog Hop! This year’s Blog Hop themes are inspired by a single word – and this month our projects are centered around CHRISTMAS. It’s a wonderful time of year, and we are having lots of fun with our Christmas-themed projects. We are so excited to share them with you today! After you read my post, I hope you’ll hop over to the next person on the list at the base of this post.
I’ve Been Bitten by the Gnome Bug!
You may remember that last month I created two cards using the same materials. The first would be great for a beginner stamper, and the second for a more advance stamper. (You can find that posthere.) I decided to do the same thing this month.
Here are my cards:
Beginner or casual stamper
Outside of the more advanced card, using many of the same materials.
I used the Wrapped in Plaid DSP for both cards. The sentiments on the outside and inside for both cards are from the Greatest Part of Christmas host set from the holiday catalog.
Gnomes are Everywhere!
I’ve seen so many adorable gnome cards on Pinterest this holiday season. Stampin’ Up doesn’t have a gnome stamp set this year (wouldn’t “there’s no place like gnome for the holidays” be great?). However, I started seeing gnomes created with SU! products, which caused me to search much more. Sadly, I don’t remember where I got some of these ideas after clicking, then clicking again, and again, and….. well, you know how it goes. Somewhere along the line I saw someone use the wide leaf die from the Tropical dies for the face. Score! On another gnome card, I saw where the creator drew in a sideways smile. Score again! I wish I could credit these talented demos, but I wouldn’t even know how to retrace my searches.
The gnome’s hat is the Christmas tree punch. Easy enough. However, I really struggled with the body, or just arms, of the gnome. I tried different punches and dies to no avail and I don’t have the perennial flower punch used by so many. Then I stumbled across Rick Adkins Wrapped in Plaid gnome, which he created without any dies. Let me just say, the man is an artist!! Flat out artist! Check out this video to see an example of his watercoloring. Anyway, Rick used an oval for the body, so I adjusted my gnomes accordingly using the largest oval from the Stitched Shapes die set.
As always,
Thank you for stopping by my blog today.
I hope you’ll hop along to the next stop on the blog hop, Linda Krueger from The Stamp Coach. There’s lots of inspiration to be found in this group – and you don’t want to miss it!
Thank you for hopping along with us. If you get stuck during the Blog Hop, please use this line-up as a guide:
Contemplating placing an order today? Of course you are, especially because the new Stamping Trimmer is now available! If you don’t already have a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, I would be honored to work with you. Please contact me or visit my shop to order the supplies for this card.
If you are ordering $150 or more, please contact me first so you earn all the Stamping Rewards for your order.
If you are ordering less than $150, please use the host code, 49KJF94R, when prompted. I use the combined rewards for gifts for customers.
This sketch challenge really made me think and plan and redo during the creative process. I knew I was going to use plaid, meaning my colors would be Cherry Cobbler and Shaded Spruce. These colors really say Christmas, even for this non-traditional colors person. I needed some touches of texture for the top part of the card, and the Brick 3D embossing folder really worked. There’s just something about plaid and brick (fireplace) that reminds me of my childhood Christmases on Long Island.
Here’s my card:
PCC360
Here’s the sketch banner that inspired the card:
Can I just take a second for a little woo-hoo moment? I finally figured out how to add an image with it’s link without a major problem. First time since I’ve updated my wordpress. Just saying…..
What I Knew……
I knew I wanted to use the #Elfie stamp set. It is just too stinking cute! I knew I wanted to use the string of lights from Making Christmas Bright. Everything else took a while to come together, but I am pleased with the final result.
My Stamp-a-ratus really got a workout for this card. I used it for the string of lights and then the placement of the no peeking elf. While coloring my first attempt, I went out of the lines on the hat. Mind you, that was the last thing I was coloring. Therefore, I got up, walked away and came back to it later in the day.
On this version of the elf, I used the Dark Daffodil Delight blend and the light So Saffron blend.
After numerous trials and errors, I finally figured out I what to do for coloring skin tones. I started with a layer of Ivory and then color over it with the light Petal Pink blend. If the elf had cheeks, those would have been lightly colored with the dark Petal Pink blend.
All that pretty much covers what I knew at the beginning.
What I Didn’t Know…
Trial and error really was key for the remaining elements of this card. I now have no less than five different Christmas trees stamped and punched. I finally settled on this one, especially since I really nailed the Cherry Cobbler layer without using the Stamp-a-ratus.
You might be asking yourself where I got the gold tree stand. Easy peasy, really. I colored a small swatch of Whisper White with the gold Wink of Stella and then used the lightbulb punch to get just the little base.
I also didn’t know what other element I could do for the left side of the focal elf. I’m pretty stinking pleased with the Santa’s Workshop pole, which is also from #Elfie. Cute.
The final thing I didn’t know was what I was going to do for the two ribbon elements on the bottom of the square. Again, trial and error was key. I finally decided on the flax ribbon and theReal Red cotton ribbon.
Putting It Together
I popped the elf square up on a layer of dimensionals. Since I wanted the tree to overlap the square, I needed to use a double layer of dimensions on the left side of the tree. The right side of the tree is simply adhered using Tombow liquid adhesive.
I completely forgot about the little bit of bling on the top right corner of the elf square. After trying a few different bling elements, I decided to keep it simple with the rhinestones.
I finished by creating a coordinating envelope using the plaid on the flap. Done. Happy. Cute!
As always,
Thank you so very much for stopping by my blog today. I appreciate your the time you take to read, and comment, on my blog.
Have a Peachy Day!
Sue
Contemplating placing an order today? Of course you are, especially because the new Stamping Trimmer is now available! If you don’t already have a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, I would be honored to work with you. Please contact me or visit my shop to order the supplies for this card.
If you are ordering $150 or more, please contact me first so you earn all the Stamping Rewards for your order.
If you are ordering less than $150, please use the host code, 49KJF94R, when prompted. I use the combined rewards for gifts for customers.
Some MUST HAVE goodies ~~~
Paper Pumpkin ~ an all-inclusive kit delivered to you every month!
Contact me to subscribe, or order, January’s Paper Pumpkin kit! Doesn’t the floral design just scream “spring is coming”?
Supplies Used
Making Christmas Bright stamp set, item # 148046
Perfectly Plaid stamp set and Pine Tree punch bundle, item # 151143
#Elfie stamp set, item # 150509
Wrapped in Plaid DSP, item # 149596
Christmas Bulb Builder punch, item # 148013
Brick and Mortar 3D embossing folder, item # 149643
I feel like I’ve just been creating holiday and Thanksgiving cards for a while now, which includes this week’s FMS409 challenge. I actually created a Thanksgiving and also a Christmas card, the latter of which follows:
Here’s the Freshly Made Sketches challenge banner:
It’s All About Clean Cards
FMS challenges are all about creating a clean card while interpreting the sketch. I wanted to use the Wrapped in Plaid, and needed to find a plaid pattern that would allow the card to remain clean. This white plaid worked perfectly! It took me longer to decide on a coordinating plaid for the vertical banner.
Staying with the Cherry Cobbler, I cropped the larger focal sentiment circles I used the Stitched Shapes die set. I grabbed my Wink of Stella to carefully color the portion outside of the stitches on the largest circle. The Cherry Cobbler marker fine point allowed me to outline the ditch of the sentiment circle.
I tried to just use those two circles for the focal image, but it seemed unfinished. I pulled out the gold thread and painstakingly created a random group of circles. This was made infinitely easier by using double sided tape on the back of the Whisper White circle. I popped both circles up on dimensionals and attached them together.
The Gold Ink
The ink is stunning! However, I would strongly recommend using your Stamparatus when applying it. One layer of ink would not have been able to create such a clear, beautiful, and raised sentiment. I think I used at least eight times of stamping for this sentiment. When finished, I found that all these layers created an embossed effect for the sentiment. Beautiful!
I colored three pearls using my dark Cherry Cobbler blend and attached them to the sentiment circle. Maybe I should have used smaller pearls, but once attached I didn’t want to try to get them off.
I also used the gold ink on the inside of the card, as shown below:
Once again, I used the Stamparatus so I could stamp and restamp and stamp again. I love how the circle stamp from Swirly Frames mimics the gold thread on the front of the card.
Masking the Sentiment Stamp
The Everything Festive stamp set has a sentiment for so many occassions. In this case, I wanted to use the “Wishing you pease, love, & laughter in the New Year”. However, this is for Christmas, so I had two choices: cut the New Year part off the stamp, or mask it. I have cut stamps before, but was concerned that I would mess up the stamp so it would be unusable. Therefore, I masked “in the” and “New Year” using transparent tape. I did remind myself to remove the tape before stamping on the card. The resulting sentiment worked perfectly inside the gold circle.
Finishing Touches
I stamped three of the distinctive pine cones from the Perfectly Plaid stamp set on the front corner of the envelope. A couple of layers of the gold ink on the pinecones added a touch of bling.
I used the same piece of Cherry Cobbler DSP for the envelope flap. With that, I was done with this card and envelope set.
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today. A big thanks, in advance, for taking the time to leave a comment.
Have a Peachy Day!
Sue
Contemplating placing an order today? Of course you are, especially because the new Stamping Trimmer is now available! If you don’t already have a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, I would be honored to work with you. Please contact me or visit my shop to order the supplies for this card.
If you are ordering $150 or more, please contact me first so you earn all the Stamping Rewards for your order.
If you are ordering less than $150, please use the host code, 49KJF94R when prompted. I use the combined rewards for gifts for customers.
Just look at this new suite, Christmastime Is Here, which is available now!
I am super excited about the October and November Paper Pumpkin coordinating kits! I recieved my October Paper Pumpkin card kit and it is fabulous!! The November kit will be the coordinating gift tags. So excited! In order to recieve the November kit, you will need to sign up by November 10th. Here’s the link for you to sign up for these kits as well: https://www.paperpumpkin.com/en-us/sign-up/?demoid=2155072
The challenge this week included red, green, brown, and yellow using generic colors. I wanted to make a Christmas card, so that took care of the red and green, for which I used Cherry Cobbler and Shaded Spruce. I picked this gorgeous plaid from the Wrapped in Plaid Specialty DSP, which can be found,in the holiday catalog. To me, this plaid pattern looks open with all the white space included in the gorgeous plaid.
So, let’s get to it. Here’s the challenge banner:
Normally, I would have gone with a floral card, but at this point in the year, I am working on holiday cards. I’ve created a few Christmas cards using the New Wonders host stamp set, am always pleased with how stinking cute these angels turn out.
Here’s my card:
Working within the Challenge Colors
I usually really like non-traditional Christmas colors. However, I also think that the Shaded Spruce and Cherry Cobbler combination is gorgeous, and this plaid is fabulous! I also colored the small angel hearts using Shaded Spruce. Her dress was colored using the Cherry Cobbler for the dress and Shaded Spruce for the slippers.
This beautiful sentiment is from the Perfectly Plaid stamp set, also in the holiday catalog. The Perfectly Plaid suite contains all the necessary accessories, including the Shaded Spruce and gold ribbon. Red and green – check.
I colored this angel’s hair using the Daffodil Delight blends combo and the Crumb Cake light blend. The three colors give the hair some depth so her hair isn’t just flat. Yellow – check.
I used the Crumb Cake blends combo for the angel’s fountain pen. The light and dark blends, along with the shading from the stamp, helps make the pen look dimensional. Brown – check.
This card wouldn’t be complete without some bling on the wings, fountain pen, hearts and stars, and her slippers. The Gold Wink of Stella works perfectly for the tip of the pen. I colored everything else with Clear Wink of Stella.
Once again, dimensionals provided depth for the main section of the card. I used the same piece of DSP for the envelope flap and then stamped a plaid Christmas tree on the bottom, right corner of the front of the envelope.
With that, I’d finished my card. Of course, I am cutting it down to the wire for the submission to the Color Throwdown gallery, which means it’s time to cut this off.
Thank you for stopping by today.
Have a Peachy day!
Sue
You Know You Want to…….
If you would like to order the bundle, stamp set, and/or punches, and live in the U.S., please use the icon above to be connected to my store. With just a few simple supplies, you, too, can create fabulous cards. I would be honored to help you do so. For example, check out this all-inclusive kit: Notes of Kindness Card Kit, item # 148266 ($35.00). The only thing you need to add is some Tombow liquid adhesive (item # 110755, $4.00) since the ink spot is included.. One kit, 20 cards, 5 of each of 4 designs. Check it out!
HOST CODE
IF you are placing an order (you know you want to do so) over $150, please contact me so you can earn all the Host Rewards for which you are entitled. If your order is less than $150, please use YYX6FBEC for the host code.
Wednesday was a HUGE day for Stampin’ Up! Not only did the Holiday Catalog go live for customers, the Buy 3, get 1 Free DSP sale from the annual catalog starts! I already have my FOUR sets of DSP picked out! Get yours now!
To shop from the holiday catalog, available now, click on the image below:
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!
Supply List:
