A Girly Stocking

Hi there

I have another version of the Stocking Gift Card holder for you.  This is a girly version, which I really enjoyed making with one of my favourite colour combos Baja Breeze and Raspberry Ripple.

The body of the stocking has been embossed with the Lacy Brocade embossing folder and then given a spray of champagne shimmer mist (Champagne Shimmer Paint & Isocol). The main embellishment is the 'star' made with the Snow Flurry die. This is the front view.

The  shimmer mist, together with the silver glimmer paper and vintage faceted button give a lovely sparkle in the light.

This time I embossed the reverse side as well.

 

Project Details
Stamps	More Merry Messages, Sweet Season (Retired), Snow Swirled
Card stock & Papers	Raspberry Ripple, Baja Breeze (Smooth & Textured, retired), Silver Glimmer paper, Whisper White, In Colour Pattern Stack
Ink	Raspberry Ripple, Baja Breeze
Accessories	Basic Pearls. Vintage Faceted Button, White Bakers twine
Tools	Snow Flurry Bigz Die, Lacy Brocade & Stripes Embossing Folder, BigzL Holiday Stocking Die, Big Shot, Crimper, Extra-Large Tag punch, Large Tag punch (Retired), 1/16" & 1/8" Circle handheld punch, Modern Label punch, Owl Builder punch (heart), Dimensionals, Tombow Glue, Glue Dots, Sticky Strip, Stampin' Write Markers (Raspberry Ripple & Baja Breeze), White Gel Pen, Champagne Shimmer paint, Isocol

 Have a great week.

Stocking Gift Card Holder

Hi there

I hope you are progressing well with your Christmas crafting.  My craft table looks like a bomb has hit it as I try to get my gifts ready to send to family and friends interstate. 

Gift cards are popular nowadays, especially for young people who like the flexibility to choose their own colours and styles.  So today I have another option for a gift card holder, using the Holiday Stocking BigzL die that is new to the Annual Catalogue in Australia. This one I have made is for a teenager, so I have gone with the bold colours of the 'Be of Good Cheer' DSP and matching Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green and Very Vanilla.  I have embellished the stocking simply with the initial of the recipient and the 'Do Not Open' tag, but there are lots of other options.

It was a bit difficult to photograph, so I have the stocking sitting on an easel.  This is the finished stocking, which has lots of texture and dimension.

 

I have die cut 2 of the stocking bodies and embossed the front with the Square Lattice embossing folder. A little bit of the toe area doesn't fit in the folder, but it doesn't matter as it is covered by the toe topper, which I have also embossed with the Stripes embossing folder. The gift card is held in a pocket between the sandwiched stockings.  Remove the belly band holding the top closed, to get to the card. The tag slips under the belly band easily.

I have glued the stockings together with Tombow, placed very close to the edges.  Before gluing them together, put a strip of strong double sided tape (such as Sticky Strip) horizontally about 6cm from the top, so that the gift card cannot slip too far into the stocking. I die cut one of the stocking top to use as a template and placed it on a piece of folded cardstock 1cm wider that the die cut and traced around it and cut it out.  I used my glue stick to adhere the DSP and trimmed it to shape and then adhered the stocking to the bottom of the inside flap. 

I have used the Decorative Label punch to create a panel to write on, which is on the reverse side. You could write directly on the back of the stocking as well or on the tag.

I hope this has given you some ideas for presenting your Gift Cards.  These stockings would look great hanging on the Christmas tree as well.

Project Details
Stamps	More Merry Messages, Snow Swirled, Winter Post (To/From - Retired)
Card stock & Papers	Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green, Very Vanilla, Be of Good Cheer DSP, In Colour Pattern Stack
Ink	Gumball Green
Accessories	Line Thread, Basic Rhinestones (coloured with R59 Copic)
Tools	Holiday Stocking BigzL Die, Square Lattice & Stripes Embossing folders, Timeless Type Alphabet (Retired), Big Shot, 1 1/4"& 1 13/8" Punches, 1 1/2" Circle Punch (not SU),  Extra-Large Tag punch, Large Tag punch (Retired), 1/16" & 1/8" Circle handheld punch, Modern Label punch, Dimensionals, Stampin' Write Markers (Cherry Cobbler & Gumball Green), White Gel Pen

Have a nice day.

More Freshly Made #64

Hi again

I have a second card for you, using the Freshly Made #64 sketch.  This is card uses one of the prints from the Festival of Prints DSP pack for the background and matching colours Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Lucky Limeade & Very Vanilla.

I've inked up the a la carte 'Quint-Essential Flower' stamp for the first time.  This isn't a Christmas stamp, but works well layered up in traditional Christmas colours. The sentiment was embossed in Early Espresso as it blends better with these colours than black.

 

Project Details
Stamps	Quint-Essential Flower, More Merry Messages
Card stock & Papers	Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla (smooth & textured, retired), Lucky Limeade, Crumb Cake, Festival of Prints DSP
Ink	Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Versamark
Accessories	Basic Rhinestones
Tools	Finishing Touches Edgelits, Big Shot,  2 3/8"  & 1 3/4" Scallop Circle punches, 1/2" & 3/4" Circle punches, Corner Rounder punch, Dimensionals, Early Espresso embossing powder, Heat gun, Crimper

Thanks for stopping by.

Freshly Made #64

Hi there

Yet another Christmas card for you today, using this week's great Freshly Made #64 sketch from Cindy. Can you believe it, tomorrow it will be 2 weeks until Christmas day?  Time to send some cards, I think. Here is the sketch:

I coloured the Christmas bells image from the 'Bells & Boughs' stamp set with Copics a while ago and have been waiting for the right opportunity to put it to use.  I wanted to keep this card light and bright to go with the vibrant image.  I've added some gold sparkle this time, to match the gold coloured bells.

Project Details
Stamps	Bells & Boughs, More Merry Messages
Card stock & Papers	Real Red, Gumball Green, Whisper White, Gold Glitter card (not SU)
Ink	Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories	None
Tools	Scallop Circle Nestabilities, Petals a Plenty Embossing folder, Big Shot, 2" Circle Punch (not SU),  Dimensionals, Copics, White Gel Pen, White embossing powder, Heat gun

Have a nice day.

ETA: Many thanks to the DT for choosing this card for a Perfect Princess award.

Christmas Tags & Cards Gift Set

Hi there

Today I have a 3-D project to share with you, that I have been working on in the background for a while. It is a gift set of Christmas gift cards and tags that is perfect for someone who appreciates handmade but isn't able to do it themselves.  Last year I made this Box of Gift Tags, and I have extended the idea by adding some cute 10cm x 10cm (4 x 4) cards with envelopes.  Sometimes you want something a bit more than a gift tag, and this size is perfect.  The project uses 2 of the new Christmas stamp sets fromm the Holiday Catalogue - 'Ornament Keepsakes' and 'Greetings of the Season'.  They are great individually, but look fabulous used together.

Firstly, here is a photo of the finished Gift set.  I tried hard to not have a reflection on the acetate lid, but wasn't totally successful.

On the left are the sectioned off areas for the tags and on the right the 6 gift cards and envelopes.  This is the box without the acetate lid, that shows how the tags sit. You could also choose to only use one of the longer ornaments if desired.

I have chosen a limited set of colours to mix and match to keep the look cohesive and elegant.  The colours are Raspberry Ripple, Midnight Muse, Baja Breeze and Gumball Green.  Each tag in a set is decorated in the same way, so you only have to choose 4 options and then repeat them in each colour, so it doesn't take too long.  I have used the new style of ink pad on all of the ornaments and the coverage is fantastic, without any blotchiness. They look like they have been printed.

A bit of bling adds Christmas sparkle to this first set of tags and the metal hangers add to the ornament look. I've used white bakers twine for all of the ties, but there are lots of other options. I've added my To/From on the reverse side and the large ornaments are easily big enough for the purpose.

The next set of tags uses the Merry Christmas from the 'Delightful Decorations' stamp set  with some glimmer paper for the mat with more bling and finished with a white bakers twine bow.

The next set mixes and matches colours using the diamond shaped centre from the 'Ornament Keepsakes' set.  This is a really great shape and works well with all of the ornaments.

 

The final set and my equal favourite ornament with the first one, has more bling with the glimmer paper mat and the matching frilly centre (not sure what to call it).

Six cards fit into the right hand side, with six 10.5cm x 10.5cm envelopes.  You could fit more cards if you choose to provide the envelopes separately (not in the box). There are 3 designs and I've made 2 of each.

I've chosen this one to sit at the top of the box as it is my favourite. I love the richness of Raspberry Ripple and Midnight Muse together.  You can't tell from the photos, but I've sprayed all of the embossed panels with some homemade Champagne shimmer mist and they sparkle beautifully when the light shines on it.

I've change this one around a bit, because the greeting fitted better at the bottom of the ornament, but it still matches in style.

 

The final design uses one of the smaller ornaments from the 'Ornament Keepsakes' set for something a bit different in scale.

I hope I have inspired you to give the gift of handmade gift cards and tags to someone special.  For those who may be interested, I am preparing a tutorial for this set and will let you know when it is ready.  You can now purchase the tutorial here.

Project Details
Stamps	Ornament Keepsakes, Greetings of the Season, Delightful Decorations, Delightful Dozen
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Raspberry Ripple, Midnight Muse, Baja Breeze, Gumball Green, Red abd Silver Glimmer paper, In Colour Pattern Stack, Subtles Pattern stack, Windows Sheet (Acetate)
Ink	Raspberry Ripple, Midnight Muse, Gumball Green, Baja Breeze
Accessories	Basic Rhinestones, Basic Rhinestones (Lots of them!), 2mm and 1mm Rhinestones (not SU), White Bakers twine, Vintage Faceted buttons
Tools	Lacy Brocade Embossing folder, Holiday Ornaments Framelits, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Big Shot, 1" circle punch, Small Heart punch, Scallop Border punch, 3/4" Circle punch, 7/8" Circle punch (not SU), Crystal punch (not SU), Silver craft wire (not SU) Clear embossing powder, Heat gun, Sticky Strip, Champagne Shimmer paint, Isocol, Dimensionals

 If you got this far, thanks for looking!