Vintage Ornament Christmas Card

My most recent class that I taught at the bakery was a Christmas card class. I wanted the participants to see a variety of styles they could try when stamping their own Christmas cards. So I brought cute, traditional, modern, and vintage cards. I already showed you the cute card, and today I'm sharing my vintage style card. 

I created the background using both DSP and embossed card stock. The Cherry Cobbler DSP layer is from the Be of Good Cheer package, and I used the Fancy Fan Embossing Folder to create that great texture on the Baja Breeze card stock.  

After stamping the ornament in Baja Breeze ink, I used a template in the Festive Paper Piercing Pack to help me add the pierced details. The Very Vanilla layer is adhered with Dimensionals so that those details stand out.

After tying on some Baja Breeze Seam Binding and attaching the focal point layers (more Dimensionals), I spritzed on my shimmer mist, a mixture of Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint in rubbing alcohol.  
 
I even whipped up a simple sketch for my card, so you can add it to your template library. And stay tuned... I'll be posting another card using this same template very soon!!  :} 

a simple card sketch - four ways!

Sometimes I like to give the creative side of my brain a little kick... either to get things started or to get my creativity to move in a different direction. I like to read paper crafting magazines, look through the photo gallery in Stampin' Up!'s online forum for demonstrators, and browse blogs. Earlier this week, a card sketch on the Clean & Simple blog caught my eye. I liked it so much, that I made quite a variety of projects using the same sketch. Today I'm sharing three cards and a  gift tag, all inspired by the sketch.   :} 

stamp sets: Circle Circus, A Word For You

stamp sets: Pleasant Poppies, Friendly Phrases

stamp set: Curly Cute          Embossing Folder: Lacy Brocade

stamp sets: Merry Minis, Tiny Tags 

Creating the scalloped-edge rectangle was super easy! Using the Scallop Squares Duo Bigz Die, I simply die-cut two of each square. For the card fronts, I adhered the larger squares together with five scallops overlapping. For the tag, the smaller squares are adhered together with three scallops overlapping. 

Speaking of die-cutting, have you ever wished you could see all of Stampin' Up!'s products for the Big Shot in one place??? Your wish has been granted!  :}  

Big Shot PDF      http://bit.ly/BigShotUS

Don't have the Big Shot (yet) but want to create those beautiful embossed textures (like on the thank-you card) with the Embossing Folders??? Another wish granted!! The Texture Boutique Embossing Machine is here! 

whew... That turned out to be quite a long post! Thanks for sticking around to the end.  Now go stamp!!  ;}

Soft Suede

 Soft Suede was a recent 'In Color' that carried over into the Neutrals Collection during the Color Renovation - yay!

 The "Dynamic Duo" colors are Soft Suede and Early Espresso - gorgeous!! For this card I used the Hostess stamp set Love & Care from the new Summer Mini Catalog. I wanted a subtle texture on the background, so I used one of the Texturz Plates from Backgrounds 1 (114512 $11.95 set of 3 in 6 designs). The sentiment is stamped in Soft Suede ink onto Very Vanilla card stock. After snipping a 'V' into the end, I distressed the edges with my Craft & Rubber Scissors, sponged the edges in Soft Suede ink, and spritzed on some color with the Color Spritzer Tool and Soft Suede marker.

 

I used Early Espresso 5/8" Satin Ribbon (119753 $8.95) to make the ribbon flower. Want to make one yourself? You will need Sticky Pages (114300 $6.95) to make the 'base' of the flower. Die cut a piece of a Sticky Page (the 2nd to smallest circle) on the Circles #2 Originals Die with your Big Shot. Cut a length of Satin Ribbon to about 14". At 1" intervals, snip into the ribbon almost to the opposite edge. Peel the red backing from your sticky circle. Starting at the outside edge of the circle, attach your ribbon in a spiral motion. As you move along the sticky circle, you will need to pleat and gather the ribbon. When you get to the center, you might need to add a Mini Glue Dot to tack down the end. The next step is to 'melt' the edges with your Heat Tool. Now, keep in mind, you are about to use something with a lot of heat on something that is flammable... just pointing this out so you have time to think it through. The work area gets very hot for this project. To create a safe work area for 'melting' the ribbon, I use a foil cake pan which sits on a cork trivet. After pre-heating my Heat Tool, I hold down one edge of the flower with long tweezers and start heating up the opposite edge. I alternate holding the Heat Tool straight down and then at an angle to 'flutter' the ribbon petals. It does take a while to 'melt' and my kitchen smells like... well, burnt ribbon. But, it's really cute!☺ After the flower cools, peel off the paper backing from the sticky circle and cover it with a circle of card stock die-cut the same size. If you use the same color card stock and ribbon, it will hide any gaps in the curled ribbon flower petals.

 

The "Creative Combination" colors are Soft Suede, So Saffron, and Regal Rose. I really like the Love & Care Hostess stamp set, so I used it again for this card. The Soft Suede layer is die cut on my Big Shot with the Top Note Bigz die. I used that die again to cut a smaller layer from Regal Rose DSP (Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack: Brights). I chose a different pattern of Regal Rose DSP, and punched out three Scallop Circles. I crumpled and distressed each one, then layered them together with Dimensionals.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!!! I made this card for my oldest son's teacher using the colors in the "Sweet Set": Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, and Cherry Cobbler. The adorable image is from Greeting Card Kids, and the sentiment is from Thank You Kindly. I used Watercolor Wonder Crayons and a Blender Pen to color the image. The layer of Cherry Cobbler card stock is dry embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder on the Big Shot, and the raised images are lightly sponged with Soft Suede ink.

Pear Pizzazz

I fell in love with Pear Pizzazz the second I saw it - It's my favorite In Color :) If you are not the biggest fan of green, try using Pear Pizzazz... it's works with so many other colors!


The Color Coach lists the "Dynamic Duo" as Pear Pizzazz and Garden Green. I'm so happy that the Seam Binding comes in Pear Pizzazz!

The "Creative Combination" colors are Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry, and Tempting Turquoise. I have to admit I haven't used the Petal Pizzazz stamp set as much as I thought I would. So, it felt really good to get it out today! I think I'm going to leave that set on my desk for a while...

The "Sweet Set" colors are Pear Pizzazz, More Mustard, and Cajun Craze. This is definitely not a color combo I would have picked on my own, but I really like how it turned out! I used the For All You Do stamp set to make this thank-you card. The rock-and-roll technique worked perfectly on the flower image :)