A Card for Blogland

I think this is one of my favorite handmade cards of the season so I am sending it to all of you via this blog. It's a simple card with the main feature being the Doodlebug Designs twine strung EK Success border punched ornaments made from silver glittered card stock. The printed paper is made by American Crafts and the words are stamped from a Hero Arts set. Everything used on this card was purchased from Ben Franklin Crafts. If it's too late for you to be crafting for this Xmas, you can start buying for next year. LOL! I'm sure that BFC will have lots of after Christmas items for you to stock up on .......one year in advance. Let's all start crafting for Xmas early in 2012. Thank you to everyone in blogland who visited my blog this year and supported our Hawaii based Ben Franklin Crafts store. We appreciate all of you and pledge to bring you the best craft products and services in the new year. Mahalo!

Christmas Hugs Card

The Stampendous monkey cling stamp was purchased at the beginning of the holiday season and I've only now made use of it. Well, at least I have a template for my next year's Christmas cards. The holidays will be here again before you know it so it's nice to know I have a plan started. On this card I again used one of the new Hero Arts/Sizzix stamping embossing sets. The red and green dotted paper started out ho-hum, but once it was stamped and embossed with trees, it became ho-ho-ho holiday. I used the new Sizzix die (from a set) without the word rubber stamp to cut the label shape. There are lots of useful printed sayings that go with the die shapes in this set. I chose to stamp a Dandelion Design Christmas stamp inside the label. To embellish the image of the really cute monkey wrapped up in Christmas lights, I used Martha Stewart glitter glue. These MS glitter glues work as well as the Stickles and they come in a whole compact set. (It would make a terrific Christmas gift!) To give a sparkly evergreen look to the tree I added MS limeade tinsel glitter. The light bulbs were from the Christmas miniature section of the Ben Franklin Crafts store.

Here are a more last-minute Christmas gift ideas. Who doesn't need and love pens? This jumbo set of colorful gel pens (48) is just $19.99 which is less than 42 cents for each pen! Crafters who make notepad sets will find this very economical and a bundle of pens is a great addition to any teacher/coach/office worker gift. The Memento pen sets have pretty assortments and the wonderful Tsukineko technology. Santa, please bring me all the sets because I couldn't choose just one. I also wanted to show you the candy shop gel pens (American Crafts) available singly in mouthwatering colors (some with sparkles) that you should choose for your own stocking stuffers. Yup, if you hurry you can still pick up some wonderful gifts at Ben Franklin Crafts and be sure to check out the special sales on selected Christmas items. There are some really terrific bargains so why not stock up for next year? I'll beat you to them if you don't hurry. LOL!

Got Cookies?

It seems like ages ago that I bought the humorous Stampendous cat stamp but it was really only this November. I love the image but it took me over a month to come up with a card design that I liked. The new Hero Arts/Sizzix stamp and emboss holly set made it possible to change a plain red and white striped paper into a double embossed fancy background. I say double embossed because the holly leaves were first stamped in green pigment ink and then sprinkled with green embossing powder and heated with a heat gun. Next the embossed paper was embossed again in the embossing folder (from the set) run through a Sizzix Big Shot machine. Although the texture of the striped paper with holly leaves does not show up well in the photo, I do think it adds an interesting feature. The other new item I tried on this card was the Martha Stewart sparkle flocking. I used white sparkle flocking on the cat and I think it really makes it pop and feel soft too. The little star and gingerbread man cookies are Darice buttons with the shanks cut off. The words were made with a Dandelion Design stamp. The little mouse staring at the cat is really a ring holder I found at Ben Franklin Crafts. Isn't it cute? For those of you still struggling to find the right last minute gift, I've got a great idea. How about Hello Kitty cookie cutters? I found these adorable giant cookie cutters at my favorite store..... BFC of course! Any crafty cook and Hello Kitty fan would love to receive these with some pretty Wilton sprinkles. Okay, that's it for now.....go shop, wrap, or sit back and relax before the big day.

Shaker Envelope Tags

Yup, I'm still making shaker tags, but I figured out a simple way to make them. I think this idea is mine, but I read so many blogs and magazines that it maybe a 'borrowed' idea. Anyway, I started with a small colored envelope which I carefully took apart. I used a Spellbinder oval die to cut a hole to accommodate the penguin stamp image ( Stampendous clear set). Next, I taped a piece of acetate behind the oval window and stamped the words on the outside corner of the envelope. After stamping and coloring the penguin on white card stock, I cut the card stock to fit in the re-assembled (with Merikan tape) envelope. I added white Flower Soft and MS snow glitter between the acetate and penguin image before sealing up the envelope. I punched a hole in the envelope then added yarn ties and stickers. The back of the shaker envelope tag was covered with a scrap of printed card stock to make space for writing a message. You might want to suggest that the tag be recycled for next year's tag by covering up the writing on the back. This type of shaker envelope can be easily applied onto a card for other occasions. Happy Holiday Crafting!

Here are more envelope shaker tags made with a Stampendous elf stamp and gold mylar-like beads (Sierra Pacific). Thanks for visiting and come back soon!

Peek-a-boo Snowflake Card

I really love the position-it-wherever feature of the Martha Stewart punch all over snowflake punches (available at Ben Franklin Crafts). It allows me to create openings in cards that would be impossible with other punches. I used these punches to make the peek-a-boo feature on the front of this card. (Punch out the single snowflake first.) Inside the card I stamped and glittered the Stampendous snowpeople image using light blue Memento ink and watercolor pencils. I purposely made the image monochromatic and light so it would only hint at something behind the punched snowflakes. (Sorry, the photo is not clear of the image because I was trying to avoid the glare on the packages.) Martha Stewart Christmas print ribbon and a K & Co. adhesive cardstock sticker with foil highlights (two sheets of assorted stickers in the package) was used for the band around the card. (Hint: Dust the back of the tag sticker with cornstarch once you have it in place on the ribbon so that the adhesive backed sticker tag won't stick to the card and make the removal of the band and opening of the card difficult.) I hope this post has shown you how simple it is to create your own one-of-a-kind card. I'm glad you visited this blog today come back soon for more holiday craft ideas.

A Subtle Christmas Card

Our friends from Japan often send us the most elegant, simple Christmas cards that make me wonder if they think our American cards are too gaudy. In a conscious effort to pare down on embellishments and yet retain beauty, I came up with this card to send to faraway friends this year. I started by experimenting with various embossing powders on colored washi (?) paper that contained little wispy fibers and gold/silver flakes. I found that the best combination was a powder that was mixture of opaque white and silver. (Embossing is done by stamping an image with pigment ink because it stays wet on the surface of the paper long enough to sprinkle on the powder and heat it with a heat gun.) The mixture of the white and silver gave just the right look of glistening snow (sorry, hard to see this in the photo). Next the embossed scene was taped (Merikan) to the piece of K and Co. foiled cardstock which was adhered to the white card.

For those of you who have to have a little bling, you can add a glittered reindeer sticker (Jolie's) inside the card. A card like this is simple to make in multiples, but looks very professional (which is especially good for business related purposes). I hope your week is going well and you are getting all your holiday duties completed. Thanks for taking the time to stop by during this hectic season. Smile and craft a little to de-stress.

Procrastination

Ah, my last Christmas package has been mailed out....still have the local gifts to wrap. I don't know why, but every year I procrastinate making and wrapping the right gifts for my sister. I usually find things for her all year and have a vague idea of what sure-to-please gift I can make for her, but I'm so indecisive that I keep changing my mind. This year I was shopping for her until yesterday and only finished this necklace and earring set the night before. Sigh, but it just wouldn't do to not send her a handmade gift; she would be so disappointed. I hope she'll be pleased with this jade, pearl, amethyst, and silk jewelry. It was constructed with simple wire-wrapping techniques. The focal jade component was purchased in China but I've seen it (or similar ones) sold at Ben Franklin Crafts. The gold filled clasp and earring hooks are from BFC and I think the silk cord was purchased there as well. (Sorry that the photo is not too clear but I was understandably rushing 'cuz I still needed to wrap everything and mail it out too!) I'm so happy that a major part of my Christmas dilemma is solved and I just have a little baking and some wrapping to do. I hope that your Christmas rush-rush is almost done and if not, BREATHE and know that you can cope. Holiday Hugs!