Birthday Floral Eclipse Card

This week, I created a birthday card for a friend using the eclipse method.

The "eclipse" method involves taking a patterned sheet of paper (card front or otherwise) and cutting a word out using alphabet dies. After you cut them out, you pop them up and put them back into place. This creates a very subtle, raised word on the front of the card that may not be instantly noticed by the beholder. My friend's name is Julie, so I cut J U L I E out of the card front. TIP: Lay a ruler across the card front so the letters line up evenly, then hold them in place with Post It Tape so they don't move around during the cutting process.

First, I stamped the floral image from the Simon Says Stamp Sketched Flowers stamp set and colored with Copics. I added a sentiment from the same set. Once I cut the letters, using the Kat Scrappiness Condensed Alphabet Die Set, I cut two more sets of letters out of thin, white foam, and I layered them (2 foam letters with the paper letter on top).

I added some Swarovski crystals (in various shapes) to give the card some sparkle.

Inside, I stamped a flower from the Simon Says Stamp/Clearly Besotted Magnificent Magnolia stamp set and a sentiment from the Ranger Letter It Birthday Stamp Set. I colored the flower with Copics.

Products Used:

• Simon Says Stamp Sketched Flowers Stamp Set
• Simon Says Stamp/Clearly Besotted Magnificant Magnolia Stamp Set
• Ranger Letter It Birthday Stamp Set
• Kat Scrappiness Condensed Alphabet Die Set
• Swarovski crystals

I hope you enjoyed this project, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Happy Crafting!

Light-Up Gingerbread House

This week, I created a card using the Candyland Christmas Stamp Set from Witt & Sass Stamp Company!

I have at least 6 gingerbread house stamps, and I can honestly say that the W&S gingerbread house is my favorite. It's just so cute, with beautiful little details! I colored the house, plus other elements and characters from another stamp set, with Copics. I layered them with foam and embellished with Swarovski crystals, glitters, and WORKING LIGHTS!

That's right, I said working lights! I pulled out the Chibitronics lights, copper tape, a coin cell battery, and LOTS of foam tape, and I made the gingerbread house windows light up! I added a little "Push Here" peppermint so the recipient will know where to push. The lights only turns on when someone pushes the button, so they'll last a long time.

.Witt & Sass Products Used:

• Candyland Christmas Stamp Set

I hope you enjoyed this project, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Happy Crafting!

Peppermint Christmas

This week, I created a card using the Candyland Christmas Stamp Set, as well as the Layered Stencil Plaid, from Witt & Sass Stamp Company!

The product I love most at Christmastime is anything peppermint, but especially the Peppermint Hot Chocolate (extra hot, with whip!) from Starbucks. My local store doesn't carry peppermint flavoring until late November, so I wait ALL YEAR for it. When I saw the cute peppermint stamp in the Candyland Christmas set, I knew I wanted to celebrate candy canes and all things peppermint!

That lovely candy cane stripe background was actually pretty easy to make. I used the Witt & Sass Layered Stencil Plaid, on an angle, to create the thick red stripes across the page. After that, I used a ruler and marker to draw a thin line between the thick lines. Super easy, and so very festive!

I stamped the peppermints on a white piece of cardstock (cut 1" smaller than my striped base so I could show off that lovely stripe). When I started to color them, I realized that I didn't use a cardstock that works for blending alcohol markers, so I simplified with one red marker and one gray marker.

I stamped the top line of the stamp set's sentiment and then the bottom "sweet" part with white ink on matching red cardstock. (I was able to ink a part of the stamp by covering the words I didn't want with Post It tape while I inked the stamp and then removing the tape before I stamped my cardstock.) The ink didn't stamp very well, so I used a white Sakura Gelly Roll pen to fill in the letters. I added a large die-cut "Christmas" over a small piece of vellum (so it would stand out against the patterned backdrop) and added a Swarovski crystal for the dot over the "i." (Tip: I was able to hide the glue on the vellum by cutting it an inch wider than I needed and wrapping/gluing the vellum to the back of the white cardstock. Now it "floats" nicely on the front of the card without any glue spots!)

.Witt & Sass Products Used:

• Candyland Christmas Stamp Set
• Layered Stencil Plaid

I hope you enjoyed this project, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Happy Crafting!

Flamingo Beach Christmas

This week, I created a card using the Mermaid Christmas Stamp Set, and a few others, from Witt & Sass Stamp Company!

This year, beach Christmas and festive flamingos are on trend. Why? I have no idea, but I'm not complaining! I almost purchased a Christmas flamingos stamp set, and then I remembered that I already have the Witt & Sass Tropical Party stamp set, so I used that one instead.

I resized that gorgeous coral Christmas tree (my favorite part of the Mermaid Christmas set!) so it would be more in scale to the flamingo, and I gave the flamingo a Santa hat and holly brooch. (Alternatively, you could leave the flamingo's bead necklace and simply color it in Christmas colors.) I covered the coral tree in multi-colored rhinestones and added a bunch of little seaside friends. I created the background with stencils (listed below) and Distress Oxides.
.Witt & Sass Products Used:

• Mermaid Christmas Stamp Set
• Tropical Party Stamp Set
• Background Builder Palm Tree Stamp
• Background Builder Wave Stencil
• Layered Stencil Clouds

I hope you enjoyed this project, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Happy Crafting!

Unicorn Mermaid Christmas

This week, I created a card using the Mermaid Christmas Stamp Set from Witt & Sass Stamp Company!

I love the Witt & Sass Mascot, Purdie the Chubby Unicorn, and I couldn't resist mixing her into the underwater scene by fusing her top half with the mermaid's bottom half. (Now she's a "Purmaid!") I created the background using Distress Oxides and Copic markers (for the sand and seaweed), and then I began layering all of the fun characters into the scene! All characters and elements were colored with Copics.

My favorite part of this stamp set is the gorgeous coral Christmas tree. I embellished it with rhinestones and added lots of fishy attendees at Purdie's Christmas party. Even the little starfish have rhinestones! A Christmas unicorn mermaid can NEVER have too much bling!

Witt & Sass Products Used:

• Mermaid Christmas Stamp Set
• Chubby Unicorn Stamp Set

I hope you enjoyed this project, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Happy Crafting!

Santa Purdie and Reindeer Baby Purdie Scene

This week, I created a card using the Patchwork Christmas Stamp Set from Witt & Sass Stamp Company!

I love creating little scenes on my cards, and this week gave me an opportunity to transform the Witt & Sass mascot into holiday figures... Santa Claus and a little reindeer!

My first task was to turn Halloween Purdie into Santa Purdie. (A Santacorn?) Once I stamped her, I sketched a rough outline of Santa's clothes. When you're using very dark Copics (like reds and dark grays), your pencil sketch doesn't need to be perfect, as you can "smooth" it out when you color. For a finishing touch, I added white flocking to the white sections of Santa's clothes. It doesn't show up terribly well in photos, but it's soft and fuzzy in person. In case you'd like to follow my simple, rough sketch to turn your Purdie into Santa, I've included the "before" and "after" pictures below. (Her hat is a stamp from another Christmas set in my stash, but it would also be pretty easy to draw, if needed. I kind of like seeing the unicorn horn on Santa, though!)

In order to turn Baby Purdie into a reindeer, I gave her a knit onesie with reindeer antlers. Since the image is so small, it would've been too difficult to draw the knit details with a Copic. Instead, I used Copics to color in the "onesie" with the shading I wanted and then used a brown Prismacolor Premier Brush Tip Marker, which allows you to draw super fine details, to draw the knit effect. I shrank the angel from the Patchwork Christmas stamp set and turned her into a little dolly for Baby Purdie.

Witt & Sass Products Used:

• Patchwork Christmas Stamp Set
• Purdie's Halloween Stamp Set
• Baby Purdie Stamp (from the I'm So Sassy Sassy Pack)
• Patchwork Christmas Sassy Pack

I hope you enjoyed this project, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Happy Crafting!

Patchwork Christmas and Hand-Stitched Holly

This week, I created a card using the Patchwork Christmas Stamp Set from Witt & Sass Stamp Company!

This lovely stamp set features Americana/folk-art-styled holiday images, and after I saw all of the buttons, I was inspired to pull out my needle and embroidery floss. I resized one of the holly images to make it large enough to stitch and cut my cardstock to 5" x 3.75", rounding the corners. I colored all of the images with Copics and ran it through my die machine with the Altenew Cross Stitch Canvas Die.

After the die created all of the little holes for stitching, I cross stitched the central, larger holly image. I also threaded the stamped buttons (so they'd appear to be sewn on) and sewed on a few holiday buttons from my stash for good measure. I matted the card front on luxurious, dark green velvet, which unfortunately doesn't show up well in photos. (It's so SOFT and FUZZY, though!)

Inside the card, I used the little button tree and a sentiment from the set and matted it on some festive paper from my stash. I made sure to round the corners of all layers, including the card base, to keep everything consistent.

Witt & Sass Products Used:

• Patchwork Christmas Stamp Set
• Mermaid Christmas Stamp Set (mistletoe image)

I hope you enjoyed this project, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Happy Crafting!