Ornate Nutcracker Slimline Cards

I spent four or five days on these two cards, as the nutcrackers took a TON of work.  I am also playing along with Simon Says Stamps' Wednesday Challenge: Sparkle and Shine and Monday Challenge: Celebrate. (A super-sparkly, Swarovski-blinged nutcracker is pretty darned celebratory!) I just finished these cards, so they will go to special people on my mailing list next year (2021).

The cards are slimline, measuring 3.5" x 8.5". I spent four or five days on the nutcrackers alone. He's Colonel Cashew (Stamplistic), a 7.25" x 2.75" cling stamp. I carefully thought about all of the colors and textures I wanted on him, then selected about a dozen papers and stamped him 30+ times. 

Next, the hard work began. I used scissors to fussy cut him over and over, carefully gluing each layer on top of the last one. For example, I had one full nutcracker for the base (so I could start gluing). Next, I fussy cut a full nutcracker in steel gray (for the back layer of his hair). Then, I cut a full nutcracker, EXCEPT for the back layer of hard, and glued that over the gray one. As I continued, layers started getting smaller, and he continued to feel sturdier. By the time I was done, he was about 1/8" thick and felt like wood. (His mustache and the metal accents were the final layers.) Just a note: I used Ranger Multi-Medium Matte to glue the layers together, as it dries quickly but provides enough time to slide the layers around to the right spots.

Even though many of his accessories were on a metallic silver or gold paper, he still needed more bling. I added 20 Swarovski crystals to each nutcracker (Crystal on the silver and Silver Night on the gold). I found a sparkly-red-striped paper in my stash and layered it on top of a black cardstock base. The card is very 3D and has tons of sparkle!

List of all stamps/dies/stencils used on this card:

• Colonel Cashew rubber cling stamp (Stamplistic)

Other supplies:

• Black and red-striped cardstock
  
• Various cardstock colors for each layer
• Double-sided tape (Scor-tape)
• Ranger Multi-Medium Matte 
• Clear Swarovski crystals
  
• Silver Night Swarovski crystals
• Paper Rose Silver and Gold Cardstock
  

Have a wonderful holiday season!

Holiday Birdhouse Card

Well, I thought I was done with Christmas cards, and then some colleagues decided to do a card swap (since we don't see each other in the office anymore). I guess I'll make a few more! I am also playing along with Simon Says Stamps' Wednesday Challenge: Let It Snow.

This card is slimline, measuring 3.5" x 8.5". I cut all of the birdhouse shapes out of the Elizabeth Craft "Holiday Birdhouse" die set. I used a blending tool and Distress Oxide inks to color everything, except for the candy canes and light bulbs. I used Copic markers to color those pieces, along with a white gel pen for highlights.

I cut 3.25" wide snow banks for the bottom, using the Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders dies, and used a blending tool to add some Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide Ink for shadows. I wanted the snow to be sparkly, so I used a Zig 2-Way Glue Pen and Ranger Rock Candy Glitter to cover the snow banks, snow on the birdhouse, and the birdhouse roof with glitter.

I cut the sentiment from the Whimsy Stamps "Peaceful" die set, covered them with glue, and coated them with Elizabeth Craft Black Microfine Glitter.

I cut a 3.25" x 8.25" white cardstock panel and covered it with Distress Oxides (don't remember which ones). I created my card base with a black mat, then glued down the blue panel. I kept adding items, using a combination of Scor-tape and Ranger Multi-Medium Matte glue, until everything was attached to the card. For a final touch, I added a Silver Night Swarovski crystal for the dot over the "i" in the sentiment.

List of all stamps/dies/stencils used on this card:

• Holiday Birdhouse die set (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
• Peaceful die set (Whimsy Stamps)
  
• Stitched Hillside Borders dies (Lawn Fawn)
  

Other supplies:

• Black and white cardstock
  
• Distress Oxide inks (various)
  
• Ink blending tool
  
• Ranger Rock Candy Transparent Glitter
• Elizabeth Craft Black Microfine Glitter
  
• Liquid Glue (I used Zig 2-Way Glue Pens)
  
• Double-sided tape (Scor-tape)
• Ranger Multi-Medium Matte 
• Silver Night Swarovski crystals
  

Season's tweetings!

Snowmen and Truck Scene for my Nephew

My three-year-old nephew is OBSESSED with trucks. Pickup trucks, firetrucks, dump trucks... all of it. He's also not old enough to appreciate detailed coloring, which takes me 2-3 days to make one card. When I saw a 6"x6" paper pad at Michael's that had snowmen and a red truck, I decided to use it on a card for him. I am also playing along with Simon Says Stamps' Wednesday Challenge: Let It Snow.

This card is slimline, measuring 3.5" x 8.5". I fussy cut all of the snowmen, truck and sign post from the Say Freeze 6"x6" paper pad, which took a while (but a lot less time than anything I'd color). 

I cut my sky panel (3.25" x 8.25" and quickly used my ink blending tool and Salty Ocean Distress Oxide Ink to get the color I wanted for the sky. I somehow forgot that I have slimline slope dies (DOH!) and made the slimline slopes the hard way. I used Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders dies to cut half of the slope, then lined up another hillside border die (overlapping the first half) to create the long, curvy panels. (It would have been SO MUCH EASIER if I'd remembered that I have My Favorite Things' Slimline Stitched Slopes dies. Argh!)

I used my ink blending tool and Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide Ink to lightly shade the lower half of each slope. I glued the top slope down onto the sky panel, then popped up the front slope with foam dots. I felt like the snow needed to be sparkly, so I used a Zig 2-Way Glue Pen and Ranger Rock Candy Transparent Glitter to cover the slopes with glitter. (It also softened the blue shading, which was nice.)

I attached my characters with a combo of liquid glue (Ranger Multi-Medium Matte) and foam dots. I used my paper cutter to cut out the sentiment from another page in the paper pad. Now my nephew will have a Christmas card with a truck, and I didn't have to do any stamping or coloring (which he wouldn't appreciate). Score!

List of all stamps/dies/stencils used on this card:

• Say Freeze 6"x6" paper pad (Recollections/Michael's)
• Stitched Hillside Borders dies (Lawn Fawn)
  

Other supplies:

• Black and white cardstock
  
• Distress Oxide inks: Salty Ocean and Tumbled Glass 
• Ink blending tool
  
• Ranger Rock Candy Transparent Glitter
  
• Liquid Glue (I used Zig 2-Way Glue Pens)
  
• Double-sided tape (Scor-tape)
• Ranger Multi-Medium Matte
  
• Foam dots
  

Happy holidays!

Merry and Bright Santa Card

We needed some more fairly-quick-but-festive cards, and my mother wanted to make a Santa card, so this one is a collaboration. I am also playing along with Simon Says Stamps' Wednesday Challenge: Let It Snow.

This card measures 5" x 6.5". Santa is from the Hey Santa digital stamp set (Angie Blom Digital Designs). I printed Santa on Copic XPress-It Blending Card, then did a quick coloring of him with Copics. After I finished coloring, I fussy cut him and put Ranger Glossy Accents on his glasses. I felt like he needed a body, so I cut a body shape (freehand) out of some plaid Christmas cardstock. I added his sparkly suspenders with black, glittery washi tape.

My mother created the other elements. She created the background with Distress Oxide inks (Salty Ocean, Stormy Sky, Black Soot) and then splattered it with white acrylic paint (using the Tim Holtz Splatter Brush).

She cut the pine branches from the Tim Holtz Festive Greenery die set (Sizzix) and also splattered them with white paint. She cut the sentiment (from the Poinsettia Fold-a-Long die set by Sizzix) out of gold, mirrored cardstock.

The gold sentiment wasn't showing up well on the background, so we cut a small circle (Distress Edge Circle Dies by Kat Scrappiness) to put behind it. We put foam dots behind Santa when we mounted him on the card.

List of all stamps/dies/stencils used on this card:

• Hey Santa digital stamp set (Angie Blom Digital Designs)
• Poinsettia Fold-a-Long die set (Sizzix)
  
• Tim Holtz Festive Greenery Dies (Sizzix) 
• Distress Edge Circle dies (Kat Scrappiness)
  

Other supplies:

• Copic XPress-It Blending Card
• Copics (various)
• Die-cutting machine (we used the Vagabond)
  
• Distress Oxide inks (or whatever blue and green inks you want to use)
  
• White acrylic paint
• Tim Holtz Splatter Brush
  
• Black, glittery washi tape (Recollections)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
  
• Double-sided tape (Scor-tape)
• Foam dots
  

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Quilt Cards

I needed a few more Christmas cards, and at least two of the recipients are quilters, so I decided to make Christmas Quilt Cards. I am also playing along with Simon Says Stamps' Monday Challenge: Favorite Technique. (Mixing special, textured papers is one of my favorite techniques. It's like a big, pretty puzzle!)

This is an A2 (4.25" x 5.5") card. I found three fabric-like papers from my stash: a green velvet, red crinkled cotton fiber paper, and cream crinkled cotton fiber paper. I cut the Quilt 8 die (Gina Marie Designs) through all three of these papers, then mixed and matched the pieces, like a jigsaw puzzle.

I mounted the outline onto a 3.9" x 3.9" piece of white cardstock, then used Ranger Multi-Medium Matte to glue pieces into place. (I love that glue because it dries clear, so you can't see it anywhere.) I found some cardstock with Christmas sheet music in my stash, mounted that on a cranberry red card base, and then popped up the quilt with foam dots.

I had the hardest time finding a sentiment I liked, but I finally settled on an old "joy" sentiment die I'd gotten many years ago from Taylored Expressions. I coated the die-cut word with Elizabeth Craft Black Microfine Glitter, just for some extra sparkle.

I glued the sentiment onto the card and added a large, clear Swarovski crystal in the center of the quilt. Here's a close-up of one of the quilt cards:

List of all stamps/dies/stencils used on this card:

• Quilt Die 8 (Gina Marie Designs)
• Joy word die (Taylored Expressions)

Other supplies:

• Textured or fabric cardstock (I used velvet and crinkled metallic fiber cardstock)
  
• Elizabeth Craft Black Microfine Glitter
  
• Foam dots
  
• Double-sided tape (Scor-tape)
  
• Ranger Multi-Medium Matte
  

Merry Christmas!