Festive Friday

A couple weeks ago I cleaned up my 'cave' which had gotten rather messy and out of control.  I thought I would not need the Christmas items till maybe June or July so I neatly stacked everything in a closet.


Then I saw the new Festive Friday Challenge.  Oh my ...  well laid plans....

Last year I followed the Festive Friday Challenge, but did not participate.   Oh, I think I may have once.  But this year I really am going to try to be more active -- the challenge looks like a lot of fun and has great inspiring ideas, too!   So, here is the first entry.

The inspiring photo for this week's challenge is below.   I looked at this wonderful red barn and loved the scene.  (What a great Christmas card as is!)  Well, I started thinking colors and going through my Christmas paper and card stock.  When I saw the red and white polka dots, a light bulb lit up.   The big snow covered branch brought a white ribbon to mind.  The snow made me think of a white card and white flowers.  Finding the right stamp was the real challenge!  Nothing really fit except the little Verve banner which was the perfect size for my Happy Holidays stamp from Stampin Up.





    Festive Friday Challenge (FFC23)

So I played around with the papers and flowers, found the gold mesh and came up with this card.  Fun!
 

A note about the gold mesh.  This was part of the wrapping on a Christmas poinsettia I received as a gift, and I saved the mesh thinking I could recycle it at some point.

Have a great week!
Kathy

Merry Christmas

Iris Folded Christmas Card #2

I love making these iris folded cards.  The finished result is sort of a surprise.  After selecting coordinating papers or contrasting colors, you never know what the final pattern will look like till it is completed.  A nice challenge, too!

 

In my stash of Christmas papers, I found two pretty blue pieces but had only the two.  So I rummaged through my other papers and found the stripe and plaid papers.  The iris was a problem.  I needed to get this card in the mail and didn't have time to go to the craft store to find the perfect centerpiece so I settled on a glittery snowflake which is placed a little off center.  ;')

The white cover for the iris folding looked soooo plain and stark.  I swished blue, green and purple with a cotton ball to add a bit of color and stamped the sentiment in blue.  Then I glued -- not taped -- the white card and iris part to a purple card.   Because the folded papers are a kind of bulky and a little heavy, I thought gluing the iris part would be more secure.  

The recipients of this card (senior citizens in an assisted living facility) loved the card.

Please leave comments as I'd love to hear from you about any of my cards or cards you are making.

Kathy

Iris Folded Christmas Cards

The iris folding technique is not new but is something new to me and I like trying the different ways to make cards.  The folded paper pieces are patterned to form a shape with the iris as the center of the card - similar to the eye or aperature of a camera.  The shape can be anything, but I chose a circle for these cards.

What do you think?

very merry Christmas Card

Isn't this a cute card?  I love the little trees and 'very merry' stamp.  The picture is enlarged so you can see the trees better.

Quickly here are the details:  white card with a dark red layer and then a snowflake embossed white piece;  dark red scalloped oval with white oval and ribbon (attach ribbon before taping red scalloped piece to snowflake card);  three trees stamped in red on white oval.  Then stamp the trees again on another piece of white card stock and cut out the trees.  With dimensionals, add the three trees on top the appropriate stamped trees.  Add the sentiment and you have a great card!

Christmas Gift Tags

Gift tags are always fun to make.  Below are two I made this season. 

The mistletoe tag is made with the same stamp I used for the card.  I love this stamp -- the greens and red are so pretty together.  I added a gold sheer ribbon which I think gives it a more formal look.  String or yarn would be great for a casual touch.  I taped a 'To / From' sticker to the back.

The Merry Christmas tag was super easy to make as it is a free  printable.  Simply cut around the edges of the tags after printing, punch a hole and add ribbon.   I used the same gold sheer ribbon, but a red would be great, too.  Depending on the wrapping paper, black might be work.

Cardinal Christmas Card

Cardinals are perfect for Christmas!  Here is an easy layered card -- almost clean and simple except for the layers....

Red card stock with layers of white, red and designer paper.  The cardinal was stamped in red on white and the sentiment is in red on white and red card stock.  Simple yet elegant. 

Christmas Cards Continued

More Christmas cards.   The first card is really simple - using a free printable I found on Pinterest.   I pasted the Christmas and Holiday sayings on an 8.5" x 11" piece of white card stock (four times), hit the print button and then cut the big piece into four pieces.  Add a layer of green to a red card and a little bow --  a great and verrrrryyyyy quick card to make.  I think it looks happy and is colorful!

 

The next card may look difficult to make, but it was quick and fun to make.  It has a little shabby chic look to it, too.  The designer paper came with the bottom edge already cut with that sort of scallop look.  I used a lace corner punch on the top corners of the paper and a round corner punch on the  green card to soften the look.  On top of the paper doily is a printable from a Fiskars contest that was held a couple months ago.  I added a few roses to the center of the LOVE circle.   "Peace on Earth" was stamped on white card stock and I used the lace corner punch on two corners and trimmed the other corners.  The final touch was a sheer ribbon and bow. 

That's it for today.  More to come.

Snowmen Christmas Cards

I love making Christmas cards.  Card class has been very instructional -- I have learned a lot about different techniques, papers, pen, embossing and more.  I've made copies of some class cards to send to friends and family.  I hope they will enjoy receiving them as much as I have enjoyed making them.

Below are a few more pictures of the latest cards.  Adding embossed paper, ribbon and glitter and snowflakes gave the cards finishing touches.  Coloring the snowmen took a little time, but they are so cute!

Pastels at Christmas is different.

I love this little dancing guy!

This little group looks so happy!

Cardboard Christmas Tree Cards

I saw a card with these cardboard Christmas trees on Pinterest and wanted to make a card immediately. 

Cut the trees from any piece of corrugated cardboard.  I had a coffee cup sleeve from Starbucks and used that!   Recycling....   The trees were taped to an embossed white card piece.  Add some glitter, pearls, stars and ribbon.   Great little cards!

Red, Red, and Red Christmas Cards

Here are three Christmas cards with red as the main color.  Red does not photograph well so I hope you can see the beauty in these cards.

Love this card with white embossed trees on a plain red card with a little snowflake button in the upper left corner.  So simple.  So pretty.

This card was a little more involved than some I have made.  After stamping the white card with red snowflakes, I used a square die cut to make three layers of the snowflake piece and two layers of red.   A green metallic snowflake adds a little bit of extra color.

 

This card has several layers:  the basic card is a light green with a darker green for the first layer.   Then the red piece was embossed (tweed/herringbone pattern) and the Christmas tree was cut out using a die cut.  The red piece was then taped to a white piece of card stock that had been embossed with a brick-like pattern and then added to the card.  The wreath was made with little punch outs and taped in a circle.  A little snowflake was added in the upper right corner. 

Season's Greetings Gift Tag

First, let me say I did not make this tag and I take no credit for it.  I just love it! 

 

Kim O'Connell at Paper Perfect Designs created this tag.  Isn't it great?  I love all the little details:  torn edges of white paper to make the snow drifts, glitter and Liquid Pearls added to the snow, paper piercing, colors, and the adorable little reindeer!

In case you are thinking of getting the reindeer stamp set, sorry -- out of stock.  I am sooo disappointed!

Christmas Side Step Card

There are so many different card folding techniques around.  This is a 'side step' folded card and is surprisingly easy to make.

The left side is the sentiment stamped on white card stock which is taped to a piece of black card stock.  The right side carries the white and black colors on the three steps.  The largest piece of white card is stamped in green with three trees.   Then I stamped another piece of white with the same green trees and cut out the trees and added them with dimensionals to the first two steps.   The dove was stamped in grey and added to the back piece.   A little bit of glitter was added to the trees and dove.

The colors look a little faded, but in person the green looks better.  I think the ink stamp needs to be reinked.

Here is a great tutorial on make a side step card.

 

Poinsettia and Religious Cards

The poinsettia is such a pretty plant.  The leaves on this card are green and red felt (cut using a Big Shot) with a few gems in the center.  The white card stock was embossed and a layer of red added for a really pretty frame for the poinsettia.   I centered the poinsettia on the card but I think it should be up just a little so the stamped sentiment (Merry Christmas) would be more visible. 

The next card was another easy card to make.  Embossing looks so elegant and I am amazed at how fast and simple it is to use.  The card was stamped with VersaMark, covered with blue embossing powder and then heat embossed.  A nice, peaceful card, right?

See you soon!

Mistletoe and Snowmen Cards

The first card  is a definite favorite of mine.  I made several and plan to send them out to family and friends this year.

I saw a finished card with the mistletoe stamp at a local stamp shop and immediately purchased the stamp.  I love it!  The card is made with red card stock and snowflake designer paper.   I used two greens and a red marker to color the mistletoe.  The stamp is from Lockhart Stamp Co.

The snowmen card is really cute, but the red ink was a little messy.  I made this card in class and stamped a few extra images so I could make more cards at home (pictures in a few days from now).  Centering the letters in the punch was tricky, too.  The blotchy areas are dabs of glitter - glitter does not photograph well.    ;')

More in a couple days. 

Christmas Cards

The next several days will feature Christmas cards that I have made in class or at home.    Some are really easy to make and others require a bit of time.  What do you think?

My sister loves cardinals so when I made this card in class a couple months ago, I knew immediately what her Christmas card would be.  

I love these pyramid or teepee cards.    A few score lines and folding make a really unique shape.  Measuring the designer paper to fit the triangle took more time, but now I have patterns ready for the next card.   I also made a birthday card and Thanksgiving card in the teepee shape - fun!

Teepee or pyramid cards are fun to make.  Try it.  Here are a couple tutorials on making the teepee card:   Crafty Pad Teepee Card   and Digi-re-doo-dah