Aloha, all!
OK, this is just about the last day you can be making Christmas Cards if you have much hope to get them in the mail (well, if you're not in Hawaii, you may have another day or two?). So I'm trying to figure out how to get some quick cards made because I do not have nearly enough to send to people to whom I like to send handmade cards.
Last week I had the opportunity to work with some friends who are fairly new to stamping. In fact, one of those friends has some physical limitations that also places some limitations on what she can do with stamps and papers. So I did a quick design that would help her – and the others – get some last minute cards done without any stress related to lining up layers and stamped images.
So what I did for this session with my friends was simply to cut some Designer Series Papers into 3" x 4" rectangles that they could just layer on a card base and onto worry if they lined up with anything else. Then I worked with them to stamp a simple sentiment image onto cardstock and then either punch it out or use a Sizzix Framelit to cut the sentiment out.
The cards that I've included in this picture are those that I made for my samples – darned if I didn't forget to take pictures of their projects before they left!!! – bad demonstrator!!!!
Besides showing off how to use two sheets of Designer Series Paper on these cards, I also demonstrated how to use sponges to accent the edge of layers and cards. The final touch was to add some Rhinestones to the projects to make a nice accent.
For this card, I used two sheets of paper from the Santa & Co. Designer Series Paper set. This is not my favorite paper set this holiday season, but it does have some nice qualities – shown here! I sponged around the edge of the card base and the edge of the sentiment layer using Marina Mist Classic Ink. I stamped the "merry Christmas" sentiment in Marina Mist Classic Ink and two stamps from the Endless Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set. Nice how you can place several of these stamps on one acrylic block! I also added a snowflake from the same stamp set. I die cut this using the Sizzix Deco Labels Framelits and then added some Rhinestone Basic Jewels to add some sparkle!
For this project, I used the same layout, but different papers. The papers here are from the All Is Calm Specialty Designer Series Paper set. Same layout, same stamp set, same Framelit, same Rihinestones. But a bit of a different look!
And for my final project for this set of cards, I made something a bit different. It's the same layout, using some of the Santa and Co. Designer Series Paper sheets. But instead of a Sizzix Label sentiment, I used the new Tree Punch to punch the "merry." Then I double-punched two more trees with the same punch to make them a bit smaller. To do this, first stamp a full tree. Then insert the tree back into the punch, not all the way, and punch again. Makes smaller trees and that's a lot of fun with one Stampin' Up! tool!
While I know it's a bit late for ordering more products for this year's Christmas Cards and other projects, definitely think Christmas 2015 for products you might want to use next year! Most of what you see this year won't be available next year.
Here are the products I featured in this blog post. Just click on one of the pictures to find out more about the products – and you can even order it while you're there on my Stampin' Up! website. In fact, these products are available until early January. So you still have some time to order!
