Holly Berry Bunches

Can you believe Thanksgiving is only a week away?  Wasn't it just Halloween?  In preparation for Christmas, which I know will also sneak up on me, I made this Christmas card and tag set.  The colors came from The Paper Players Color Challenge of Riding Hood Red, Always Artichoke, and River Rock.  Hand Stamped Sentiments has a challenge this week to use the Bargello technique.  This great technique is so easy to do and beautiful! 

The card and tag were both stamped using Stampin' UP!'s Bells & Boughs stamp set then colored using Stampin Write Markers and an Aqua Painter.  Unfortunately I do not have River Rock Cardstock yet, so I used the River Rock Marker to add that color to my project. 

For the card background I used the Poinsettia stamp to create depth to the background then ran it through the Big Shot using the Polka Dots Embossing Folder.

For the Bargello Technique, I used 1/4" and 1/2" strips of Letters to Santa Designer Series Paper and taped them to 1" Circles of cardstock and a 2 3/8" Scallop Circle piece of cardstock.  Then I re-punched over the images to cut the strips of Designer Series Paper to the right size.  The main image is the large part of the Holly image, cut out with the Paper Snips. I ran the Scallop Circle through the Big Shot using the Houndstooth Embossing Folder.

I punched the sentiment with the Oval Scallop punch then layered the Decorative Label Punch behind it and then 1" circles using the Bargello Technique and ran them through the Big Shot using the Houndstooth Embossing Folder.  I then added a cut out portion of the Holly image, colored around the swirls with a River Rock Marker and Sponged on Riding Hood Red Ink.

To add a little fun to the Crochet Ribbon Bow, I cut out part of the stamped image and adhered it to the middle of the bow.

Finally, I added Dazzling Details to the berries.

I really wanted to have a matching Christmas tag for this card so I made something simple, but elegant.

 

 Don't forget to check out the challenge websites to see more wonderful projects!

http://thepaperplayers.blogspot.com/ and http://www.handstampedsentiments.blogspot.com/

Hope you have a wonderful day!

~Krystal

As always, all products used were Stampin' UP:

Bells & Boughs and Fabulous Phrases Stamp Sets

Riding Hood Red, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla Cardstock

Basic Black and Always Artichoke Classic Stampin' Pads

Riding Hood Red, Always Artichoke, River Rock Markers

2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Decorative Label Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch

Big Shot, Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Houndstooth Embossing Folder

Dazzling Details Glitter, Victoria Crochet Ribbon

 

Over the Top Christmas!

Hand Stamped Sentiments is having a challenge this week to make a card that is OVER THE TOP~something beautiful with lots of detail!  I was so excited to try this with the Create with Connie and Mary color challenge (Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard and Black) and make a Christmas Card.

   The background was run through the Big Shot with the Snow Burst Embossing Folder then spritzed with Vanilla Smooch Spritz.

I decided to use the Blossom Petals Builder Punch to "build" Poinsettia flowers.  This is what took a while, punching out and gluing all of those petals!  I covered them in Vanilla Smooch Spritz to add glimmer and added 2 layers of petals to the large flower.  Then I added Mini Jingle Bells to the largest flower and Stampin' UP!'s Dazzling Details Glitter glue to the smaller flowers and to the sentiment. 

Check out the challenge websites to see more projects made for these challenges (I looked at the design teams and other bloggers they are beautiful so make sure you take a look!)...

 http://www.createwithconnieandmary.com/ and  http://www.handstampedsentiments.blogspot.com/

My husband and I own Hartford Play N Trade Video Games and we were in the Hartford Christmas Parade this week.  Here's a photo:

 I made the signs with my cricut and  Stampin' UP's Ornament Punch:)! 

Hope you had a happy weekend!
~Krystal

As always, all products for the card were Stampin' UP!

Ingredients:

Bells & Boughs Stamp Set

Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin Pad

Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Basic Black Cardstock

Blossom Petals Builder Punch, 1/2" Punch, Itty Bitty Punch Pack's circle, Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch

Big Shot, Snow Burst Embossing Folder

Dazzling Details Glitter, Vanilla Smooch Spritz, Mini Jingle Bells

Naughty or Nice??

The Paper Players is having a unique challenge this week; it's a recipe!  Let's get cooking, using 3 different patterned papers, 2 ribbons, at least one punch and some glitter.  Card Patterns had a wonderful sketch I though would go well with this challenge, so I combined the two to come up with this card.

I wanted to start a card and just keep adding elements and things until I had a "WOW" card.  I really like the way this turned out!  I started with cutting out a Santa Image from the Letters To Santa Designer Series Paper. Then I decided to cut out the Naughty Or Nice image and the ornaments, both also from the Letters to Santa Designer Series Paper.  I added Early Espresso Satin Ribbon behind the ornaments to help them stand out from the Old Olive Designer Series Paper.

 

To have a really stand-out bow, I took Letters to Santa Designer Series Paper and cut 1/4" X 4"  and 1/4" X 3" strips to have a mini-gift bow.  Here's a link for a Tutorial on paper bows: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/dsp_bow/.

The upper "scallop border" was done by punching 3/4" circles out of Letters To Santa Designer Series Paper then layering 1" circles in Early Espresso cardstock behind.

When I went to add the whole image to the card front, I thought it needed a little something.  So I inked up the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder with Cherry Cobbler ink then ran it through the Big Shot. 

One fun thing...Absolutely NO stamps were used on this card!  That doesn't happen often for me!

Check out the other projects for this challenge at:

http://thepaperplayers.blogspot.com/  and  http://cardpatterns.blogspot.com/!

It was fun to have 2 posts in one day today:)!

~Krystal

Santa Christmas Card: 

Cherry Cobbler & Early Espresso Cardstock, Letters to Santa Designer Series Paper, Cherry Cobbler Ink, 3/4" Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Silver Brad, Early Espresso Bakers Twine, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Old Olive Scallop Ribbon, Dazzling Details Glitter

Poinsettia

I won the Hand Stamped Sentiments Artist Pick for this card:)!


I've been out of the blog world for a little while so I am super excited to be posting today!  I have a really bad cold and have a deep voice right now (which apparently is a very funny contradiction to my normal girly voice, or so I've been teased for the past few days...) and I just haven't had the energy to stamp.  Which has made me VERY sad!  I did finish a crocheted pumpkin hat though.

To get back into the swing of things, I participated in Create with Connie and Mary's sketch challenge, CCMC174, and Hand Stamped Sentiments Color Challenge, HSSCC91.  The sketch is creative as always and was fun to work with.  The color challenge was to use Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi, and Very Vanilla. Very pretty Christmas card colors!!

For the background, I used the Lace Ribbon Border Punch in Real Red and Cherry Cobbler then adhered them to Very Vanilla strips of Cardstock. I then did Embedded Embossing by placing the 3 strips into the Snow Burst Texture Embossing Folder and using the Big Shot (my absolute FAVORITE tool by the way:)!).

I used the Bells & Boughs stamp set to stamp the Poinsettia image, then colored it in using markers and an aqua painter to pick up the excess color.  Adding a large Pearl from the Basic Pearls, was supposed to be my finishing touch.  However, then I used Crystal Effects to make the Poinsettia pop a little more because I felt like it was being over powered by the other elements on the card. Behind the image is a Scallop Edged Circle from the Perfect Penants Bigz Die then a 2" Circle behind that from the Circles #2 Die.

I saw these little "roses" on a card, but now I can't find the card:(.  They were made using Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, then the leaves are from the Bird Builder Punch.

Check out the challenge websites to see other projects for this challenge: http://www.createwithconnieandmary.com/  and   http://www.handstampedsentiments.blogspot.com/

Here are a few little extra creations I was working on.

I wanted to make some pretty, but simple Christmas Tags for my gifts this year.  I used the Tags til Christmas Stamp set and then our co-ordinating punches to create these easy and quick tags:)!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Krystal

Ingredients for the card:
Bells & Boughs Stamp Set, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi, and Very Vanilla Cardstocks, Basic Black Classic Ink Pad, Cherry Cobbler Marker, Wild Wasabi Marker, Lace Ribbon Border Punch, Bird Builder Punch, Hole Punch, Perfect Pennants Bigz Die, Circles #2 Die, Snow Burst Texture Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Victoria Crochet Ribbon, Seam Binding, Basic Pearls, Silver Brads, Aqua Painter and Crystal Effects.