Fifty Bookmarks by Anne Thompson

Fifty bookmarks, all the same--thankfully I have a small Misti and it worked perfectly with Memory Box clear stamp sets!  Each year at my parents' church there are stockings hung for each family and everyone is encouraged to write a note or put a holiday card in each one.  I chose to make bookmarks this year--decorative on the front and room to write a note on the back.

I chose "joy" and "peace" from the BOLD CHRISTMAS GREETINGS SET CL5233.

To create the little scene at the bottom, I used elements from the SNOWGLOBE WISHES SET CL5180 from the 2016 Holiday Collection.  I just love that little sleeping deer!

• Each bookmark is 2" X 6", cut from off-white cardstock.  They tucked perfectly into the Misti up against the ruler on the right side.  
• I started by stamping "joy" at the top of the bookmark and the little deer at the bottom, using VersaClair Pinecone ink.
• I added the two little trees with VersaClair Rainforest ink.
• I used Hero Arts Cornflower ink to stamp the small snowflake between the trees on each bookmark.  I stamped them all again, moving the snowflake to the left of the little tree.
• I then stamped "peace" using theVersaClair Pinecone ink.
• I felt I needed one more snowflake which I tucked up under the "p" on each bookmark.
• What to do with the empty space between the two sentiment words?  I looked through all of my Memory Box clear stamp sets and found an ampersand in the discontinued Love and Laughter set that looked right and stamped it in the Pinecone ink.

I colored a couple of the bookmarks using Prismacolor pencils but I'm not sure if I'll color the others or not.

What do you think?  Color them or not?  Maybe with more shading?  Multiple greens and browns?  Markers rather than pencils?  I've got plenty of time to experiment with my knee elevated and iced.

I tend to resist making more than one of the exact same thing, but this was fun using the Misti stamping platform with the Memory Box clear stamp sets! 

Happy Crafting!

 

Believe by Penny Ward

 

Hello, hello.....Penny here today with a super simple easel card. Use as is, or tuck a small votive candle inside for a nice touch. This would make a great Christmas card that you actually deliver to a friend. The holiday is almost here...are you ready?

 

I have used White cardstock and Metallic Red cardstock keeping it pretty simple.

 

Cut your easel base 4.25 x 11 inches. Score at 3/8" and 6"

Take Red Metallic cardstock and trim to 4.25 x 5.50 inches. Die cut a Basic Circle near the top. Cover the opening with clear acrylic on the backside. Wrap this panel with a pretty sheer ribbon.

Adhere the back of the card front to the small scored section of the easel base.

 

Die cut Hanging Lantern Frame from White cardstock. Adhere to front of card. (I use spray adhesive when attaching to acrylic)

Die cut Believe Jotted Script from White cardstock (for the shadow) and Red Metallic cardstock for the sentiment. Stack and adhere together, then attach to card front as shown with foam adhesive.

 

Make a pretty bow and adhere to card front.

 

Happy Holiday card making,

 

 

Supplies

 

94071 Believe Jotted Script craft die

94078 Hanging Lantern Frame craft die

30087 Circle Basics Set

That’s Acute Triangles, Happy Penguin and Wrapped Circles by Jean Okimoto

Create a sparkly winter scene with the That's Acute Triangle Die Set and add a glossy Happy Penguin for an extra dash of holiday cheer.  Hi everyone, Jean Okimoto here with a very glittery holiday card - and some inspiration for December's Sparkle and Shine Challenge.

Here's an easy way to stamp with a large clear stamp - and you don't even need to remove it from the sheet it's attached to.  Leave the stamp on the sheet and place it on a craft mat.  Attach a small piece of doublestick tape to an acrylic block.  Use the tape to attach green cardstock to the block.

Ink the Typewriter Holiday Elements text stamp with a dark, intense color like Nocturne VersaFineClair.  Press the cardstock firmly and evenly onto the inked stamp.  The tape keeps the cardstock from shifting and makes it easy to pull the stamped cardstock away from the stamp.  Dry the ink.

Attach doublestick tape to the stamped text and brush the adhesive with clear iridescent glitter.  Cut the glittered text with the largest triangle die.

Cut additional triangles from different shades of green glittered cardstock.  Use half of the diamond-shaped die to cut the triangle behind the penguin.

Cut the 3-¾" Wrapped Circle from white cardstock.

Attach black duct tape to a scrap of cardstock to create a glossy little Happy Penguin.  Cut the white section from watercolor paper.  Cut an extra piece of the body section from black cardstock to add dimension and define the outline along the bottom edge.

Cut a piece of orange cardstock to fit behind his face and mark the position of his eyes.  Color the eyes with a black marker.  Cut a portion of Curled Ribbons from red glittered craft foam for a bright scarf.

Attach the diecuts to a side-folded red A-2 card.  Add clear gem stickers.

I usually like the less-is-more style - but the holidays call for extra sparkle and shine.  Add glitter, glossy duct tape, glittered craft foam and gem stickers to your holiday designs - and be sure to enter our December Challenge!

Big thanks to everyone from last weekend's GIFT TAG PORTFOLIO class at Impress!  Special thanks to Jan for her snowflake treat boxes filled with rich chocolates!  And more thanks to Erin and Lynne for helping everyone fill their shopping baskets with holiday supplies.  

Thanks too - Donna - for our fourth annual chatty catch-up lunch, and for your special goodies!  It was a great day that included a quick stop to visit Roxanne at Stamps and Memories too.  How time flies!

Hope your holiday to-do list is getting shorter - if not,  our Design Team has many more projects to share with you in the coming weeks.  Join us again tomorrow for Penny's cool project!

Thanks for visiting - see you again next week...

Supplies

 

32232 That's Acute Triangle die set

99919 Happy Penguin craft die

CL5234 Typewriter Holiday Elements clear stamp set

30114 Wrapped Circles craft die

98936 Curled Ribbons

Believe by Donna Sledzik

Good morning everyone!

Today I have another Christmas card that is fairly easy to mass produce.

To create this card I lightly sponged white cardstock with Vintage Photo ink and misted it with plain water.  Once the background was dry, I inked the Christmas words with Fired Brick distress ink and randomly stamped the background paper.  I did not mount my stamp on a block and instead used my fingers and pressed the stamp onto the background to get that random look.

I die cut the deer circle from white cardstock and saved the background pieces to use later.  I inked the deer die cut with Versa Mark ink and heat embossed it with Stampendous Antique Gold embossing powder.  

I die cut a slightly smaller circle from double sided tape and adhered that to the back of the deer die cut.  That way I could glue the background pieces back in place.  Before I mounted this this to the card front I put some string behind the circle and then glued it to the card.

I stamped the word believe on a strip of red cardstock and heat embossed it with white embossing powder.  Using foam tape I glued this to the card.

To finish the card I adhered the card front to a red cardstock layer and glued this to a white notecard.

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great weekend!

 

 

Supplies

 

CL5234 Typewriter Holiday Elements clear stamp set

94091 Fancy Deer Circle craft die

Prismacolor Pencil Holiday Card by Laura Fulcher

Greetings friends.  I have been making a lot of cards lately that use Prismacolor Pencils on Kraft cardstock.  I really like the vibrant looks you can achieve.  I was going to call this a single-layer card, but I ended up cutting out the presents to glue them on the sled.  I didn't feel like making a mask in order to stamp the presents on the sled, but I think you still get the similar look to a card without layers.

The first step was to place my kraft notecard into my MISTI stamp positioner and stamp my items in black Versafine ink:

I love the look of Versafine because it gives you crisp lines, but it takes a while to dry.  Give it plenty of time to dry before you color your images or the ink will smear.

Next, I colored the bunny and sled with my pencils.  I didn't worry about crossing over lines such as the bunny's eye because I knew that I would be restamping the images later.  Here is the coloring:

You can see that my lines weren't quite as crisp as before.  I put the card back into the MISTI and restamped my images:

Notice how much better the second bunny looks.  He has really well-defined lines.  It took a REALLY long time for my ink to dry because it was on top of my waxy pencils.  I could have embossed it with black embossing powder, but sometimes the heat will warp a single-layer card.  I decided to just let it sit out for a while, and it did completely dry on its own.

To finish the card, I sponged some white pigment ink under the boot and sled and added a bit of Stickles for sparkle.  The final step was to hand draw a line between the bunny and sled so that it looked like he was pulling the sled behind him.  Here is another close up of the coloring.  Notice that I tried to make it look like my light source was coming from the top left of the card, so my bunny and presents were darker on the right and brighter on the left.

It really doesn't matter which Prismacolor pencils you choose.  For most colors, I chose a light, medium and dark version so that I could get a gradient of color.  If you are interested in the specific colors I chose, here they are:

Bunny- Cool grey 70%, 50%, 30% and 10%

Scarf- Dioxazine Purple Hue, Parma Violet, Lavender

Boot/Sack/Sled- Dark Brown, Light Umber brown, Ginger Root

Cheek and inside of ear- Blush Pink

Present in Sack and stripe on green present- Crismson Red, Carmine Red, Deco Peach

Green Present- Olive Green, Grass Green, Spring Green

Yellow/Orange Present- Pumpkin Orange, Orange, Sunburst Yellow

 

 

Supplies

 

CL5226 Be Jolly clear stamp set

Snowglobe Shaker Card by Olga Direktorenko

Hi there die cutting fans! The project I am showcasing today is a Christmas shaker card featuring Sleigh Horse Frame craft die. 

Although totally monochromatic this card has lots of interesting textures from dry embossing and specialty cardstock to things like pearls, sequins and liquid drops.  If you would like to know how to make this card I have a full step by step video tutorial at the end of this post!

Thanks so much for visiting today! Have a lot of fun preparing for Holidays!

 

 

Supplies

 

94080 Sleigh Horse Frame craft die

94092 Merry Christmas Swash Script craft die

Merry Christmas Card by Isha Gupta

Hello and Welcome! So, I am sure you all have your Christmas cards done by now. If not...no worries. Here is an idea for you :) It's Isha and today, I want to share a fun technique of creating clusters using various dies and a watercolor background on yupo paper.

Did you check our current challenge yet? It's all about Holiday Sparkle and Shine and that is exactly, I am going to share too.

I started by cutting a white mat layer from Yupo paper and applied some Teal watercolor to it. Let it dry. Meanwhile, I die-cut scalloped stitch trimmings twice. Once using a teal glitter cardstock and once white.

I then die-cut all the various elements to create the cluster. I watercolored some of the leaves. Adding a bit of glitter embossing powder to the die-cuts gives a festive look to the simple images.

Once, I had all the elements, I simply adhered the rectangle trimming to ground the cluster of flowers and foliage.  I stamped and embossed the sentiment onto a colored cardstock and die-cut using the co-ordinating dies.

Here is a close up to check on all the lovely glitter.

Hope you got inspired by this card. Have a wonderful crafty day!

 

 

Supplies

 

30091 Scalloped Stitch Trimmings

94081 Poinsettia Circle Frame craft die

99790 Holly Collage

94018 Elegant Holly Double Frame craft die

94021 Snowberry Sprigs craft die

32233 Bold Christmas Greetings die set

CL5233 Bold Christmas Greetings clear stamp set

Tags, Tags, Tags, Tags by Anne Thompson

I've been making tags for holiday gifts using some of my favorite smaller dies from the 2018 Holiday Happenings Collection.

• FANCY DEER CIRCLE 94091
• JOY JOURNAL FRAME 94094
• WINTER JOURNAL FRAME 94093

First up--the tags that feature the Fancy Deer Circle Frame.

• I started with kraft cardstock cut 3" X 6" and scored it at 3" to make the folded base.
• I cut some holiday paper (a Memory Box favorite from ages ago--only had a few scraps left) 2 7/8" square and adhered it to the front of the tiny card.
• I cut three of the Fancy Deer Circle from dark brown cardstock and used a glue pen to put each one on top of the decorative paper squares.
• I punched a hole with my crop-a-dile in the upper left corner of each tag and threaded through some sheer off-white ribbon tied in double knots.
• This is a great format--lots of room to write a message inside each tag.
• Simple, easy, and perfect for gift tags for my dad, my nephew, and a guy friend on packages wrapped in kraft paper.

Next up--Joy Journal Frame tags

• I started with a 3" X 6" base again, this time cut from a light blue cardstock, scored at 3" and folded.
• I cut the Joy Journal Frame from sticky-backed glitter paper which I stuck onto dark blue cardstock.
• I then cut that with a scallop-edged square punch, added a small clear gemstone to dot the j and a big glittery gem in the upper left corner of each frame.
• I threaded tinsel through the punched holes.
• Perfect tags for Hanukkah gifts wrapped in glittery star-spangled paper!

Next, Winter Journal Frame tags

• I made these the same way as before, using white cardstock for the base.
• I added squares cut from Blueberry Distressed Dots paper.
• I cut the Winter Journal Frame three times from the white cardstock and added each to one of the squares.
• I used the third separate snowflake to dot the i on each tag and added tiny white pearls in each snowflake center.
• Each tag is tied with blue grosgrain ribbon.
• Perfect for Winter Solstice or a late December birthday!

And last of all--a collection using all three dies in red and white

• This time I cut multiples of each image and stacked them to make a thicker detail on each tag--four of the Winter Journal Frame and three of the other two.
• I used Memory Box Cranberry Snow paper for the squares and tiny white pearls to dot the i and add more interest. 
• I tied up each tag with red-white dotted ribbon.
• These look great on the red plaid Christmas paper packages!

These tags were a great way to use up both cardstock and decorative paper scraps from other projects.  If you're anything like me, there are always plenty of small leftover bits too good to throw away!

It's not even December 1st and I have all of my shopping done, all of my presents wrapped and many delivered, and only one more package to mail away.  Phew!  That's what can happen when one schedules knee replacement surgeries for Nov. 20th and Dec. 4th.  New knees is my present to myself this year!

Happy Crafting!

Peace by Melissa Rusk

We got our first big snow this past week so I felt it was time to make some cards with snowflakes on them.

I went with a different color scheme for this card and die cut snowflakes from the Crystal Snowflakes set and the Pinpoint Snowflake Circle Frame set in two colors of teal paper. I added some splatters of gold glimmer mist on the diagonal to give the snowflakes a path to land on.

Once the snowflakes were glued to the card I added gold sequins, clear drops and pearls to add more sparkle. I stamped the word peace from the Bold Christmas Greetings set in a coordinating teal color.

Have a wonderful and crafty day!

 

Supplies

 

94033 Crystal Snowflakes craft die

94030 Pinpoint Snowflake Circle Frame craft die

CL5233 Bold Christmas Greetings clear stamp set

Memory Box Challenge #44- Holiday Sparkle and Shine

Greetings friends.  It is time to introduce another Memory Box challenge. We hope you will play along with the theme through the end of the month.  You will even have the chance to win prizes!  Thank you so much to everyone who played along with us for our last challenge.  We are always inspired by your submissions!

The winner of the blog badge was Diane H from the Nellie's Nest blog.  She had a lovely autumnal design:

The random winner drawn from all the entries was MelissaSHB from the Created by Sunshine HoneyBee blog.

Please contact me at stampjournal@gmail.com to claim your prize.

Want to play along in this month's challenge?  The rules are simple - just create a project following the theme, use at least one Memory Box stamp or die on your project and link your entry to this blog post.  You can make a card, a scrapbook page, a home decor item, etc..  To encourage participants with various levels of stamping experience, one entry will be selected at random to win a prize. Enter as many times as you want, but your name will only be entered once into the random prize drawing.   In addition, the design team will select their favorite entry to  be highlighted on the Outside the Box blog and that designer will receive our winner badge to proudly display on their blog. 

You don't have to have a blog in order to participate.   You can upload your project to any online gallery and link it to this post.   In fairness to other players, we reserve the right to remove entries that do not use at least one Memory Box product.  You are also welcome to link your design to other challenges.  Feel free to grab our badge to post on your blog post or side bar.

It is the end of the year and time for holiday celebrations.  A good way to celebrate is with a little extra sparkle.  How do you add a little sparkle and shine?  Glitter?  Rhinestones?  Mirror paper?  There are so many options for adding a little glitz to cards.  We would absolutely love to see your sparkling holiday cards, scrapbook pages, tags, gifts, or anything that you create that celebrates the holidays with shine. All we ask is that you use at least one Memory Box product in your entry.

Here are a few ideas from the design team to help get you started:

by Laura Fulcher

by Jean Okimoto

 

There are several ways for you to enter the contest:

1.)  Link your finished work below

2.)  Enter on Instagram by tagging your sketch project with the #mbchallenge44 hashtag

You have until the end of the day (EST) on Sunday, December 30th.   Don't forget, you have to use at least one Memory Box item on your entry.  One project will be chosen at random to win the following prizes:

 

 

Supplies

 

94089 Pinpoint Snowflake Circle craft die

94097 Sparkle Journal Script craft die

94085 Dove Circle craft die