Brown Bear Hugs by Jean Okimoto

Send bear hugs and Valentine wishes with a spooky Halloween forest, a Christmas polar bear and heart garlands from a globe die.  Take advantage of the versatility of these great dies and repurpose them for other holidays and occasions.  Hi, Jean Okimoto here with a combo designed to get the most from your Memory Box collection.

We're using 3 shades of Kraft cardstock here - light, medium and dark.  Cut medium Kraft cardstock with the largest Rectangle Basics die.  Cut it with the Ghosts in the Forest die.

Cut the red Glitzy Glitter Pad sheet with the Heart Streamer Globe.  Add a 4th heart to one of the streamers.  Attach the streamers to the trees by taping the ends behind the edges of the diecut.  Attach it to a natural A2 notecard.

Cut Layered Polar Bear's background from light Kraft cardstock.  Color the ears with a brown marker.  Attach a scrap of   Black  Glossy Paper behind the eyes and nose. Cut the remaining pieces dark Kraft cardstock.  Assemble the beqr.

Cut red cardstock from the Berry Red Collection with the smallest Double Stitch Loving Heart Cut Out die. Cut "hugs" from black cardstock with the Lower Case Poetic Alphabet and attach it to the heart.  Attach the heart to the bear using foam tape at the top of the heart.

Attach the diecuts to a natural A2 notecard - use foam dots for the bear.  Add the clear Christmas Fairy Crystals.  Cut an A2-sized piece of cardstock to protect the card front during mailing.

Layered Polar Bear is really a bear for all seasons.  Add bunny ears for spring - and a mask, witch hat or ghost costume for Halloween.  He's great for baby, thinking-of-you and birthday cards too!

Thanks for visiting - see you again this weekend...

 

 

 

Supplies

 

94685 Layered Polar Bear

94558 Heart Streamer Globe

30086 Rectangle Basics Set

94359 Double Stitch Loving Heart Cut Out

94622 Ghosts in the Forest

cry102 Christmas Fairy Crystals

gp1007 Glitzy Glitter Pad

sp1001 Berry Red

sh44004 Black Glossy Paper

 

 

From Poppystamps -

Supplies

 

2332 Poetic Lowercase Alphabet

Love and Joy by Donna Sledzik

Hello everyone!  Today I have one more Christmas card for you using new and old products.   I used the Heart Ring Stack die from the 2023 Valentine's Day release and turned it into a Christmas card.

I die cut the Heart Ring in the middle of a white cardstock panel and saved the die cut heart outline.

Next, I ink blended a piece white cardstock to go behind the heart die cut. 

I glued this panel behind the die cut and glued the heart outline in place.  I adhered the white card front to a black cardstock mat and then used foam tape to glue it to a white card base.

Next, I stamped, colored and cut out the images and used foam tape to adhere them to the card.

The sentiment I stamped and white heat embossed and glued it under the row of hearts.

I decided that the card needed a little something else so I added gold ink spatters.

That's it for today and my last post for 2022.  See you next year and have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

Supplies

 

94662 Heart Ring Stack

CL5273D Festive Christmas Greetings clear stamp and die set

Sending Warmest Wishes

Good morning everyone!  Today's card features new dies from the 2023 Valentine's Day release.  I decided to do a Christmas card using the new dies to show how you can stretch your dies to work for any occasion.

I die cut a white cardstock panel using the Pinpoint Snowflake Plate and adhered it to a dark brown cardstock mat.   Using a blender brush and Gathered Twigs Distress ink, I added a little color to the snowflake background.

Next, I die cut all my elements from white cardstock and used Distress Ink and a blender brush to add color to the die cuts.  Make sure you save the inside parts of the cup to paper piece and color.

Distress colors used:

• Cup, sending and heart - Lumberjack Plaid
• Pines and Holly - Rustic Wilderness
• Hot Chocolate - Gathered Twigs

I glued the cup to the background and then fit the die cut pieces back into the cup.

Next, I adhered the evergreen and holly to the card.

The word "sending" was glued in place and "warmest wishes" was white heat embossed on a strip of dark brown cardstock and glued the sentiment strip under the word "sending".

To finish the card, I glued a red fairy crystal to the holly leaves.

I hope you have a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by today!

 

Supplies

 

CRY102 Christmas Fairy Crystals

94513 Pinpoint Snowflake Plate

94637 Cuppa Love

94661 Sending Love Daily Script

94680 Alpine Snowflakes

94687 Pine Needle Frame

94599 Holly Branch

A Wish for Peace by Jean Okimoto

Create a pastel holiday card of pinks, plaid and Fairy Crystals with the Poinsettia Watercolor Floral set.  The 6x6 Berry Red Collection has the perfect pinks to complement  the Christmas Jolly plaid.  Hi, Jean Okimoto here with a holiday design for you.

Cut Poinsettia Watercolor Floral in 2 shades of pink from the Berry Red Collection.  Cut the center accent from the yellow 6x6 in the Graceful Garden Glitter Pad.  Assemble the poinsettia - use the darker pink for the base layers and the medium pink for the tops.  

Save the extra diecuts and create an extra poinsettia with light pink base layers and darker pink tops.  

Stamp the greeting - from the Sweet Christmas Clear Stamp Set - on lighter pink 6x6 with Lightning Black Brilliance.  Dry the ink, then trim the greeting with the second-smallest Nested Globe die - just turn it sideways for a greeting tab.

Cut another pink globe, the pink/red/gold/white Christmas Jolly plaid and White Woodgrain Paper with the 3", 2-½" and 2" Nested Globes dies.

Attach the diecuts to a top-folded textured gray A-2 card - use foamtape near the tips of the poinsettia.

Add pink Autumn Fairy Crystals.  Cut an A-2 sized piece of cardstock to protect the card front for mailing.

Layered, contrasting diecuts add dimension to any design.  Mix 2 shades of red or cream cardstock for a different look.  Or use a combo of matte and metallic cardstock - or matte cardstock and glittered cardstock.  Have fun with this design - rearrange the diecuts or rotate the entire poinsettia for a different look.

Thanks for visiting...see you again on Thursday!

 

 

 

Supplies

 

94676 Poinsettia Watercolor Floral

94532 Nested Globes

cry101 Autumn Fairy Crystals

cl5283 Sweet Christmas clear stamp set

gp1002 Graceful Garden Glitter Pad

sp1001 Berry Red

pp1019 Christmas Jolly 6x6 pack

sh44001 White Woodgrain Paper Pack

Sweet Holidays Wishes by Anne Thompson

For today's post I used the Celeste Plate and the Celeste Snowflake to create a holiday card with a sweet message.

I cut the CELESTE PLATE 94699 from one of the red plaids in the JOLLY CHRISTMAS PP1019 6X6 paper pad and added it to the front of a plain white notecard.

Next I cut both parts of the CELESTE SNOWFLAKE 94697 from a sheet of white glitter paper.  This was a loose sheet in my paper box but I'm pretty sure it came from the FESTIVE GLITTER PAD GP1006.  Doesn't the snowflake look like a beautifully decorated sugary cookie?!

From the clear stamp set SWEET CHRISTMAS CL5283 I chose the sentiment "Hope your Holidays are Sweet" and stamped it with VersaFine Clair Nocturne (black) ink on a scrap of white card stock. 

To finish the card, I trimmed the sentiment piece down a bit and added a scrap of the same red plaid I used for the Celeste Plate under it and then trimmed that.  I added the sentiment in the lower right corner.  I used a foam dot in the center of the Celeste Snowflake to add it to the card.

Whatever holidays you celebrate this month may they be sweet ones for you.

Happy crafting!

 

First Snow…from Skates to Winter Boots by Jean Okimoto

Turn a pair of ice skates into waterproof winter boots for a walk in the woods this weekend.  Add a glittery scarf and a matching pink felt hat and you're ready for winter!  Happy First Snow Weekend if you're in the northwest - Jean Okimoto here with a holiday slimline on a frosty Saturday.

If (like me!) you can't skate, but you can walk the dogs - just eliminate the blades from the Classic Pair of Ice Skates.  Diecut them in adhesive pink vinyl (attached to heavyweight white cardstock) and create glossy, waterproof boots for a walk in the woods.  Cut the sole and heel from black cardstock.  Stitch the boots with floss or crochet thread.

We're borrowing the scarf and hat from the Little Bundled Snowman and cutting them in girlie pink.  Attach adhesive label paper (or a sticker sheet) to pink felt and cut the main portion of the hat.  The paper backing stabilizes the felt and prevents adhesives from saturating it.  Cut the pompom and bottom band from the pink 6x6 in the Delicate Pastels Glitter Pad.  Cut the scarf sections from the pink 6x6 too.  Trim the fringe and assemble the scarf - I've used some of the pieces and added the short fringed end over the top to resemble a knot.  (I hope!)

Cut the small and medium Alpine Snowflakes from a silver Majestic Hues Glitter Pad 6x6.

Brayer Delicata Silvery Shimmer ink onto White Woodgrain Paper and dry the ink. Diecut it with Birch Tree Trunks.

Attach the diecuts to a white slimline card (3-⅝" x 8-½") - use foamtape for the hat, scarf and the boot on the left.  

Keep warm, be safe and have a great weekend...see you again next week!

 

 

 

 

Supplies

 

94680 Alpine Snowflakes

94678 Little Bundled Snowman

94701 Birch Tree Trunks

94674 Classic Pair of Ice Skates

gp1001 Delicate Pastel Glitter Pad

gp1008 Majestic Hues Glitter Pad

sh44001 White Woodgrain Paper Pack

Christmas by Donna Sledzik

Hello everyone!  Today I have a quick and easy Christmas card for you.

I began by die cutting the Layered Narrow Pines from several pieces of green distress ink background papers.  I only used the large tree die, not the layered shadow die that comes in the set.

I stamped my greeting on the bottom portion of watercolor cardstock and then glued my trees to the paper.  I used foam tape to adhere the tallest tree and glued the other two directly onto the cardstock.  Using a blender brush I added a little bit of Bundled Sage Distress Ink under the trees. I spattered the card front with white ink and glued it to a black cardstock mat.  Next, I used foam tape to glue it to a white card base.

To finish the card, I added a red fairy crystal to the top of the middle tree.  

See how quick that was!  To save time you could die cut the trees from different color cardstock instead of creating your our background paper.

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

 

Supplies

 

CRY102 Christmas Fairy Crystals

94706 Layered Narrow Pines

CL5283 Sweet Christmas clear stamp set

WP101 Watercolor Paper

Create a Pinpoint Snowflake Ornament by Jean Okimoto

Create unique ornaments with basic diecut shapes, pinpoint plates, and shimmery metallic 6x6 Mirror Pads.  The designs add texture and luster to simple shapes for cards and holiday decor.  Hi, Jean Okimoto here with an easy way to add special details to your diecuts.

Cut the basic Frilling Snowflake Ornament from the pale blue Vintage Pastel Mirror Pad 6x6.  Here's a tip for selecting and cutting the perfect section of a large die...

Cut a contrasting paper template with the basic background die.  Use the offcut to select a section of the Snowflake Plate to be transferred to the ornament.  (It'll be reveresed on the card.)  Place the ornament diecut face-down into the template and diecut the details onto the ornament.

Punch a hole and tie the ornament with gold cord.  Use the side of a bonefolder - or the plastic burnishing tool - to curl the cord.  Follow the curve of the cord for best results.

Diecut Joy Posh Script from a light lavender sheet in the Twilight Purple Collection - and from the violet Glitzy Glitter sheet.

Cut the turquoise Rainbow Reflections 6x6 and a darker lavender Twilight Purple 6x6 with the second-smallest  Slim Basic Rectangle Layers die.

I used scrap of ink-blended Open Studio Watercolor Paper from my stash for the background.  It's sprayed with Imagine's Gold Sheer Shimmer Spritz, air-dried for a few minutes, then heat-set. Trim it to 1-⅞" x 3-¾".

Attach the diecuts to a white slimline card (3-⅝" x 8-½").  Add lavender Autumn Fairy Crystals.  Cut a slimline-sized rectangle of cardtock to protect the card front for mailing.

Thanks for visiting our blog - hope you'll try these techniques on your holiday cards!

 

 

Supplies

 

94513

94695

94591 Joy Posh Script

94556 Slim Basic Rectangle Layers

gp1007 Glitzy Glitter Pad

fp1003 Rainbow Reflections Mirror Pad

sp1008 Twilight Purple

wp101 Watercolor Paper

cry101 Autumn Fairy Crystals

fp1002 Vintage Pastel Mirror Pad

Little Bundled Snowman by Trina Pham

Hello everyone.  Continuing with my Christmas cards I have a sweet Christmas card to share today featuring a few products from the 2022 Christmas release.  

Started with the background and did layered masking.  Using the single snowflake die from the Frilling Snowflake Ornament die set, a bunch of snowflakes were die cut from waterproof masking paper.  Placed a few onto the smooth side of Memory Box watercolor paper and did an ombré watercolor wash using a flat brush and Uncharted Mariner and Salvaged Patina distress inks (DI).

Dried the panel with the heat tool then repeated the process two more times, adding more snowflake masks each time.  This was the result after the third time with masks still in place.

Removed the masks and you can see the color variation in the snowflakes from the different layers of masking.  You will also notice watercolors seeped underneath some of them.  

To fix the three initial ones that should have been the color of the watercolor paper, die cut three snowflakes from white and cover them up.  Or you could skip the first step and start the masking after the first watercolor wash and die cut the white snowflakes at the end.

For snow, splattered with diluted white gouache paint.  Allow to dry then trimmed the panel to 1/8” smaller than a regular A2 size card.

The Little Bundled Snowman was die cut from alcohol marker friendly cardstock and the layers were colored with Copic Sketch markers.  Die cut the sentiment from black cardstock and hand cut a snowbank from Bristol paper.  Assembled the card onto a white card base, then spritz with a shimmer spray for some sparkle to finish.

That does it for my card.  Thank you for joining me today.  Have a wonderful week.

Supplies

 

94695 Frilling Snowflake Ornament

94678 Little Bundled Snowman

94700 Keep Christmas Curled Script

WP101 Watercolor Paper

A Fun Little Christmas Ornament by Donna Sledzik

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving.  Now it's time to transition into the Christmas season!

Today I have a simple Christmas ornament for you to create.  

I started by die cutting a 3.5" circle from plaid paper and set it into a 3" wooden embroidery hoop.  I centered the die cut circle over the smaller piece of the embroidery hoop.  I gently folded the paper over the hoop.  Next, I placed the larger hoop on top of the paper.

I die cut the saying from white foil paper and glued it to the center of the plaid paper.

Next, I die cut the Pine Needle Frame from white cardstock and cut the pine boughs from the frame.  I used a blending brush and Peeled Paint Distress Oxide Ink to add a little color to the pine die cuts.

I used liquid glue to adhere them to the embroidery hoop.

To finish the ornament I added some Christmas Fairy Crystals to the ornament.  I tied a piece of twine thru the top of the hoop to hang the ornament.

That's it for today!  Have a great weekend!

 

Supplies

 

CRY102 Christmas Fairy Crystals

94707 Repeat the Sounding Joy Curled Script

94687 Pine Needle Frame

FP1002 Vintage Pastel Mirror Pad