December Stamp Club Projects

I decided to focus on Christmas wrapping ideas for my Stamp Clubs in December. This month we will be making the following two projects. I will also be showing some ways to make bags and boxes pretty using their SU! supplies!
We will be making this cute little box using different designer papers with coordinating cardstock, along with a belly band to match. The lid of the box is a 5 x 5 square piece of Cerise designer paper, scored all around at 11/16 inches. Then just snip each corner on one side, fold in the the flaps and adhere. (I can show a more detailed tutorial if anyone's interested). The bottom is the same process, but with a 7 x 7 square sheet of Whisper White cardstock scored all around at 1 3/4 inches. The belly band is a 12 x 12 strip of Real Red cardstock. I folded it around loosely, then scored it after so it folded nicely. I used some Brilliant Blue to complement the red and white for the embellishment, which I made with the snowflake from All Through the Year and my scallop circle, 1 1/4" circle and 1 3/8" circle punches.
For this next project, I have to give all the credit to Teri (Big Ideas From a Little Girl). She showed a wonderful project here on her blog, and I totally CASEd it (Thanks, Teri!). I used the colours from the Winter Bright Simply Scrappin' Kit because I think they're really fun and festive! My clubs will be making four different gift tags and this tag holder to keep them in using Bashful Blue, Real Red, Wild Wasabi and Pretty in Pink.

For the card, I started with a piece of Bashful Blue cardstock and cut it to 8 1/2" x 7 1/2". Then I scored it at 4 1/4" (as if it were a regular card), then turned it and scored it at 2" so there was a flap at the bottom. I folded this up and adhered the sides with sticky strip so that there's a pocket inside the card to slip the tags into. Then I decorated the front with my Big Deal Alphabet set and the Merry & Bright set from the Holiday Mini Catalogue. I punched out the images with my 1 1/4" circle punch, then matted them and punched them out with my 1 3/8" circle punch.

RAKs in the Mail!

This was a good week for RAKs! It was nice that they arrived this week after all of us being sick for so long! These all really brightened my days!

This card arrived from Amy (AmyGDesigns). Amy is a good friend I've made here in Blogland! I just love her work, and she's such a sweet person as well. We've been encouraging each other for awhile now, and I'm really so grateful to have "met" her! It seems strange that we can be friends with people we've never met in person, but I'm just loving that it can happen through our blogs. Make sure you check out Amy's blog - her work is fantastic. Thank you so much, Amy, for this beautiful card! she made it with a One-Sheet Wonder. I love the colours and the slot pouch for the tag!









This one is the first Bella card I've seen IRL! And it's beautiful! This one is from Shannon (tyrymom), who won my blog candy draw awhile back. She sent this as a thank you card. I love the blue and orange! And this bella is so cute! I'm going to have to start looking into getting some bella stamps myself... Thank you so much, Shannon! I love it!












This card arrived from Tracy (Who is Tracy?), who also won some blog candy from me awhile back. I just love the soft, pretty colours and the sponging around the image! Thank you Tracy, for this wonderful card. Make sure you check out Tracy's blog as well! She's got some beautiful creations on there, and yummy recipes as well!

What Muppet Are You?

I saw this on Blogthings, and had to try it! Who else remembers the Muppets?! I used to love that show! Go ahead and try the quiz - you know you want to!

You Are Rowlf the Dog

Mellow and serious, you enjoy time alone cultivating your talents. You're a cool dog, and you always present a relaxed vibe. A talented pianist, you can play almost anything - especially songs by Beethoven. "My bark is worse than my bite, and my piano playing beats 'em both."

The Muppet Personality Test

I'm Still Here!

Hey everyone, I'm still here! Sorry I haven't posted for a few days. My kids were sick all last week (first one, then the other, then back to the first one... lots of fun!). Now it seems to be my turn. Isn't that always the way? Now my kids feel great and are begging to go outside and play in the snow, but I just want to lie on the couch under a blanket! Hopefully next week we'll all be healthy.

Needless to say, I haven't done much stamping. I received a couple of RAKs this week that I want to post when I feel better too, so I'll have some new stuff up soon. In the meantime, I'm going back to the couch! Thanks for your patience and thanks for all the nice comments on my other posts. I really appreciate them.

Blizzard Wrap

Last week I posted this card that I had made to go with Stampin' Up!'s Blizzard wrapping paper from the Holiday Mini Catalogue. My wrapping paper finally arrived, so here's what I did with it. After wrapping the gift in the chocolate paper, I made a bow from the Bashful Blue paper to go with it. I wish I had ordered the Chocolate Chip satin ribbon - I think that would look great wrapped around it... I guess I'll have to order it now that it's on special this week (buy one, get one free)! You can check out the Paper Bow Tutorial here, and my quick and easy version here.

Wow! I've Been Featured!

I'm so flattered and honoured - Candace at Crazy for Papercrafts has featured me on her blog this week. You can check out her amazing altered paint can, along with her very nice words about my blog here. Candace has some fantastic projects on her blog, so make sure you check them out!

Christmas Bookmark Cards

This is a card I made for the ladies who come to our church's Scrapbook ministry. Once a month, we have a crop night where everyone just brings their stuff to work on and we scrap and talk and have lots of fun. Tomorrow will be our Christmas wind-up. We wanted to give them a Christmas card and a bookmark, so I thought, "Why not make two-in-one!?"

The front is a simple sketch using Dashing designer series paper with Old Olive as the base and Real Red and Very Vanilla as accents. I used the Season of Joy stamp set (yes, again!) for the images (with Old Olive and Real Red ink). For the inside of the card, I printed the verse from Isaiah using Word onto Very Vanilla cs and cut it out first. Then I stamped on it before adhering it to the red matte. I glued the whole thing to the card, then I stapled some Artichoke ribbon to the top (it looks more like Old Olive to me). I used the perforating tool on my cutter kit to make a tearing edge so the bookmark can be removed. I made twenty-one of them (there were twenty-two cards, but my cutter kit ruined one!).The inside verse is Isaiah 40:31:
"Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint."

Gift Certificate Holder

This is a gift certificate holder that I put together for a customer. I took a 8 1/2 x 9 inch piece of Soft Sky cardstock and scored it horizontally at 3 and 6 - 3/4 inches.

This left a 2 1/4 inch piece to fold up to hold the gift certificate. I punched a half circle in the center of this flap with the 1 1/4 inch circle punch, then I adhered the sides shut with sticky strip.

For the top flap, I used my rounded corner punch to make a scalloped edge (I removed the guard first).

Then I took a 3 1/2 x 7 1/2 inch strip of Wintergreen designer paper and adhered it to the front. I cut a 3 x 6 3/4 inch panel in Whisper White and stamped the snowflake from Frosty all over it in Always Artichoke, Soft Sky and Sage Shadow. I then stamped the "Merry Christmas" from Season of Joy in Artichoke in the bottom right corner.

Next I made the belly band out of another strip of Wintergreen (it's 1 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches, scored at 3 3/4 and 7 1/2 inches). I folded it and adhered it, then made the embellishment for the front by punching a scalloped circle in Soft Sky. I finished this with a 1 1/4 inch white circle stamped with the snowflake from Season of Joy in Sage Shadow.

Frosty Glass Ornaments

I've seen these glass ornaments on quite a few blogs since Splitcoast Stampers posted the tutorial (here), including Lindsey's and Jenn's. Check out the beautiful ones they made!

I had purchased the glass ornaments, intending to emboss on them, but once I saw all these other samples, I had to try it this way (much easier!). By the way, it is VERY difficult to emboss on the outsides! I think I ruined five ornaments before I gave up! The ink smears because you have to roll the stamp on the glass. My upline, Sarah, made some beautiful ornaments last year with embossing on the outside, so I applaud her! It's hard!

Anyway, back to this ornament! I stamped the snowflake from Frosty on the transparency with Whisper White craft ink, then embossed it with Iridescent Ice ep to make it sparkly. I put some fake snow in the ornament and added a bit of glitter to that as well. I used silver elastic cord as a hanger for the ornament.

I made a bunch of these as Christmas gifts for the ladies in my downline (I can say that now because I've already given them to the girls!).

Christmas Portrait

I wanted to come up with a card that would showcase our new family photo, so this is what happened!

I started with Bayou Blue as a base because it blended with the blue in the photo. I chose Night of Navy and Whisper White as accent colours from the picture.

I rolled my Snowflake wheel over the card base with Not Quite Navy ink. Then I stamped "Merry Christmas" from Holidays and Wishes in VersaMark and embossed it with white embossing powder.

To matte the photo, I cut some navy paper to a half-inch larger than the picture (all around), then punched the corners with the now-retired (sad face here!) Wrought Iron punch. I slipped the photo in the corners and glued that to the white matte, then adhered the whole thing to the card.

With this card, people can take the photo out afterwards and keep that if they'd like.

Another Snowburst!

I had to make another card with the snowbursts! This is a card I will be making with my downline tonight at our group meeting. I wanted to show them how to make the snowburst, so I thought this would be a fun card to make together. You can find a tutorial here by Donna Mills on how to make them.

For this card, I used Real Red as the base. I stamped "Happy Holidays" from Flaky Friends in VersaMark and embossed it with white ep. Then I stamped the snowflakes from the set all over the card in Whisper White craft ink and heat set them so they dried quickly. I then adhered some white grosgrain across the front and added the snowburst.

The snowburst was made with Whisper White cardstock and vellum paper. For the center, I stamped a little snowflake (I think it's from Merry & Bright) in VersaMark and embossed it in white. Then I punched it out with my 3/4 inch circle punch and adhered it to the snowburst with about a quarter of a dimensional (so it didn't show through the vellum!).

There it is, quick and simple, just the way I like it! Thanks for reading!

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #28

This is my card for Beate's WSC28. I wanted to make a Christmas card out of Bashful Blue and Chocolate Chip to match the "Blizzard" wrapping paper in SU!'s Holiday Mini Catalogue, so this is what I came up with.

I found these snowburst tags on here on Fran's blog (Ink Up Your Creativity), and she links to an awesome tutorial by Donna Mills here. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy they are to make!

Anyway, I made two snowbursts and layered them, one out of Bashful Blue and one out of Chocolate Chip, both with vellum paper in the petals. For the center piece, I stamped the snowflake from Perfect Presentation in Bashful Blue on vellum and embossed it with clear ep. I layered it on Bashful Blue cardstock and punched it out with my 3/4 inch circle punch. I stuck it on with a dimensional.

For the rest of the card, I used Bashful Blue as my base and rolled my Snowflake wheel across it in Chocolate Chip ink. I did the same thing on the other blue layer. For the two mattes, I used my ticket corner punch on them. I put a strip of Chocolate Chip grosgrain down the front before adhering my snowbursts on with a dimensional. (I wish I had the chocolate satin ribbon or the wide grosgrain - I think it would have looked a lot better!)

I know I will be making more cards with snowbursts on them!

Encouraging Blogger Award!

I'm so excited and flattered! Jules at Stamping Stuff nominated me for an Encouraging Blogger Award! Thank you so much, Jules! If you haven't already checked out her blog, make sure you do - she's got some really great stuff on there!



In turn, I would like to nominate a few other bloggers who have been very encouraging to me:

• Alex (California Stampin')
• Amy (AmyGDesigns)
• Corie (Creations by Corie)
• Teri (Big Ideas from a Little Girl)
• My Paper World
• Diane aka dd2njoy (Diane doesn't have a blog, but she frequently leaves me very nice compliments, and I appreciate that!)

These are just a few of the wonderful ladies out there who have been so kind and supportive of my blogging efforts. Thank you so much!

Christmas Box

I found these cute take-out boxes at Deserres (which just opened a huge store in West Edmonton Mall - I'm so happy!). I thought they would be perfect for little Christmas gifts, and I knew they had to be stamped on!

I stamped the poinsettia in Real Red craft ink and the flourish in Gable Green craft ink (both are from the Season of Joy set). I then embossed them with clear ep to set them (the box is a bit shiny, so the ink would smear off if it wasn't embossed).

Then I made the bow with Dashing designer series paper (no, I didn't use Wintergreen this time! My new stash of paper just arrived - I love the November SU! paper special!). You can find a tutorial here on how to make the bows, and find a few more I've made here.

I haven't had much time for stamping lately, but I hope to make a bunch of stuff this weekend. I'm going into withdrawal from Beate's sketch challenges! She has a great sketch this weekend, so I really want to try it out! You can find it here if you want to join me!

Crazy Hat Day!

Okay, I had to share this picture of my sons. It was Crazy Hat Day at AWANA last Thursday (AWANA is a Christian kids' club where they play games, do crafts, learn Bible verses, sing songs, and generally have lots of fun!). Anyway, this is the hat I came up with for Adam in my infinite creativity (lame, I know, but I didn't have a lot of time!).

Adam said he wanted stars on his hat, so I drew some. Then he coloured them in and I cut them out for him. We pinned them all over his pirate hat. As you can see, he was quite proud of that hat (that's his "posing for a picture" smile!). He wanted to wear it for days afterwards! Noah seems to like it too!

Comfort Card for Church

This is the final card I made for the Women's Ministry at church. It is meant as a comfort card.

I CASEd this card from Summerthyme64 on Splitcoast Stampers, modifying it a bit to make it easier to mass-produce!

I used Kraft as the card base, then layered on some Bravo Burgundy that I had stamped with the French Flair background stamp in the same colour of ink. I put a little Word Window tab around the bottom right corner with a gold brad before adhering it to the card base. I then stamped the poppies from Oh So Lovely in Bravo Burgundy and shaded them in with a blender pen. The background stamp is in Mellow Moss. I matted this onto Moss and tied a burgundy ribbon around it before adhering it to the card.

Winter Wedding Shower

This is a card I made for a wedding shower for a young lady at my church who is getting married in December. She has chosen navy for her winter wedding, so I wanted to make a card that went with that.

I used polished stone technique for the background of the card with silver, Bashful Blue and Brocade Blue re-inkers on glossy white paper. After it dried, I sprayed it with acrylic sealer to set it because the silver tends to rub off onto everything! I used the ticket corner punch on the corners of this piece.

For the sentiment, I got to use my Rubber Soul Clear Stamps that I won in some blog candy awhile ago! I've been waiting for a chance to use them! I stamped them in Night of Navy on Brushed Silver cardstock, then punched it out with the scallop circle punch. I used my CM cutter kit to make a circle that was a bit larger than the scallop. I adhered the circle to the polished stone paper and added a strip of navy ribbon across it. I attached the scallop circle over the ribbon, then adhered the whole thing to the Night of Navy card base.

The picture doesn't really do it justice - it looks much better in real life!

Let's Remember

We had a wonderful service at church today. It is so nice that Remembrance Day falls on a Sunday this year. I love the image of Jesus giving His life for our spiritual freedom paralleling the sacrifice our soldiers gave and continue to give for our physical freedom.

One of the members of our church is in the RCMP, and he helped lead our service today. It was very moving as he spoke of all the people in the military and police force who serve everyday to help people who can't help themselves and to help us keep our freedom, often giving their lives for us. I am always moved to tears when I sing "O Canada", especially when we get to the part where it says, "God keep our land glorious and free, O Canada we stand on guard for thee." We do need to stand on guard to protect our freedom and to make sure those who are not free can become so. I am so thankful to our military and police forces who stand up for freedom everyday. Let us not forget them.

I have always loved this poem. Please take a moment to consider its words again:

In Flanders Fields

by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep,
though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

One More Princess Card

If you've visited my blog before, you probably know that I'm not really into mixing lots of colours and patterns - I'm more of a monochromatic girl! So I'm not sure about this card. I was asked to make Princess cards for the Women's Ministry at our church, and they wanted girly, pink Princess cards! So I hope they like this one. I found the sketch on Card Positioning Systems, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I chose the Petals & Paisleys designer paper because it has lots of flowers in it. I matched it with Pretty in Pink as the card base, on which I rolled the Petals jumbo wheel across the top in Pretty in Pink ink. I wanted the crown to be gold and shiny, so I stamped it on Brushed Gold cardstock and embossed it in gold. I put a strip of gold across the card front, then added the rectangle out of Petals & Paisleys and Pretty in Pink. I cut out the crown and adhered it to the rectangle with dimensionals. I wanted the word "Princess" on the card as well, but it had to be shiny too, so I embossed it in gold on the bottom left side of the card.

I hope it's girly and princess-y enough!

Check out Barb's Funny Story!

Barb has this HILARIOUS story posted on her blog. Check it out for a good laugh!

Princess Cards

The Women's Ministry Group came up with a theme for this year that I think is really cute. Since we're Daughters of the King, we are technically Princesses! So they asked me to make some princess cards for the group to give out. This was lots of fun since I have two boys and I don't often make very girly cards! I used the Perfect Princess stamp set for these.

This first card is CASEd from Nancy (iSTAMP). I found it on Splitcoast Stampers, and I absolutely loved it! You can see her card here. Nancy has beautiful work on her blog, so make sure you check it out!

This card has Pretty in Pink as the base with Lovely Lilac, Tempting Turquoise and Pixie Pink as accent colours. Most of the designer paper is Flowers for You, except the purple (I can't remember what kind it is - I won it playing Barb's Bingo!). The crown is stamped in Basic Black and cut out. I put a big rhinestone from my Pretties kit on the diamond (I would have used a square rhinestone, but I don't have any), I stuck it on the card with a dimensional. After it was attached, I put some Crystal Effects on the points of the crown and added some glitter (from the dollar store!). The pink background page is just stamped with the flourish in Perfect Princess with Whisper White craft ink.


This second card I actually came up with myself. I started by making some polished stone paper using silver, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and Bashful Blue ink refills. I sprayed it with a bit of acrylic sealer once it dried because the silver tends to rub off on everything!

I then decided on Perfect Plum as my card base, so I stamped the flourish all over it in Elegant Eggplant as a background. I cut the polished stone paper to fit in the middle and used my ticket corner punch on the corners. I wrapped some Eggplant ribbon around it and punched out some Brushed Silver cardstock with my scallop circle punch. I adhered this to the card before stamping the butterfly in Elegant Eggplant. Then I stamped Princess in VersaMark and embossed it in silver. I added a small purple rhinestone brad to dot the "i", then adhered the whole thing to the card with dimensionals. (Since the brads are really big in the back, it would have left a funny lump if I'd adhered it flat.)

Hope you like them! Thanks for reading.

Porcelain Daffodil

For this card, I was playing around with Jenn's sketch again, and this is what I came up with.

I just received the Porcelain Prints designer paper, so I had to use it! I used Wild Wasabi as the card base, then matted some designer paper on Blue Bayou. The flower is from Beautiful Life (borrowed from my MIL - it's so handy that she's also a demonstrator!) and is stamped on Very Vanilla with Blue Bayou and Wild Wasabi, also matted onto Blue Bayou. Inspired by Beate, I used the All in a Row set to make the faux stitching around the stamped image and the designer paper with Night of Navy.

To finish it off, I tied some Wild Wasabi double-stitched ribbon around the flower, then added some navy square buttons with mini glue dots.

Simply Elegant

I totally CASEd this card from my mother-in-law, Margo. I just loved it when I saw it! And it's so quick and easy (just the way I like it)!

I know there are no layers, but I don't think it needs any. I used Brushed Gold cardstock and stamped the words and images in VersaMark, then embossed them with gold ep. Then I used blender pens to colour in the flowers and leaves with Regal Rose and Always Artichoke. The sentiment is from Elegant Inspirations and the flowers are from Artfully Asian.

The Ladies' Ministry group at my church asked me to make some encouragement cards for them to give out, so I made a whole bunch of these for them.

A Pretties Christmas

Here's a card I made for Jenn's One Year Anniversary Challenge. She gave a fantastic sketch, so I had to try it out.

I really can't wait for my new designer paper to arrive because as much as I love the Wintergreen, I'm getting tired of using it on all my cards!!

Anyway, I did use Wintergreen for this one. I used Soft Sky as the base, with Sage Shadow as the matting for the stamped image. The tree is from Season of Joy, stamped in Sage Shadow. The "Merry Christmas" is from Holidays and Wishes, stamped in Soft Sky. (I think my stamp still had some burgundy on it, so it's kind of a Soft Sky/Bravo Burgundy combo - but I think it works!)

I was dying to use my new SU! Pretties kit, so I added some embellishments from that. I know the flower isn't very Christmas-y, but I had to use it! I dyed it in Sage Shadow (see note below). I used a small rhinestone from the kit to attach the flower and put a couple of large rhinestones up at the top. I think I should have put the two large brads a bit higher, but I couldn't move them as they left big holes in my paper!

*Just a note about dying the flowers: This is super easy - just put the flower face-down on the ink pad, put a piece of scrap paper over it to keep your hands from getting too inky, and rub the flower into the ink until it's dyed! I was actually amazed at how quickly the ink on the flower dried. It was ready to use in less than a minute and didn't get dye all over my cardstock (I speak from experience - I tried dying a cheapy flower in the ink and it took hours to dry. I attached it to my cardstock, and it left dye all over the paper from the flower.)!

And there you have it! Another Christmas card I can add to my pile!

Squash Book

I finally got around to trying the squash book - I've been wanting to make one for a long time! I'm actually surprised how easy it is. I think I'll be making a few of these for Christmas presents! They're only four inches square, so they fit nicely in your purse.

They're made with chipboard coasters as the covers, then just three sheets of cardstock inside. It does use a lot of sticky strip to hold the photos on and hold everything together, though. I used Wintergreen designer paper (don't worry - I've ordered some different designer paper, so when that arrives, I'll be able to use something other than Wintergreen! LOL) with Sage Shadow, Certainly Celery and Purely Pomegranate cardstock as accents.

To My Dad

It has been ten years today that my dad passed away from colon cancer. His passing has gotten easier as the years have gone by, but this year seems particularly difficult. Ten years seems like such a long time to be without him, but it has gone so quickly. It feels like he was here only yesterday.

I was blessed to have two wonderful parents who loved each other and my sister and me, and who spent lots of time with us growing up. My dad was always involved in our sports activities and our school work. He encouraged us to always try our best, be honest, be on time as a courtesy to others, and to honour our commitments.

My favourite memory of my dad is just a few weeks before he died. He was in bed (it was afternoon, but he was very tired), and I was lying with my head on his chest. I was apologizing to him for not being the best daughter. I had been a pretty obnoxious teenager and felt I needed to say sorry for that! He told me to stop apologizing, and he said, "You'll never know how special you are." To me, that is such an amazing picture of a parent's love. I am so grateful for the 23 years I had with him, though it was much too short.

I love you, Daddy.

More Bows!

I'm loving these bows! They're so quick and easy to make! I know I'll be making tons of these for Christmas presents. You can find the tutorial here. For these ones, I used Almost Amethyst Prints designer paper and Petals & Paisleys designer paper. (By the way, did you know that Stampin' Up! has designer paper on sale this month? When you buy three packages, you get one free! Also, for Canadian orders - there is FREE SHIPPING for the month of November, so you'll want to order this month!)

I was shown a tip on Saturday at our large group meeting. Susan P., a very talented demonstrator, showed us a quicker way to make these was to use your paper piercing tool and layer the paper strips on there (instead of folding and adhering each one). When you have four strips on the tool, just slide them off and put a brad through the bottom to hold them together. Much faster!

Pouch of Cards Tutorial

I've never written a tutorial before, so I hope this makes sense! I got this project from my friend, Treena, who learned it at a class she attended. So it's been passed down a lot! It's a great, easy project and makes a fantastic gift! I would have put it in Word with a link, but I had to draw the card templates by hand, so I scanned them and I'll include the instructions below.

Here are the supplies you'll need for the pouch of cards:

• 12 x 12" designer paper (2 different sheets)
• coordinating cardstock (one 8 1/2 X 11")
• neutral cardstock (one 8 1/2 x 11")
• neutral cards (6)
• envelopes (6)
• 6 x 6 scrapbook page protector
  
• 6 x 9 1/2" neutral cardstock for pouch insert
• velcro fastener
• brads, ribbons, etc.

Instructions:

1. Designate the designer paper as A and B. Coordinating cardstock is C and neutral cardstock is N. (For my cards, the Wintergreen snowflake is A, the Wintergreen spotted is B, the Sage Shadow is C and Whisper White is N.)
2. Cut the paper and cardstock as shown below (after step 4).
   
3. Adhere the paper and cardstock to the cards as shown on the template (click on the template picture to see a larger version).
4. Stamp and embellish the cards as you like. Ribbon and brad placements are suggested on the card templates.
   

Cut the paper as follows:

Designer Paper A
Card A - 2-1/4" x 4-1/4"
Card B - 2-1/2" x 4-1/4"; 2" x 3-1/4"
Card C - 1" x 5-1/2"
Card D - 3-1/4" x 5-1/2"
Card E - 1-1/2" x 5-1/2"
Card F - 2-1/4" x 5-1/2"

Designer Paper B
Card A - 3-1/4" x 4-1/4"
Card B - 3" x 4-1/4"
Card C - 2-1/2" x 5-1/2"
Card D - 1" x 1-1/2"
Card E - 3-1/4" x 5-1/2"
Card F - 2-1/2" x 5-1/2"

Coordinating Cardstock (C)
Card A - 2" x 5-1/4"
Card B - 1" x 4-1/4"
Card C - 2" x 5-1/2"; 2-1/4" x 2-1/4"
Card D - 2" x 3-1/4"; 1" x 5-1/2"
Card E - 2" x 3-1/4"
Card F - 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" (3)

Neutral Cardstock (N)
Card A - 1-3/4" x 5-1/4"
Card B - 1-3/4" x 3"
Card C - 2" x 2"
Card D - 1-3/4" x 3"
Card E - 1-3/4" x 3"
Card F - 1-3/8" x 1-3/8" (3) - use 1-3/8" square punch

Card Templates:























Pouch Instructions:

1. Cut the ring/post side off of the 6 x 6 page protector so you're just left with the pouch.
   
2. Score the insert page at about 6 1/2 (you want it longer than 6 inches because when the cards are in the pouch, it will be fuller and pull the insert up when you close it).
   
3. Decorate the pouch insert. I used a brass template to dry emboss and cut around the flap of the pouch, but you could just round the corners with a punch and stamp on it too.
   
4. Put the insert into the pouch and hold it in with a couple of mini glue dots in the top corners.
   
5. Remove the velcro fasteners from their protective backing and stick them together. Stick the velcro fasteners on the inside of the flap (both parts on the flap so that one is stuck to the flap with the other sticky-side-out.) Put the cards in the pouch and then close the flap so the other velcro fastener sticks to the outside of the pouch. This way, you will have the velcro pieces lined up with each other exactly where you want them.
   
6. Stamp the envelopes as desired and put them in the pouch as well.

Thanks for reading! I really hope this makes sense! Please let me know if you have any questions.

Here are the six cards I made, from Card A - Card F:

Christmas Pouch of Cards

This is a pouch of cards that I made as a door prize recently. I hadn't made Christmas ones before, but I love the Sage Shadow and Whisper White combination I ended up with from the Wintergreen paper.

I'm debating posting all the instructions for this project because it would take up a lot of space in a blog entry! Please let me know if that would be something you would like to see here - if there's lots of interest, I'll post all the details.

Thanks for reading!

Christmas Bow

Has everyone seen the new tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers for this amazing bow? I just had to try it! It is super fast and easy - just the way I like it!

I used the Rose Red and Certainly Celery Prints Designer paper for this one. You just cut all your strips of paper, roll them into petals and put the layers together with brads. Then to hold it all together, you use glue dots. (I'll let you check out the tutorial for more specific instructions. Jessica did a much better job explaining than I would be able to, and she has step-by-step photos!) How cute is that? I know I'll be making a bunch of these for Christmas!