Elegant Christmas

Hello!

As soon as I made this Christmas card, I couldn't wait to share it with you! I really like how it turned out! And, it may be one that we make at my Christmas Stamp-a-Stack on Saturday, October 24th at the Inman Wellness Center. You can find more information about that at the bottom of this post.

The colors on this card are just so classic: a deep red, gray & white!

This was super simple, but elegant! Hope you like it!

Supplies

Stamps: Joyful Ornaments & Thinking of You

Paper: White Ultrasmooth

Ink: Charcoal & L'amore Red Palette

Other: Ribbon, Pop Dots, Scor-bug, Square Punch

Stamp-a-Stack Information

Join me for a fun morning at my Stamp-a-Stack (SAS) on Saturday, October 24th in the morning (9 or 10, not sure which)! We will make 12 Christmas cards. When you leave, you will have 3 cards each of four different designs with hand stamped envelopes to match. You'll need to bring your own favorite adhesive and a covered drink. The cost will be $15 and you can sign up at the Wellness Center (or call them). Hope to see you there!!

Christmas?

I know what you're thinking. Christmas cards already?

Well, actually now is the PERFECT time to think about Christmas cards! You KNOW how busy your schedule gets come November & December. How would you like to have all of your handmade Christmas cards done BEFORE that time of the year!! It would be great, right?

I just received some new Christmas stamp sets from The Angel Company's Inspiration Avenue. I love them! I cut them all out Thursday and inked them up today. I hope you enjoy the cards that I have to share with you!

I love how this first card turned out. I love this color scheme and simple design.

Here's a closeup of some of the details. The scor-bug line at the top. The sparkle on the ornaments with the clear gelly pen. The notch on the card. The ribbon hanging off the side of the card.

Supplies:

Stamps: Joyful Ornaments, Holiday Cheer (Joy!)

Inks: Burnt Umber, Water Lilly Green & Bordeaux Palette

Paper: Blue Green Bazzill, TAC Brown & Kraft

Other: Clear Gelly Pen, Circle Punch, Button, Brown Scrapper's floss, Ribbon, scor-bug

This next card looks so much better in real life. Sometimes I have a hard time capturing the true colors of the ribbons & cardstocks. The ribbon has a much softer look in real life.

See that fun snowflake background? That is made using the new "Snowflake Backgrounder" stamp! I outlined the brown cardstock with my Sea Breeze VersaMagic Dew Drop ink pad. The nice thing about the dew drops is that they are perfect to distress with and they have a nice foamy pad that allows you to easily ink edges.

Above you can see that I cut out the bird from the "Holiday Cheer" set and popped him up with pop dots. The green panel is also popped up on pop dots as well. I colored the leaf stem with markers.

Supplies
Stamps: Holiday Cheer, Snowflake Backgrounder, Tag Tidbits
Inks: Sea Breeze VersaMagic, Burnt Umber & Lamore Red Palette
Paper: TAC Brown & Ivory, DCWV Green
Other: Green Tombow marker, pop dots, ribbon

Dimensional Pop Dots...A Lesson

If you have been following my blog for a while you'll notice something that almost everything I create has in common...pop dots!! I love adding a little dimension to my projects...cards & scrapbook pages!!

Do you use pop dots? If not, or if you're just getting started, I wanted to share a few secrets on how to get the most out of them! TAC has THE best pop dots ever!! I have used lots of different kinds of pop dots and have never found any that I like more than these! They are just the right thickness and they don't "squish" and lose their dimension. I LOVE them!!

Here's what the sheet of pop dots look like when you get it. The sheet contains 100 circle pop dots:

I usually pop out all of the circles when I get them so that they will be easy & accessible when I need them. I store the pop dots in a little clam shell plastic box (the ones the smallest stamps come in). It is PERFECT for storing them. I always have the box close by so when I need a pop dot, it is easy to reach and get out the number I need.

Very rarely, do I use a WHOLE pop dot though. These pop dots are nice and thick, so unless I am applying them to a really BIG section (and it would have to be big), I almost always cut them in half or in fourths. It makes the pop dots go a LONG way. Sometimes when I am using them in my scrapbooks, I'll be a little more generous and use a complete circle, but even then, I don't always do that. Here's what they look like cut apart in half & in fourths.

After all the circles are popped out, you have a sheet that looks like this. Don't throw this away! Use this to get even more pop "dots".

Cut that sheet into strips like this:

Then, cut those strips into pieces like this:

You have just doubled or tripled your pop dot supply! These pieces work just the same, no one sees them on the finished project and they are perfect for lots of different places. You can cut them tiny for small areas (like flower petals) that you need to pop up, you can leave them bigger/longer for border strips, etc.

Here's a closeup of the dimension on the card above. I used 4 of those little pieces I cut. Basically, equivalent to 1 pop dot cut in fourths or maybe 2 circles cut in half.

I hope this post helped you if you are just starting to work with dimensionals! Have fun playing...I LOVE them!! :)

Supplies:
TAC Kraft, Brown & Ultrasmooth White Cardstock, L'amore Red, Haystack (on the background circles) & Burnt Umber Palette Ink, Scalloped Square punch, TAC Ordinary Greetings & Floral Fruits stamp sets

Mini Ornament Box

Hey everyone!! I wanted to share a few pictures of the mini ornament box that I made that is featured in TAC's newest Inspiration Avenue publication. The template to make this box, along with instructions for all 3 pieces (the box bottom, the lid & the insert) can be found on the Angel Company's website under downloads. Click here to go directly there.

Here's a view of the top of the box. It has an acetate window so that you can get a glimpse of the surprise inside!

Here's what is inside the box. A clear mini ornament with lots of little embellishments inside. What a FUN gift for a scrapbooker or card-maker friend! Inside the ornament I put brads, eyelets, lots of colors of buttons, paper flowers and my favorite, little rolls of ribbon!

Here are a few more views of the ornament contents:

The ornament image is a new set called "Simple Joys" that is featured in the new Inspiration Avenue publication.

Well, thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed a few extra peeks at this box! Remember, if you would like to know how to make this box, stop by The Angel Company's website for the template and instructions or click here.

Patterned Paper: TAC Reece Paper Pack
Coloring Medium: Watercolor pencils & Dove Blender