More Ornaments

 Here are some more ornaments that will be going onto our tree and to our Grands this year, all made with Spellbinders Klondike the Moose.

These dies were originally meant to be hinged so that the moose can dance (swing his legs), but I decided to make them stationary, so they could be double sided.  This way, you can vary the length of their legs, too.  As I did on the angels earlier, I made these two-sided so that if they swing, it doesn't matter.  Before I attached the mirror image to each, I taped in a strong thread hanger.

Which is your favorite?  Mine is the bright green one, made for our Grandson Owen, who loves the Austin Football club.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Felt Forest Fox

 Nichol Spohr has designed a delightful suite of felt stitching products with Spellbinders, which she calls her Felt Stitch and Create Collection!  I was thrilled to get the adorable Felt Forest Fox!  I made 1 sample, and then styled her 2 different ways with paper accessories.

supplies: Felt Forest Fox dies, brown, cream, black, and peach felt, 3 strands of embroidery floss to match, 2 layers of Warm & Natural quilt batting

I used wool felt that I have here at home.  Nichol gives wonderful directions on how to assemble this sweet fox HERE, and they were very helpful.   I especially liked how she showed us how to bring the eyes to life with a bit of sparkle and those adorable little lashes.  With eyes like these, of course this is a little girl!  I had a paper bow in my stash, so I just popped it on as I was taking my pictures.

Here's another with flowers instead of the bow.  Just some ideas on how to personalize these.......

supplies: Felt Forest Fox dies, brown, cream, black, and peach wool felt, 3 strands of embroidery floss to match, 2 layers of Warm & Natural quilt batting

I really enjoyed this process.  So much so that I started another with some cheaper felt that I have, but abandoned that quickly, as it shredded pretty easily.  Spellbinders has a nice grouping of ten 8 X 12" Merino wool felt sheets in various colorways to work with Nichole's other stitching kits.

If you're wondering, the fox measures a bit over 4" wide by 5+" tall.  So it could be done 1-layered and added to a card, if you so wish.  I may try that next, since I'm out of felt!

Be sure to look at the rest of Nichol's collection; there's a star-shaped snowman, an owl, a reindeer, some gingerbread people, plus more!

I also wanted to let you know about the current Spellbinders Early Black Friday sale, which will last until November 28 - it's huge and there are lots of savings to be had!

Angel Ornaments

I fell in love with the beautiful Build an Angel die set from Paper Trey Ink the moment I saw them.  I know they will make lovely cards, but I wanted them especially to make some paper ornaments for Christmas.  It's something I try to do every year.  

Because these are ornaments, I made them double-sided, so that if I add a thread to hang them with and they swing, it won't matter.  For today's pictures, however, I just perched them among my branches.  Here's what I've made so far.

supplies: ivory cardstock and matte gold metallic cardstock, also to line the filigree hem on her dress

supplies: pink damask design paper and rose gold metallic cardstock

supplies: woodgrain and matte silver metallic cardstock, swiped lightly with silver ink  I made this one for my son.

supplies: music design paper and gold metallic cardstock

supplies: soft pink tone-on-tone design paper and silver metallic cardstock

supplies: pink floral design paper and gold glitter cardstock

And finally, I tried a small-scale floral print and non-metallic wings.

supplies: cream cardstock and a floral design paper

Some observations: you can line the angel's skirt bottom, but on a tree, I think I like it better unlined - the lovely details show better.  

I found it very hard to cut the detailed wings using glitter paper - no matter how many times I swiped through my machine, I couldn't dislodge the tiny pieces.  I finally did find an ancient pad of paper that was adhesive glitter and you pulled off the backing to stick it to white cardstock.  That cut just fine, but today's glitter papers are just too thick.  The wing cuts out, but the details in it are difficult to dislodge.

This set has 2 sizes of angels - I used the largest ones here; they measure about 3 1/2" wide by 4 1/2" long.  I think I'll use the smaller ones on A2 cards.  Each angel has a choice of 3 different wing styles and a halo to cut out separately from the angel.  I haven't used the plainest wing yet.  I also experimented with the wings pointing up or down; I like both ways, and it's nice to have that option!

These would make lovely place-setting cards, too, on your Christmas table, or how about 3 or 4 of them on an indoor wreath?  Or string several of them together for a garland.  And of course, what sweet tags they'd make!

Postage Collage and Harvest Wreath

 Here's another play with my new Postage Collage bundle.  This time I started with a Turnabout wreath, and then cut the individual stamps apart.  

supplies: white and Doll Pink cardstock, Spellbinders Postage Edge Rectangle dies, Oak Forest 3D embossing folder, Concord & 9th Harvest Wreath turnabout stamps, picked raspberry, vintage photo, carved pumpkin, and dusty concord distress inks, Postage Collage Coloring stencil, Postage Collage die, Postage Collage stamps, Newton's Nook Autumn Newton sentiments

My card measures a bit over 4 3/4" X 6".  I wanted to make my card itself into a big postage shape!  

Here's a picture of the panel before I cut it apart.  I used my Turnabout Jig to position my panel, and one of the Postage stencils before stamping the design.  I wanted to use some untraditional fall colors this time.  You get a completely different look when you cut the individual stamps apart, don't you think?

The object of this whole exercise was to see what I could do with the basic bundle of Postage Collage goodies, and now I think even more that it is a very versatile set.  I look forward to incorporating them into future projects in all seasons.  That's not to say that I will not add to the collection with more of Waffle Flower's stencils and stamps to fill in these tiny little canvases!

Thanks for stopping by - hope your day is a lovely one!

Postage Collage and a Stencil

 Here's another entry into my experiments with the Waffle Flower Postage Collage products.  This time I started with an already stencilled and embossed panel from one of Altenew's Craft Your Life kits.

supplies: white and a mint mat from Scrapook.com Sunshine A2 paper pad, Waffle Flower Postage Collage dies and Postage Collage stamps, Altenew Watercolor Flowers Craft Your Life stencils and embossing folder, Pink Fresh Studio Perfect Sentiments stamps and die, adhesive strips

Unlike my 2 other cards, I did not use the coloring stencil.  I just cut the collage die direct from my panel that was previously stencilled and embossed.  Then I just added some postage stamps and lifted up a sentiment stamped in aqua.  

I'm having a ball!  I can see why these products are so popular!  Thank you once again for stopping by.

Postage Collage

 Still playing with my new Waffle Flower Postage Collage goodies, this time mixed with a favorite but sadly retired Simon Says Stamp floral stamp.

supplies: white, black, and dark peach cardstock, Postage Collage die, Postage Collage Coloring Stencil, Postage Collage stamps, Simon Says Stamp (retired) You Have My Heart floral spray, coral and jade markers to color, Spellbinders Curved Everyday Sentiments glimmer plate/die, Polished Brass hot glimmer foil

My process for this card:

    Cut out Postage Collage die from white cardstock

    Overlay Coloring stencil and stamp floral spray

    Remove stencil

    Color floral spray

    Add small Postage stamp details

    Affix to peach mat

    Add Curved sentiment

Next I want to do this again with a layering stencil - hope you'll come back for that in a few days!  Thanks for visiting!

Spellbinders November Club Kits: Confetti Wishes

 The Spellbinders Club Kits are here!  This month's theme is Confetti Wishes!  Here's your chance to build up your birthday stash!!

Here are 2 cards on which I mixed the Stencils of the Month: Squared Away with both embossing folders. The first one uses the regular folder called Cascading Streamers and soft colors of ink.

supplies: white and black cardstock, Squared Away stencils, distress inks in saltwater taffy, worn lipstick, shabby shutters, carved pumpkin, and tumbled glass, Duckling ink, Cascading Streamers embossing folder, sentiment from Smooth Lines Mix & Match Sentiments

I cut my sentiment 3 times, twice from white, and once from black.

Here's a second version in brighter colors, this time matched with the Rosette Burst 3D embossing folder.

white and black cardstock, vellum, Squared Away stencils, distress inks in picked raspberry, mustard seed, carved pumpkin, twisted citron, mowed lawn, salvaged patina, and peacock feathers, Rosette Burst 3D embossing folder, Stylized Happy Birthday sentiment

The stencil set is 5 parts, so you can get lots of colors onto your panel, if you wish.  This was really fun to play with!  And I think it's an excellent background for any of your embossing folders, too.

Next I mixed 3 clubs.  Glimmer Kit: Confetti Burst plate and Rainbow Confetti glimmer foil, Large Dies: Hooray It's Your Birthday, and a sentiment from the Stamp/Die Kit: Confetti Wishes.  

supplies: colored cardstock, Confetti Burst Glimmer plate, Rainbow Confetti glimmer foil, Hooray It's Your Birthday frog and car dies, sentiment from Confetti Wishes

My next 2 cards use the Stitching Kit: Crossed Stitched Nested Card Front and the Small Dies: Birthday Bliss, with sentiments from the Glimmer kit: Confetti Burst.

supplies: colored cardstock, sloth, balloons, and clouds from Birthday Bliss kit, Cross Stitched die and green variegated floss, 6 strands, a foiled sentiment from Confetti Burst

I enjoyed stitching this month, so I stitched all 3 panels using variegated green floss.  The largest was a full cross stitch, and the others were just slashes, each going in a different direction.  

white and greens cardstock, Cross Stitched Nested Card Front dies, green variegated floss, turtle from Birthday Bliss, another foiled sentiment from Confetti Burst

As you can see, this month is packed with cute critters.  The Large dies also include a big crocodile, which I haven't used yet!

You can look HERE for information on Spellbinders Clubs.  Each is available for new subscribers from the 6th until the 27th of each month.  If you click on my links under each card, you can see the specifics of each product.  You can subscribe to each of our 10 kits separately, (and you can "unjoin" a subscription at any time without any penalty), or you can get them all, plus a free bonus item each month, and save 60% by choosing the Deluxe Caboodle!

A Postage Collage for Fall!

 I am probably the last person on earth to get these Waffle Flower Postage Collage dies, stamps, and stencils, but I made it at last, with a nice sale over at Waffle Flower a few weeks ago.  And I get it!  These are so unique and fun!  

I started with the main Postage Collage die and added the Coloring Stencil set and the original Postage Collage stamp set (I loved all the references on it to "sending hugs"!)  Could have gone on and on with their seasonal stencils to fill in with, but I thought I'd try to use what I have here before I jump down that rabbit hole!

Here's my first card.  I used all of the above, and pulled out an old favorite MFT stamp set called Harvest Mouse.

supplies: white and Audrey Blue cardstock, Postage Collage Die, Postage Collage Coloring Stencil, tumbled glass distress ink, Postage Collage stamps, My Favorite Things (retired) Harvest Mouse stamps, sentiment from Sunny Studio Autumn Greetings

I cut the Postage Die from white cardstock, then used one of the stencils to mask so that I could brush in a blue background in each cell.  Then I stamped, colored, and cut out the mice and a couple extra pumpkins, and arranged them on the postage panel.  I took a picture, removed the elements, and then stamped the postage stamps and a fall sentiment before gluing everything together and mounting it on an aqua mat.

I will be playing more with these new goodies - stay tuned!  Thanks for visiting my blog today.

Adding this to the Anything Goes challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge.

Some Wreaths for November Thanks

 It's November!  This month is for being grateful, and so I thought I'd start it out with a couple wreath cards for that occasion.  

Both of them start with cream card bases, and use Concord & 9th Turnabout products and the same 4 colors of distress oxide inks.

My first card uses a turnabout stamp set called Harvest Wreath.

supplies: cream and Audrey Blue cardstock, vellum, Concord & 9th Harvest Wreath Turnabout stamp set, Turnabout Jig, mustard seed, ripe persimmon, peacock feathers, and vintage photo oxide inks, Sunny Studio Autumn Greetings sentiment, Pink Fresh Studio Folk Edge Rectangle die

These stamps make such a pretty design, that I never want to cover them up, so I stamped and clear embossed my sentiment on a strip of vellum this time.  It reads "Wishing You a Season of Blessings".

The second card started with a turnabout stencil called Autumn Hues.

supplies: cream cardstock, Concord & 9th Autumn Hues Turnabout stencil, Turnabout Jig, same inks as above, sentiment and circle from Gina K. Designs Autumn Wreath Builder, MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangle die

These Turnabout goodies are pure fun, in my opinion; I always enjoy the process of working with them!  For those of you who haven't tried them yet, you position the stamp or stencil in your Misti with the help of the included acetate alignment aid, choose a color of ink, stamp or stencil, then turn your cardstock 1/4 turn to the right and choose another ink color, repeating this twice more to complete the design using 4 colors. I always use the Turnabout Jig to make sure my paper is positioned correctly to get the design centered perfectly on it. 

I'm entering these into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes.

Thanks so much for stopping by today - have a great one!

Woodblock Wednesday and Love Those Pretty Papers

 I made this card with 2 challenges in mind: Woodblock Wednesday, which opens today, and Love Those Pretty Papers, which closes tomorrow!

This month's woodblock stamp is from PSX, dated 2002, but it only has a number, no name on it.  

supplies: white card base, aqua cardstock, various fall printed papers, PSX woodblock stamp G-3322,  markers to color, sentiment from Spellbinders All Seasons Sentiments press plate/die set, adhesive foam strips to lift sentiment

You can see all the other entries at Amy's blog HERE.

And I'm also entering this into this month's Love Those Pretty Papers Challenge

October

 One of my favorite months is almost gone, and I haven't done many cards for fall this month.  So I went looking back at my blog for past posts at this time of year.  I found one that featured this Quilted Stencil from Simon Says Stamp, and thought I'd use it once again, with fall colors.  When it came time to find a sentiment, I chose one from a Hello Bluebird Pumpkin Time set.

supplies: white and Audrey Blue cardstock, Simon Says Stamp Quilted stencil, Audrey Blue ink, distress inks in mustard seed, ripe persimmon, and barn door, Sunny Studios Frilly Frames Eyelet Lace die, Hello Bluebird Pumpkin Time sentiment, rectangle and square dies

The temperatures are dipping, so putting out some quilts to cuddle in is something I do about now.  They would pair nicely with a re-read of Anne of Green Gables, wouldn't they?

I'll be entering this into the October Stencil Fun Challenge and the Just Us Girls Challenge, thanks to Linda's suggestion.  I love stencils!

Hope you're enjoying the fall, too; thanks for stopping by today!

Snowy Woodland

Here's a card I made with one of Simon's STAMPtember collaborations - with Gina K. Designs.  I love woodland scenes, and there were just too many cute possibilities in this silhouette set that I couldn't let it pass me by.  It's taken me awhile to get to play with it, but here's my first card using just a few of the elements.

At my parents' home, my Dad had planted several fruit trees in their large lawn and at dusk most of the year, deer would come to snack on whatever fruit they could find.  It's a special memory for me.  Those trees are still there, and continue to produce, so this little scene still plays out each year.

white cardstock, Gina K. Designs (retired) Stay Cozy stamps, VersaFine Onyx Black ink, clear embossing powder, lucky clover, wilted violet, salty ocean, and blueprint sketch distress oxide inks, splattered white paint, Spellbinders Perfect Touch die, snowflakes from my stash

After stamping the trees and deer, and embossing them, I brushed on a mix of distress oxide inks, masking off the ground first.  Then I cut out a smaller rectangle, stamped my sentiment, and splattered some diluted white paint across the panel.  That was then attached to my card base, along with a few small snowflakes.

Thanks for stopping by today - I appreciate your visits! 

Timeless Trees

  Here are some more of the other products in the Simon Hurley Timeless Trees release. 

The Classic Christmas Tree set has a gorgeous large tree, various ornaments and stars to decorate it with, a tree stand, and some presents, complete with ribbons.  

supplies: cream, krafts, greens, and red cardstock, Classic Christmas Tree dies, Holly Flourish embossing folder, Christmas Sentiments BetterPress Plate/die

This pretty tree is made up of a 3 layers, for lots of interest.  I put my little scene against an older embossing folder background, and used a BetterPress sentiment for my card this time.

And the Whimsical Bottlebrush Trees has 2 different trees that you can layer to make as short or as tall as you like!

supplies: white, kraft, teals, and red cardstock, Whimsical Bottlebrush Trees, Holiday Background Panel, silver glimmer foil, Heartfelt Scallop die, Handwritten Holiday Sentiment die, glue and prisma glitter 

After constructing my trees, I put tiny streams of glue along the branches and then dipped them into glitter for a snowy feeling.  Then I placed them on a backdrop of silver glimmered stars/snowflakes.  The sentiment is also from Simon Hurley, released earlier this year

This collection also includes embossing folders, one of which you'll be seeing soon, and some large ornament dies which can be layered.

Thanks so much for visiting today!

Simon Hurley's Mantle Decorations!

 What a fun idea Simon Hurley has come up with: Mantle Decorations!  They are part of his Timeless Trees Collection released about a week ago!  Here are 2 cards I made using the mantle goodies.

supplies: colored cardstocks, It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas dp from  Spellbinders 2023 Make It Merry Christmas kit, Mantle Village and Mantle Decorations die sets (also available as a bundle)

Here's another card using both the mantle sets.

supplies: cream card base, krafts and colored cardstocks, deer, greenery, and cranberry swags from Mantle Decorations set, trees and mantle from Mantle Village set. sentiment from Stampendous Christmas Blessings Sentiments, Perfect Touch rectangle die

That sentiment couldn't be more perfect, could it?  

The Mantle Decorations set also has a set of 3 Christmas Stockings with etched details that can be hung from your mantle, so these sets are packed with possibilities that you can mix and match to your liking.  I hope I've inspired you to give these an extra look.

Thanks for coming by today - I appreciate your visit!  Please stop by again soon to see some more of Simon's newest release.