Snowflake Keepsake Card

I love snowflakes! They remind me of cold winter mornings, clean, crisp air, and fond childhood memories. Some of my favorite ornaments on my tree are some crocheted snowflakes a neighbor gave me 20 years ago!  I’ve never attempted to crochet one until now, and thought it would make a great embellishment, er….. keepsake…. card!
The card base is  a 5 1/2 inch square, embossed with tiny dots.  The snowflake is tied on another dark green square, embossed with snowflakes. I sandwiched a piece of light green cardstock to “frame” the snowflake mat.
Inside I actually stamped a sentiment (I’m a terrible stamper, and have to practice way more!!!). The sentiment said “Be Merry”.
The snowflake is very easy to do, it is a total of 3 rows, and takes about 10 minutes from start to finish.  It took longer to put the stiffener on it and pull it into shape than it took to make it.  For those of you that can crochet, I’ll put how I made it below.
Enjoy! And thanks for visiting me from the Card a Day Blog! Make sure to visit there tomorrow for another “ornament” inspiration from Michelle Hessler from Paperthreads!
Below: A picture of card front and a closeup of “textures” used.


Below, a picture of another snowflake I made before stiffening!


Simple Crocheted Snowflake Pattern.
I used 3 ply crochet cotton, and a 3 1/4 mm crochet hook.

Chain 6, slip stitch together into a loop.
Row 1: Chain 3, double crochet 11 into the “ring”. Slip stitch to the top of the 3rd chain from the beginning of the row.
Row 2: Chain 3, double crochet into the same stitch (beginning of row).chain 4. *Skip a stitch, double crochet 2 times into next stitch, chain 4*. Repeat ** until you have 6 sets of (2 double crochets). Slip stitch the row together.
Row 3: *Chain 4, double crochet into void (between two sets of double crochets). Chain 6, slip stitch into top of double crochet. Chain 4, slip stitch inbetween 2 of the double crochets of previous row. Chain 6, slip stitch into previous stitch to form loop.* Repeat ** until you have 6 sets (and complete row)… slip stitch together and tie off. Secure ends.
Finishing…. use stiffener of choice, and lay flat on plastic wrap or waxed paper. Once dry you can hang on your tree or use on a card or for a gift topper etc.!

Christmas Trees and Ornaments ~ December 19th

I hope you are enjoying the Christmas photos and word art the designers at Card a Day Blog are sharing this Christmas Break! Here is a bit more about my entry, slated to be on the CADB December 21st.

But today, the countdown is on! Six sleeps until Christmas! I have not got everything done, but am content with getting done what I can and trusting all will work out in the end. 

This year I had the opportunity to work on our staff’s Christmas tree.  I made all the ornaments on my Silhouette (excluding the garland and tree topper w. bow).  Here is what it looked like!

Hopefully you can see the Christmas train that I printed and cut, then stapled to the silver garland… in the distance, it looks really cool, like a frosty tree in the early morning. The images were from a Lettering Delights graphics file I purchased, but altered by putting each staff member’s name on one of the Santa cars. I would send a link to it, but can’t locate it, so think it must be retired…. here is a snip of what it looked like:

I do like Lettering Delights website and cut it sets, but have not figured out how to properly do a print and cut with my Silhouette and Make The Cut software… perhaps in the New Year!

I also cut out approximately 25 different sized snowflakes to complete the tree’s decorations.

We couldn’t keep the tree lit, as we did not have LED light bulbs on the tree, and the ornaments were paper… but even unlit, the tree was special to look at.

That’s it until after Christmas!

My wish is that everyone has a great time during this hectic season, and that the reason for it is not lost in at least one “Silent Night”.

Love, Peace, Joy and Happiness to you and yours!

Shelley

Nativity Ornament

As promised in my previous post, here is what I’ve made with parts of the embellishment I used on my most recent post at the Card a Day Blog! (The picture below is on a dark background to show off the ornament… it is not attached to it) Check out the blog candy at the end of this post!

Here are what the screens looked like on my Silhouette Studio before I cut, or printed and cut them out, notice the nativity centers are reversed – you’ll see why later:

The assembled elements:

I sprayed the doily with pearl spray… the next time I will make sure to use a gold spray to really highlight the doily (see my fix below)

Next, I cut out a small piece of mylar gift wrap for the sky.  I used my Xyron machine to make a sticker out of one of the nativity inside pieces.

Then I attached the nativity piece, and centered the mylar film on the other side of the doily.

I used a stick glue to adhere the other nativity piece on top and overlapping the mylar. I was careful to line the both sides of the nativity scene up, by holding the doily up the the light as I placed the last nativity piece onto the card.

I used my latest toy (a Tim Holtz alcohol ink applicator) to gently tint the outside edge of the doily green. It was great as it didn’t detract from the previously applied pearl spray.

My husband asked me what I’m going to do with it…. Well, the verdict is out still, but I think it may end up going into a Christmas letter as a bonus to someone (shhhhh! Its going to be a surprise!)

Now for the good stuff…. My second blog candy! Only good until December 24th, 2011

If you would like the inside nativity piece in a studio format or jpg that you can use with your own cutter (or scissors), simply leave a comment below!

Silent Night

Thanks for visiting my blog! I hope you’ve been enjoying all the great Christmas Cards from the Card a Day Blog! Here’s another card from my silhouette! This week’s theme is Christmas around the world… I mulled quite a bit about what to make, and ended up making a “reason for the season” card, that I hope you  like!
I have a few people on my list who like traditional cards. Whenever I think of Christmas, I think of the nativity, the calm peace you feel on a chilly winter night, and my favorite Christmas carol "Silent Night". I tried to make a card that was traditional, and made me think of those things too. Enjoy!

Card Base... Dark Blue. 5 1/8 inch wide by 11 inches long, folded in half.
Accent on card front... Light aqua blue 3 3/4 inch wide by 5 1/2 inch tall, embossed with Cuttlebug's snowflake folder.
Card front embellishment... sized approximately 4 3/4 inches.Silhouette store traditional doily, embellished with a circular "word art" - Silent Night's chorus. Also an inner nativity silhouette.
Starry background is actually a small piece of Mylar giftwrap. It would also look great if you did iris folding in gold, blue and red-orange papers to make the night sky in the nativity background.
Here’s what the screen looked like on Studio, when I was making the card front:

The bottom edges of the card were rounded with a 1/2 inch round corner punch.
Font used for the "Silent Night" circle phrase - front of card - Annie BTN
Font used for the inside sentiment - LD Stock
The inside phrase was printed on plain paper, and taped to the inside of the card, and trimmed to match the card shape.

If you don’t have a cutter, you can always do a basic print of the nativity and circular word art – hand cut out the area you want to have mylar showing through, and put it on a small paper doily for the same effect.

This project went together so smoothly, that I’m thinking of doing just the front embellishments and making a few paper ornaments out of them. The mylar I used is transparent, so it would look very pretty on my tree!
Make sure to visit the Card a Day Blog tomorrow, when you’ll be treated out to a creation from Cindy Foster!
Also, don’t forget to also join the fun at the challenge page of the Card a Day Blog! You won’t win if you don’t enter! We love being inspired by you too!

Merry Christmas SnowGlobe

One of my favorite ornaments in my home, other than snowmen, are snow globes. What could be better than to combine them both?

My Card base is an A2 size of white cardstock. The textured beige piece of cardstock actually is the backing of what I built the rest of the card front on. The “Merry Christmas” and bottom snowflake border are pieces of the CuttleBug Merry Christmas Folder, that I inked and did a reverse print and embossing with.  I got the idea of the iris fold snowglobe from looking at http://www.iris-folding.com/projectwaterglobe.html. The snowmen in the middle of the iris fold were snipped from a recycled gift tag.

Thanks for coming and seeing my card! Make sure to visit the Card A Day Blog for more inspiration! Make sure you check out another great inspiration there tomorrow to see what Tina Campbell  at http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com/ has posted!

Don't forget the ongoing challenge at the Card A Day Blog! Check out the challenge page!


Until next time!
Shelley

Oh my! I almost forgot I did this!

I work 3 days of graveyard shift at work this week.  I find this shift the ideal time to catch up on housework organization (and mine is way overdue!).  I spent most of the morning trying to get rid of stuff from our spare room / craft room / sewing room. 

I came across something I did years ago, that I’m sure someone will get a kick out of (right Mitchell?).

Now, I’ve still got the stuff to do more of them…. but where are the directions, sigh.

I do remember that I had planned to do about 10 of them for my Christmas tree . Yes, I am a craft addict.

Christmas Card Blog Hop

Welcome to the Card A Day Blog World Card Making Day Christmas Card Blog Hop!  This is the very first blog hop I’ve contributed to, and I am so excited!
I am SO happy you have decided to hop along with us!! Make sure to check out the Christmas Card Blog Hop Challenge at the first post of this blog hop, at the Card a Day Blog!

With every card I do, I try to challenge myself with trying a new technique or item.  Today's card was intended to inspire the magical thoughts you may have when looking at your Christmas tree.  I always take pictures of my favorite ornaments on my Christmas tree, and saw how some "Sookwang" was used at my local scrap-booking store.   I hope you in turn are inspired too!

First, print a favorite picture that is clearly defined (good contrast).  Print it out two or three times, depending upon how you want to "finish" the card. 
Cut a piece of Sookwang to cover the picture, just larger on one side (my photo was 4 x 5 inches, and I cut the Sookwang 4 x 5 1/4 inches).

Apply the Sookwang carefully, to limit the possibility of air bubbles.  I just lifted the edge of one side of the adhesive cover, and aligned it with the edge of the photo... working it out as I pulled the adhesive cover towards the opposite edge.

Firmly rub the Sookwang onto the photo before removing the back adhesive cover.
Take a peek underneath the adhesive cover, it should appear smooth before you remove the adhesive cover.

Sprinkle clear transparent glitter (your choice of highlight)... I used "Glitter Ritz" Cool Highlight.  Rub off the excess glitter onto a scrap piece of paper and return the excess to the glitter container.

Trim the paper to card size, making sure to be careful when trimming along the glittered card front.  Use a bone folder or Scor-Pal to fold the card.
At this point I was not in love with the effect --- lesson learned, the picture has to have better contrast.  The background of the card does not photograph well… it really is stunning in a low light situation!
To improve the card for regular light viewing, I cut out the focal snowman from one of my photo prints.  I adhered it using my tape runner, careful to match it to the snowman on the card.  It just "popped out"! Yippee!
I then cut a bracket shape 1 x 2 inches, with my Friskars shape cutter, and stamped Happy Holidays with a versamark ink and applied white embossing powder to it.  I used some dimensional glue dots to apply the bracket to the card front.  I just love how it looks like the snowman is holding the sentiment!

 

Summary:
Card name: Happy Holidays!
Card base size: 8 x 10
Card base material: White
Card front size: 4 x 5
Card front material: Photo, covered with Sookwang and glitter
Die cut shape(s) 1 x 2 inch bracket, made with Friskars Shape Cutter
Stamp(s) used: “Happy Holidays” (I was considering hand writing “Wishing you…” on the outside and “a Merry Christmas” on the inside).
Ink used: Versamark clear
Embossing materials used: Glitter Ritz Micro Fine
Other details (fonts, programs, etc):      I used CraftArtist to print my card front... it also enabled me to play with layout and ideas I had when arranging the photo on the card.
Comments I really like the way the card looks in a low light condition.

Make sure to see the next blog on the list! Its from Tina Campbell from Tina's Scrap Corner! 

Below is some great information about challenges you can enter! Also about some blog candy I am giving away.

CHRISTMAS CARD BLOG HOP CHALLENGE
A two-day extravaganza of Christmas Cards and prizes.
Each of our designers will be choosing something special for our followers and adding it to the grand prize package. You will receive something from each designer.
To join in the challenge go to Card a Day Blog and enter and see who wins!

MY BLOG CANDY FOR THIS HOP!
Every person who leaves a comment for me by October 2nd (midnight), will be entered into a draw for ,the card posted and 4 additional pieces of Sookwang to make your own creation! If you are a follower, and leave a comment, you will receive two entries into the draw! I will make the draw on Monday, October 3rd, at 5pm Pacific time, and will email the winner to arrange for mailing the prize to them!

The designers from Card a Day Blog  participating in this blog hop are:

• Karin from ScrapperCreations
• Adele Robbetze from nogardscreativecave
• Christine Patton from Creative Genie-ous
• Cindy Foster from Cindy's Creations
• Cindy Pointe from The Creative Pointe
• Janet White from Stamping At The White House
• Kelly George from Sassy Scrapper Studio
• Michelle Hessler from Paperthreads
• Patricia Logan from MDN Creates
• Shelley Bordeleau from Gardens Crafts 'n' More
• Tina Campbell from Tina's Scrap Corner
• Vicki Schram from Paper Squirrel

Thanks for visiting my blog!
Shelley