Our first card was CASEd from Olga Cavanaugh and the idea of using acetate for the z fold strip was CASEd from Chlo's Craft Closet. A Night of Navy card base was cut at 4.25 x 11" and scored at 2.75" and 5.5". A 1 x 11" strip of Whisper White was also cut and scored in the same way. (Note that the example photos here show an acetate strip in use but a Whisper White strip was used in class so it was easier with which to work.)
Using the MISTI, the sentiment from the Christmas Pines stamp set was stamped with Night of Navy on Thick Whisper White. The stamp was then cleaned and the sentiment re-stamped using Versamark. It was heat embossed using the now retired Iridescent Embossing Powder. The sentiment was then die cut using one of the ovals from the new Stitched Shapes Framelits.
I absolutely LOVE these new stitched framelits! The stitching is so crisp looking and I even saw that in one post on Pinterest, a demo had actually stitched with thread using one of these dies–totally amazing! If you haven't yet bought them, contact me to order yours today–you won't regret it!
This Z Fold card required four Whisper White mattes in total–two, 4 x 5.25" and two, 2.5 x 4". On one of the smaller ones, the clump of birch trees from the Thoughtful Branches stamp set were stamped. On one of the larger panels, the two-step stamping of five pine trees from the Thoughtful Branches stamp set was done. The last large matte, which is used for the back of the card to give the sender a place to write, was stamped also with the pine trees, but this time there were only two, offset to the bottom right of the matte. All stamping was done with Night of Navy. All four mattes were then adhered to the card base. The die cut sentiment was adhered to the panel with the five pines using Dimensionals.
The sleigh from the Santa's Sleigh Framelits was die cut from Night of Navy and the ornate sleigh overlay was cut from Silver Foil paper. The dryer sheet method was employed and worked beautifully to successfully cut and remove these fragile die cuts from the dies.
To adhere the foil overlay to the sleigh die cut, Connie Stewart's "Sponge in Tupperware Gluing System" (this is what I am calling it until I find a better name!) worked great! No mess, no fuss, and easily adhered! If you haven't yet tried this technique, you need to because it is fantastic!
Next, six deer were die cut from Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper and then six wreaths to clothe the necks of the deer were die cut from Night of Navy. The wreaths were slipped over the necks of the deer, eased past the nose, and adhered with a glue dot.
Two, 1 x 1" presents were cut from both Night of Navy and Silver Glimmer Paper. Matching bows were die cut and then adhered to the presents using glue dots. The present stack was designed and adhered together and then adhered to the sleigh.
The 1 x 11" strip of Whisper White–or in the card shown here acetate–was laid across the closed card. The 5.5" scored section was adhered only to the small front panel section of the card. The other end of the strip was then adhered to the back panel of the card.
The sleigh was adhered to the strip on the front panel and two deer followed it, all adhered with glue dots. The remaining deer were adhered to the middle and end sections of the strip.
To complete the card, a retired Winter Wonderland embellishment was adhered to the front of the card to act as a star.
I was pleased with how the card turned out and each stamp club member seemed delighted with their own constructed version!
Our second card was CASEd from Katina Martinez. This card is a one layer standard sized card with the card base cut from Thick Whisper White.
Using the MISTI, the sentiment, from the Tin of Tags stamp set, was stamped on Basic Black using Versamark and then heat embossed using White Stampin' Emboss Powder. The Embossing Buddy was used before stamping to ensure a "clean" emboss. The sentiment was then die cut using the 2nd largest oval from the Stitched Shapes Framelits. A second oval, using the largest stitched oval die, was die cut from Thick Whisper White. The two ovals were adhered together using liquid adhesive.
A small die from the Pyramid Pals Framelits was used to die cut seven Basic Black "light bulbs". In addition, seven more bulbs were die cut from Real Red, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, Cucumber Crush, Tempting Turquoise and Rich Razzleberry.
On each of the colored bulbs, the bottom section was snipped off with scissors and then the colored bulbs were adhered to the black bases using liquid adhesive. Matching ink was used to ink the edges of each light bulb using sponge daubers to create a glow effect. Each light bulb was given a coat of Clear Wink of Stella and then a Dimensional was applied to its back.
The die cut sentiment was adhered to the card front and then the positioning of the bulbs around the sentiment was pre-planned. A glue dot was used to anchor one end of gold twine (from the Baker's Twine Trio Pack) under the edge of the oval die cut and then the twine was twisted to form a loop. A glue dot was affixed to the card front and the twine adhered and a bulb adhered on top to hide the glue dot. This process was repeated around the sentiment until all the bulbs had been used. Another glue dot secured the end of the twine under the die cut sentiment.
Using a small paint brush, Crystal Effects was brushed liberally onto each light bulb by first tracing the edges of the bulb and then filling in the middle. The card was then set aside to dry thoroughly.
A matching envelope was made by drawing a curling "wire" along the edge of the envelope using a Gold Wink of Stella and then stamping the tiny "bulb" stamp from Tin of Tags along the wire, using the ink colors used previously on the card.
Isn't this a fun little holiday card? So easy and fun to create but so festive and colorful in all its sparkly goodness!
Have you started making Christmas cards yet? Maybe this year I'll get mine all done before Christmas!
