DeNami Gift Tag Blog Hop!

Hello!  Today I am participating in another DeNami blog hop.  This time gift tags are the theme ... so fun!  Welcome to all the "hoppers"!  If you came from  the blog of Michele Gross, you are on the right track!  If you want to start from the beginning or if you get lost along the way, click on the Blog Hop Badge above and it will take you back to home base.  Now, let me get to my gift tag and my card!  Yes, I know the theme is gift tags, not cards.  But, right now I am in a major push to complete my Christmas cards so I decided if I could combine my gift tag with a card, I could add it to my stack that will be sent out.  And, I might give you some ideas too!  I will show you the tag first and then my card with the tag enclosed!  Enjoy!

 

What do you think?  For the tag, I left the sentiment off when I stamped it because I really wanted to highlight the image.  In it's place, I added a line of pink rhinestones and the strip of pattern paper.  You can't really see it in person, but I really glitzed it up with crystal glitter!  One more note about the tag. For the ribbon tab I used a nestibilities die folded over and then punched my hole through it to put my ribbon through.  Since the ribbon was pretty wide, I pulled only one piece through and tied a piece of linen thread around it.  And the card ... well, I love how it came out!  I simply made a pocket to store my gift tag in. I did however, have to go with a larger size card that an A-2 since the stamped tag is pretty large.  My finished card size is approx. 4 x 6.  I created the opening by creating  an oval piece with nestibilities. Don't you love the pink and red combo?  Merry and bright, perfect for Christmas!

Recipe:

Paper - Reminisce called Yum Yum, Cardstock White, Pink, Red
Stamps - DeNami Design (Sweet Christmas Chickies & Trifles Sweet Sayings)
Ink - Versafine Black, Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol
Tools - Labels 6 (for tab), Big Scalloped Oval & Classic Oval (for pocket opening), Classic Scalloped Circle & Classic Circle (for sentiment) Nestiblities, Sizzix Basic Grey embossing folder called Peppermint Twist (how appropriate!), Quicky Glue Pen, Art Institute Crystal Glitter
Other - Ribbon by Unknown, Pink Rhinestones by ZVA, The Cat's Pajamas Linen Thread

Don't forget there are gift certificates that YOU can win!  All you have to do it leave comments on the blogs along the way and your name might be randomly drawn!  How easy and fun is that?  You have until Monday night at 11:59 PST to leave your comments on each of the blogs.

Now let's get you on your way.  You next stop is Vera Yates.  Thanks for visiting.  I hope you liked what you saw and will come back to visit real soon!

I will be back tomorrow with another Christmas card creation.

Happy Stamping!
Tina
 

Merry Kissmas!

Hello!  I now have created two more Christmas cards that I am in the process of making additional ones of.  I will be showing you one of those cards today.  Today's cards is soooo cute!  In fact it is so cute, I decided I just have to make more than five, so I have stamped the image and cut all my pieces to make ten!  Let me share ... enjoy!

Is this too cute?  I love paper piecing!  It takes a little bit of time, but I always love the results!

Recipe:

Paper - Plaid from My Minds Eye Countdown to Christmas pad, Dots by Bo Bunny (not sure of name, but on reverse is blue snowflakes)
Stamps - My Favorite Things
Ink - Versafine Black, Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Copic (for her face)
Tools - Classic Oval Scalloped, Oval, Classic Circle Scalloped, & Circle Nestibilities, Marvy Corner Rounder
Other - Martha Stewart Tinsel Glitter, Diamond Sticklers, Quicky Glue Pen, Art Institute Crystal Glitter, Red metal disks from HL

Guess what?  On Sunday, I am participating in another DeNami blog hop!  This time the theme is gift tags!  So, make sure to stop back by for that.  There are prizes to be won!

Happy Stamping!
Tina

The Greatest Gift!

Hello!  I feel like I have been in my craft room for days and I have many more to make so I decided I should come up with a single card that would not have as many steps that I could make more than 5 of.  This card is the result.  But, and that is a big but, it is not that simple.  And, I cut from one sheet of 12 x12 that had all these coordinating designs on it, but it only had enough to make 5 cards out of it!  So, I have to come up with another simple card idea or get another sheet of this paper.  It is absolutely crazy because there are tons and tons of card ideas out there that ARE simple, but for some reason I just can't seem to make myself do any that are that simple looking.  We'll see.  Let me show you the card ... enjoy!

 

I like the concept. Yes, I did have to cut the pieces by I used my paper cutter, which I think is less work than hand cutting.  All in all it is pretty simple, but very pretty.  Thoughts?

Recipe:

Paper - The Girls Paperie, Cardstock Red, Natural White
Stamps - Great Impressions
Ink - Versafine Black, Tombow Markers
Tools - Labels 8 Nestiblities
Other - Tiny Pearls

We'll be back soon with another creation!
Happy Stamping!
Tina

From Our House to Yours!

Hello!  Today is Texas Tues-Step creation day!  And I am late!  But I think you will like what I did, making it worth the wait!  As you know, I am trying to finish one set of 5 cards before moving on to the next creation.  So, last night I was trying to finish up the "ho, ho, ho" card first.  But, when I stopped to work on my Texas card, I just didn't like anything I tried.  Back to it this morning, and now I love my result!  I actually have two cards to show you.  One is for my Texas creation, and the other is the one I will be making my additional cards of.  I am sure the Texas one will get sent too!  So, let me show you both.  My Texas card is first...enjoy! 

 

What do you think?  Don't you love the vintage look?  I made the second ornament one first, and originally had turquoise dot spaklers, but then when I went to do the Texas one, I went with red sparklers. I liked the red so much that I peeled off all the turquoise ones and added red instead.  Makes it all pop!  Also note, I tried stamping the ornaments in red, but decided it needed the stronger green color.  In the Texas card, the holly swirl image was stamped onto the inked Texas stamp before applying to paper.

Recipe:

Paper- Ornaments by BasicGrey Jovial 6 x6 pad, Dots by BoBunny Tis the Season Treasure, Cardstock Red, Natural White
Stamps - Texas by Deadbeat Designs, Holly swirl by A Stamp in the Hand, Sentiment Ornament by My Sentiments Exactly, 2 Ornaments on card #2 by My Minds Eye I Believe Set, From Our House to Yours sentiment by Verve
Ink - Versafine Olympia Green, Red Tombow (stripes card #2)Tools - Classic Circle Nestibilites (for Texas), Stampin' Up Border Punch
Other - Brown Ribbon by DeNami Designs, Red Dot Sparklers by Stampendous

Don't forget to look on my blog's sidebar and click on the links to take you to the other team members Texas creaions!

I have one more unrelated item to share with you.  Did you see yesterday's post about the Tinsel being pink?  Well, yesterday my hubby and I went to Tyler to do a little Christmas shopping and I went to Michael's and found there is more than one jar of Martha Stewart's tinsel glitter.  I got the jar that is more white and this is the result on my little Santa ...
  

Much better, don't you think?

That is it for me today.  Will be back with the next creation as soon as I finish my additional cards!

Happy Stamping!
Tina

Ho! Ho! Ho!

 I have been a busy little bee in my stamp room!  I spent most of the weekend on making a gift for a friend, which you will see, but after it's given, just in case she sees my blog.  I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise.  I also made my next Christmas card and that is what I will be showing you today. So, my card is ready to show you, and I find myself frowning at it.  A friend and I saw on Jen delMuro's blog where she used some tinsel by Martha Stewart over Stickles to create the furry part on winter caps.  My friend picked up a jar of this for us at Michael's.  But, when I used it, it came out pink instead of white and now looking at my card, I am not sure I like my little Santa's cap with pink in it.  I may have to change this part before I make all my five.  Let me show you my card and the close-up of the tinsel so you can give me your thoughts.  Here ... 

Can you see the pink?  It doesn't show up as much on here as it does in person!  The layout of the card I do love.  But, I went around and around trying to figure out what color cardstock to have behind my Santa.  You would laugh if you saw how many greens I tried!  And of course, I couldn't tell for sure if I liked them or not without die-cutting them and embossing them, so that wasted a lot of time.  In the end, I went with a solid green printed with glitter that was in the same pad that the other paper came from.  I should have tried that one first!  Oh, one more interesting thing on this card, is an idea I saw on one of the blogs.  Do you see the diagonal stripe at the bottom of this card?  This paper is actually a straight up and down stripe! I cut the paper so that it looks diagonal!  I did waste some paper doing this, so keep that in mind!  I got a bunch of new Sizzix embossing folders and the holly behind Santa is one of those.  Love it! 

Recipe:

Paper - My Minds Eye 12 x12 pad called Countdown to Christmas, Cardstock Red, White
Stamps - Santa is from a old Recollections set I got at Michaels (I say old because Michaels closed their Recollections stores, but it is new to me!), Ho, Ho, Ho by Stampendous
Ink - Versafine Black, Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Copic YR000 (i think) for his face. (I was having a lot of trouble making faces look good, so I asked a friend to pick me one of the copic colors that would work for faces ... love the result).
Tools - Classic Circle & Classic Oval Nestibilities, Sizzix BasicGrey embossing folder called Snow Globe (why they call Holly this, I am not sure!), Sizzix Scallops Giant die
Other - Martha Stewart Tinsel, Diamond Stickles, Quicky Glue Pen, Art Institute Crystal Glitter, Ribbon, Rhinestones

That is it for the day.  Let me hear your thoughts about my Santa's pink tinsel.  Should I change this part or go with it?  I have four more to make and as you can see several steps before I get to the tinsel part. 

Happy Stamping!
Tina

Oh Christmas Trees!

Hello!  I finished making the additional cards from my last post.  But, was unsure of what I wanted to make next.  I have seen several ideas on how to make Christmas trees using only paper, no stamps.  I decided that I should take a day off from my "12" Christmas card designs, and show you these ideas!  Now, I made each idea into a card, so that is three more cards I will have to send.  We had better get to it since I have three tree creations to share today!

A couple of weeks ago, when I was at WalMart, I walked down the Hallmark aisle and a card caught my eye.  I took out my phone and took a picture, thinking that I could make that!  Here is my card first, and then the picture I took of the Hallmark card.     

Their card is plainer than mine.  But the trees are very similar, however I do see now that my tree is fatter than theirs.  But, so what?  As, no two trees are alike, right?  I don't know how they made theirs, but for mine, all I did was die-cut the largest Classic Scalloped Circle Nestiblities and trim to make each layer.  I got two layers out of each die cut.  Before assembling the tree, I punched holes in the scallops to add some interest.  And then I used some silver baubles for decoration.  For all my cards today, I made the tree trunk by using the Stampin' Up word punch.  So simple!

My next card I saw on this site.  I printed out her pattern for a 5 1/4" diameter circle.  Once I traced the circle onto my paper, I cut it out and cut it in half and then I layered her paper over mine to make the score lines.  Again, very easy!  It makes a great tree!  Here is my card ...

And last but not least, here is another idea to make a great Christmas tree.  A friend showed me this idea.  Enjoy ...

To make this one, I cut a piece of cardstock into a 4 X 4 inch square.  I glued strips of paper onto the square in different widths.  I then die-cut with a classic circle nestiblities.  Next I cut the circle in half and layered one half onto the other to form tree!  I added bright red sticker nailheads to embellish the tree.  That's it!

Recipe Card #1 and  #2-

Paper - Bo Bunny Winter Joy BRRRR and Winter Joy Bundled, Cardstock White, Silver, Brown
Stamps - 'Tis the Season by Hero Arts
Tools Card #1 - Classic Scalloped Circle, Classic Circles Nestibilities, EK Success Corner Punch, Stampin'Up Word Punch, Marvy Star Punch, Mc Gill 1/8" circle punch
Tools Card #2 - Sizzix Large Scallop Border Die, Polka Dots embossing folder, Ek Success Corner Punch, Classic Circles Nestibilities, Stampin' Up Word Punch, Marvy Star Punch
Other - Ribbon, Silver baubles

Recipe Card #3 -
Paper - Die Cuts with a View Holiday Pack, Cardstock Red, Green
Stamps - Merry Christmas by AMuse
Tools - Classic Circle & Labels 8 Nestibilites, Marvy Star Punch
Other - Ribbon, Button, Linen Thread by The Cat's Pajamas, Red Nailheads

I hope you enjoyed the tree ideas and cards I had for you today.  All three were easy peasy!  (I just love that saying!)

Happy Stamping!
Tina  

The Christmas Countdown is On!

Hello!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We did.  Now, on to my Christmas card making decisions!  In the past, by Thanksgiving, I liked to have my card ideas complete for what cards I was going to make for Christmas.  Now, that is when I was making 4 or 5 different ones but making 12 to 15 of each.  That is way too many to make of one card!  Plus, I had no blog then. So, this year, as I make cards for the blog, my idea is to make 5 cards like the one, and by the time I hit 12, I will have more than enough!  At lest this is my idea starting out!  Will you see 12 different cards from me?  Maybe, maybe not. I have seen so many fun ideas, especially papercrafting ideas.  We'll see how it goes.  I also have a couple of handmade Christmas presents to make that I will be showing you.  Just know, that my blog posts might be more intermittent than usual, with all the creating going on.  The goal for each card is to create the card, post it on the blog and make the additional cards like it before moving on to the next card idea.  I have one last thing to say on the subject of Christmas cards.  I know there are few crafters that make cards to send to everyone, and the list is even smaller for the people who don't craft.  And if I would only send to the ones that send to me, I could cut this list down to almost nothing.  But, for me it is one of my Christmas traditions and traditions are hard for me to break.  Yes, it does cause some stress, but it always gives me great enjoyment.  It is part of the giving at Christmastime.  It really is what Christmas is all about.  So go make a few cards and send them! 

My first card is already made and I am in the middle of making several more like it!  Let's get to it!  Enjoy!

Is this card cute or what?  My friend let me borrow her two new sets from The Cat's Pajamas and even though they are not exactly Christmas designs, I couldn't resist!  Really, any winter design can be used for  holiday cards, especially when you add a sentiment like "holiday wishes" like I did!  The big snow hills were made with a new Sizzix die I got.  Yes, you usually see scallops pointing down, but I thought flipping them would make perfect snow hills!   I don't do a lot of glitter because it just goes with me everywhere, but I can't do Christmas cards without it.  So, I added glitter at the tops of the hills and on the snowflake.  It really adds to the effect! 

Recipe:

Paper - Red Snowflake paper by Imaginisce called Swirly Snowflakes, Dot is by Bo Bunny called Ocean Dot, Cardstock White, Aqua
Stamps - Ski Bunny & Feel the Wind by The Cat's Pajamas, Holiday Wishes by Hero Arts
Ink - Versafine Black, Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol
Tools - Classic Scalloped Oval, Classic Oval, Create A Flake 2, Ribbon Tags Trio,& Classic Circle Nestibilities, Snowflake Cuttlebug embossing folder, Marvy Corner Rounder.
Other - Ribbon by AMuse, Quicky Glue Pen, Art Institute Crystal Glitter, Glitter Dots from HL

Tina Tip:  I thought the ribbon tag needed some color behind it but it was already tied with the ribbon on the card when I decided this, so I didn't have the actual piece to trace around.  I made a discovery ... you will get the perfect layer if you lay the actual nestibilites die on paper and trace around the outside of the die.  It will layer perfectly with the cut one!  So, many times I have tried to make a layer behind a labels die but it doesn't look that great, because I don't cut evenly around the die.  Next time, I will trace around the actual die and it will layer even and perfectly.  Easy Peasy!

Happy Stamping!
Tina