My Christmas Gift to You

This is my favourite card of the eighty I made this year. The elegance of white embossing cannot be understated. I dry embossed one four inch wide piece of cardstock and cut it into four one inch strips. Notches were cut out of the bottom of each strip. A white paper ribbon was made with a border punch. The snowflakes were die cut and stamped with coordinating products from Verve.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamps: image (Verve), sentiment (Hero Arts)
Paper: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific)
Ink: Encore Metallic Silver
Accessories: ribbon (stash), border punch (MS), pearls (Kaiser), embossing folder (Scrollworks by Crafts Too)

One Element

In the embossed paper, I chose to highlight one element by colouring it with Stickles.

Natalie

Card Recipe

Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), pp (American?), black cardstock (Bazzill)

Accessories: border punch (MS), ribbon (stash), Stickles, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Snowballs of Fun

I finally found a way to use the stringed pom poms given to me as a gift. The image was offset on the card front to allow room for the double bow.

Natalie

Card Recipe

Stamp: Stampendous

Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), purple cardstock (Bazzill), pp (Creative Imaginations)

Ink: ColorBox Black

Accessories: strung pom pom (?), checked ribbon (stash), satin ribbon (Fabricland), Copics, icicle border punch (MS), Spellbinders (Rectangles), black embossing powder (?)

The Ripple Effect

Without enough blue cardstock to accordion fold a wide border, I cut strips of paper 3/8" and layered them together with double sided tape. The image was coloured with Copic markers.

Natalie

Card Recipe

Stamp: image (PSX), sentiment (SU)

Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), pink & blue cardstocks (Bazzill)

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx

Accessories: ribbon (Fabricland), border punch (MS), Copic markers, rhinestones (Kaiser)

Love Garden

The heart images turned this floral, all occasion card into a Valentine.

Natalie

Card Recipe

Stamps: heart (PSX), stems & leaves (PTI), sentiment (MSE)

Papers: off white cardstock (Core'dinations), red cardstock (Bazzill), patterned (MME Lost & Found Market Street) and DCWV Mod Retro (lined)

Inks: Colorbox Chalk Warm Red, Memento Pear Tart

Accessories: brads (stash), Spellbinder Doubled Ended Tags & Standard Circles Large, border punch (MS), jute (stash)

The 25th

I love to incorporate these large number dies into the theme of a card whenever I can.

Natalie

Card Recipe

Papers: red & green cardstocks (Bazzill), white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), patterned (Reminisce)

Accessories: metal embellishment (Making Memories), number dies (PTI), flower punch (MS), border punch (MS)

Cornered

Here I've used a doily on a card to create a fancy corner. I merely folded the paper doily around the corner of the stamped image.

Natalie

Card Recipe

Stamps: image (Magenta), sentiment (Gina K)

Papers: green & blue cardstocks (Bazzill), white cardstock (Georgia Pacific)

Inks: Versafine Black, Distress Peeled Paint & Broken China

Accessories: Martha Border Punch, velvet ribbon (stash), paper doily (stash), fabric brad (Kaiser)

A Gatefold Card

I fell in love with the card that inspired this one. For instructions go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_QczSVC5FU

Natalie

Card Recipe

Stamp: image (PSX), sentiment (PTI)

Papers: Bazzill (Bitter Chocolate, French Vanilla), CTMH (brown), patterned (Rusty Pickle)

Ink: Staz On Timber

Accessories: border punch (Martha Stewart), oval punches (Stampin' Up)

Watch for Falling Ice

This icicles border punch is one of my favourite and a perfect choice for this card. It completes the border of striped paper, brads and lines of glitter. I'm still debating whether or not I should have somehow made the snowman's heart red...

Natalie

Card Recipe
Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), blue cardstock (Bazzill), red cardstock (DCWV), patterned (Creative Imaginations)
Accessories: blue glitter (Art Institute), brads (stash), border punch (Martha Stewart)

When Thin is In

Here's a good example of where regular Stickles are more appropriate than Distress Stickles. I was pleased with the thin line of I was able to get on the embossed bow.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), green & red cardstocks (Bazzill), patterned (Doodlebug), silver cardstock
Accessories: red Stickles, Cuttlebug wreath die & embossing folder, Spellbinder Circles, Quickutz buckle die, Martha Stewart Border punch, ribbon (stash), rhinestones (Kaiser)

Stamped Scallops

I didn't have a small enough patterned paper to work with the images I wanted to use, so I used a sheet music background stamp to make my own.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamps: sentiment (Papertrey Ink), background (Stampington & Co.), image (Serendipity)
Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), black cardstock
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: ribbon (Fabricland), border punches (Martha Stewart & EK Success)
(stash)

Debbie Mumm's Christmas #2

Again, I used one of the strips within a sheet of strips and layered it over other pieces of smaller, patterned paper from the same collection.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Papers: off white cardstock base (stash), patterned (Debbie Mumm)
Accessories: Martha Stewart border punch, brads (stash), ribbon (Fabricland)

Scallops of Different Sizes

I saw this border idea used on another card and couldn't wait to use it. It's important to use the patterned paper with the smaller pattern when cutting the smaller scallops and using the border punch with the larger scallops on the relatively larger patterned paper. To give the Christmas tree some interest, I first stamped the cardstock with a paisley patterned background stamp before I punched it out. Because of the thickness of the Distress Stickles I was not able to write a fine line and dipped the edges of the tree in a puddle of it.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamps: background (PSX), sentiment (Stampin' Up)
Papers: off white cardstock (stash), Dark Scarlet & Hillary cardstock (Bazzill), patterned (Debbie Mumm)
Ink: Distress Peeled Paint
Accessories: Martha Stewart border punch, EK success border punch, Shabby Shutters Distress Stickles, ribbon (stash), pearls (Kaiser)

I Just Couldn't Decide...

which one of these cards made with the drippy goo border I liked the best. When I saw how another card maker had used striped paper with this punch, I had to use the same idea.

Natalie

Card Recipes
Stamps: witch, bat & cat (Inkadinkado), boots (Stampendous)
Ink: Versafine Black Onyx
Papers: white cardstock (Georgia Pacific), patterned (Basic Grey Eerie), drippy border punch (Martha Stewart), ribbon (Fabricland)

A Border of Square Scraps

I cut scraps all to 1 1/4 " squares to fit the width of a 5 X 5" card base.

Natalie


Card Recipe
Stamp: Hampton Arts Studio G
Papers: cardstock (Bazzill Sun Coral), black suede cardstock (stash), patterned (Creative Imaginations)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: spider punch (Marvy), googly eyes (stash), wrought iron border punch (Martha Stewart)

Blinged Blossom

The idea to use rhinestones on this flower was seen on another person's card. The flower head was stamped and cut out three times in order to create the different layers. Unlike the original card, I chose patterned papers with both green and blue in them to better balance the design incorporating the blue and green flower.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamps: Stampin' Up
Papers: blue cardstock (Bazzill), white cardstock
Inks: Colorbox
Accessories: border punch (Martha Stewart), rhinestones (Kaiser), oval punch (Stampin' Up) (Georgia Pacific), patterned papers (Basic Grey)

A Paper Ribbon

Rather than stamp a sentiment in a rectangle, square or oval, I thought I would try something different and stamped Happy Birthday on a ribbon shaped piece of cardstock. I thought this also added "movement" to the card.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Stamp: Stampin' Up
Papers: off white and pink cardstock (stash), patterned papers (stash), mulberry (stash)
Inks: sentiment (Staz On Timber Brown), paper ribbon (Distress Antique Linen)
Accessories: pearls (Kaiser), Martha Stewart Border Punch

Triple Scoops

In my second card, I switched from solid cardstock to patterned paper for the scoops. Since the patterned papers are all from the same product line, they work well together. I thought that the gooey border punch was consistent with the theme.

Natalie

Card Recipe
Papers: blue & brown cardstock (Bazzill), patterned papers (Heidi Grace)
Accessories: Spellbinder ice cream cone die, Cuttlebug Diamond Rough embossing folder, Martha Stewart border punch