Hope Your Christmas is Festive and Fun!

For one of my Christmas card classes, I took out the stamp set, Festive and Fun and made some cards with it.  Honestly, the images are just so darn cute.  I haven't had a chance to use them yet, even though I bought them a couple of years ago! 

I had fun coloring and making these cards.  It's the first time that I ever paired Pool Party with Garden Green, but I like the color combination.  

I added a small strip of designer paper to "ground" the two images.  Otherwise, they looked like they were floating on air!  

For the second card, I added a rectangle to the inside panel and folded it so that it covered part of the front of the card.  To open the card, open the rectangle to the right.  The inside of the card looks like a normal card.  It makes a cute fancy fold.

You can kind of see how it opens here.  I strategically placed the rectangle to reveal part of the saying, "May your season."  Then when you open it, you can see the entire saying.  This little rhinoceros pulling a sled of presents is so adorable.  I will definitely be using this cute little set again.

For the third card, I took out some older designer papers called Nests of Winter.  We fussy cut the birds and put a saying on the card.  I love how it turned out.  

What do you think of these Christmas cards?  Which one do you like best?  I love all three.  

 

 

Starting Christmas Cards with Yuletide Village and Shepherd's Care

Last week I had a chance to finally take out Yuletide Village stamp set.  I had picked it up last year and thought that it would make a pretty scene.  It sure does!  I got the idea for this card and the next card from Catherine Proctor and Peggy Murwin.  I love the soft colors and the little church.  

The addition of the beige designer paper cut with the arch dies adds so much.  The paper was from Nests of Winter.  I added some snowflakes to make it look like a winter day.

Here is a tiny little town like something out of a Hallmark movie.  I used three strips of paper from various designer packs.  I like how it sets up the scene and the colors for the front of the card.  

For the tree cut outs, I used the Frosted Forest cut outs.  I thought they looked great for the winter trees.  

For our third card, I used Shepherd's Care.  I got the idea for this card from Mo Rootes.  Although it's hard to tell in the photo, I used a muted designer paper to stamp the scene onto.  The shepherd stamps so nicely - the shading is right in the stamp.  The background papers are from the Peaceful Garden paper pack.  

I added a touch of gold embellishments to make the card shine.  I stamped some dots for stars using gold ink.  This card was quick and easy to make.  I hope to make some more of them.  

Have you started on your Christmas cards yet?  I have three more Christmas card classes to go.  

 

Bird Ornament

Each month I get together with ladies from my Stampin Up demonstrators group.  We take turns meeting at different houses.  It was my turn and I made them each a little ornament using papers from One Horse Open Sleigh and bird cut outs from Nests of Winter. 

Each one is a little bit different.  I cut the circle shapes out of chip board and 2 pieces of designer papers to cover the front and the back of each one.  I fussy cut out the birds and added a stamped saying, a small ornament topper some twine.  

The designer papers make it look like the birds are "in the woods."  I think if I was going to make these again, I would put them onto the wooden ornament shapes.  That would make them a little bigger and more interesting.

One-third of my downstairs is set up for making crafts and having people over.  Here is the set-up for my demonstrator friends to come over and make a couple of crafts. 

 I enjoy my crafting time with friends.  :) 

 

Nests of Winter

Back in October I got a package of the Nests of Winter designer papers and wanted to make some cards and things with it.  For this first card, I fussy cut the bird and added him to a Garden Green cardstock background.  The next layer is Smoky Slate and I ran that through the Timber embossing folder.  

There are two circles on the front, and I offset the second one to give it some interest.  The green strip of paper is from the same package of papers.  I just love the green and grays on this card.  I cut out some green sprigs and stamped a sprig to fill in the branches.  

The tag looks cute on the bottom of the card.  I don't usually use Garden Green but I love these colors together. I got the idea for this card from Stacey Taylor.  This is a favorite card of mine.

For my second card, I found a new way to make a "house" fold.  I watched a video from Donna, which you can find here.  What a fun way to make a birdhouse card!  

I love the colors of this card.  So soft and yet it still says Christmas.  The birds are just fussy cut from the Nests of Winter papers and I just cut the card front to line up with the same angles.  I added some sprigs and embellishments and a Christmas saying to complete the card.  

I love putting birds on my cards and projects!  How cute is this little bird sitting on this card?  The bird is from Bird's Eye View stamp set and the sprigs are from the Courage and Faith set.  I colored the little bird and set him right in there.  I found the idea from Connie Babbert on Pinterest.  I just love the colors and the bit of whimsy in this card.  

Which card do you like best?  I had fun using the Nests of Winter papers.