Deck the Halls!

It's time to get a move on designing my Christmas cards. I finally started playing around with my Papertrey Christmas stamps and had a wonderful time! Here is a 3 card series using the same colors and design elements but changed up just a little bit.

I think this last card is my favorite but I'd love to know what you think! Each card uses a color scheme of Kraft, Sweet Blush and Aqua Mist and Linen vellum cardstock. Thetrees and snowflake images were stamped in Fresh Snow and then embossed with filigree white powder. Two of the cards include sewing on the vellum. Additional details for each card are included below. I am trying (key word is "trying") to make my cards not too lumpy this year so they can be mailed with a single stamp. The half pearls add a little bump but not as much as a big bow. It's hard for this girl not to have any bling on her cards so I added glitter. At the holidays I always bust out the glitter because it makes me so happy!

I am usually very traditional when it comes to my Christmas cards but for some reason I was drawn to create these using Aqua Mist and Sweet Blush. I really like the look but don't fret, there are plenty of cards with traditional colors and images coming to my blog soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Kim

Supply lists (All supplies by Papertrey Ink unless noted):

Card #1: For this card I stamped the trees in Fresh Snow and then traced over each one with a glue pen and dusted it with crystal glitter. Stamps: Holiday Tree. Cardstock: Kraft, Sweet Blush, Aqua Mist, Linen vellum. Ink: Fresh Snow. Accessories: Art Institute crystal glitter, Filigree White embossing powder, sewing machine (Brother).

Card #2: Stamps: Holiday Tree, Holiday Treats, Polka Dot Basics. Ink: Fresh Snow, Palette Noir. Cardstock: Kraft, Sweet Blush, Aqua Mist, Linen vellum. Accessories: Art Institute crystal glitter, Filigree White embossing powder, circle punch (EK success), half pearls (stash).

Card #3: Stamps: Holiday Tree, Holiday Button Bits, Polka Dot Basics. Ink: Palette Noir, Fresh Snow. Cardstock: Kraft, Sweet Blush, Aqua Mist. Accessories: Scor-Tape, Filigree white embossing powder, half pearls (stash), Art Institute Crystal glitter and narrow oval punch (SU!); Sewing machine (Brother)

Ho Ho Holiday

Hello and thanks for stopping by my little blog this evening. I bet you're here for the Papertrey Ink blog hop. I couldn't resist this month's challenge. Here is the description:

"The holidays are going to be here before you know it! No matter how much planning you do, there always seems to be last minute gifts and wrapping to do! This month's Blog Hop Challenge is to create a quick & inexpensive wrap or tag that can be the perfect solution for "grab & go" gifts! We can't wait to see what you create!!!"

I had several ideas but decided to go with my first one, which was to make a stamped muslin bag to hold some little gifts for Christmas. I won't show you what's inside just in case any of my friends and family are reading this! ;)

I estimated the size of bag that I would need and cut out two pieces of muslin and sewed them together. I turned the bag right side out and used two ribbon stamps from Faux Ribbon to make a Candy Cane stripe for the bag. I think I first saw this candy cane stripe done by Niki Estes but Mish Wooderson has also done it I think. I find both of their blogs so inspiring! I didn't come up with the idea of the stripe but I haven't seen any little bags like these. After I had the bag stamped I popped my gifts inside and tied it up with a nice bit of Pure Poppy satin ribbon. I made a little tag using the Santa from Holiday Button Bits with some snowflakes from Holiday Tree. I have lots of ideas for more bags. I might tweak the size a little bit so I have more fabric at the top and I"d love to try a drawstring bag but this was supposed to be quick and simple so I didn't do a lot of fiddling. I hope you enjoyed my post. Thanks so much for stopping by.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Kim

Time Gets Away From Me

There is only so much I can do. I need to learn to embrace this concept. LOL! I have way more plans than I realistically have time to complete in between work and family. But I did manage to squeeze in a few projects. As promised, here are a couple more photos of what I've been up to. Regrettably I did not take more individual photos of the notebooks and they are all gone. But I have more supplies and I'm getting ready to make another batch and I'll try to do better with photos.

I made two styles of notebooks. The tall skinny ones are very popular lately especially among the Papertrey Ink crowd thanks to the new set Take Note. Add a little embellishment and a pen and it's a wonderful gift. The second style was a little more labor intensive but I really liked the results. I covered pieces of chipboard with decorative paper and then spiral bound them with my Bind-it-All. One of my favorite things about this style is that I created a little cardstock pocket on the back flap by stitching a piece of cardstock to my decorative paper before I glued it to the chipboard. The back of the notepad slides down inside it. This way the notepad can be replaced and you can use the cover over and over.

And here is the ever popular "Snowman Poop" gag gift for anyone you know who's been a little naughty this year. :)

Thanks for stopping by! I am starting on Christmas cards and gifts this weekend and will be sharing more soon.

Supplies Photo #1: All products by Paper Trey Ink with exception of the pens, binding coils and some decorative paper. Stamps: Take Note and Teacher's Apple are shown in the photos.

Photo #2: Stamps: SU! Thanks Snow Much. Cardstock: White and Brocade Blue. Accessories: punches and copic markers.