Lili of the Valley Christmas Bear

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I finished off another Christmas card today which uses the same layout I have used for my last couple of cards - nice and easy for this time of year to have a "go to" layout when my brain is overloaded with a thousand things and I can't really think anymore!

The gorgeous teddy image is by Lili of the Valley (UK).  I don't have the name to hand, but will update this post when I find out (plus the LOTV company is closed for Christmas so you can't see any of their stamps/stamp names on their website) *see below.  When I bought the stamp, it came as unmounted rubber so there is no name on it like you get with wood-mounted stamps.  I coloured the teddy with Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils and OMS.  I added some Polar White Flowersoft using Aleen's tacky glue to the teddy's hat, and fine red glitter using Designer Dries Clear adhesive glue to the presents. 

Here is a little closeup.   Poor teddy looks a little anaemic in the top photo but looks better in the closeup - I have no idea why!!  

The green cardstock was embossed using my Cuttlebug Holly Berries embossing folder.

The sentiment was diecut with my Cuttlebug and one of the Tiny Tags dies, and I ran my Warm Red ink pad around the edges.  I added the twine in 2 separate elements - I didn't need my Bow Easy to tie the bow as the twine ties very easily into a nice bow.  

Whew - another Christmas card off my list!

Great news!!  Fat Cat's Card Corner will be stocking the BOW EASY very soon - if you have never used one before and are bow-challenged like me, it is a fantastic product.  I use mine all the time, and you can even tie bows with double or triple loops.  Kaaren has a heading for the Bow Easy on the LHS menu on the front page of the website, so keep an eye out for when it comes into stock.

Challenges:

I am entering this card into the Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge #63 and this week's challenge is:  "Your Choice" - and you get to pick one of your favourite past Challenges on their Blog - so I choose Challenge #60 which is "Christmas" (you know how I like making Christmas cards LOL!!).

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back tomorrow with another Christmas card.

Jocelyn

*ETA:  The name of the Teddy stamp is:  Xmas Ted Presents S091

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Lili of the Valley - Xmas Ted Presents S091, Sentiment from Elzybells Mini Messages Christmas clear set 20-054 (retired)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Colorbox Chalk Warm red

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Tiny Tags die set, Cuttlebug Holly Berries embossing folder, Spellbinder Oval and Scalloped Oval Nestabilities, twine, fine red glitter, Designer dries clear adhesive, Flowersoft Polar White, Aleen's tacky glue, Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils, OMS, paper stumps, Cardstock: green, red, KW Doggett "Knight" white

Stampendous Candy Bears Christmas cards #2 and #3 for Flowersoft challenge

Hello and welcome to my Blog!

Yesterday, I shared one of the cards (see this link here) that I made for the Splitcoaststampers Flowersoft Challenge FSC15 of "Last Minute Cards" which ends on December 17th.  And here are my remaining 2 cards that I made for the Challenge.

All my cards use the same layout, embossing folder and colours - I just changed a couple of things so they all look a bit different - and they were surprisingly quick as there wasn't much colouring of the images (they were all coloured with Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils and Odourless Mineral Spirits).  And I used some of my favourite Stampendous Christmas images - they are just sooo cute!!  I know it doesn't snow here at Christmas, but I am nuts about anything that has a snowman or snow on it!  And I adore teddy bears too!

For both of my Candy Cane bear cards, I added white liquid applique to the bear's hat band and pom-pom.  I let the liquid applique dry then heated it with my heat-gun to make it "puff up" and then painted over it with white acrylic paint as the white liquid applique tends to look rather creamy - almost lemony - rather than "pure white".  I also ran a line of white acrylic paint along the length of the candy cane for the highlight.

I lightly chalked in the sky around the image with Kaisercolour blue chalk (very subtle but trust me - it is there!). 

On the Red Candy Cane Bear card - the green embossed panel is an embossing folder by Crafts Too called 'Holly Frame'.  I cut out the inside of the frame, then added a piece of red cardstock underneath and cut enough of the red cardstock away to leave a small red border, then attached my image panel underneath.  You can find this gorgeous embossing folder here at Fat Cat's Card Corner.

The sentiment tag was diecut with my Cuttlebug and Tiny Tags die set and I ran my Warm Red chalk ink pad around the tag.  I added the gorgeous red and white twine in 2 separate elements (looks neater for me as I am so "ribbon-challenged"!).  Twine is so "in" at the moment - I just love it for my cards!!  The star is a sparkly red button from my stash which I glued on with Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue which is fantastic for glueing on embellies - I no longer have trouble with them falling off!  Yay me!

Lastly, I added Flowersoft Polar White using Aleen's Tacky glue along the bottom of the image.  Here is a little close-up photo:

And here is my 2nd Candy Cane bear card which is essentially the same as the card above but I swapped the red and green colours around.  It is sooooo hard to take photographs of red cards so the image is brighter IRL and my close-up photo (scroll down to see it) is more true-to-life colour-wise.

I ran my Lime Pastel chalk ink around the sentiment tag and the sparkly green star is a brad.  And I attached the ribbon in 2 separate elements plus the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.

And here is a close-up pic:

Phew - that was a long post!  As always:  if you have any questions, please feel free to email me - my addy is at the top LHS of my Blog.  I used to be new at cardmaking too, so I am always happy to explain something that you don't understand.   Thanks again for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe - Red Candy Cane bear

Stamps:  Stampendous: Candy Bears E208, Sentiment: Elzybells Mini Messages - Christmas set 20-054 

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Colorbox Chalk - Warm red

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Tiny Tags die set, Christmas Holly Frame embossing folder - Crafts Too, Prismacolor pencils, OMS, Derwent Coloursoft Pencils, Flowersoft Polar White, twine, white liquid applique, heatgun, white acrylic paint, fine paint brush, Kaisercolour blue chalk, Star button from Stash, Crafter's Pick Incredibly Tacky glue, Cardstock: green, red, KW Doggett "Knight" white

Card Recipe - Green Candy Cane bear

Stamps:  Stampendous: Candy Bears E208, Sentiment: Elzybells Mini Messages - Christmas set 20-054 

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Colorbox Chalk Lime Pastel

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Tiny Tags die set, Christmas Holly Frame embossing folder - Crafts Too, Prismacolor pencils, OMS, Derwent Coloursoft Pencils, Flowersoft Polar White, Bow Easy, sparkly green ribbon, white liquid applique, heatgun, white acrylic paint, fine paint brush, Kaisercolour blue chalk, Star brad by Making Memories, Cardstock: green, red, KW Doggett "Knight" white

Stampendouse Freeze - Christmas card #1 for Flowersoft Challenge

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I have a couple of cards to share with you which I made for the Splitcoaststampers Flowersoft Challenge FSC15 of "Last Minute Cards" which ends on December 17th.  All my cards use the same layout, embossing folder and colours - I just changed a couple of things so they all look a bit different - and they were surprisingly quick as there wasn't much colouring of the images (they were all coloured with Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils and Odourless Mineral Spirits).  And I used some of my favourite Stampendous Christmas images - they are just sooo cute!!  I know it doesn't snow here at Christmas, but I am nuts about anything that has a snowman on it!

For my Teddy and Snowman card, I added white liquid applique to the snowman's: mitten cuffs, hat band and pom-pom, and on the bear's: hat band, mitten cuff and collar on the jacket.  I let the liquid applique dry then heated it with my heat-gun to make it "puff up" and then painted over it with white acrylic paint as the white liquid applique tends to look rather creamy - almost lemony - rather than "pure white".

I lightly chalked in the sky around the image with Kaisercolour blue chalk (very subtle but trust me - it is there!).  The green embossed panel is an embossing folder by Crafts Too called 'Holly Frame'.  There is actually an embossed frame on the top half of the embossing folder, but I simply covered it with my image.  You can find this gorgeous embossing folder here at Fat Cat's Card Corner.

The sentiment tag was diecut with my Cuttlebug and Tiny Tags die set and I ran my Warm Red chalk ink pad around the tag.  The red/white ribbon came from Coles Supermarket and is by Artwrap - and the red cord was in a throw-out box at Spotlight - 5 metres for $1 so I couldn't pass that up :-)

Lastly, I added Flowersoft Polar White using Aleen's Tacky glue along the bottom of the image and did two layers of it so it looked all snowy and fluffy.  Here is a little close-up photo:

I will share my other 2 cards I made for this Challenge in the next day or so.  Thanks for stopping by - hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampendous Freeze D145, Sentiment: Elzybells Mini Messages - Christmas set 20-054 (retired) 

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Colorbox Chalk - Warm red

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Tiny Tags die set, Christmas Holly Frame embossing folder - Crafts Too, Prismacolor pencils, OMS, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, paper stumps, Flowersoft Polar White, Aleen's tacky glue, Coles ribbon, red cord, white liquid applique, heatgun, white acrylic paint, fine paintbrush, Kaisercolour blue chalk, snowflake button by "Dress it up" Snowflake collection - Snow Globe, Cardstock: green, red, KW Doggett "Knight" white 

Cuttlebug Winter House Shaker card

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I'm still having fun with my "frame" cards and this particular card is a Shaker Card and is another entry in the Splitcoaststampers Flowersoft FSC14 Sprinkle Challenge of "Winter Wonderland".

I used the now-retired Cuttlebug embossing folder:  Winter House - which I have recently seen on EBay go at Auction in Australia for more than $50 - eek!!   If you Google it, you might be lucky enough to find one somewhere!  

I diecut a circle with my Spellbinder Circle Nesties, then used the larger Snowflakes embossing folder from the Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set, then punched some icicles with my Martha Stewart Icicles edge punch and attached them underneath.  I know that you can't really tell by the photo, but there is some clear acetate over the Winter House image and I added some Polar White Flowersoft inside (approximately 1 teaspoon) which of course is the "Shaker" part of the card.. 

There is approximately 3mm thick foam tape between the Snowflakes embossing and the Winter House embossing - if you have too small a gap, the "shaker" parts get stuck underneath the acetate and don't move around freely.

I diecut some snowflakes and added Kaiser Island Lagoon Rhinestones and when I glued them to the front, I bent the edges of the snowflakes up slightly so they would stand out a bit better against the Snowflakes embossing.

This panel was then adhered to Bazzill Bling Icey Teal cardstock (I don't know the proper colour name - I am just "guessing"!), then onto more white cardstock  I love how the Bazzill Bling cardstock shimmers in the light.  Lastly, I added the ribbon in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.

Thanks again for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Snowflakes embossing folder from Winter Wonderland set, Winter House embossing folder, Cuttlebug Snowflake #2 die, Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities, Polar White Flowersoft, acetate, thick mounting tape (approx. 3mm thick), Bow Easy, Teal organza ribbon, Kaiser Rhinestones Island Lagoon RS402, Cardstock:  Bazzill Bling Icey teal, white

Punches:  Martha Stewart Icicles edge punch

Stampendous Winter Chapel Christmas card

 

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

Carrying on the theme of "framed images" which I really love at the moment, here is another card which is essentially the same card as my other one (see this post for my Bunnies in the Snow) except with a different image.  This one is by Stampendous and is called "Winter Chapel" - I bought mine from 1-2-3 Stamps here in the USA (you can also get wood-mounted instead of cling foam-mounted rubber), but if you checkout the Stampendous Website here, you can see the whole range of products including tutorials, projects, card samples with links to their Blog, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. Can you tell I'm a big fan of their stamps?!  I think they have some of the sweetest images and I especially love their Christmas range.

I stamped the image onto KW Doggett Knight white cardstock and coloured it with Derwent Coloursoft and Prismacolor pencils and Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS).  I added lots of Polar White FlowerSoft with Aleen's Tacky Glue to the image, then added soft white acrylic paint on top just for a slightly different effect.  Because of the angle of the photo, it stands out quite a bit but looks more subtle IRL.

The snowflakes embossing is one of the embossing folders from the Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set - it is larger than the regular size Cuttlebug folders so was perfect for making a square card for this image.  Note that I did the embossing first, then diecut the circle with my Circle Nesties so the embossing doesn't get squashed.  I popped this white embossed panel up on thick foam tape to add a little bit of dimension to the whole card.  This was then layered onto red cardstock and then again onto white cardstock with just double-sided tape for both of these layers.

Lastly, I added a white organza bow which I made with my Bow Easy, then glued on a sparkly red star brad - I cut the prongs off then glued it with Super Glue - much easier than trying to wrap the prongs around the bow knot and fiddling to get it sit properly.

Challenges: 

I am entering this card into the Splitcoaststampers FlowerSoft FSC14 Sprinkle Challenge of "Winter Wonderland", as well as the Splitcoaststampers Ways to use it Challenge WT294 of "Frames".

Thanks for having a peek at my Blog!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Stampendous 'Winter Chapel' CRQ042 cling-mounted rubber

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Snowflakes folder from Winter Wonderland set, Spellbinder Circle Nestabilities, Bow Easy, white organza ribbon, foam tape, star brad by Making Memories, Prismacolor pencils, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, OMS, paper stumps, Polar White FlowerSoft, Aleen's Tacky glue, Super Glue, Cardstock: KW Doggett "Knight" white (for the image), regular white (for the rest of the card), red

Penny Black Frosty the Snowman in his Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland

 

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I made another CAS Christmas card for my stash.  Now I know it doesn't snow where I live at Christmas-time - but I just LOVE snowmen and snowflakes.  There's just something special about them that really floats my boat.  And I collect things that have snowmen or snowflakes on them - stamps, paper, ornaments - oh, I could just let my head go if my wallet would allow it!  And I just LOVE this Penny Black stamp - the snowman looks so joyous and I smile everytime I look at him.

I did actually colour him a little with a light blue and grey Derwent Coloursoft pencil plus OMS, but it doesn't show up all that much in the photo - but hope you can see it a little.  I added some orange pencil to his nose.  I added some Polar White FlowerSoft with Aleen's tacky glue along the bottom then used the end of a blunt sewing needle to add little dots of the glue to the snowflakes surrounding him, then added FlowerSoft.  I find it easier to use a sewing needle to make small dots than using the glue straight from the bottle and getting big, messy blobs.

Here is a little close-up of the FlowerSoft:

The embossing folder is one of the folders from the Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set.   The blue snowflakes are the leftover punchies from using my Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge punch.  I love how you get several different sized snowflakes from using it - so handy for embellishing a card.  I added blue rhinestones to the centres and popped all these snowflakes up on 2mm mounts (dimensionals).

The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  I diecut a white snowflake using my Snowflake #2 die and added a blue rhinestone to the centre, then added some Frosted Lace Stickles.  Here is a close-up:

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be back tomorrow with some Vintage-style gift bags.

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black Frosty PB-3248H, Sentiment (retired) from Elzybells

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, embossing folder from Winter Wonderland set, Cuttlebug Snowflake #2 die, FlowerSoft Polar White, Aleen's tacky glue, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, OMS, paper stumps, Frosted Lace stickles, Kaiser blue rhinestones, gingham ribbon, Bow Easy, 2mm mounts, Cardstock: white

Punches:  Martha Stewart Snow Flurry edge, Stampin' Up corner

House Mouse Sleepy Stocking: some treats for a birdie friend

Hello and thanks for stopping by :-)

I made another Christmas card using one of the images from my House Mouse 'Sleepy Stocking' set.  LOTS of colouring on this mage which I love - it did take a while though.  It was coloured with Prismacolor + Derwent Coloursoft pencils and OMS, and I added some Polar White FlowerSoft using Aleen's tacky glue to the cuff on the stocking.  Because there was so much going on in the image, I kept the rest of the card pretty low key so it didn't make the card look 'too busy' - plus I wanted the image to take centre stage.  Here is a little close-up of the FlowerSoft:

I haven't a clue who made the designer paper - it has been in my stash for years and there is no name on it.   If you do know, please drop me an email or a comment so I can edit my post.  In any case, I would imagine that it is long retired.

The ribbon was attached in 2 separate elements, and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.  Isn't the ribbon GORGEOUS?!  I picked it up at Coles Supermarket on Friday in amongst all their Christmas stuff.  I am a ribbon-aholic, so for me, it was like finding buried treasure!  They had some other beautiful rolls of ribbon too which somehow danced their way into my shopping basket.  I only went in to get milk, and came out with ribbon and NO milk - whoops.......!  Anyway, it was nice to have something good happen - I hadn't been having a good week and wasn't feeling well either + my mojo all but disappeared - and just before I went into Coles, I had been in Target doing some Christmas shopping and knocked over a snowglobe onto the floor which smashed into a zillion pieces.  And it sounded so LOUD - like I had dropped a truckload of them!   I never knew a snow globe had so much water in it - it looked like I had tipped a bucket of water onto the floor!  I called a staff member over to the mess - she was lovely and didn't make me feel bad - but I felt so stupid and embarrassed nonetheless.  I moved a large piece of glass that had scattered quite a way so no-one would walk on it and promptly cut my finger open.  Sheesh....... so finding the nice ribbon at Coles cheered me up!

I tied some gold cord through the sentiment tag hole then tied this around the red ribbon, and glued the bow on top of that.  Lastly, I added the 3 red pearls.

Challenges:

I am popping this card into two Challenges.  The first is the House Mouse and Friends Challenge #82 which is "You gotta have friends" - of course, the little mouse is sharing the stocking filled with food with his birdie-friend.  

The second Challenge is the Crazy 4 Challenges C4C63 Challenge of "A Christmas card or item".  Nice and easy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  House Mouse 'Sleepy Stocking' JSHM006

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Designer paper:  unknown

Accessories:  FlowerSoft Polar White, Aleen's Tacky glue, Ribbon - Coles Supermarket, gold cord, Bow Easy, Fray Stop, Kaiser Pearls SB795 red, Cuttlebug, Spellbinder: Rectangle, Scalloped Rectangles, Circle, Petite Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, Cardstock:  Christmas red, Evergreen, KW Doggett "Knight" white, Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), Prismacolor pencils, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, paper stumps

Punches:  Carl CP-1 3/16" circle punch (for punching hole on tag)


ETA:  Thanks Tania for identifying the designer paper as K & Company "Holly Vine printed embossed paper" 

House Mouse Sleepy Stocking: Clean and Simple Christmas Hat

Hi and welcome to my Blog :-)

I made a clean, quick and simple card using just the hat and one of the sentiments from my House Mouse 'Sleepy Stocking' set.  This particular set isn't up on Fat Cat's Card Corner's website yet, but keep an eye out - I'm sure it will be soon (there are already some House Mouse sets listed here).   I coloured the hat with Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils plus OMS, then added some Polar White FlowerSoft - I LOVE the texture that the FlowerSoft adds - it is such cool stuff!!

The main image panel is up on 1mm mounts (dimensionals).  The ribbon is a much brighter green IRL - more like Irish Green - but being sparkly, it was rather difficult to photograph.  The green and red cardstock underneath the main image panel is also a bit brighter IRL.

The embossing on the white cardstock is a Cuttlebug Embossing folder called:  Season's Greetings  although my cardstock was smaller than the folder, so some of the writing isn't on my cardstock.

Lastly, I added a green pearl either side of the sentiment, and a red pearl to the diecut snowflake on the ribbon.

Although I have already made a card for the SCS Inspiration Challenge IC253 - see this link for the deets - I was so inspired by the John Lewis Department Store, that I made another card.  This card was inspired by this red and white Christmas ornament here.  I really liked the red & white combo and the red border, which made me think of my new Eyelet Nesties and how I could layer some red cardstock underneath to make a border.  I did end up adding the green cardstock layer and the green ribbon - the card ended up needing a little "pizazz".  I would love to get the round Eyelet Nesties one day - I think I would use them alot - in fact, I would love to see similar Nesties but with snowflakes or stars instead of the circles.  Oh well, it's nice to dream.......

Thanks again for stopping by - hope to see you again soon!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  House Mouse Sleepy Stocking JSHM006 unmounted rubber set

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug, Snowflake #2 die, Season's Greetings embossing folder, Spellbinder Eyelet Nestabilities, sparkly green ribbon, Bow Easy, FlowerSoft Polar White, Aleen's tacky glue (for FlowerSoft), 1mm mounts, Prismacolor pencils, Derwent Coloursoft pencils, OMS, paper stumps, Kaiser pearls:  red and green, Cardstock:  red, green, KW Doggett "Knight" white

Punches:  Stampin' Up corner

Painted Teddy Christmas Brooch with Flowersoft

Hi and thanks for popping in for a visit :-)

I LOVE Teddy Bears - I am an Arctophile (which means "lover of" or "collector of" Teddy Bears).  I love Teddy Bear stamps, stuffed toys, pictures - anything with a cute teddy.  I think if Beanie Kids Bears were around when I was a little girl, I would have wanted every single one they made.  I also love to paint teddy bears which was my main reasons for starting Decorative (or Tole) Painting lessons some years ago now.

I recently painted this little Teddy Christmas Brooch and thought I would share it with you.  It came as a little kit from Artsmart Craft Cottage - sadly they don't sell any wooden products for painting anymore - they only do stitcheries and quilts - but they do have lots of Stockists around the world so you never know, you might be able to pick one up somewhere.  

The kit came as a wooden blank with the design for you to trace on plus the brooch pin for the back, but you supply the paints.  It was painted with JoSonya Acrylic paints.  After I painted it, I thought the little hat needed something "textured", so I reached for my white Flowersoft and glued it on, and I love how it turned out.  Here is a little close-up pic of the hat:

Hope you like my little teddy!  Finished length (from the top of the hat to the bottom of the stocking) is 10 cm or 4 inches.

Back in a few days with another one of those difficult masculine birthday cards!

Jocelyn

Recipe:  Artsmart Craft Cottage "Christmas Teddy in Stocking" No. B02 (retired) by Libby Richardson, tracing paper, JoSonya Acrylic paints, paint brushes, Folk Art Matte Sealer (varnish), Flowersoft Polar White, Aleen's Tacky glue (for Flowersoft)