Belle & Boo Christmas Plaques

During 2015 my crafting focus has really shifted from cards to home decor items. I never thought that I would enjoy it so much to create decorative frames and MDF items. And my handcrafted Christmas decorations, for example, that are currently surrounding me are - in my humble opinion - even nicer than many bought items.

The two MDF plaques in this blog post are created around the adorable Belle & Boo Christmas collection by Trimcraft. The plaques were prepared with white gesso and First Edition deco mache papers. A final all over application of First Edition deco mache gloss decoupage glue gives them a nice shiny and smooth finish.

Product lists and step-by-step instructions for both projects can again be found in my Trimcraft gallery.

The Night Before Christmas Plaque

Today I would like to share another home decor item with you.This time it is an oval Christmas plaque based around an image from Helz Cuppleditch's The Night Before Christmas collection by Trimcraft and the matching reindeer deco mache papers. The base is an oval MDF plaque into which I punched two holes using my Crop-a-Dile Big Bite. Other tools like a drill would also do the trick.

For a product list, step-by-step instructions and a larger image please go to my Trimcraft gallery.

Glad Tidings Project Series

Over the last days I worked on a series of five projects created with the new Dovecraft Christmas collection 'Glad Tidings'. Here are now images of all five new cards. Larger images as well as product lists and step-by step instructions for all projects will be available in my Trimcraft gallery by the end of tomorrow.

The Night Before Christmas Scene

Now that I am on my own I need a lot less Christmas cards and find myself more and more often opting for home decor items when I am crafting. And they make it possible to have some more and new decorative Christmas items even if the budget is tight. And Trimcraft's new collection 'The Night Before Christmas' with images by Helz Cuppleditch in combination with some other great new First Edition and Dovecraft Christmas products allows for some unique items with a personal touch that could not be just bought in shops or could be found in countless homes.

This 6" x 6" panel based on a piece of cardboard also brought out a great way of using up loose glitter without mess. I mixed a generous amount of PVA with white Dovecraft glitter and applied it lavishly to the icicle border and the snowflake elements. This leaves the ice and snow elements nice and sparkly - and the glitter is not shedding.

I prepared again a product list and step-by-step instructions, which can be found in my Trimcraft gallery.

Mini cards with felt die-cuts

Today I would like to share two more mini cards with you. This time I used products from the Dovecraft Christmas Basics collection. The focal points of both cards are die-cut embellishments created from felt.

I must admit that I was initially unsure how die-cutting felt would work, but I should not have worried. With the Dovecraft felt and Christmas dies it worked just fine. I would just recommend to ease the felt carefully out of the dies in case there is a fibre that needs to be cut (and that is better than tearing a fibre and potentially the die-cut). Due to the pressure from the diecutting machine the edges are even finished nicely. By the way, I used a Cuttlebug with a pretty worn out cutting plate.

Product lists and step-by-step instructions for both projects are again prepared and can be found in my Trimcraft gallery.

Christmas with Belle & Boo

Belle & Boo Christmas - Winter Magic

The popular and so adorable characters Belle and Boo are making a return in Trimcraft's 2015 Christmas collection. And I could not resist to have a good play with the new products, which I combined with some of the brand-new Dovecraft Christmas Basics products, while watching today's rugby matches.

For the first card that features Belle and a reindeer I have created a faux embossed effect with the fabulous Dovecraft Christmas Basics snowflake dies. I love especially the corner die from this set. And I think I need to organise more of the Dovecraft Christmas Basics A4 cardstock that I used for this project. The card in this multipack comes in kraft, white, red, green and a dark burgundy tone and is so nice and smooth and lovely for die-cutting and embossing.

Belle & Boo Christmas Mini Card

Christmas cards do not always need to be relatively large and time-consuming. Making a Belle & Boo mini card with the new Dovecraft Christmas Basics A7 cards and envelopes was fun, effortless and so quick. And that is just brilliant for those of us, who need to make a significant number of Christmas cards.

Belle & Boo Christmas - Festive Cheer

The final card for today is again based on a 6" x 6" card blank, which I used as tent-fold card. Most elements on this card are coming from the Belle & Boo decoupage pad.

I have again prepared product lists and step-by-step instructions for all three cards. Just click onto the titles below the images and you will be taken through straight to the relevant pages in my Trimcraft gallery.

2015

Firstly, all the very best wishes for a happy, healthy and successful year 2015 to all of you.

I used the last few days to create some more handcrafted decorations for the festive season. And although I am happy with the results, they turned out to be pretty time consuming and I wondered more than once why I started them in the first place.

To cut the Christmas tree itself the cardstock for each element had to run through the Cuttlebug five to six times before all sections were cut properly. And then I sat here for ages holding together the Christmas tree elements until the so-called 'quick dry' tacky glue was holding the two parts securely together ...

The die for the baubles cuts two at the same time, but due to decorating the entire tree I needed to run it through the Cuttlebug 16 times per tree. I ordered more 3mm pearls before Christmas, but Royal Mail kindly only delivered mail on Monday this week and they are consequently not yet here. The only other sufficient amount of pearls from the same manufacturers that I had here comes on strips - and yes, I ended up removing every single one of the pearls from the adhesive strip, which took ages. As I want to keep the decorations for future years, I wanted to use a tiny drop of PVA glue for a stronger bond under each pearl anyway. I will make more of these trees ... but that can wait for another couple of months.

The ingredients for these intricate Christmas trees:
* Spellbinders 3D Christmas tree die set
* Double-sided pearlescent cardstock (I used Moondust card in 'Crystal')
* Foundations cardstock in vintage gold and vintage silver
* 5mm pearls
* 3mm pearls
* PVA glue

Santa's workshop is still busy

At the end of the weekend I would like to share another Christmas card with you that I created with Santa's Workshop products by Trimcraft with those adorable characters by Helz Cuppleditch.

I have added again step-by-step instructions and a product list to my Trimcraft gallery. And for those particularly interested in dies: The holly die is one of my trusted Marianne Design dies.

Have a good start into the new week. And I will be back with more projects as soon as other projects that are already in the pipeline are finalised.

Santa's Workshop Decoupage

Santa's Workshop - Hot Chocolate Kisses

After some nasty bugs did such a great job of knocking me out during the week I had my work cut out today. And it was full steam ahead with some brand-new projects created with the fabulous Santa's Workshop collection by Trimcraft with lovely images by Helz Cuppleditch.

Product lists and step-by-step instructions for all cards are already in my Trimcraft gallery. Just click onto the link underneath each image to go straight to the uploaded details.

Santa's Workshop - Sweet Christmas

For the holly leaves on these cards I used a die by Marianne Design. The star ornament on the second card is created with a Memory Box die. The border punch used for the card above is by Tonic Studios.

Santa's Workshop - Santa the Baker

I hope you like these cards.

Santa's Workshop has opened

Oh, is it not lovely when you plan to get some crafting done, to write up some project instructions, to prepare photos for the web and to create some blog posts only to find that your Microsoft Publisher seems to be on strike with message that it is not even installed or seems to have deactivated itself. It took me hours to find out that the latest Windows update during the week seems to have caused havoc with Office 2010 and to work out ways how to get still into the software that is in fact still installed and activated. I just feel like screaming now ...

And please do not get a complete shock, but I have actually started my Christmas cards! The cute Santa's Workshop collection designed by Helz Cuppleditch and manufactured by Trimcraft has made it easy to turn the corner.

And I have also found another favourite project. I really dislike glittering my entire environment and myself when working with glitter or glitter card. I found now the A5 glitter card sheets from Trimcraft, which are apparently not shedding glitter. I cut sheets with my guillotine and even used them in my precious Cuttlebug. And it really works! The glitter stays on the card and just there. I think I need to get some more of these sheets, as I am hooked.

A product list and step-by-step instructions for the card above can be found in my Trimcraft gallery. And the Trimcraft website has just re-launched with a really fresh and modern look. It would be great, if you could have a peek and would check out the new look and features.

A Modern Twist

Sometimes we just need to let our creativity run lose. And why should we always stick with traditions and conventional perceptions? This is how this purple based Christmas card was born. Santa dressed in purple might be unusual, but why not for a change?

The image is the large Santa by Crafty Stamps (XM128M) - stamped onto glass-smooth card by Southfield and coloured in with Spectrum Noir pens. A square card blank cut from white pearlescent cardstock, sheets from the Contemporary Christmas Collection by Core'dinations, tea roses and white adhesive pearls are adding to the look. I also used a Darice snowflake embossing folder, a snowflake doily die by Cottage Cutz, a holly branches die by Marianne Designs as well as hints of Stickles glitter glue in 'Frosted Lace'.

Christmas with Crafty Stamps

Today I would like to share two more cards, which incorporate images from the new Crafty Stamps Christmas collection, with you.

For the first card I opted for a sparkly and yummy cream and brown creation. I used the gingerbread man stamp XM121F and the Christmas sentiment set XM113S. The images are teamed up with an ivory card blank, Centura Pearl cardstock, glittered paper from a First Edition 'Festive Treats' paper pad, Woodware organza ribbon, Stickles glitter glue in 'Diamond' and Liquid Pearls in 'Dark Chocolate'.

My dies for this project are round nesting dies, scalloped circle dies, a label die by Xcut and a die by Marianne Designs for the leaves. For the borders I used a geared punch by Tonic Studios. The paper flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts.

For a softer look I stamped the gingerbread man and the sentiment in 'Rich Cocoa', a Memento ink pad. Spectrum Noir pens were my medium of choice for the colouring.

The second card is more experimental with white cardstock, silver mirri card (and crafters will know how difficult this is to photograph) and red metallic card. The holly branches are cut from silver mirri card using a die by Marianne Designs. The holly image is 'painted' using red and green embossing powders and then set with the help of a heat gun. The image comes from the holly and snowman set XM2S.

A bit more of that Christmas spirit

Here are now two more Christmas projects created with brand-new Christmas stamps by Crafty Stamps. The high quality rubber stamps on kling foam are really great for precise and evenly stamped images.

The first project is something a bit different - a plate-like card with a stand. For this card I used

* Candle and bell set XM3S by Crafty Stamps
* Black Memento inkpad
* Spectrum Noir pens in IG1, BG5, CT3, CT4, GB4, DR 6 and DR7
* Adorable Scorable cardstock by Hunydory/Crafter's Companion
* Core'dinations cardstock
* First Edition paper pad 'Festive Treats' by Trimcraft
* White glass-smooth cardstock by Southfield
* Circle and scalloped circle cutting dies
* Large circle and scalloped circle cutting dies
* Oval cutting dies
* Plate stand die by Joy! Crafts
* Poinsettia and holly dies by Marianne Designs
* Paper roses and rosebuds by Wild Orchid Crafts
* Stickles glitter glue in Frosted Lace
* Dovecraft adhesive gemstones 'Brights'
* Adhesive
* Grand Calibur
* Toolbox essentials

The second projects sports a distressed look in green and black with some hints of colour. The 'ingredients' for this project are

* Holly stamp XM125D by Crafty Stamps
* Black Memento inkpad
* Spectrum Noir pens in IG1, DG2, DG3, DR4 and DR6
* Tim Holtz Distress Marker in 'vintage photo' (for the shading of the reindeer)
* Core-dinations cardstock
* White glass-smooth cardstock by Southfield
* Round cutting dies
* Die'sire die set 'Waltz Frame' by Crafter's Companion
* Reindeer die by Cottage Cutz
* Holly die set by Marianne Designs
* Die-cutting machine
* Corner rounder
* Tim Holtz sanding grip
* Adhesive
* Toolbox esentials

Thanks for visiting my blog. And please look out for more Christmas projects, which will follow very soon.

Winter is on the way

Yes, believe it or not, even I am now on the Christmas card bandwagon. There are already so many gorgeous new products around that I could not resist any longer. And over the next weeks I will share many projects with new goodies with you.

Today I am starting with a lovely new snowman stamp by Crafty Stamps. Inspiration for this project was the nice clean and cold air on a winter's morning. To give it this more 'frosty' feel I opted for white, light blue and silver as the main colours with a lot of mirri card and a bit of glitter.

Here are the 'ingredients' for my 15cm x 15cm square card:

• Large snowman stamp XM129Q by Crafty Stamps
• Spectrum Noir pens
• Black Memento ink pad
• White linen cardstock by Southfield
• White glass-smooth cardstock (200gsm) by Southfield
• Textured light blue cardstock
• Silver mirri card
• Adhesive pearls
• Stickles glitter glue
• Circle and scalloped circle cutting dies
• Cheery Lynn holly corner die
• Snowflake embossing folder
• Die-cutting-machine
• Adhesive
• Toolbox essentials

Oh Little Town of Bethlehem

And here are more cards created with a Christmas stamp by Red Gingham Designs. This time I used the stamp 'Oh Little Town of Bethlehem', which is available exclusively from Little Claire.


The first card is created in black, white and shades of grey. I used - apart from the 'Oh Little Town of Bethlehem stamp - white textured cardstock, black textured cardstock, patterned papers, Neenah card, a black Memento ink pad, ProMarkers, white gingham ribbon and a Dovecraft stars border punch.


The products and tools for the second card are a stamp from the Red Gingham Designs Christmas text set, a C6 card blank, textured cardstock, Neenah card, a black Memento ink pad, ProMarkers, Nestabilities and for the embellishments Dovecraft adhesive gemstones, coloured bells and 5mm jump rings.

The Robin and the Ivy

Today I would like to show you some projects that I made with another stamp by Red Gingham Designs - 'The Robin and the Ivy'. It is part of their brand-new Christmas range.

For the first card I coloured in the image with Spectrum Noir pens by Crafter's Companion to achieve a softer and more muted colouring. Using a Sakura Gelly Roll pen in 'clear star' I added dots to the snowflakes for a bit of sparkle. As embellishments I used swirls created with a QuicKutz 4x4 die and ribbon roses (with cut off stems), which I sprayed with silver Spray and Sparkle by Crafter's Companion.


The image on the second card is coloured in with ProMarkers. For a bit of sparkle I added again dots with a Gelly Roll pen in 'clear star' to the snowflakes. Embellishments are white Card Candi and a die-cut sleigh created with a die by Marianne Designs and enhanced with silver Spray and Sparkle.


Red Gingham Designs products are exclusive to Little Claire. This stamp can be ordered online via the Little Claire website or by calling the team on 0844 800 4376.

Little George

Do you like cute Christmas cards? What about making some with the adorable Little George, a new stamp by Red Gingham Designs?

Well fed and prepared for the winter he is snuggled up in his scarf and his wee hat. It is one of the loveliest Christmas images I have seen in a while. And he will be amongst the firm favourites for our personal Christmas cards.



The Little George stamp is now available from Little Claire. You can order online via their website or by calling 0844 800 4376.

Manger

It can be tricky and very time consuming to create a larger number of Christmas cards with coloured in stamped images. The Little Claire stamp 'Manger' comes in very handy, as it is smaller, quicker to colour in and requires only a limited number of colours.

Most of the time I am using 15cm x 15cm square cards. But for the samples below I have used smaller square cards (12.5cm x 12.5cm), which can be cut from A4 cardstock and are perfectly fine for this size of stamp.



The stamp is now available on the Little Claire website. It can, of course, also be ordered over the phone.

Trimcraft Christmas Projects

I recently created a few Christmas projects for Trimcraft. The cards include the new Back to Basics and Fizzy Moon Christmas collections. Especially the Fizzy Moon collection provides a wide range of products and some gorgeous stamps.

Product lists and step-by-step instructions for all projects can be found in my Trimcraft gallery.

Please feel free to re-create the projects or to give them your personal touch. Please just do not enter copies of the projects into competitions.

Red Gingham Christmas Stamps

New to the Little Claire website is a fabulous range of Christmas stamps by Red Gingham Designs. Many of the stamps have a really elegant feel and are great for stylish Christmas cards.

Here are two cards that I created with the stamp 'Cold, Crisp Kisses', which is now available exclusively from Little Claire.

Coloured in using the green set of 6 Spectrum Noir pens by Crafter's Companion /
cutting dies by X-Cut and QuicKutz /
embossing border by Papermania

Coloured in with the turquoise set of 6 Spectrum Noir pens by Crafter's Companion /

accents created with Sakura pens - Gelly Roll in 'Clear Star' and clear Glaze pen /
cutting dies by Spellbinders and Marianne Designs /
sentiment stamp from the Red Gingham Designs Christmas text set

And please look out for further samples made with the new Christmas stamps by Red Gingham Designs. They will follow soon.