Noir et Chic Christmas Cards

One sentiment stamp, one paper pad, two Christmas cards ... And the First Edition Noir et Chic premium paper pad is not even a Christmas product. But it is such a versatile paper pad that many sheets can be used for various occasions - even for elegant Christmas cards.

The sentiment, which I used for both cards, is created with the 'Wishing you a Merry Christmas' stamp by IndigoBlu. I also used candle, holly and snowflake dies by Marianne Designs and a border die by Spellbinders. The organza ribbons are Woodware products.

Product lists and step-by-step instructions for both products are again in my Trimcraft gallery.

And I hope that you will all have a good start into the new week.

Finally Sunday ...

What a week! It could not have been much worse even if it had tried. Hopefully yesterday's mail with the 'surprise' of HMRC having lost most of my tax return put an end to the chaos. So instead of following the plans I had for Saturday I ended up re-doing my tax return and preparing an official complaint. They said that I did not send it the missing documentation, but bad luck for them that I sent the initial tax return by special delivery and that the post office receipt also shows the weight. And one piece of paper in an envelope just does not weigh 90 grams ...

All that also threw out most of the crafting planned for yesterday, but I had to make a 60th birthday card for somebody close to us. So what can you do when time is running away, your brain has been virtually fried by tax matters and you still want to make a larger card? An 8" x 8" kraft card blank, kraft card and some textured cardstock, a 12" x 12" Garden Party designer paper pack, Garden Party buttons, a Garden Party decoupage pad, some adhesive gems, QuicKutz alphabet dies and a good portion of Pinflair glue gel solved the problem

And today I will hopefully get a chance to have a more relaxing day and to work on some more Christmas cards. Fingers crossed!

And more Merry Magic ...

I am on a 'Merry Magic role' at the moment. Here are two more cards for which I used this new Christmas collection by Dovecraft.

For the first card I added patterned paper from the First Edition paper pad 'Stocking Fillers' and used a sentiment die by Cheery Lynn Designs and a holly die by Marianne Designs.

For the second card I used Cherry Lynn cutting dies for the lattice frame and the sentiment. The snowflake acetate and the snowflake die-cuts are by Crafter's Companion/Hunkydory.

Step-by step instructions and product lists for both cards are again in my Trimcraft gallery.

Merry Magic Collection - Part 2

It is time for some more projects created with the new Dovecraft Merry Magic collection. You can find product lists and step-by-step instructions in my Trimcraft gallery.

And for those of you, who would like to know a bit more about certain products:

For the frame on the reindeer card and also for the inner section of pink cardstock I used a Die'sire die by Crafter's Companion. The label die is from an Xcut set, and the holly die is by Marianne Designs. The sentiment stamp is from the set XM115S by Crafty Stamps. And I got the paper flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.

For the sentiment on the tree card below I used a die by Cheery Lynn Designs.

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.

Merry Magic Collection

Trimcraft have brought out a brand-new young and fresh Christmas collection in contemporary colours: Merry Magic.

For this card I used the following products:

* 12.5cm x 12.5cm square card blank
* Merry Magic designer paper pack
* Merry Magic 3D stickers 'Presents'
* Merry Magic individual adhesive gems
* snowflake acetate by Crafter's Companion
* green Core'dinations cardstock
* holly branch die by Marianne Designs
* Cheery Lynn window frame die

Step-by-step instructions for this project can be found in my Trimcraft gallery.