Pigment Craft Co. Christmas cards

I was able to purchase several new-to-me stamp and die sets by Pigment Craft Co. this summer, and was very keen to get them made into cards.  Their flowers & foliage stamps are amazing, and just my style... so after MUCH fussy cutting, I got four cards put together:

Stamp sets used are Berry Sprig, Winter Sprig and Festive Floral.  I had several foliage dies in my collection that I pulled out and cut in brushed silver and gold Spellbinders cardstock to tuck into my sprays, plus an old Echo Park word die set for the Merry.

I used the rectangular postage die set from Spellbinders to cut out my background, and adhered it to the base with 3D foam tape.

I wasn't sure if I'd use my second colour combo for Christmas cards or not, but once the shimmery gold die cuts were added, I thought it worked really well.

Happy to have two of each version in my stash... and have many more pieces to still create with.

Here's my pile of stamped images that were fussy cut!  And yes... each of those pine boughs was painstakingly cut while I watched Hallmark Christmas movies :-)

A Spidey Birthday!

I have a wonderful Great Nephew who turned four this week, and he's a huge 'Spidey' fan - he's the version of Spiderman aimed at a younger audience.  So... I pulled out my supplies and got creative in figuring out how I could make a Spidey card.

I used an oval die to cut out his head, then reshaped it a little, and copied the web pattern on his head with a marker.  I had one of these silhouette die cuts already, and decided to layer them to make a shadowy cityscape.  After spelling out his name, I decided that the D in the alphabet die set would work for his eyes, so I added those, plus a few dots for decoration... and a Spidey card was born.

Happy Birthday, Alex!

Cozy Fireplace

The October Betterpress Society plates from Spellbinders are called Cozy Fireplace - a set of registration plates (meaning multiple colours/pieces) for the holidays.  This is the first of several projects that I've made with the set:

I wanted a retro vibe for my card, so chose some muted Distress Oxide inks, which have a muted cast to start with: Vintage Photo/Ground Espresso/Bundled Sage/Rustic Wilderness/Speckled Egg.  The trees were done with an ombre effect.

I love the idea of mixing die cuts with Betterpress images, so pulled several Spellbinders sets from my stash, and decorated the mantle.  I matted my scene with the same pink cardstock as my poinsettia, and added a gold star to the small tree.

You can get a subscription to the Betterpress Society through the Papercrafter's Workshop.

Ai Christmas Card

 I am on the Art Impressions blog today, for my last 2024 Watercolor Weekend!

Today I am using the 5857 - Baby Mini Foundation Set that was released last year.  This image was part of the Nativity Journal Bundle, but works great all on it's own as a card.

Before stamping, I determined that I was going to use the 5065 - Oval Double Stitched Dies to cut out my image, so I traced the outline on my Canson XL Watercolour paper to give myself a painting guideline.  I stamped my image using #N65, as I wanted a soft outline to paint with.  I used four of the branches from 4960 - WC Fir Trees Set coloured in #249/565 and stamped in all of the pine boughs.  There are two branches that bend in each direction, so it allowed me to make it look as though the branches were hanging down from each side.  I coloured each branch in #249, then added #565 along the bottom edge to provide a built in shadow.  I touched all the branches with a damp brush to bring out the colour, and soften the lines.  The birds were painted with #969/947/865, with several layers to add some depth.  #992/969 were painted in streaks on the manger, to indicate a wood-like texture, and I used the #992/993 markers directly on the paper to create the hay underneath.  #850/947 were painted on the Baby's face, with a little glow added to His cheeks.

A wash of #565 was painted on the sky, but it was a bit too purple for my liking, so I darkened it up a little using Blueprint Sketch Distress ink.  It was also added to the snowy hillsides, and as shadows around the manger.  I used my Twintone markers to add in the bird's eyes/beak/legs, and the Baby's features.  I used Bleedproof White paint to add snow to the branches, along with a few snowflakes in the sky, then painted in some shadows with #565 on the snow.

I used the oval die to cut out the image, then matted it and mounted it onto my background paper from 5963 - Winter Woodland PP with 3D foam adhesive.  A few jewels and a foiled sentiment finished it off.  *I am sharing one project this morning, and Gennette will be posting another one this afternoon, so be sure to check out the Ai blog later on!  

Christmas Pudding

I've pulled a few different products together to create today's card.  The Christmas Pudding die set, and the Cooking Up Christmas stamp/stencil set are both from The Greetery, combined with several different dies for the pine boughs and foliage.

This was a labour of love!  There are ten colours of cardstock and seven inks involved... and much fussy cutting.  And when you go to this much trouble, you make more than one, so I have eight of these added to my stash.  You should see my craft desk, it's like a bomb went off.

I wanted a little glimmer, so I used brushed metallic gold paper to cut out the Joy sentiment, and spattered some gold paint on the finished product.  Happy to have these completed, and plan to spend the next hour tidying up my craft room :-)

Winter Farmhouse

I've been hoarding the Winter Farmhouse papers from Simple Stories for a LONG time!  But I am slowly trying to use them up.  I had precut the tag, and had the bits and pieces from Spellbinders Holiday Blooms die set already on my craft desk... so this card was born.

The Joy is an old Memory Box die that has been in my stash forever... and the little gold strip was cut off of a panel that I'd run through my Minc machine this weekend.

This is one of the rare times that I haven't added foam tape to a card!  It'll be a good one to mail.

All supplies were bought from the Papercrafter's Workshop.

Poinsettia Spray

I'm wanting to revisit some of the stamp and die sets that I've acquired this year, and this Poinsettia Spray die set from Spellbinders is one of them.  I've tried it with an arch and a rectangle, but never an oval, and this is the most traditional colour combo that I've done.

I wanted a warmer card, so added the soft yellow to the mix, and LOVE the kraft base.

The sentiment is the Christmas Sentiments Foilables from Pink & Main.

All supplies are available at The Papercrafter's Workshop.

Holiday Blooms

 I wanted to revisit my Holiday Blooms die set from Spellbinders - I have bags of precut bits, ready to go, so I decided to do a bright version today.

I started with my Nested Postage Labels & Tag dies - also Spellbinders, masked it off and did some ink blending with Broken China Distress Oxide ink.  Then I began building my spray.

I wanted something small and sparkly for the sentiment, so I used these new-to-me Foilables from Pink & Main.  I haven't used my Minc machine in a long while, but these were so quick and easy to do... so I foiled one panel in gold, and cut apart the one sentiment (I'm set for a long time now!)

You can get the Foilables and Spellbinders products from The Papercrafter's Workshop.

Simon Says Stamp Exclusive from Art Impressions!

The Art Impressions Design Team are all sharing projects of the Ai Exclusive set for Simon Says Stamp - available exclusively on the SSS website.  I know there are a bunch of Matchbook fans out there, so you're going to love this one!  Here is 5950 - Christmas Town MBE:

If you aren't familiar with the Matchbooks (you can find them on the Ai site here!), they are tiny - less than 2" square.  And even though they have quite a 3D appearance, they fold flat, and can be put into the tiny matching envelope - scroll down to see mine.

I've used the brand new 5962 - Classic Christmas PP papers, and coloured up my scene in coordinating Copic marker colours.  A few Stickles were added to the trees and lamppost.

In order to put the Matchbook set together, you will need the 5318 - MB Envelope Dies (shown here), and they come with these cute little envelope and tag dies, plus a few others.  The other set required is 5317 - MB Template Die, which is the 'house' base with that little scalloped edge.

My second card is the CAS version!  Who says the set is just to be used as a Matchbook?  I stamped and coloured just the main background of houses, and the small trees, and created an inked sky for them to sit against.  

You could trim the houses and glue them down flat, but I liked the 3D idea.  For mailing, the houses can just be flattened before you put them in a regular A2 sized envelope.

Check out the Ai blog to see what the rest of the design team has to share, and there will be more artwork on the SSS blog, too.

Shine Bright

 I have been struggling to get into Christmas cards this year... but seemed to break through my block by creating a bunch of bold rainbow themed Christmas projects today!  I was inspired by the Shine Bright stamp set from Pigment Craft Co., and knew that I had the Lawn Fawn Really Rainbow Christmas paper pack from a few years ago...

I used Festive Berries, Wild Honey, Mowed Lawn, Broken China and Shaded Lilac Distress Oxide inks, applied directly to my stamps with sponge dawbers and the help of my Misti.  I got an assembly line going and created panels for four cards.

I loved the look so much, that I die cut six tags with the Ai tag die, and stamped the same design.  My Glossy Accents was a little thick, but if I can get it flowing again, I may add it to the lights.

Before assembling my cards, I cut tag bases out of the coloured paper, and used the Snowflake and Quirky Owl Ephemera packs from Simply Stated Design (they're Canadian!) to put together four smaller tags.  I used my Lawn Fawn Tiny Christmas Tags for a small accent, and stamped them with holiday sayings.

Ten tags and four cards created today!  My stash is building...  *You can find Lawn Fawn, Distress Inks and Simply Stated Design products at the Papercrafter's Workshop

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