Hi, crafty friends! November and December are usually fairly hectic around here, and this time, they were especially hectic. I changed jobs and felt like I worked around the clock, which left little time for blog posts and to upload my creations to Instagram. As a result, I’m playing catch-up, and I have a few more holiday cards and tags to share over the next few weeks. Let’s face it, I make Christmas cards all year anyway, so I’d probably be sharing holiday cards in January even if November and December hadn’t been as crazy as they were.
Every year I seem to create just enough Christmas cards by making them all year, but I tend to neglect gift tags and scramble last minute to get them done as I wrap presents. This time I was a little more ahead, and this gift tag was one of the early ones I made, featuring Mittens from Purple Onion Designs, as well as the Snow-capped Duo in the background.
I created a very layered tag for my niece and used the Stitched Traditional Tag STAX die set from My Favorite Things to achieve that faux stitch look that I’m such a fan of. I used another stitched die from MFT to create the slope in the background and added both the ground and my fussy cut cat using foam tape.
Through the hole at the top, I looped a bit of tinsel and tied a bow around it using Purple Plum divine twine from Whisker Graphics. I also die cut a letter tag using the Personalized Tags die set from My Favorite Things from some Winter Wisteria cardstock from Papertrey Ink. My niece loves purple, so I thought it fit nicely. I also added a charm with a pair of mittens, I just couldn’t help myself. This tag doesn’t even have to be a holiday tag, it’d be perfect for someone born in the winter months (not my niece, though, her birthday’s in June).
On the back of the tag I used a piece of patterned paper from the Forever Green paper pack from Moda Scrap. I die cut it using that same stitched tag die from MFT that I used on the front and stamped a to/from stamp from the B06 stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Milk Chocolate ink from MFT. I love their inks, they stamp so well!
You wouldn’t think I’d use this many colors for such a small image, but I did. I even airbrushed the sky in the background using B93, 91 and 90 (a color I’ve made myself), and used BG93 and BG90 with a tip to tip technique on the trees in the background for just a hint of color. I wanted the main focus to be on the cat in the foreground, so I chose very soft colors for the background.
I stamped the snowflake in the stamp set repeatedly across my background using Iceberg ink from Altenew. I did second generation stamping on some of the snowflakes, especially where they overlap the lines where I intend to write. From Cornflower cardstock from My Favorite Things, I die cut the letters to spell januar using the In Stitches Lowercase Alphabet die set, also from My Favorite Things. I adhered the letters using liquid glue, centering them above the dates for the month.
I used lots of colors for this little owl. Isn’t he just the cutest, sitting there on his branch wrapped in a scarf?
I wanted the focus to be on the image and kept the rest of the card pretty simple. I stamped a sentiment from the Hugs Make Everything Better stamp set from My Favorite Things directly below my image using Smokey Shadow ink from Papertrey Ink. I wanted something a little bit softer than black, but I did stamp it twice, so maybe I should have used black after all. Close to the sentiment and close to the top of the scene I used one of the Stitched Borders dies from Lawn Fawn to create a decorative edge. I love faux stitching details on my cards, and this diagonal one is a fun change from the ones I normally use.
Onto a panel of Lemon Tart cardstock from Papertrey Ink, I stamped the All Lined Up Diagonally Background stamp from My Favorite Things using Harvest Gold ink from Papertrey Ink, which is a tiny bit darker than the Lemon Tart. It adds subtle tone on tone interest to the background without distracting from the focal point of the image. I adhered the panel directly to a white top fold card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink and added my image towards the top of the card using foam tape for dimension.
Simple color palette today. I also used BV27 for the sky, which is a color I’ve made myself.
I colored the gingerbread cookies with my Copics and used a circle die to turn it into a circle. I die cut another circle from patterned paper from Papirdesign and used a die from the Glassic Snow Globe die set from My Favorite Things to cut a window from the same piece. I stamped and white heat embossed a sentiment from Norsk Stempelblad AS below the window and added a shaker pouch from My Favorite Things that I filled with the Icicle Sequin mix from Hero Arts.
I die cut another circle from the same patterned paper that I used on the front and white heat embossed a to/from stamp from Norsk Stempelblad AS in the center. After adhering all the pieces together, I cut a hole at the top, reinforcing it with an eyelet before pulling string through. This shaker gift tag can definitely be used as an ornament too, and I’m hoping that’s what will happen.
Simple image and simple colors for this one.
This card was created for a little girl whose christening was this past Sunday. I think the 
I die cut the image using a circle die from Lifestyle Crafts and matted it with kraft cardstock. I also printed the name and date on a piece of white cardstock that I also matted with kraft. I put a doily from Helz Cuppelditch behind my image and added flowers using a hot glue gun. I took out the yellow centers of two of the flowers and replaced them with Lavender pearls from Kaisercraft.
On the inside tag I added a circle diecut made from white cardstock for a space to write a personal message. I used the Labels Trio die set from Spellbinders to create two “handles” from kraft cardstock. I tied a bow and attached a charm to one of them for a little added interest.
On the back of the card I stamped a sentiment from North Star Design using Amethyst ink from Altenew.
The card isn’t very big, it only measures 5×5″, but it’s quite dimensional and doesn’t fit in a regular envelope, so I decided it was best to create a box envelope.
I rummaged through my 12×12″ cardstock and found a color that matched pretty well, and used my Envelope Punch Board from We R Memory Keepers to create the box. I added another Helz Cuppelditch doily for cohesion, as well as more of the patterned paper that I die cut using the Impact alphabet die set from My Favorite Things.
Not a whole lot of Copics used for this.
Today I’m sharing a simple one, featuring 
I stamped the image with Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things onto X-Press It blending card, colored the image with Copics and fussy cut, leaving a thin, white border. I prefer cutting right up against the stamped lines when I fussy cut, but with the snowflake garland, that just wasn’t an option.
I used an oval die from Spellbinders to cut a window into a white cardstock panel. I then used the Snowflake Oval Frame embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp to create a little bit of texture to my plain white cardstock. This embossing folder has an oval in the center that doesn’t emboss (where you can stamp a sentiment), but I wanted a window for my card and cut out an oval before using the embossing folder.
I created a card base from Spring Rain cardstock from Papertrey Ink and stamped part of a sentiment from the 
I put lots of foam tape on the back of the white cardstock with the dry embossed snowflakes and adhered that to my card, and then added foam tape behind my colored image and placed it in the center of the card.
Simple color palette for this card.
I colored the cat, tree and ground with my Copics, before deciding that I really wanted a dark, intense night sky. I stamped and fussy cut masks for both images, then did some free hand cutting of a snowbank at the back, before I went in with my Copic airbrush system and some dark blue colors to quickly create the sky.
I used the largest of the dies from the Slimline Double Stitched Rectangle STAX set from My Favorite Things to cut down the panel to fit on the front of my card, and stamped a sentiment from the 
I sprinkled on chunky white embossing enamel from Stampendous, making sure no granules covered the sentiment or Hazel’s eye before melting the granules from the back of the panel. I adhered my snowy scene to a card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, and my card was complete. I didn’t want to add anything else to it.
For such a simple scene I sure used quite a few colors. The ones that come after the jump in this graphic are the ones I used to airbrush the sky.
I colored up my penguins with Copics, using a combo of red and teal for their hats and scarves. I’m not a fan of complementary colors, and I do my best to avoid using green with red, but teals, blues and greys all work well.
I didn’t really have a card idea in mind when I printed my image, but I printed it towards the bottom of a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2″ piece of X-Press It blending card. Once I sat down with my colored panel to actually create the card, an idea formed straight away. It doesn’t always happen like that, but I’m grateful every time it does. I created a card base from Summer Splash cardstock from My Favorite Things, cut down my panel to 4 x 5 1/4″ and adhered it to the card base.
Using a snowflake border die from Papirdesign, I die cut a snowflake border above their heads. I used the same X-Press It blending card for this as I wanted the whites to match. I die cut an additional two pieces, and glued them together for a stacked look. The die is actually meant for slimline cards, but it worked really well for this.
I used the Sending You Hugs die from My Favorite Things to die cut my sentiment twice from Summer Splash cardstock. I used the negative piece of the die cut for placement, and layered my letters together for a little bit of dimension. On a piece of Amarena Cherry cardstock from My Favorite Things, I stamped and white heat embossed the word holiday from the Itty Bitty Holiday stamp set, also from MFT. I cut it down to a thin strip, added another layer of Amarena Cherry cardstock behind it for a bit of dimension and stability, and glued my little strip to the H in hugs, before finishing off the card with a couple of sequins from the Sparkling Clear mix from Pretty Pink Posh.
I could have gone crazy with tons of colors for the accessories on these cute penguins, but I limited my color palette by keeping the coloring simple.
Meet 
I stamped my images using Extreme Black ink from My Favorite Things, and colored in the scene using my Copics.
After trimming down the panel, I stamped a sentiment from the 
I adhered my colored panel onto a square card base I created from Blue Yonder cardstock from My Favorite Things. When I first started making cards, they were all square; 6×6″ is the standard size for handmade cards in Norway, and I admit it’s a fun size to go back to. This isn’t actually fully square, it measures 5 7/8 x 5 1/2″, but it’s the size that best fit my scene, so I went with it.
There’s something cozy and serene about this entire scene, and I really like how it turned out.
Very muted color palette for this one. I see now that I forgot to add the green, but I believe they were BG99, G46, 43, YG61 and G20.
I cut down my panel of X-Press It blending card significantly when my coloring was done, and mounted it on foam tape onto the cardbase, which I’d covered with a scrap piece of patterned paper from the Hjem til jul collection from Papirdesign.
I added a small cluster towards the top right corner of the card, using a mini doily from Doodlebug, as well as some die cut scraps of patterned paper from Maja Design and Sunny Studio. I stamped a sentiment from Norsk Stempelblad AS using Dark Chocolate ink from Papertrey Ink onto Classic Kraft cardstock, also from Papertrey Ink. The dies I used in my cluster are a combination of My Favorite Things (Fishtail Flag Frames and Itty Bitty Strips) and X-Cut (Happy Days Ticket Stubs). I also used the Hero Arts Snowflake Confetti fancy die to die cut snowflakes that I scattered across the card, and I put a white pearl from Kort & Godt in the center of each snowflake to finish the card.
This color combination of blue and bright pink sure was fun, and these are brighter blues than the ones I normally use. I also used a ton of colors for the snow in this little scene. I just can’t help myself.
Papirmølla 