Festive Friday Snow Swirled Season

Oh you've made it... its FESTIVE FRIDAY!

Festive Friday was a Blog Hop happening the second and fourth Friday of each month, showcasing Christmas cards. This will be the last hop for 2011, but never fear - Festive Fridays will be back! Look for it in the new year, starting off another year of prepping for your holiday rush a little each month!!

If you're joining me directly, don't miss the beginning of the hop over at Terri's Blog. If you've joined me from Brendas blog, You're hoppin' along just fine! There is a link to all the fine blogs at the end of this post,

Its crunch time - the cards should be out fairly soon in the mail, I hope you're ready! I know I am!!

This week, its a return to traditional colors and my favorite set Snow Swirled #111690.

I used some of the Letters to Santa Designer Series Paper #122349 and Old Olive and Riding Hood Red card stocks.  The cute sash is a scrap of retired Ridinghood Red that I had in the bottom of my bin - I almost didn't have enough! They do actually have a similar ribbon in multiple colors available though - check out the 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon (pg 195 of the catalog). I distressed the edges of the DSP and the white,   

The sentiment is actually taken from the Season of Joy #110384 set (another favorite :-) and punched with the ever awesome Modern Label Punch #119849. The green accent on that was added by punching the sentiment in Whisper White, and then punching a blank in Old Olive;

then you cut the Old Olive piece in half and layer each half onto an end of the white.

I mounted the sentiment with Stampin' Dimensionals #104430, always good for some nice layers.

and now we can truly say:

Wishing you and yours the very best this holiday season,

thank you so much for hopping along with us this year! 

Please enjoy the inspiration on the hop and continue over to Becky at BC Designs!

Merry Christmas,
and may all your Fridays be Festive!!
~angie

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Festive Fridays Scallop Circle Ornament

Its that special Friday again -- a FESTIVE FRIDAY!

Festive Friday is a Blog Hop happening the second and fourth Friday of each month, showcasing Christmas cards. We are rounding out the year, this is the last month in 2011 for our hop!

If you're joining me directly, don't miss the beginning of the hop over at Terri's Blog. If you've joined me from Brendas blog, You're hoppin' along just fine! There is a link to all the fine blogs at the end of this post,

This week - as deadlines approach - its back to a tried and true card:

This is a card made from a folded card base cut on the Big Shot with the Scallop Circle die (#113468), you can see the top edge is where the fold is placed just inside the die, so the card will still open. The top is capped with the Round Tab punch (#119864) that creates a double sided "Ornament" card. Embellish with sentiment, ribbon, some pattern paper cut in the die as well, and you have a quirky little card to cheer someones holiday.

Variety can be created with different papers and sentiments, and of course you can bling up the embellishment - these are obviously a simple version!
You could add a cropped photo (they are a good 4.25" diameter) or some buttons or layers for more texture, or get elaborate with your detail and add some die-cut swirls or images. Pick your favorite ornament off the tree, and recreate a version to send out!

These are a great project for a group, adults or kids, to make; and as they have ample room inside for signing, a great card for a group to send as well. 

 
Please enjoy the inspiration on the hop and continue over to Becky at BC Designs, the Holidays are just around the corner!
Have a Festive Friday!
~angie

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Q&A Making Gifts for the Holidays

 Q&A

Q: I’m thinking of making gifts this year. What do you suggest?

A: Handmade gifts are always popular because they show the heartfelt thought and effort that you put into choosing and creating the perfect, unique gift. Advent calendars are fun gifts to give and create ahead of the holidays, and gifts like a set of cards, homemade treats with decorated bags, holiday banners, and calendars are ideal for a variety of people and budgets.

Advent Calendars

The ever-popular tradition of opening a door a day to get a piece of candy, a special quote, or even a suggestion of a fun holiday activity can be made even more fun when you create a custom Advent calendar. The detailed Advent calendar on page 36 of the Holiday Mini Catalog uses the Peekaboo Frames Bigz L Die (#124587) and the 25 & Counting stamp set (#123792 wood mount, #123794 clear mount). This makes a great format for sharing the Christmas story or suggesting holiday activities like cookie baking and decorating the tree. If you prefer a different type of Advent calendar, try the Matchbox Bigz XL Die (#114890) to die cut Frostwood Lodge Designer Series Paper (#124002). Stack and glue the boxes in a square or in the shape of a Christmas tree and fill each box with small gifts or candy.

Budget-Friendly Tasty Treats
For less expensive gifts that are perfect for neighbors, co-workers, or for children’s classes, you can make homemade candy or cookies and package them in our skinny Cellophane Bags (#124134). Add a stamped topper to the 1” x 8” tube and you have a unique and yummy gift that anyone will appreciate. For larger items, we also have rectangular cellophane bags in three sizes: 3” x 5” (#103104), 4” x 6” (#102757), and 6” x 8” (#102210). Or create quick & easy, custom decorated boxes using our Kraft Gift Boxes (#124106) as your starting point. Wrap with our 1-1/4” Striped ribbon and add a hand-stamped tag and you have a great gift.

Personalized Gifts
For those special people on your list, you can step it up a bit and create a custom holiday banner using the Holiday Stocking Bigz L Die (#124098) and coordinating Stocking Accents Originals Die (#124099). Use die-cut or chipboard letters to put a family name or a message like “Joy” or “Merry” on the banner with one letter per stocking. String the stockings on a Satin ribbon with the adorable and functional Mini Clothespins (#122942). And everyone needs a great calendar for 2012. You can create a custom calendar using our digital paper crafting software, My Digital Studio (#118108). The great thing about using My Digital Studio to make a calendar is that you can completely customize each page with your favorite designs or use one of our designer templates to save time. Make the calendars extra special when you add photos of your family members on their birthday or anniversary dates. Plus, you can design once and print as many as you like! Or design once and then just tweak it a bit to customize the calendar for different families!

Handmade Joy
There is a joy to creating and giving a handmade gift that is extra special. Store-bought gifts just don’t have the same heart as something that you designed and created with someone special in mind. Plus, you get the added benefit of slowing down and enjoying the experience of creating that gift without having to fight crazy mall crowds or stormy winter roads! Contact me today to plan your holiday gifts and you can get started with the fun and festive process of creating your heartfelt, holiday gifts!

© CraftyPerson Production. Images © Stampin' Up!

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Festive Fridays Snow Swirled Embossing

Its that special Friday again -- a FESTIVE FRIDAY!

Festive Friday is a Blog Hop happening the second and fourth Friday of each month, showcasing Christmas cards. We are rounding out the year, theres only a few more hops!

If you're joining me directly, don't miss the beginning of the hop over at Terri's Blog. If you've joined me from Brendas blog, You're hoppin' along just fine! There is a link to all the fine blogs at the end of this post,

I got out the heat gun to warm my cold hands this week (hahaha! yes, it HAS been cold in California) and tried out an embossing technique I've seen. It uses only clear embossing powder, and the effect ended up rather festive, if I do say so myself:

Snow Swirled Embossed

I stamped the swirls from Season of Joy (#110384) onto white card stock using VersaMark ink (#102283), then embossed with Stampin' Emboss Clear Powder (#109130). I then inked up and stamped off the tree from the same set in Soft Suede and stamped it over the embossed sections. Then, I used my Blender Pen (I dont have a Versa Mark marker) to add Versa Mark to the (completely dry) stamped tree images, then embossed with more clear powder. This protects the white areas in the image., when you go to the next step.

See the shine of the embossing? Pretty in Person, honest!

Next, I sponged Bashfull Blue across the field of the card, then added some Marina Mist sponged around the edges. The emboss-resist technique uses a brayer, for more full coverage, but I think the sponge worked well and gave a similar soft look. I used my Blender pen once more to pick up some Marina Mist ink and add it to the underside of the swirls, accenting the curls of the swirls. The Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon (#109034) is accented with 3 Brads from the Metallic collection (#119741), and I stamped a sentiment in Real Red ink. Mounted, and voila! Ready to send some Festive Friday greetings!

Embossing, Accent, and Ribbon detail

A fun technique, I like the soft water-color effect and the pearlescence of the swirls and trees is rather pretty in person. Here is an alternate Winter Greeting I did as well:

 
Please enjoy the inspiration on the hop and continue over to Becky at BC Designs, the Holidays are just around the corner!







Have a Festive Friday!
~angie

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Festive Fridays Pennant Parade

Its that special Friday again -- a FESTIVE FRIDAY!

Festive Friday is a Blog Hop happening the second and fourth Friday of each month, showcasing Christmas cards.
If you're joining me directly, don't miss the beginning of the hop over at Terri's Blog. If you've joined me from Brendas blog, You're hoppin' along just fine! There is a link to all the fine blogs at the end of this post,

The holidays are zooming closer, I can feel the days ticking away... but I have a good stash of cards, and I am close to finalizing my family card, so I am in good spirits (haha!) for this time of year. This week I'm showing another pennant card.



Merry Pennant Parade

I'm loving this new set (Stampin Up! #122742 - and not just because the item number has all 3 of my lucky numbers in it! Go -22-7-42!) but I love the versatility of the set. Obviously pennants, but included is the little tree stand, a star, flower/snowflake and some sentiments for pretty much any occasion... whats not to love! But wait!! it Also coordinates with the Petite Pennants Builder punch! No tedious fussy cuts here, only instant gratification in a quick punch! Holidays, Birthdays, Teacher appreciation, you name it and a banner would be darling for it -- even scrapbook layouts! LOVe - iT!!

 

I took a traditional layout and added the flags to the bottom. I originally had it across perfectly straight, but then tilted it to add some spunk... it does fit straight, it was just a bit too traditional for my mood at the time. I cant decide if its kind of "beer commercial" or "Macys Parade" looking or not, but I think its a fun little card. Merry Merry Merry, Enjoy!

 
Please enjoy the inspiration on the hop and continue over to Becky at BC Designs, the Holidays are just around the corner!







Have a Festive Friday!
~angie

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Dollar Store Crafts - Potpourri Character Vase

I take my kids to the dollar store once every couple of weeks as a reward for good behavior, its fun to see what "treasures" they find and I am amazed at the variety our local Dollar Tree has... I had seen a post on Twitter about Halloween crafts, and so when we went to the store a while back I picked up the supplies to make these cute Character Vases. Mine are a little different, $7 for everything as I had nothing on hand for these, but they are a little festive touch that would make cute gifts!
Its a versatile idea, it could be adapted for almost any holiday given a change in ribbon and character - some pumpkins or scarecrows for Thanksgiving or a Harvest theme, eggs or bunnies for Easter, hearts or angels for Valentines Day, Christmas ornaments or figures, even Birthday accents if you have a month of birthdays like we do... perhaps a hostess gift or little thank you to a friend... love the idea :-)

Here are mine:

Dollar Store Spookiness

I have a little witch on the left there, and a Vampire on the right. The characters are spooky, but not at all scary - great for our house. The potpourri I got is cinnamon, its very faint, so perfect if you were not looking to overwhelm anyone. You could probably spice it up with some oils, but it works for us.

The goods: $5

Oops - forgot something... needs a little ribbon I think!

$1 for this pretty pumpkin ribbon - wire ribbon, so you can fluff it up a bit

This would be an easy craft for kids too - simply fill your jar, position your character, and add the ribbon. They have quite the selection of glass vases and jars, you really could get a collection going if you wanted! I would check early for the characters though, they went fast - when I went back for the ribbon, there were none left! Snooze ya lose at the dollar store, I tell ya!

Happy Crafting!
~angie

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Q&A Printing Cards from My Digital Studio

 Q&A

Q: How do I print cards using My Digital Studio?



A: My Digital Studio allows you to design a variety of card styles including traditional cards in several sizes, postcards, and even tri-fold cards. You can print cards on your home printer or through our professional print service. The easiest option, and the one with the best results, will be using the professional print service.

Printing at Home
Once you design your cards in My Digital Studio you can print them at home, but it is a bit tricky since every printer operates a bit differently and prints colors differently. Even good-quality printers may not give the high-quality print and color detail that you’ll get with professional print services. When you design a traditional card in My Digital Studio, it actually has four pages - front, inside left, inside right, and back. It is great to be able to customize all four pages, but it makes printing at home more complicated. The easiest way to print at home is to print just the front of the card, cut it out and then layer it onto a card body just like you do when making a hand-stamped card. This also has the benefit of giving you a heavier weight card body since most printers cannot handle heavyweight card stock. To print the full four-page card at home, you’ll need to do a bit of experimenting with how your printer prints. You’ll need to print pages 1 and 4 (front and back) then re-insert the paper into the printer to print pages 2 and 3 (inside left and inside right). The trick is knowing if you need to just flip the paper over, or if you need to flip and rotate the paper. Each printer is different, so it will take some trial and error.

Professional Print Service
You’ll be the happiest with the results you get from the professional print service. The professional print service neatly prints high-quality images on heavy card stock and includes a heavy-weight envelope along with the card. You simply upload the card using the link in the My Digital Studio program, tell us how many copies you want, and all the work is done for you. Plus, with our professional print service, the colors are guaranteed to match the Stampin’ Up! colors. So if you want to add on embellishments like punched images, buttons, or ribbon, they will all coordinate as they should.

New Bulk Pricing
You’ve seen the $5-$7 cards in card stores. But how often are those cards exactly what you want? Now, with My Digital Studio and the new bulk pricing, it is easier and more affordable than ever to print your custom-designed cards just as you want them. Make your custom Christmas cards or baby announcements with photos and your personalized greeting. Design a card with your monogram or a variety of birthday, thank you, and blank cards to have on hand for any occasion. You’ll save on printing and shipping costs when you order a group of cards instead of just a couple, making your custom cards even more affordable.

© CraftyPerson Production. Images © Stampin' Up!

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