Very Simple Christmas Lights Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and uses a pre-scored blank card from a bulk pack from Hobbycraft.

My humblest apologies, I know this card is truly basic, but it was the paper what made me done it!  It’s a Helz Cuppleditch design from her Christmas Village 6” x 6” pad.  I adore it and really didn’t want to do that much to it, as must be clearly obvious, it also fits nicely in with my quick and easy Christmas card theme for this year.

I simply covered the whole front of a card blank with the design and then mat and layered the silver glittered, wooden embellishment (Hobbycraft)  on black and then silver card, before adding a scattering of small, clear, flat backed gems. Simples. 

I also quite like the idea of black as the main colour of a Christmas card for a change, I picked up a couple of paper pads using that theme last year from Poundland and ( I think) The Range so I have no excuse not to continue with it. 

“The Boyz” Christmas Card 2014

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and was a nightmare to get right!!!

Firstly this wasn’t the picture I intended to use, I had a lovely picture of “The Boyz” being snow angels, but the reproduction just wasn’t right as I had compressed it, to put on their blog, doh!

So, then I had to “arrange” a Hello Magazine photo shoot” with them, but as I was doing it in November, I didn’t have a festive back drop to use and them just sat sitting on my stairs just looked deathly dull, even with the help of a piece of Poundshop tinsel!

And so reluctantly, as it isn’t an activity I particularly enjoy, I decided to cut away the boring bits using the Paint programme on my computer, which gave me a blank canvas to work on …………. and allow me to superimpose the monkeys onto a new,  more festive backgroundI can’t believe it came out so well and that you can’t see the join!  But putting a card together using the picture was the nightmare. There were too many colours, on plain, white card blank it looked like something was missing but on a patterned card it looked far too busy! Agh!!! After over two hours and only a bin full of rejects to show for my toils, I was still tearing my hair out and resorted to looking at card layouts, which helped, in a round about way.But, after a little more frustration, a card finally emerged …… with a card blank cut from this A4 pad of glossy, green card (above) I got from a market for £3 a couple of years ago, and the picture mat and layered on more of the green card then silver, plus i.5 ins strips of silver down the side and a sentiment made using The Dukes old Dymo tape maker. Phew!!!

It’s very different from The Boyz past Christmas cards. It’s contemporay and I think it works …. but lesson learned, at the first sign of any snow I need to get those Monkeys out there, in their Christmas jumpers and take as many pictures as I can …. and just keep them until I need them next Christmas, as I now know it’s much easier to work with/on white!!!!

Jewelled Snowman Christmas Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins.

Oh my goodness, what was I thinking (above)? I was trying to do something a little different from my normal less is more style, in an effort to use up some of the bits and pieces, like the snowman and corner peel offs that I’ve had for ages but never used, but somewhere along the line something went very hideously wrong ……

……  it was the addition of the Poundland, self adhesive strips of clear gems!!!  Too much, far too much!

I just couldn’t live with it, so I carefully removed the central panel and cut a 6ins x 6ins grey gingham card blank to stick it on to……

Phew, much better, a still a little fussy for me perhaps, but much, much better!!!!

Simple Christmas Branch Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and is made using a hand cut, linen effect card blank

I used my Memory Box  - MB98187 WOODLAND BRANCH DIE  Code: MB98187 for this very simple card.

After I had glued the branch on to the card, I went over it lightly with a white gel pen and then a Quickie Glue pen to add a light sprinkling of translucent micro glitter to give it a Christmassy feel.  Unfortunately the photo just doesn’t bring out the magical twinkle and sparkle of the glitter.

I then drew threads to hang the silver, metal, star charms from (this is my demo card …. so next time the lines will be straighter!), and as I wanted to hid the eyes on the top of the stars I added very small red flat backed gems which just added enough subtle festive colour to lift the card. Voila!

Robins Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree Card

This card measures 14.5cms x 10cms and is made using a hand cut, white linen effect card blank.

The ideas for how to use this seasons Paperchase Robin stickers (£1 per pack) just keep on coming ……

All I did was dig out an old chipboard Christmas tree and put a foam sticky pad on the back so it would stand proud and I could put robins peeping from behind it. I then placed the robins around it in a way that it looked like they were dancing  ….. and finally, just added some of my own doodle style handwriting and a few dots here and there to finish it all off.  So cute!

Stars On A Branch Christmas Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and is made using a white linen effect hand cut blank
There is absolutely nothing to this card at all which is why bit probably took no more than five minutes to put together.
I used my Memory Box  - MB98187 WOODLAND BRANCH DIE  Code: MB98187 ………

……… and hung a few Paperchase wooden confetti stars from it …….

…… and then to add a tiny bit of extra sparkle put a tiny teardrop shape at the top of the star from the metal nail art set I got from Poundland.

Simples!!!!

No Bob, Bob Bobbing Allowed, Robin Christmas Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and is made using a hand cut, white linen effect card blank.

I can’t pretend that this was my idea, I took it from a cartoon card I saw, which I immediately knew I could adapt to use with my Paperchase robin stickers (£1 per pack).

I created the background using scraps of a Papercellar snow patterned card and white glitter paper. The signpost is also made from  plain, white card scraps, on to which I added my own doodle affect handwriting.  To add extra dimension and sparkle I then used a white 3D effect paint, with glitter sprinkled over it to the top of the sign.  The finishing touch is obviously those robins, who despite the warning  still seem to be making an attempt to bob, bob, bob!!!

Gingerbread Man Christmas Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and is made using a hand cut plain brown card blank.

This card uses up part of a pack of the metallic, puffy stickers that I got from HobbyCraft last year (more stash busting).  I reckon I should get three cards from one pack, but I wish there had been two more  hearts and two less gingerbread men per pack so that I could follow through the pattern exactly on each card instead of hurting my brain thinking of another combination for the last one!!!

When The Red, Red Robin Christmas Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and is made using a hand cut blank of PaperCellar Christmas patterned card.

When I last went down to London, I was under strict instructions to bring Marc ten packets of these Paperchase robin stickers (£1) with me, and can you believe it, he still needed another five, as he has sixty robins on a branch cards to make for his partners sisters school!

And, the idea for this card came from one of our sessions when we just throw ideas at each other for hours on end ….. needless to say, this was one of Marc’s ideas, which I think is genius ….. and so simple!  All I had to do was find an image of the sheet music for “When the Red, Red Robin….”  that just had the words “When the red, red robin, comes bob, bob bobbin along!” on the first line,  I thought it might be a nightmare, but I hit gold almost first time.

I then had to copy, paste and print the image to fit a 6ins x 6ins card, and then mat and layered it on silver mirror card …… before finally adding the robins, with a tiny bit of doodling to indicate that they were bob, bob, bobbin!.

It’s an idea I think could be developed further ….. and fortunately I have got a couple of spare packs of robins to work with, even if it’s after Christmas. These robins have so much potential!

This Christmas, like Halloween has been a poor year for “good” stickers, my staple for cards etc. …… I know I could stamp …… but you know me, I am such a lazy crafter!!!!

Robin Christmas Tree Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and is made using a hand cut blank of PaperCellar Christmas patterned card.

As soon as I saw these Paperchase robin stickers (£1) I knew they would be brilliant for making a robin Christmas tree, because the pack included robins that faced both left and right, which doesn’t happen very often in packs of stickers.

The ones wearing the scarves in particular were perfect for using at each end of the bottom row.

All I have had to add to the design was the tub using small, square, flat backed gems, a red flat back gem star on the top and a few dots here and there to fill in the spaces.

Nine Square Robin Christmas Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and is made using a hand cut, white linen effect card blank.

Well, it was a no brainer, these Paperchase robin stickers (£1 per pack) were made to go on a nine square card.

Lots of mat and layering, and nine punchies using my Xcut small scalloped square punch, plus a bit of faux stiches and a few dots here and there. Simples!

Patchwork Christmas Card

This card measures 6ins  x 6ins and is made using a hand cut white linen effect card blank.

This year I am aiming to make cards that are very quick and simple in an effort to use up a lot of the stuff I have had for years, and as such have been taking a closer look at all my 8” x 8” Christmas pads, in particular looking for papers that have a patchwork pattern that can be used as a whole or papers that have a small pattern that can be up cut into squares or stripes to create a patchwork effect.

This paper falls into the “using whole category”, which just needed mat and layering on white and then red.  All I had to do then was add a Craftwork card Christmas sentiment circle on a strip across the top of the card with a few large, flat backed gems.

I have to admit adding tiny gems and micro glitter to the pattern isn’t that quick, to be honest it’s down right fiddle-farty, especially as my eyesight isn’t what it used to be and as a result I have had to buy a pair of 3.00 readers from Poundland to wear over my contact lenses especially for the task.!!!

Robins On A Branch Christmas Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and is made using a hand cut blank in white linen effect card.

This is the card I came up with using the pack of Paperchase robin stickers (£1) from yesterdays shopping. Sorry the large photo isn’t too brilliant.

I also used my Memory Box Woodland Branch die (MB98187), which just lends itself to so many Christmas cards with different things hanging from it.

All I have done is add a tiny sprinkling of Hunkydory Diamond Sparkles, Angel Wishes to the branch and in a swirl round the lone robin at the bottom.  All done in no more five minutes!

I think these little finger print robins are so versatile and have set myself a little sort of challenge to see how many card designs I can come up with using them, so watch this space!

As Marc has a few packs of them too I can’t wait to see what he come up with.

Jewelled Christmas Tree Cards

These cards use a 6ins x 6ins 130gsm. Kraft card blank from Craft UK Ltd.

These cards use the bumper bargain boxes of flat backed gems that Marc and I bought from HobbyCraft for £3 during his stay with me. I just love the colours, as there is an unusual dusty blue in with the turquoise pack and gold, black and grey in the other pack which again are a bit different.

When I looked at the gems I immediately thought jewelled Christmas trees as they came in varying sizes and there were so many I knew didn’t have to be stingy when using them.  I could bling to my hearts content!

So,  all I did was cut a triangle shape out for the tree with each side measuring 3.5ins and then I embellished it generously with the gems. The tree was then placed on some very simple mat and layering, first using a contracting colour (teal and black) which was then matted on silver mirri card.  The final touches were made with a little faux stitching and doodling using a white gel pen.

Skating Penguins Christmas Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and I got the self adhesive penguins from Michaels in Las Vegas last year.

I think this card is too much!  I started off making a scene with the penguins in a frame (the frame was part of a pack of a Winter Woodland laser cut frames from Hobbycraft and is patterned on one side, but I chose to flip it over and colour the blank side with a Pro Marker Pen).

But after that …… I lost my way, adding six layers of matting!!!! I know it looks OK, but does it really need so many layers?

I think what I would rather do with the framed scene, is to back it on a matching piece of card,  drill a hole in the corner, add some blue and white bakers twine and make a gift tag with it ….. which could then be put on the tree as a decoration.

Watch this space for when I make Penguin Skating Scene, Mark 2!!

Nordic Heart Christmas Card

This card measures 6ins x 6ins and is made using a hand cut plain grey blank.
Oh my life so much mat and layering, I must be mad!
The heart is made from felt (although it said wooden on the packs) and is left over from the packs of decorations I got from Poundland last Christmas

I removed the original ribbon, bead and hanging thread and replaced them with a plain red ribbon to hid the hole.

If I was being completely over the top I should have put a flat backed gem in the middle of each hole in the scalloped square ……  perhaps I will do this on the next card, as I have a few more felt shapes to use up so I can try different variations on the same theme.

I just love using grey, I got into it in January and am hoping to use it a lot more this Christmas, (ideas providing). I also know that I don’t use my Bigshot or basic collection of dies enough either, so I’ve included one layer using my Spellbinders scalloped edge square to hopefully get my die mojo moving!!  I’ll be honest, there are soooooo many beautiful dies around now I am totally overwhelmed and so rely on Marc’s collection and inspiration when I go tp London to see him.

Merry And Bright Christmas Cards

These cards measure 6” x 6” and are made using a hand-cut plain red card.

As I said the other day this Christmas I am determined to make a HUMUNGUS dent in my Christmas embellishment collection and in making these cards I managed to use up all the HobbyCraft foil stickers I had left over from last year, plus the last of the smaller snowflakes from a disassembled garland I found in a charity shop (also last year).

I haven’t made a nine square card for ages but Marc has been nagging and I have to admit although fiddly they are a brilliant way of using up all your odd, small stickers and embellishments etc.

I’ve also gone up a size on my cards to 6” x 6” which are a little out of my comfort zone, but again, I have a pile of larger envelopes that need to be used up.

The squares on the card each measure 1.25ins and are mat and layered on red and white panels, finished off with white faux stitching using a white Uni-ball Signo gel pen.