Christmas Star Card -FMS#160

Happy November everyone!  Halloween is over and the clocks are turned back once again as we head into late fall.  Although it's been a while since I've been able to post, I'm back in circulation again, and starting the count down to Christmas with some great cards and techniques. 

I'm starting off my month with a wonderful easy sketch I found on Freshly Made Sketches that was designed by Rita Wright, of Rita's Creations blog.   I liked the simplicity of this sketch, which helped my card come together fairly quickly.  Make sure you visit the site and check out all the great entries by the design team and other participants.

Here's the Sketch:

Here's my card:

I wanted to create a vintage style Christmas card using some of the awesome designer papers from the Trim the Tree Designer Series Paper Pack.  I chose two complimentary papers with Garden Green and Crumb Cake designs and then paired these up with Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler and Garden Green card stocks.  

Supplies:
Ink:  Crumb Cake and Memento Tuxedo Black
Card Stock:  Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green
Papers:  Trim The Tree Designer Series paper Stack, Gold Glimmer Paper
Accessories:  Stars Collection Framelits, Banner Framelits, Itty Bitty Accents Punch (star), Stripes Embossing Folder,  Paper Trimmer, Adhesive, Dimensionals, Glue Dots.

How It's Made:
1.  The card base measuring 4 1/4" x 11" and scored at 5 1/2 is cut from Crumb Cake card stock.  I sponged the front edges of the card with Crumb Cake Ink.

2.  My next layer was made with Champagne Glimmer Paper.  Now I love this stuff but I don't like wasting it.  As you'll see from the next two pictures, I make the most of it before using it as a layer on a card.

I used a variety of punches and framelits to punch out images from the center of the 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Champagne Glimmer Paper.

Here's the finished layer before I adhered it to the card front.   Looks pretty awful, but remember it'll be covered with the next layer of card stock and no one will ever know but you.   

After punching away the center of the piece (see above) I've cut away whatever scraps remained and left only a small border around the inside of the square.  This step saves on mailing costs by taking away the weight and bulk from the card

 3.  The next layer is a 3 3/4" x 5" piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock that's been texturized with the Stripes Embossing Folder before being adhered over the glimmer paper layer.   Note it's hard to stick card stock to glimmer paper so I used Tom Bow adhesive to attach.

4.  I cut a banner from the Trim a Tree Designer Series Paper Pack and a coordinating square which were both mounted on card stock to give them a little more stability on the card front.  The edges were sponged with Crumb Cake Ink to give them a vintage look.  
 

There are 48 sheets of 4 1/2" x 61/2" pieces of Christmas themed designer series paper in this stack.  Pages coordinate with  Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Sahara Sand, Early Espresso and Whisper White inks and card stocks.

5.  I stamped a medium sized star from the Bright & Beautiful stamp set in Cherry Cobbler ink on a piece of Crumb Cake Cardstock.  This star and a smaller one were cut out using the Star Collection Framelit dies.   I mounted the medium star on Cherry Cobbler card stock and fussy cut around it leaving a 1/8" border.  This was mounted over top of the banner with dimensionals.

6.  The smaller star was cut from the Garden Green piece of DSP and was stamped with the word "JOY", one of the five word stamps featured in the Bright and Beautiful stamp set. I cut out an additional small star from the Champagne Glimmer paper and mounted the DSP star to it with glue dots.  I also punched out five small stars with the Itty Bitty star punch and mounted them to the card front with glue dots.  

 

I hope you enjoyed today's card and brief tutorial.  Please leave me a comment if you have a moment, I really value your feedback.   Let me know how you do your Christmas cards........ all at once, or do you make a few at a time throughout the year and set them aside?  I'd be interested in any great methods you might have for making cards in bulk.  

Happy Stampin'!
Penny Tokens 

Make a Wish...........Birthday Banner Card

Every now and again we all need a little push to try something out that isn't in our comfort zone.  Last week I entered that "twilight zone" by choosing to make a gender neutral birthday card using banners and brighter colours than I normally would.

The decision to change up my usual card making style gave me an opportunity to try out some of my new products from the Spring Occasions catalogue. 

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Perfect Pennants #133230(cm) or wood #133227and Bring on the Cake

Framelit:  Banners Framelit Dies #132173  Note: You can save 15% by bundling the Banner Framelit Die and Perfect Pennants Stamp set.  See details on Page 27 of the Occasions Catalogue.

Ink:  Real Red, Coastal Cabana

Card Stock:  Real Red, Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White

DSP:  Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Pack #132996, pg 33 Occasions Catalogue

Accessories:  2 1/2 Circle Punch, Starburst Framelits Die #132967, 1/2 inch circle punch, Stripes Embossing Folder, Decorative Dots Embossing Folder (Free in Sale-a-bration Catalogue with $60 purchase until MARCH 31st) adhesive, Big Shot Machine,

Bring On The Cake - Clear-Mount Stamp set #121958 Price: $33.95 or Wood Mount # 128490 $47.95

Perfect Pennants Clear-mount Stamp Set #133230 Price: $26.95 or Wood Mount #133227 Price: $36.95

Perfect Pennants Clear-Mount Bundle   #134816 Price: $50.95 or Wood Mount #134815 Price: $59.50    If you want to create that "just because" project for a friend or loved one, the Perfect Pennants Set is perfect! And the Banners Framelits Dies make cutting the Perfect Pennants images quick and easy.  Buy the Perfect Pennants clear-mount stamp set and coordinating Banners Framelits Dies together at a 15% discount. 

Here's My Finished Card:

TIP FOR USING BANNER FRAMELIT DIES:

Tip #1.  I find it really helpful to put a label on each package of dies that I have in my stockpile of Stampin' Up Tools so I can find them quickly when I'm searching for it in the drawer.  

Tip #2:  I like to number my nesting framelits starting from the inside and working to the center.  As you can see from this picture there are 6 dies in this framelit set.  I just use a Sharpie Black Marker.

Tip #3:  When I get a new die cut I like to cut a template for reference.  The template(s) can be stored in the packaging for the die cut and I find it helps to write the number of the Framelit and the framelit measurements on each of the templates in a set. When I'm working on a sketch or designing my own card I can play with the templates to get positioning and sizing worked out before I cut my actual card layers.  

The next layer on this card is really fun to make.  For the Coastal Cabana banner simply cut a 2 1/2" x 8 1/4" piece of card stock and score this piece at 4 2/8 and fold on the score line.   

  Using framelit #2 from the Banner Framelit dies, place the fold line of the Coastal Cabana card stock just below the cutting edge of the framelit and run through the Big Shot.  

To make sure the fold line isn't cut off place the card stock a little below the cutting line.  See the gap above.

Emboss the full banner with the Stripes Embossing Folder.  Adhere this banner to the right hand side of the large dsp banner.

Using Framelit #3 cut out a banner from Whisper White card stock and stamp it with the "Wish Big" sentiment from the Bring on the Cake stamp set.  Adhere this smaller banner to the inside of the folded Coastal Cabana banner.

For the layered Starburst portion of the tag, stamp the sentiment "Make a Wish" from the Perfect Pennants stamp set in Real Red on Whisper White and punch out with a 2 1/2" circle punch.  Stamp the sentiment again in Coastal Cabana ink and punch out the "a" with the 1/2" circle punch.  Mount this small "a" with a dimensional to the real red image.   

Die cut a piece of Real Red card stock with the Starburst Framelit die and adhere to Coastal Cabana banner with dimensionals.  

For the inside of the card I adhered the top of a 5 14 x 4" piece of Whisper White card stock to the card base.  I added a 1/4" wide strip of the Fresh Prints Designer Paper to the right hand side of this card layer and stamped the sentiment "Sending Good Thoughts Your Way" in Real Red ink.

This card could be made in many colour combinations, just pick a piece of DSP or make your own designer paper by combining at least 3 colours. I really liked using the Banner Framelits for this card and the Starburst framelit and think they added a modern twist. 

Thanks for joining me today and checking out this brief tutorial.  Hope you enjoyed it.  I would really appreciate your comments and any tips you can leave about how you organize or work with framelits and your thoughts on this card.  Is it one you would re-create?  Let me know.

 Penny