Sketch Inspired Christmas Card

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. We have new sketch challenges at Stick It Down Scrapbook and Card Making Challenge in FB. It is easy to join having three options to choose from.

I used scraps from a 6x6 Lawn Fawn patterned paper pad for the arrow pennants. I trimmed the paper in 3/4" width with varying lengths. I used a We R Makers Corner Punch Chomper to created the arrow on one end. 

For the sentiment banner, I trimmed a green cardstock at 4 1/4" x 1". I made pencil marks on the center point of each of the short side and 1/4" from the corners. I cut off the corners to create the arrow edge using these marks as a guide. 

For the sentiment, I die cut a My Favorite Things sentiment die on a red patterned paper. I cut two more of it on red cardstock. I adhered the cardstock sentiment die cuts on the back of the patterned paper sentiment die cut to create dimension. I temporarily set this on the arrow banner so I can position the sentiment stamp for heat embossing. 

I pre-treated the stamping area with an anti-static powder before stamping the sentiment with Versamark ink. The stamp sentiment is from Lawn Fawn. I lightly pressed the sentiment stamp to the paper to prevent creating heavy and uneven impressions which can happen with acrylic stamps.

I poured white embossing powder to the sticky ink, then heat embossed it. I adhered the sentiment die cuts on top of this stamped sentiment. I drew a line border on the inside of the arrow banner using a white gel pen.

I adhered the arrow flags to the back of the arrow banner. I trimmed off any excess on the top. 

For the background panel, I embossed a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" white cardstock with a Simon Says Stamp 3D embossing folder.  I adhered the sentiment banner with the pennant to this.

I embellished the pennants with snowflake die cuts and sequins.

I adhered this to an A2 note card. 

Comparisons with my card and the sketch:

• I added arrow cuts to the sentiment strip so it will have the same cut edge as the pennants.
• I have a two lined sentiment compared to the one lined sentiment on the sketch. 
• The sketch's pennant has spaced and different lengths of pennants. My card also has varying lengths of pennants but I made the pennants longer and touching each other, some of which are slightly overlapping.
• I did not add a matte as on the sketch. I actually forgot about the matte. At this stage, I think I can still add a matte by carefully trimming the edges of the panel with the use of a craft knife. It will still be different from the sketch since I will let the banner and pennant extend to the matte. But I like the clean white space of the background so I just kept this panel as is. 

I hope you like today's card. Please visit Stick It Down's social media sites for more sketch inspiration:

FB Challenge Page: Stick It Down Scrapbook and Card Making Challenges

IG: #stickitdown

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this card at

Holiday Cards 4 Kids #1

Simon Says IG Challenge~Handmade Holiday Magic

Simon Says: Add Some Texture #96

 

Fall Shadow Box, A Blank Page Muse Post

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I am up at the Blank Page Muse Blog with this shadow box. I used the new BPM Fall Harvest Digital Download Print At Home Paper Set on this project. 

Please visit the BPM blog for details on how I created this project.

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

String Rainbow Christmas Tree

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I am on a Christmas card making spree since I was commissioned to make Christmas cards. Got to start early to be able to deliver. 

This card was inspired by the latest Lawn Fawn Challenge with the theme of Rainbows. I created a Christmas tree with rainbow strings.

I die cut the smallest tree die from the LF Stitched Christmas Tree Frames on a rainbow mirrow cardstock. I die cut an extra tree on a regular cardstock. I also die cut the star included in the set on gold mirror cardstock. 

I applied a 1/8" double adhesive tape to the back of the mirror tree die cut. I adhered the LF Unicorn Tail Sparkle Cord to the adhesive tape stretching the twine from the top to the bottom of the tree. Once I have filled up the opening of the tree frame with twine, I applied liquid glue to the back side of the tree frame then adhered the other tree frame die cut over it. This will help secure the twine in place.

For the panel, I die cut a pearl white cardstock using the LF Fancy Lattice Backdrop die. I trimmed another piece at 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I adhered the lattice panel to this rectangle piece.

I prepped a white pearl vellum with anti-static powder. I stamped the sentiment from the LF Offset Sayings: Christmas stamp set on this vellum using Versafine Onyx Black ink. I poured clear embossing powder to the wet ink then heat set it. I coloured the letters with a green shimmery pen. I set this aside to dry before cutting it into a strip.

I created a trunk for the tree using the stem die from the LF Stitched Flower Frame die set. I die cut a pearl brown cardstock using this die. I adhered this to the back of the stringed tree.

I adhered the tree to the white panel. I adhered the sentiment strip on top of the trunk applying glue to the back of the sentiment only.

I adhered the star using a foam adhesive. I adhered clear sequins to the strings. I adhered this to a top folding A2 note card.

I hope you like today's card. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this card at

Challenge #207~Rainbows

Challenge #352~Seasonal

Simon Says: Clean and Simple

 

Stenciling and Stitching To Create A Background, A Blank Page Muse Post

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I am at the Blank Page Muse Blog with this card panel. I used the BPM Leaves Collage Stencil. 

Please visit the blog for details on how this panel was created.

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this project at

Challenge #352~Seasonal

Simon Says Stamp IG Challenge

Assorted Birthday Cards for Janice

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I was commissioned by a friend, Janice, to create cards for her grown up children. I have created cards for her husband and her daughter before but never for her sons. Time to put on my creating cap!

One of Janice's sons loves to travel so I thought of this design. I used a Hero Arts cover plate die on this card.

To create this look, I embossed the die on watercolor paper. To do this technique, I substituted the bottom cutting plate with an embossing mat. I added a cardstock as an additional shim to put more pressure on the paper. I painted the watercolor paper using the embossing as a guide where to paint.

I tried a paint that I recently bought, the Boku-Undo E-Sumi Shadow Black Watercolor Palette, on this card. It is a paint used for monotone paintings. The black stands out although I noticed difference in shades between the colors on the palette. With this being a birthday card, it needs more happy colors but I don't want to go away from the monotone since this is a masculine card. So what I did is add Tim Holtz Distress Sprays on a mixing palette. I muted this with water then mixed a small amount of Boku-Undo. I mixed the colors accordingly. 

I die cut the cover plate on holographic paper. I adhered this to the watercolored panel. I trimmed off the excess.

For the sentiment, I selectively die cut the sky portion of the cover plate on blue vellum. I treated the vellum with anti-static powder. I stamped the sentiment using Versaefine Onyx Black ink. I poured clear embossing powder over it then heat set it. I used a Sticker Maker to add adhesive to the back of the vellum then pieced this in to the die cut. 

I adhered this to a side folding note card.

For the second card, Janice mentioned her other son loves cars. I was going to create a truck card only to find out that her son has a car, not a truck. Good thing, I have this Spellbinders die set which I recently bought at Checkered Cottage. 

Like any die that I am not familiar with and since the packaging does not say much, I searched the internet on how to use this die set. There is a video on what this die set cuts and how to assemble it but after using this die set myself, I think there should be recommendations on what color of paper to use for each die so as to achieve the 3D look. I plan to create another card using this die. I want to see if I can recreate this car more easily being my second time to use it. I plan to write notes this time and share it here.

To create this into a card, I die cut a large diamond on black cardstock. I embossed this using a chevron embossing folder. I lightly swiped a white pigment ink over the embossing to make the dotted details pop out. 

I die cut the letters using a Lawn Fawn die set. I die cut this on black and white glitter papers. I adhered the black alphabet die cuts to the back of the glittered alphabet die cuts slightly offsetting it to achieve a shadow effect. I adhered the letters to the embossed diamond.

I die cut a glossy light blue paper with a Mama Elephant stitched rectangle die. The blue paper has some diamond design on it giving it a retro look. I adhered the elements of the card to this panel. It took a lot of adhesive to make the die cuts adhere to the shiny blue paper. Somehow, the blue paper repels the glue.

The last card is for Janice's daughter. It might look familiar to you if you follow my blog. This is not a new card. I created this last June for BPM. Janice showed a photo of this card to her daughter. Her daughter liked it so I saved this card for her.

When I created this card, it did not have a sentiment on it. To customize it, I added a sentiment by die cutting the word happy using a die from Hero Arts. I swiped a Lisa Horton Interference Ink on a white cardstock. I heat set this to dry. I die cut this twice, the second one being on black cardstock. I adhered the black sentiment die cut behind the other die cut slightly offsetting it for a shadow effect.

For the second part of the sentiment, I treated a black cardstock with an anti-static powder. I stamped the Altenew sentiment on the black cardstock with Versamark ink. I poured white embossing powder to it then heat set it. I die cut this using a sentiment strip die from Avery Elle. 

I adhered the sentiment strip to the sentiment die cut. I adhered the sentiments to the flower panel. I adhered this to a side folding A2 notecard. I was tempted to add a gem to the flower center but went against it to keep the card simple. 

I hope you like today's cards. Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day.

Maria Giselle B.

I shared one of the cards at

Simon Says: Add Some Text

 

Doodlebug World Card Making Day 2025 Card #2

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. This is the second card I created for the Doodlebug Design WCMD Challenge. This time, it is for a sketch challenge. The sketch is at the bottom of this post. I enjoy sketch challenges because it is formatted which works well with my creative mind. 

The focal point of the card, the Christmas tree, is a Scrapbook.com exclusive Doodlebug Design stamp set. It has been discontinued, unfortunately. 

I fussy cut the Christmas tree which was not that hard to do. 

I used the A & B sides of a Doodlebug Christmas patterned paper. I die cut the center and flipped the patterned papers to add interest. I inked the middle portion to achieve some contrast.

I die cut the scallops on the same red patterned paper for a tone on tone look. I added stitching to the scallops with a die to add details and make the scallops noticeable.

I hope you like my second card. I enjoyed creating these cards for the Doodlebug WCMD Challenges. 

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this card at

#DoodlebugWCMD2025

Simon Says Stamp Blog

Challenge #352~Seasonal

Doodlebug World Card Making Day 2025

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. One of the things I look forward to on WCMD is the Doodlebug Design Challenges. I love their challenges so I try to play along if I can using my Doodlebug stash which is not a lot. I used a lot of Doodlebug products in creating classroom giveaways for my sons when they are still young. The Doodlebug images are so playful and the colors are so vibrant making it fit for kids. When my boys grew up, classroom giveaways are not a thing anymore. The local store that sold Doodlebug Designs closed up which lessened my access to it. 

I was not getting a creative spark as I was looking through my Doodlebug craft stash. I am trying to make it work but I feel that I overused the limited Doodlebug stash I have over the years. So I made a trip to the last standing craft store in my area, the Checkered Cottage. It has a re-sell spot and guess what I found? Thanks to Christine, Checkered Cottage's Re-Create Go To Person, who helped me with the Doodlebug stamp set. I also found a Doodlebug die set. If it was not meant to be.

So this is what I came up for the One Color Challenge as inspired by the Doodlebug Design's new collection Oh What Fun specifically the trees. I hope you like it. 

 

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this project at

#DoodlebugWCMD2025

Simon Says Stamp Blog