Happy Holidays!

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I finished stitching this two nights ago. I wasn't able to post it on Christmas day. The pattern is from Cozy Christmas 101 Counted Cross Stitch Ornaments...and other Small Motifs published by Maggie Smith. 

Even though the holidays are nearing to an end, I don't think I'll stop stitching patterns with Christmas motifs. It is just very adorable and addicting!

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

 

A Shimmery Christmas Card, a Blank Page Muse Post

 

Hello! I am back at the Blank Page Muse blog with this card for an alternate take on Christmas theme. I was going for a steampunk design but ended up with a shimmery design for a card. But before I continue with the card, let me greet you all A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you are enjoying the holiday with your loved ones.

I used stamps from the Blank Page Muse Country Vintage Christmas Rubber Art Stamps Sheet Set. I did some embossing, fussy cutting and die cutting to create the scene. I used shimmer paper on this card except for the curved strip. 

I used a Glad Press 'N Seal to preserve the arrangement of the stockings as I add liquid glue to the back of the cut outs.

I hope you like today's card. Please visit the Blank Page Muse blog for details on the process of how I created this card. 

Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this card at

Simon Says: Sparkle and Shine

Stitched Monogram Paper Embroidery Hoop Ornament/Tag Take 2

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I recreated one of my previous projects using a different color scheme. I created this as as a holiday gift to someone dear who supports and patronizes my card making. I stitched the first letter of her family member's name.

Of course, we have to include her dog.

You can find the first version of this project here. I thought I was detailed enough to describe the creation process of these paper ornaments. I forgot to describe how to attach the jingle bells but I eventually figured it out.

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

Maria Giselle B.

 

A Crow For Christmas Card

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I won a give away at @valleyoakpaper IG page. The prize I got was a Spellbinders 13 Days of Craftoween which I received the week of Halloween. Lots of good Halloween die images to create in this package. Since I rarely create Halloween cards, I challenged myself to use something from the package and make it Christmas themed. I chose the crow die set for this challenge.

I did a web research if it is possible to feature the crow on a Christmas card. Surprisingly, I can. I die cut the layers of the crow. The die set sleeve was helpful in making me plan the colors of the crow layers. I changed the colors of the beak, wing, hat trim, bow, monocle and claws. 

 

I die cut the beak and wing on dark gray cardstock. I blended black ink to the right side of these die cuts.

I die cut the hat trim and bow on red pearl cardstock.

I die cut the monocle on gold mirror cardstock. I punched a circle on a transparency. This circle is large enough to fit the monocle. 

I die cut the claws on mustard cardstock.

I outlined the brow of the crow and added a dot to the eye using a white gel pen.

I added the leaves which I trimmed from a wreath die cut. This was die cut on green glitter paper. I added a red gem to the center of the leaves.

The tree is a Tim Holtz tree ephemera. I added green glitter gel to the tips of the tree and a bit on the center. My glitter gel dried up after not using it for almost a year. I spritz water to it until the gel loosened enough to spread it. I used a micro tip applicator to apply the glitter gel to the tree. I set this aside to allow the glue to dry.

The frame is also from same Tim Holtz ephemera pack. I lightly blended ink to the outer edges of the frame.

I die cut a brown cardstock using a Lawn Fawn banner die. I spelled out the message using a Lawn Fawn Milo's ABC stamp set. It took a while to put the message together since some of the letter stamps will fall on its side or move. I used the negative cut of the banner to position the letters. Thankfully, none of the letters fell off after I inked the letters while it was attached to the acrylic block. I stamped the letters using red dye ink. It would have been better if I was able to emboss it but I did not want to push it since putting the letters together took a lot of effort.

I die cut a gray patterned paper using a stitched die. I adhered the ephemera to the panel. I adhered the bird to the banner, and adhered this to the panel with foam tape.

What do you think? Will the crow pass for a Christmas creature? 

Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this card at

Simon Says: Masculine

SimonSaysChallenge in IG~Handmade Holiday Magic

SAS4Kids: Holiday Cards 4 Kids #11

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

 

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

 

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

Trifold Christmas Card

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. It is the first of the month which means there is a new challenge at Stick It Down Scrapbook and Card Making Challenge in FB. There are three sketches to choose from. I hope you join.

This is my take on the card sketch as shown above. I used the Grinch in place of the flower. I partially die cut the large sentiment on the front of my card. For the diagonal stripes, I used holiday washi tapes from my stash with some of it having words printed on it. I also created a sentiment strip to supplement the message of the large sentiment. 

The Grinch is from a Kat Scrappiness stamp set. I want to thank Julie Patton for this stamp set which I won in her IG giveaway post. I stamped the Grinch on Ranger watercolor paper. I stamped this on the smooth side of the paper using Versafine Onxy black ink. I colored the image with a red and a green Lisa Horton Interference inks. I swiped the ink pad on a palette and picked the pigment with a paint brush. I painted the trim and the ornament with Finetec metallic watercolor. I fussy cut the image leaving a small border around it. 

I added a twist to the card design by making this card into a trifold card. The first fold is the diagonal stripe portion of the sketch, with the main sentiment partially die cut to this panel. The sentiment is very dainty so I used the shadow die of the sentiment instead. This sentiment die is from Trinity Stamps. I die cut the sentiment on matte gold cardstock. I have extra die cuts of this sentiment which I adhered to the back of the gold sentiment die cut to add dimension to the sentiment. I die cut the shadow of the sentiment on a shiny red washi tape adhered to a scrap cardstock. I die cut this using the shadow die and trimmed it halfway.

This panel has a 1/2" tab which I adhered to the inside of the card. 

For the middle fold, I rotated an A2 note card to have the fold on the right side. I trimmed a sliver off the open side so the sentiment panel will nestle nicely over the middle panel. 

I trimmed a patterned paper at 4" x 5 1/4". I blended green ink on the edges. I added stitching to the circle patterns using metallic DMC threads. I added stickers to some of the circles.

I positioned the Grinch in a way that it looks like he is stepping on the diagonal strips. I adhered a washi tape under the Grinch on the middle fold so it does not look like the Grinch is floating.

For the inner panel, I die cut a light weight white cardstock with a stitched die from Simon Says Stamp. Once adhered, it hides the flap of the first fold. 

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.

Multi-colored Ink Stamping, a Blank Page Muse Post

 

Hello! I am at the Blank Page Muse Blog with this card. The DT is celebrating Christmas in July. I hope you are enjoying the DT's projects. 

The stamps I used on this card are:

• License Plate Vintage Style Alphabet Rubber Stamp
  
• Beyond the Border Christmas Set 1 Clear Stamp
  

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

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this project at

Craft & Connect Blog #8

Christmas in July 4 Kids