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 very easy to join having three sketch options to choose from. 

I used a freebie stencil-die set from The Greetery which I got maybe 2 to 3 years ago. Although there is only 1 die in the set, the die cuts the ornament and the string separately. You just have to position the die on the paper according to which part you are die cutting.

I die cut the ornament on different colors of cardstock. I die cut the string on gold mirror cardstock. Using the stencil, I blended ink on each ornament using a darker shade of the color of ink as the die cut ornament. I adhered the string to the top of the ornament.

Instead of the zigzag matte, I die cut a skinny rectangle frame on the same gold mirror cardstock. The die is from Simon Says Stamp. I adhered this to a blue marbled patterned paper from Craft Consortium. I trimmed off the excess.

I replaced the oval shape on the sketch with a circular scallop, die cutting two scallop circles and nesting it on each other. I replaced one of the scallop circles with a vellum. The die I used for this is from Altenew.

I adhered the blue panel on a blue side folding A2 note card. I adhered the ornaments following the layout of the balloons on the sketch giving the sketch a twist. I flipped the balloon strings and the sentiment putting these elements on the opposite side of the panel.

I stamped the sentiment direct to the background matte using Versamark ink. It is a bold move. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong gold embossing powder since it can be hardly read on the marbled background. I restamped the stentiment with the intent to reemboss it with a different embossing powder but the paper had a bit of warping after the heat embossing, so the sentiment shifted even with the use of a stamp positioner. To fix this, I stamped the sentiment on a scrap marble paper, the same one I used for the background. After heat embossing the sentiment, I fussy cut the sentiment and adhered it over the other sentiment to cover it.

I added dots of enamel glue and glitter glue on the trim details of the ornament for some shimmer.

I hope you like today's card. Please join us in this month's challenge.

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I shared this card at

Simon Says Stamp IG Challenge~Dazzling Die Cuts

Simon Says: Use Dies in DieCember

Challenge #129~Anything Goes Christmas #8

Craft My Stash: Heart Rosette

  

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's card is all about using my craft supplies. I have a designated box for my newly purchased supplies specifically stamps and dies. I try my best not to purchase new craft items until I empty this box but you know how that goes. 

I love rosettes! I am so glad that The Stamp Market came out with a die to cut and score a heart rosette. I also have The Stamp Market Butterfly Rosette die. Check my previous post featuring this die (Using Digital Paper to Create a 3D Embellishment) if you want to see how I used it. 

I die cut the the heart rosette on a Lawn Fawn patterned paper which has a rainbow stripe design. 

I layered several hearts using dies from the Hero Arts Nesting die set in addition to the heart included in the heart rosette die set. I poked some holes to add stitching to the hearts. I used a metallic silver embroidery floss for the stitching. 

I cut a white cardstock at 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I added details to this panel using The Greetery Aida Cloth Texture Plate. 

I stamped the sentiment from The Stamp Market Great Greetings stamp set on white cardstock using an Altenew Pink Pearl Crisp dye ink. I die cut the sentiment using the coordinating die. I layered another die cut to the back for some dimension.

For the sub-sentiment, I stamped this on white cardstock using the Simon Says Stamp Rainbow Splash Ballet dye ink. The sentiment is from Altenew Build a Garden: Sulfur Cosmos stamp set. I die cut this into a strip using an Avery Elle die. 

I adhered some of the drop out hearts from the rosette die cut to the panel. I also adhered a heart to the center of the layered hearts. I added shimmer to the small hearts using a shimmer pen.

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

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this project at

Scrapbook & Cards Today FB Challenge

Framed Art

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's project is a gift to the only locally owned brick & mortar craft store here in St. Louis, Checkered Cottage. They celebrated their 25th anniversary last August. This store is owned by three wonderful ladies, Susan, Robyn & Linda with the support of their staff and class instructors. If you happen to pass by St. Louis, how about stopping by this store?

My favorite section of the store is the Recreate where gently used craft items are sold. I love finding treasures here especially craft tools. I also love their wide array of products. It takes a lot of discipline not to splurge on craft items but sometimes, I cannot help it especially when they have the latest releases of my favorite brands. 

Back on the project, the letters are foiled using the Pinkfresh Studio Inna Alpha: hot foil set, layering stencils and die set. I purchased the first two items from the Checkered Cottage. I agreed to show them a project using the stencils. This has been a while. But isn't this the best opportunity to show them  how the stencils work and make them keep it, too?

There is another discovery I made in the process of creating this project. I have not been using my Spellbinders Glimmer Machine because of my failure of getting a good foiled impression. I found out that Spellbinders carry a Glimmer specialty paper. The Checkered Cottage does not have this specialty paper. They only have the Betterpress specialty paper. I went ahead and purchase this to foil on. What is there to lose, right? If it doesn't work then I can use the cardstock for other purposes. But what a nice surpise! This cardstock worked really well with the Glimmer Foil despite its textured and matte finish. 

I used Tim Holtz Distress inks in blending ink on the flowers and a gray dye ink for the letters. Since the flowers and leavers are small, I only used one color for each flower on a letter. I started with a light hand in blending the ink on the first stencil. You achieve a darker shade of the color as you go along with layered stencils.

I stitched a heart using the smallest embroidery hoop die from The Stamp Market Embroidery Hoop Dies. I used a red DMS Variegated embroidery floss for the stitching. I die cut the embroidery hoop on silver mirror cardstock to tie in with the silver foiling of the letters. 

For the background, I trimmed varied pastel colored cardstocks at 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I added details to these panels with The Greetery Aida Cloth Texture plate to tie in with the stitched heart. I adhered these panels to a 12" x 12" white cardstock and trimmed off the excess. The frame size is 11" x 14". I trimmed 1/4" off each edge for a clear border around the panel. 

I die cut the Happy Anniversary on white cardstock. I adhered a vellum to the back. The die I used is the Altenew Essential Sentiment Strips die set. I embossed the 25th using a retired My Favorite Things stamp set. I embossed this using silver embossing powder. I stamped the date on white cardstock using the Heidi Swapp Roller Date Stamp. I die cut this into a decorative strip using a die from Concord & 9th. 

I hope you like today's project. Checkered Cottage was nice enough to make an FB post with a photo of this framed art and ME! (Checkered Cottage) They also have this framed art on display (Checkered Cottage 2). 

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

(The link to the Altenew product I used on my Framed Art is Altenew Essential Strips Die Set . My affiliate link is: https://altenew.com/6358517. There will be no additional cost to you should you decide to purchase this product. It is just a way to help a fellow crafter sustain her love for crafting. While in the Altenew blog, don't forget to check out this month's release. Thank you for your support!)

 

Stenciled Faux Stitched Greeting Card

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. It is the first day of the month which means it is time for a new challenge at Incy Wincy Designs. This month's theme/s is/are Winter, Snow and/or Summer Flowers. I picked the theme of Summer Flowers so I can play with The Greetery craft items I have in my stash.

The Greetery Rose Tapestry stencil I used on this project creates a floral tapestry which is right on my alley. To give it a more stitched look, I added piercings using The Greetery Aida Cloth Texture plate. 

The images were stenciled on white cardstock. To mute the bright white, I blended ink over the white panel using the lightest pink dye ink I used for the layered flowers. This technique also allowed for the sentiment to pop out.

I flicked some mica pigment over the panel. I heat set this to dry.

The sentiment was die cut on white cardstock using a die from The Greetery Stitched Sentiments die set. I die cut two extra pieces of this sentiment, then adhered this on top of each other for some dimension.

I added pink baubles to the center of the flowers.

I hope you like today's project. Please join us on this month's challenge. We can't wait to see your creations.

Have a blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this creation at

Challenge #305~Anything Goes

Lots of Texture

 

Another Stitched Card

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. Today's card is another stitched card. I would like to thank @shannon.christine.designs for sharing this pattern in her IG account. 

I stitched the design on a light gray cardstock. I used the Waffle Flower Piercing Panel die to add holes for stitching. I used two strands of DMC floss for stitching. I substituted some of the colors so I can use a floss from my stash. 

Somehow the white stitching does not show really well on the gray cardstock. I only noticed this after I am done with all of the stitching. I did not want to undo the white stitching because of the risk of ripping the paper. I did not want to pitch the stitched panel after all that hard work. To try and save it, I outlined the white stitching with a light pink DMC floss. It looks much better.

To create this into a card, I trimmed a patterned paper to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I die cut a square window at the center. I added pierced details to this panel using The Greetery Aida Cloth texture plate. 

I adhered a patterned washi tape to the stitched panel to frame it for a pop of color. I adhered the window patterned paper to the stitched panel. 

To take this project up a notch, I blanket stitched the edges. Some of the holes are very close to the edge of the paper that it ripped during stitching. You can notice this on the top border of the window panel where there are uneven blanket stitches.

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

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this creation at

Inspired by the XOXO.

 Photo Inspiration #35

Stitching on Texture Plate

 

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. If you've been following me, you know that I love to stitch. Today's card is an example of my love for stitching. For this card, I am using The Greetery Aida Cloth Texture Plate. The moment I saw this product released, I fell in love with it right away. 

Most of the projects I saw using this texture plate is either using it for a background or stamping on it. The plate creates these these tiny holes. There are 7 boxes or spaces in between the holes per inch on the textured plate. It is recommended to use 6 strands of floss with this count but I only used 4 strands which came out okay. The stitching pattern I used is from Lawn Fawn. 

I stamped the mug on white cardstock. I colored the mug with Copic markers. I fussy cut the image leaving a small border around it. I incorporated the mug to the design by adding stitching to the handle to make it look like the snowman is holding the cup. 

I die cut a snowflake frame for the stitched snowman. The snowflake die is from Hero Arts. I used a My Favorite Things circle die to cut the window. I added details to the snowflake frame using a Simon Says Stamp 3D embossing folder. I lightly swiped a gray pigment ink to the embossed details of the snowflake frame. I die cut another snowflake frame to add a layer to the embossed snowflake frame.

I trimmed a bit off the edges of the stitched panel. I matted the panel with the same blue cardstock I used for the snowflake frame. 

I embossed the sentiment using a stamp and coordinating die from Lawn Fawn. The silver embossing powder I used is from Simon Says Stamp. I die cut additional labels and layered this underneath the embossed sentiment.

I stamped several snowflakes on the Aida background for additional details using a gray pigment ink. 

I added clear gems to the tips of the snowflakes. 

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

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this creation at

Caffeinated Christmas Challenge Blog #41

Simon Says: Let It Snow #78

December Challenge #60~Anything Goes with Optional Twist: Snowman and/or Birds