Birdhouse Christmas Wishes

Today I have another note tag punch creation. As I am still working on a few more Christmas cards I used this design for a Christmas theme, but it would also work well on most other cards.

I added a pretty cardinal to the top of my birdhouse, but it looks just as cute on it's own.

 

The cardinal uses old instructions I posted here last year. The only change is that I added a second wing in behind.

 

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Bazzill and Recollections.

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist, Always Artichoke, Basic Black, So Saffron - all SU

Stamps: French Script - SU, That's the Ticket - SU

Embossing Folder: Heart Entwined - Elizabeth Craft

Dies: Apothecary Accents - SU, Labels Eighteen - Nestabilities - Spellbinders

Punches (other than punch art): Ticket duo - SU, Mosaic - SU

Misc.: 5/8" red organza ribbon, 3 x 1/4" rhinestones, white gel pen, foam mounting squares

 

Full birdhouse punch art instructions below:

Thanks for stopping by; hope to see you again soon!

Wonderful Wreath Tags

I have one more set of Christmas tags to share.
For these I used the new Wondrous Wreath set from SU.

I love having a matching die set for my stamps. So much easier than having to hand cut shapes.
Again my colour scheme is purple, silver and white.

I really like how the words look cut form foil cardstock. It lends a very festive finish to the tags.

Here is a close up for a better view at some of the details.

This one was quite simple. I sponged a little Wisteria Wonder on my white card. Then using Perfect Plum I stamped the music background. I cut my tags, inked the edges and matted them onto white, hand cutting a 1/8" border.
The wreath was stamped in Wisteria Wonder. The 2nd layer of leaves in Rich Razzleberry/Perfect Plum and the berries were embossed in silver. I die cut the bow and sentiment from silver foil. The little tag and banners were inked along the edges in Perfect Plum, and the name was stamped in the same colour. I added some silver mesh to the tag, attached the name tag with a brad and the wreath with foam squares.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Recollections 110 lbs white, silver foil

Stamps: Wondrous Wreath - SU, Music Background - Hero Arts, Rummage alphabet – MM

Dies: Wonderful Wreath - SU, Banner Framelits - SU, Gift Tag # 3, large, Gift Tag # 3 small by AccuCut

Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Rich Razzleberry - all SU, Versamark

Misc.: silver embossing powder,  white ribbon, 1 x 1/8" purple brad, 1 - 1/4" rhinestone, silver mesh, foam squares

 

I expect to have some time to finish the instructions for my Christmas birdhouse card (shown in my sneak peek image from the other day). So come back soon for the details.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

My daughter started to make fun of me every time I was turning the simple note tag punch shape shape into something new. In her words " Mom, you're crazy!". So I swore I would put aside my note tag punch and create without touching it again for a while.

Honestly, I really did try to ignore that punch, but for some strange reason it keeps calling to me.
Today's punch art project does use several other punches, but it could not be helped, I used the note tag again.

For you Canadians out there, my snowman just wasn't complete without a tuque. For everyone else, he needed a knitted winter cap on his head,. I just wasn't feeling the usual black felt hat.

I think most of you will agree that the little knit set he's sporting is the pefect fit for this winter (especially here in Calgary, as we've already had quite a bit of snow and lows of - 25°C this season).

The finished card measures 5.5 x 5.5".

I lightly sponged some snowy hills on the white card front and then added my finished snowman. I stamped my greeting onto a scrap piece of white card that I tore across the top to look like snow covered ground. Thsi was atatched to the bottom, covering the snowman slightly, with foam squares. Lastly I added several die cut snowflakes adorned with rhinestones for a little extra bling.

Supplies used:

Cardstock: white

Stamp: Holidays - Club Scrap, Tiny Treasures - Club Scrap (used the larg knit pocket to create the knit texture on my punch art pieces)

Die: Small Snowflakes (DIE100-F) - Impression Obsession

Ink: Soft Sky, Marina Mist - both SU

Misc.: rhinestones and foam mounting squares

Full punch art instructions below:

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon.

Festival of Trees Tags

I don't have too much time today as my youngest is celebrating his 16th birthday and the house is full of young men.

I have one more set of Christmas tags to share and also a little sneak peek of some punch art cards I'll be sharing soon.

Todays tags feature SU's new Festival of Trees stamp set. I have to be honest, when I first saw this set it was not on my must have list; but it quickly grew on me and when I placed my holiday order it was at the top of my list.

 

This was my first real try at creating a sponged winter background. There are places I still need some  practise, but overall I am quite pleased with how these turned out.

 

Unlike my previous tags, this time I started with cut tags.

I masked the moon with a sticky note circle punch out and I sponged the top half of the tag using three shades of purple. I created the hills by masking one section at a time with a torn strip of cardstock. I then stamped a tree in Elegant Eggplant and sponged a little Perfect Plum beneath it for a shadow effect. Next I used a scrap piece of white card and stamped another tree. I  added the garland with Versamark and embossed in silver and then added the ornaments and embossed in white. I punched out the tree and then sponged the little parts of background to match the area of the tag where I planned to palce the tree. For added depth i attached the tree with a foam square.

 

The little tag was sponged to match using the hills mask. I embossed the name in silver and attached this little tag with a 1/4" silver brad. A small star brad was added to the top of the tree and a torn and sponged strip was added to the bottom of the tag; infront of the tree. The finished tag was matted on white (hand trimemd to approx. 1/8") and then I added my silver ribbon and bow.

 

Here is a close-up of one of the tags.

 

 

 

Supply list:
Cardstock: Recollections 110 lbs white,

Stamps: Festival of Trees - SU, Rummage alphabet – MM

Punch: Tree - SU,

Dies:Gift Tag # 3, large, Gift Tag # 3 small by AccuCut

Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum - all SU, Versamark

Misc.: white and silver embossing powder, silver ribbon, 1 small star brad, 1 - 1/4" silver brad, foam squares

 

And as promised here is a sneak peek at my upcoming punch art cards.

 

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again soon.

Bright & Beautiful Tags

My second set of Christmas tags features the new Bright & Beautiful stamp set from SU.
Of course the colour theme is purple again. I also used some of my silver foil card for a little extra bling.

 

All three are the same basic design, but I varied the colours of the different star layers. As you can see I used some full stars and some "frames" (doube die cut) stars.

Here is a close up for a better look at the little details.

Again, I basically used only white cardstock. The only exception is the large dark star; that is a purple/plum scrap, and the large star cut form silver foil. I used the same emboss resist as my previous tag.

I started by stamping a half sheet of cardstock randomly with a large stars using Versamark. I then embossed them in silver. Next I stamped the smallest star between the large ones with Versamark and embossed these in white. Using three shades of purple and a little Smokey Slate I sponged over everything; I removed the excess the ink from the embossed images with a baby wipe at the end. Next I matted the tag on white cardstock and trimmed the edges approx 1/8" all around.

I then stamped some stars and cut my different layers from cardstock, the largest in foil and glued them together as shown. I added some rhinestones and attached the finished star to the bottom of my tag. I again I didn't wish to use a to/from stamp so instead I cut a small tag, stamped the recipients name and sponged the background. I also stamped randomly with the little star stamp in Smokey Slate. I then attached the little tag, my paper ribbon , a bit of silver meash in two corners and a silver, star brad.

Supply list:

Cardstock: Recollections 110 lbs white, scrap of dark plum and some silver foil.

Stamps: Bright& Beautiful - SU, Rummage alphabet – MM

Dies: Star framelits - SU, Gift Tag # 3, large, Gift Tag # 3 small by AccuCut

Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Smokey Slate - all SU, Versamark

Misc.: white and silver embossing powder,  paper ribbon, 1 star brad, 6 clear rhinestone, foam squares, silver mesh.

Thanks for stopping by. Check back soon for more Christmas creations (there fill be some punch art coming up in a bit as well, just need to have a chance to write the isntructions).

Snowflake Christmas Tags

With Christmas only around five weeks away I am very busy trying to get all my paper crafts completed. The last week or so I've been working on making gift tags.

As you may recall from earlier posts, we've been going through some renovations at our house. The family room is completed and went through an entire overhaul including new furniture, and more importantly a completely new colour pallet. This of course means that I need to buy some new decorations (it all has to match, I'm a little OCD). In the past our tree and the present I placed underneath it, were gold, silver and basic black and white. With the new colour theme, there will be no gold, instead I'm adding purple to match the new accent colour in the room.

So, to make a long story a little shorter, my Christmas tags this year will consist of various shades of purple, white, silver and possibly some black.

Here is the first set I came up with, featuring snowflakes. So far I have made one for each of my kids.

 

There are some slight variations between the three, but the basic design is the same.

Here is a close up of one tag to show a little more detail.

 

I only used white cardstock. I started by stamping a half sheet of cardstock randomly with a large snowflake stamps using Versamark. I then embossed the snowflakes in silver. Next I stamped a smaller snowflake between the large ones with Versamark and embossed these in white. Using three shades of purple I sponged over everything removing the ink from the embossed images with a baby wipe at the end.

I then cut 3 large tags from this cardstock with my AccuCut die. Next I die cut the snowflakes form white card and inked the smallest in smokey slate and the middle one with Perfect plum. I glued the snowflakes together and attached it to the tag with some foam squares. Next I matted the tag on white cardstock and trimmed the edges approx 1/8" all around.

 

I didn't wish to use a to/from stamp so instead I cut a small tag, embossed the recipients name in white and sponged the background. Then I added this little tag as well as some ribbon, a bow, my clear snowflake and a silver snowflake brad to the top of the large tag. Lastly i embellished the large snowflake with some clear rhinestones.

Supply list:

Cardstock: Recollections 110 lbs white

Stamps: Festive Flurry - SU, Rummage alphabet – MM

Dies: Snow Flury - SU, Gift Tag # 3, large, Gift Tag # 3 small by AccuCut

Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Smokey Slate - all SU, Versamark

Misc.: white and silver embossing powder, 5/8" plum organza ribbon, 1 snowflake brad, 1 clear plastic snowflake, 7 x 1/4" clear rhinestone, foam squares.

Thanks for stopping by. Check back soon for more Christmas creations (there fill be some punch art coming up in a bit as well).

 

 

Christmas Lanterns

I am almost at the end of my "Note Tag" creations. Today I have a wonderful trio of lanterns to share.
I added a bit of greenery and a bow and used them on some Christmas cards, but they could have many different uses.

I used the same basic design and identical supplies for each of the three cards.

First I stamped my music background on white cardstock. Then I cut the banner shapes. I generously inked the edges and sponged all over with So Saffron for an "aged paper" effect. The lanterns have been mounted on the large shape from the Apothecary Acccent dies which was embossed with stars and also inked with So Saffron. I used my Punch Bunch pine twig punch for the greenery but the Martha Stewart punch or any pine twig die would work just as well. Instructions for the little 3-d bow are also below.
Note that some parts of the punch art lanterns could easily be hand cut or cut using a paper trimmer. But I cut all parts with my note tag punch. After having played with that punch for so long I found this easier and faster.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Ink: So Saffron, Crushed Curry, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Early Espresso - all SU
Dies: Banner Framelits - SU, Apothecary Accents Framelits - SU
Punches (for the greeting): small and large oval by SU
Stamps: Music Background - Hero Arts, All Year Cheer I - SU
Embossing folder: Lucky Stars - SU
Misc.: clear and red 1/4" rhinestones, foam mounting squares, white gel pen

Little 3D bow instructions:

Card 1, small Lantern close-up:

Punch art instructions for small lantern:

Card 2, medium lantern close-up:

Punch art instructions for medium lantern:

Card 3, large lantern close-up:

Large lantern punch art instructions:

Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon.

Sweet Treat

Today I have a cute cookie themed creation to share.
This would work really well on gift tags accompanying a sweet treat from your kitchen - perfect for baked Christmas goodies.

 

Both the cookie sheet and the cookie jar were made using the Note Tag punch. The Greeting is also on the note tag pucnh (curved top has bene trimmed)

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Ink: Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler - all SU
Stamps: Got Treats - SU, Crackle - IO
Dies: Top Note - SU
Misc.: foam mounting squares, 5/8" beige organza ribbon.

Full punch art instructions below (I split them into two separate recipes).

 

Thanks for stopping by; come back soon for more punch art creations.

Christmas Candle Trio

If you recall I mentioned in my post featuring the bird bath and fountain punch art that I came up with that particular design while making candle holders. Well, today I am sharing that Christmas candle holder card.

It features a trio of different candle holders, all made from the note tag punch. Each candle holder design can easily be used for a bird bath, fountain, outdoor planter or pedestal design as well.

This card is a large 5.5 x 8.25", half sheet, card.

I added a few pine twigs made of super jumbo fern punch pieces behind the candle holders. The candle holders were decorated with small pearls for a little extra bling. I mounted the largest candle holder first, then the medium holder with one layer of foam squares. The smallest candle in the front was mounted with 2 layers of foam squares to create perfect depth.

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, So Saffron, Always Artichoke, Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry, Early Espresso - all SU

Stamps: French Script background - SU, Fun Phrases - SU

Misc.: pearl bling, foam squares, 5/8" red organza ribbon.

 

Punch art instructions for the three candle holders and the basic candle below:

 

Here is a quick example of how the candle holder design can be used for planters and display pedestals.

The planter plant is made of three (3) mega grass shapes (Nankong punch). My potted plant uses the following punches: Pot: Designer Label (cut in half) -SU, Bird Builder (10 - greenery) - SU, tiny flower - MU. I sponged my blue background with a little Marina Mist. The lattice was sponged with So Saffron and Crumb Cake and adhered over the background. I used three pieces that were trimmed to fit the card front. The small planter was glued to the card front. The pedestal, butterfly and greeting were mounted with foam squares.

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Ink: Basic Gray, So Saffron, Crumb Cake, Garden gree, Always Artichoke, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist, Early Espresso - all SU

Stamps: Dreams de Jour - SU, Label Love - SU, Crackle background - IO

Die: Lattice - Bigz - SU

Misc.: foam squares.

Punch art instrucitosn for just the planters/pedestals below.

 

Thank you for stopping by! Come back soon for more punch art creations.

Christmas Hurricane Candle

With Christmas only seven weeks away it's time to finish making cards and get them mailed before it's too late. Therefore the next few creations are all Christmas themed in nature.

First up is this lovely card featuring a hurricane candleholder.

The candle and decorations are of course all punch art. The glass portion is made from the large die in the Apothecary Accents set by SU. I cut this form vellum and stamped it with snowflakes in a pearl white to add a frosted/engraved design to my "glass".

Here is a close up of all the different pieces required for the hurricane candleholder.

I used the SU snowflake for my pine branches, a large holly punch for the other greenery and a large pinecone punch to decorate my candle. But you can use any greenery punch shapes or even small dies (Impression Obsession has several) to decorate your candle. The branches were cut from the Tim Holtz branch tre die sgape.

Supplies used:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist, Always Artichoke, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip - all SU, pearl white - Club Scrap.
Stamps: Festive Flurry - SU, Bright & Beautiful - SU
Dies: Apothecary Accents Thinlits - SU, Note Tag - SU, Branch Tree - Tim Holtz  Sizzix
Embossing folder: Lucky Stars - SU
Punches: Snowflake - SU, large holly - PB, large pinecone - PB, Jewelry Tag - SU, 3/8" circle - EK papershaper, (Candle instructions below)
Misc.: foam mounting squares, 5/8" red organza ribbon, white gel pen.

Full candle punch art instructions below (yes, it' my beloved Note Tag punch)

Thanks for stopping by. Come back soon for more Christmas creations.

Bird Bath Punch Art

This design came about while I was trying to make candle holders (upcoming project).
As I was putting together the various shapes I'd punched I realized this could easily be turned into a bird bath (and a water fountain) as well and these two pretty and serene designs were born.

First a closer look at the bird bath version.

 

This is a 5.5 x5.5" card. I first stamped the floral background then die cut my shape. Next I stamped the bird image, sponged on some colour and cut out just the bird. I assembled my punch art bird birth; then stampes it with the crackle texture. I added some shading with my daubers, inked all edges of my cardstock pieces and assembled the card front.

 

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Stamps: Simply Sketched - SU, Serene Silhouettes - SU, Crackle - Impression Obsession

Ink: Always Artichoke, Eggplant Elegance, Basic Gray, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Real Red - all SU

Ink Markers: Always Artichoke, Perfect Plum, Eggplant Elegance - all SU

Dies: Banner Framelits - SU, Oval Framelite - SU

Misc.: pearl accents

 

And here is my second creation - a water fountain - using the same punh art design. 

 

This is a large 5.5 x 8.25" card. I first embossed a white piece of card 5.25 x 8" in size with the brick texture. Then cut the arch opening as well as the actual archway (2nd piece of card) using my Coluzzle. I hand cut 5 semi triangular stones. All pieces were sponged and inked along the edges. Next I created my punch art fountain. The base is made of 2 strips approx. 1/4" wide. The top one I angled the ends and the bottom one I rounded the corners using my note tag punch. I then stamped the crackle pattern, added shading and then stamped the moss texture to all pieces using my Lovely as a Tree stamp. I used this same stamp to create the greenery on my blue background. I also sponged the blue card with a little Marina Mist for a little texture. The water swirls were stamped with Versamark and clear embossed. I then assembled the archway. The stones on the arch were foam mounted, and then I again used foam squares to attach the arch over the background. The bushes are the tops of the tree stamp. I hand trimmed them and attached with additional foam squares on either side of the entry way.

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Bazzill

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree - SU, Sincere Salutations - SU, Crackle - Impression Obsession, Flourishes - Autumn Leaves

Ink: Always Artichoke, Marina Mist, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip, Basic Gray, Early Espresso - all SU,  Versamark,

Embossing folders: Brick - Sizzix - Tim Holtz, Tiny Mosaic - Provo Craft Cuttlebug

Misc. Foam mounting squares, Coluzzle arch template.

 

Punch art instructions below.

 

Thanks for stopping by! Comes back soon for more punch art projects.