Christmas Cards - Part II

So, here are my remaining Christmas card designs. I know, I know.....it's only two months late! Ughhhh.

I am pretty sure I have posted this type of card before. The center rectangle pivots around to reveal the other side when it is opened. It is quite an impressive design for which I found a tutorial online, here.

This is one of my 'go to' designs...very simple and it always looks good.

This design was one of my favourites. It is a double pocket card. Perfect for holding a photo, gift card, money....leave it to your imagination. In this case, the pockets held a stamped greeting and a photo of my two adorable kiddos.

I don't know what I will do next year....one design or several? I guess I have all year to figure it out! :)

Star Album

This is one of the mini albums that I like to make. The inside pages are 6x6, so the outside cover measures slightly larger.

As you can see from below, it takes a lot of paper to make one of these babies! It is layer after layer, but the finished effect is quite nice, don't you think?!


This album is obviously unfinished, but the intent is that each of the white pages pictured would have a photo and/or journalling on them.

I love that this album can be displayed in a open/standing position on a table for everyone to admire. Much better than stashing it away on a book shelf, isn't it?!

If you want info on how to make or order one of these albums, please leave me a comment. :)

Boy Birthday Cards

I find cards for males the most difficult to make. Little boys are easier then men though. You can always go with cars, planes, reptiles or sports.


The card below was made quite some time ago for my friend's son for his birthday. It is a Z-fold card, which means.....you guessed it......it is folded into a 'Z' shape.






The stamp and ink are from Close To My Heart and the paper is some random pattern that I got as part of a scrap stack at a general craft store.




This next card is of the same variety.....little boy birthday. This one actually went to my nephew in Canada. It is the same paper as above, but it is a traditional open and close card. The stamps are from Stampin' Up.

Well, that is all for now. I will be back later!

Christmas Cards - Part 1

So, it appears that I am a little behind on my posts on my papercrafting blog. I seem to spend more of my time on my other blog, posting about life, the kiddies, etc. So, it is only now, that I am finally posting some of my Christmas cards.

I sent out about 70 cards this year....all of them hand made. It is the first year that I have hand made all of them. And, because I am a glutton for punishment, I didn't make them all the same design either. I think I ended up with about 8 different designs in the end. This was mainly because I didn't want to get bored with it, and because I wanted to use supplies I had on hand.

Here are the first few pics. They aren't the best pics. I am always struggling with lighting. I need to photograph the cards when I have a lot of natural light, and in winter, that can be tough! The day I took these photos was less than ideal in the lighting department, so they all have a bit of a yellowish tinge to them. Oh well....I will keep trying!

If you have any questions about how any of them were made, just leave me a comment, or email me offline. I don't want to bore you with the step by step on all of these cards. That would be way too boring and would take way too long!

So Much Fun

I had a lot of fun making this girly card for a customer. It was going to her sister, who was celebrating her 30th birthday. So, in honour of the occasion, a lot of effort went into this card!

This was the first time I tried paper piecing with a stamped image. This means that you stamp the image, then you re-stamp the same image on a piece of patterned paper. You then very carefully cut around the re-stamped image and piece it together with the original image. It sounds confusing, I know.

Basically, I cut the wall paper out from a stamped image on patterned paper and then pieced it onto the stamped image on solid paper. The result was polka dot wallpaper. But, wow, did it ever take a long time!

I am really happy with the end result though. I love blue and chocolate brown. They are my colours of the moment.

I hope you like them too!

Celebrate Love

This is an anniversary card that I recently made for a customer of my card club.

The way the card club works is simple.....you give me a list of your events and dates for the year, and I make you a custom card for each one. You receive your cards two to three weeks before the event date, acting as a reminder, and giving you time to personalize the card and send it on to the recipient.

For obvious reasons, this club is great for those who are busy, and often forget events due to a hectic schedule. Alternatively, it is also great for those who have an appreciation for those things unique and hand made.

It is difficult to tell in the photo, but the ribbon closure ties in with moss coloured green leaves on the patterned paper. I haven't gone colour blind. :)

Happy Birthday, Sis!

I normally wouldn't post a card before the recipient has actually received it, but I am pretty sure it is safe...this time.

This is a birthday card that I made for my older sister, Kathy. It is in the mail, on its way to Canada as I type this post.

I know that Kathy has been really busy working two jobs lately, so I am pretty certain she won't be reading my blog.

I can't really tell you why, but this stamp has always reminded me of my sister. I was thrilled to finally get the chance to use it! Kathy is a bit of a sun worshiper, so I can totally see her sitting lounging like this.

The flowered and striped papers are actually glittery....that is very "Kathy" too. She is a glittery kind of girl. The flowers were done with a punch and the girl was stamped with an acrylic stamp set. She was then water coloured using CTMH ink pads and a small brush.

This is one of only two times I have tried my hand at water colouring.....and I am fairly pleased with the results. What do you think? :)