• Card Making,  Uncategorized

    Christmas in July, Gnome Christmas Cards

    I didn’t even know Christmas in July was a thing until a few years ago. Turns out it is a great time to gear up and get a jump start on your Christmas cards. If your days are passing as quickly as mine then its never too early! Today I will show you how to create 3 cards all with non-Christmas products from the July and August catalog. Let us take a closer look at these festive cards.

    I always recommend checking out the YouTube tutorial to see these projects come together and pick up on a few tips and tricks. I’m a visual person and love to watch the crafty process in action.

    For today’s cards, I used the beautiful patterned papers from the Timber collection. These papers are perfect for fall, the manly guy in your life, or Christmas! Nothing says Christmas more than a red plaid. They are perfect for your mountain adventures too. I can think of so many ways to use this collection.

    For my first card, I began by layering up the pretty patterned papers. This is a classic go-to card design for me. I love all the layers and how the stitched circle highlights our little gnome character. The measurements for each card will be posted below along with all the supplies used to create these projects. I should add that the Merry Christmas sentiment is from the Say it In Style stamp set. this stamp has a sentiment for just about every occasion!

    The Gnome is actually from a garden gnome set. Just by selecting Christmas inspired colors, we can transform our image into the perfect holiday character. I’ve colored this whimsical gnome image with Spectrum Noir tri-blend marker in Dark Red and accented with black. The Gnome Matter stamp is available with or without the coordinating thin cut dies.

    For my second card, I added kraft paper for a homespun Christmas vibe. The pine trees are from the Timber cardmaking set. It’s designed as an outdoor fishing themed stamp but the tree made for a perfect Christmas tree! Using New England Ivy ink I combined first and second generation stamping to create different shades for my trio of trees. I added dimensional foam to pop up the center tree then gave it a shimmery finish with a clear shimmer brush.

    My third card had to be a shaker card because they are so much fun! The adorable Gnome dressed in his Christmas best makes the perfect embellishment layered onto this shaker window. I felt it needed a little something to offset the Gnome so I dug through my Christmas stash and stamped, colored and fussy cut the holly images. I chose the loose Julep Sequins to fill my shaker window because the green was just the right pop of color.

    Below are the card measurements I used for today’s projects. I adhered each card panel onto a standard A2 card (5.5 x 4.25″).

    Thank you for stopping by. I hope you enjoy the card sketches and are feeling inspired to get creating. Happy crafting my friends!

    ***Supplies***

  • Inspiration,  Scrapbooking Layouts and Projects,  Uncategorized

    The Happiest Place!

    Hello there! I have been having so much fun documenting a Disneyland trip from years ago. It’s wonderful to revisit these early memories. My boys were so little! We are definitely overdue for a Disney vacation and I can’t wait to visit again. Close To My Heart’s new collection, Happiest Place, rocks the perfect Disney vibe. I did add the mouse ears from my stash but everything else included on this layout is from the kit and 100% fun!

    I always recommend checking out the youtube process video below to see this layout come together and pick up a few design tips and tricks.

    The coordinating sticker sheet is loaded with silver glitter foil accents! Who doesn’t love a little something sparkly? You can see the shine in my roller coaster image below. There is even silver foiled cardstock! Whoop, whoop! I was pretty happy with how the balloons pop with the Happy title. The yellow color really helps to lead your eye around the page.

    My title, Happy Magical Place, came together easily by combining the phrase “Happy” from the sticker sheet along with “Magical”, a coordinating black acrylic accent. I like to mix fonts and different elements to create a more visually interesting title.

    The Black Acrylic Accents are perfect for adding a new texture to your page. I’ve scattered black stars around my embellishment clusters to tie in with the word Magic and reinforce the silver foiled stars on my background patterned cardstock. The little Ferris wheel embellishment couldn’t have been more perfect for these photos with the Ferris Wheel ride in the background. I love it when things come together so well.

    This Happiest Place special is available through the end of August while supplies last. Be sure to grab your while you can. Check out all the goodies in this line including a custom Cricut collection. Thanks so much for stopping by, I appreciate you!

    Supplies:

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