Black and White with a Pop of Krafty Christmas Color

Our Stamp Simply design team has been having fun with black and white cards with just a pop of color.  Mine was inspired by some KaiserCraft designer paper which also included little hints of Kraft and I added a pop of red to that.  I thought it was kinda fun how all those tiny triangles echo the shape of this tree from our stamp set "O Christmas Tree."  🎵  And those houses!  "I'll be home for Christmas..." 🎶  

A Kraft bow with red accents frames the stamped sentiment.  The tiny tag suspended from the ribbon was cut with a Tim Holtz Tags Collection die.  "Believe" is cut from one of the designer prints from the paper pad.  

Here's a peek at the inside which is stamped with a sentiment from the same stamp set.  

This larger tag on the inside of the card is one that is a punch-out from a sheet of tags that is part of the designer paper pad.  I added a house colored and fussy-cut from the designer paper to carry the theme from the front to the inside.

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - O Christmas Tree Bundle
• Kaisercraft 6.5x6.5" Paper Bundle #4 - Christmas
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Ovals SM
• Spellbinders Nestabilities - Standard Ovals LG
• Stamp Simply Steel Dies - Fishtail Sentiment Banners
• Sizzix Thinlits Dies by Tim Holtz - Tag Collection
• May Arts 5/8" Twill - 30 Yard Spool - Champagne
• May Arts 3/8" Metallic Velvet Sampler - Christmas - 8 yards
• Kaisercraft Self-Adhesive Round Pearls - Red
• Memento Full Size Dye Ink Pad - Tuxedo Black
• distress oxide ink
• diluted white acrylic paint
• red and green copic markers
• clear Wink of Stella

With Gratitude

The autumnal equinox of 2023 will arrive on September 23, according to the Farmer's Almanac, marking the official start of Fall in the Northern Hemisphere.  This week our Stamp Simply team has been highlighting cards that herald Fall's arrival with the images and colors of the season.  Of course, Florida is always fashionably late to the party and this box fold card pays tribute to that in its use of Retro Summer designer paper for the background.  

This card folds flat and fits into a standard envelope for mailing, but the box portion at the bottom helps to support the card in an upright position for display.  I deliberately kept the layout uncluttered to let those beautiful Fall colors shine all on their own.

It helps to use sturdy card stock for the card base...the stuff I used here was the perfect color but proved to be a bit flimsy when all was said and done, even with the extra layers!  It was more like the thickness of designer paper than card stock and really works better as a layer for a mat than for a base layer but with this designer paper it was the perfect color.  (I need to order more Kraft card stock...and other colors too!)

I used two of our gorgeous Fall stamp sets for this project.  The leaf and acorn are from Give Thanks, and the sentiments are both from Falling Leaves.  That GRATITUDE sentiment was a perfect fit stamped directly onto the box portion at the bottom, and the My Friend stamp fit just right into the tag from Tim Holtz Tag Collection dies as well.  

It's very hard to catch on camera, but if you look very closely just maybe you can see the shimmer of the leaves border stamped onto the box portion of the card with Delicata ink.  The leaf and acorn were both colored with Copics and then given a tap with the Delicata ink pad to add some shimmer there too.

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Falling Leaves Border Strip
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Give Thanks Bundle
• Craft Consortium Retro Summer designer paper
• Tim Holtz Tag Collection dies
• Hot Pink Rhinestones
• Jute string
• Memento Ink
• Delicata Ink
• Copic markers

Christmas Special Delivery Gift Card

This week our Stamp Simply team has been designing simple cards that are flat for mailing.  Mine is a card that has no coloring and only a little stamping but it does require a few passes through the die-cutting machine.  If you organize well beforehand you can make duplicates of this card assembly-line style without being overwhelmed!

I love Tim Holtz thinlits and used several on this design.  We usually exchange gift cards with our neighbors and so each year I try to create a trio of handmade cards that will make a pretty presentation for them.  The TH Collector set is perfect for this purpose and the to/from sentiment from our Farmhouse Christmas set puts the recipient's name front and center.  

The Special Delivery die cut is from the TH Postale die set.  I cut it once from red card stock to use as a "postage stamp" on the envelope, and then cut it once again from green card stock to use the letters DEC for the date next to those big fun numbers from Countdown.  

The Collector set has a die shaped sort of like a gift card that would fit inside the envelope, but I really like the look of a tag, especially at Christmas, so I used the tag set too.  Either of these are the perfect size to attach a gift card onto the back and slip it into the envelope pocket.

We just got some fun new arrivals in the store, including Christmas dies from Tim Holtz.  There's a new Festive Gatherings set of greenery that is really pretty but since I don't have it yet, this greenery is from the Holiday Greens Mini die set.  The tiny I <3 U is from our Stick People Sentiments.  Look closely at the envelope and you'll notice that it is faintly stamped with our Snowflake Border stamp.  

Here's the inside.  Honestly, even with all of the die cuts that were used, the two-toned stamping shown here is probably the hardest part of making this card.  And even that is easy!  :)  

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Farmhouse Christmas
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Snowflake Blessings Border Strip
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Stick Family Sentiments
• Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies - Collector
• Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies - Postale
• Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies - Tag Collection
• Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies - Countdown
• Tim Holtz Thinlits Dies - Holiday Greens Mini
• Craft Consortium Tartan Plaid designer paper

Be sure to visit the store blog to see other ideas for mailable Christmas cards.  

#1 Coach Appreciation Card

Welcome back!

School started weeks ago here in Florida. Now, with Labor Day behind us, the rest of the country is following suit, and last weekend was the beginning of college football. I guess that is what sparked the idea for this project.

I've had this Craft Consortium Metal Textures paper for a while, and every time I've thumbed through it I've thought that this hammered copper texture would work for a basketball.  Finally I have gotten around to giving it a try!  

I found an easy online video tutorial for sketching a basketball.  I die-cut a big circle and then sketched the lines in. Would have been easier to ink and shade them but I thought it would be kinda cool to paper piece and distress this one.  I added a bit of Copic marker shading to help give the illusion of roundness to the ball...so what do you think?!  Does the hammered copper texture pass for cow leather (basketball) or pigskin (football)?!  It was fun to see if it would work!

The #1 Coach tag was made by running a narrow strip of red card stock through one of those old-fashioned clicky Dymo label makers.  I grunged it up by gently rubbing over it with an inky finger, which also helped the lettering to show up more clearly. The blue mat behind it is cut with one of the dies from the Tim Holtz Collector die set.  Here's where there is the opportunity to introduce team colors to an otherwise "neutral" card.     

I wanted to try a football version too, but ran out of glue before I could finish it!  Here's how it looks so far...and here's the video for that if you'd like to try to make one.  Notice that for this one I just used the shiny black clicker tape that originally came with the Dymo.  

The sentiment on the card front, from Stamp Simply's Pastor and Ministry Appreciation stamp set, was stamped directly onto the brick textures designer paper. The "blue ribbon" dies shown here are more from the TH Collector set.  

Here's the inside, with a couple of stamped "tickets" (also from Collector) to continue with the sports theme.  We have two sentiment stamps that are very similar but from different sets, so I listed them both here so you have options!  And if you'd like something other than the ticket dies, the "Train Up a Child" sentiment from our Scripty Background Minis #1 might also work very nicely.

Supplies:

• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Pastor and Ministry Appreciation Greetings
• Stamp Simply Clear Stamps - Words of Encouragement 
• Craft Consortium Metal Textures designer paper 
• Craft Consortium Brick Textures designer paper
• Spellbinders large circles dies
• Tim Holtz Thinlet Dies - Collector 
• Memento Ink
• Copic markers (for shading)