Christmas in July at The Cutting Cafe, Pt. 2

Welcome to the second installment of our Christmas in July design team posts at The Cutting Cafe. I love making Christmas projects when it's too hot to be outside. :) This card is one of my fave's for sure because I love the cutting file I used to create it. 

Christmas Bulb Greetings - Template and Cutting Files

There are several greetings in this file but I chose JOY for my card. We should always be filled with joy at Christmas and throughout the year. I backed the cut file with the base and trimmed a patterned paper to add some color and interest to my base card panel. I used the card fold, top bulb layer, base of bulb and ornament hanger in this set. Puffy stickers and liquid pearl dots add finishing touches to my shaker card which I filled with mini micro beads. 

Here is the file I used and you can see how many options there are. 

Sentiments are also offered but for this card I let the puffy sticker and cut file do the job.







For more inspiration by the design team click this link and enjoy a variety of Christmas in July projects. If you leave a comment on the DT post you'll be automatically entered into a drawing to win 3 FREE SETS and the winner will be announced on the 7th of August.

Thanks for stopping by!!!
Lisa xx

Animal Shaped Christmas Cards from TCC

Easter Bunny Shaped Card 2

*Stay tuned for important announcement at end of post*

It's Christmas in July at The Cutting Cafe and we've put a twist on it by using animal shapes for our design team projects. I love how this card turned out and truthfully I would have never used a rabbit on a Christmas card lol but it works. It was fun to create!

I love this bunny's tale and the fact that it's 3D makes me hop for joy!

Puffy stickers, wood veneer holly, flat back pearls and a googly eye add more dimension. The stamped sentiment is by Verve Stamps which is now closed. 

A punched MS holly border and stamped stars from Verve's Holiday Greetings set finish the inside.

For more inspiration visit The Cutting Cafe's blog tomorrow, the 7th, to view all  of the design team projects. If you leave a comment on the post you'll be automatically entered into a drawing to win 3 FREE SETS from TCC. Regina will announce the winner on the next DT post which will be the 21st of July. 

Regina, owner/designer of TCC, is offering discounted Christmas sets during the month of July. Here is the link to the current offering but be sure to check TCC's website and blog for additional offerings throughout July. 

Thanks for visiting!

Lisa xx

N for Name, O for 'On Skates etc' at ABC Christmas Challenge

Ice Skate Card

Christmas in July is what I was thinking when I created this design team card for the ABC Christmas Challenge. With the record hot temps here in the U.S. I'm definitely dreaming of a white Christmas. :) I'll stop and confess right now that I'm no ice skater but I wish I was. Ice skating is a beautiful sport and I love to watch it!

I used a SVG file by Daniela Moscone available at Silhouette Design Store called Ice Skate Card. 

The inside sentiment and image are by Verve Stamps which sadly closed their doors the end of June. I used stickers by Simple Stories on the opposite page.

For the front of my card I used a merry mix of embellishments and ephemera. The seasons greetings stamp is from G45's Night Before Christmas 3 stamp set and I backed it with a 1" punched circle from black cardstock. Years ago Pink Paislee offered a collection called  City Sidewalks and I still have some of the papers and ephemera in my stash. The bell ephemera is from that collection as are the fishtail banners. I ran some red/white twine through the tag and secured it with Tim's tiny attacher. The rosette is a dimensional sticker from Recollections and the glitter red heart was punched using a Fiskar's heart punch. I also used a circle sticker from G45's A Place in Time sticker sheet on the right side of the cluster and foam tape to give some of the elements dimension.

White and black gel pens add highlights and faux stitching. I added a chipboard 'Believe' by Echo Park to the blade, tinsel by Tim Holtz to the base of the ice skate and flat back pearls where the laces pull through and that completes this card.

I used the fold card and layering pieces from the SVG file to create my card. My Silhouette Cameo made this an easy task to do. Check out the Silhouette Design Store to see what is currently on sale and if memory serves me correctly I believe they have a big Christmas sale during July. If I learn when I'll pop in and edit this post and add a direct link. ;) You can also visit my dear friend's online store, The Cutting Cafe, as Regina offers several Christmas themed files and each one comes with various electronic cutter SVG files as well as a PDF version in case you don't own an electronic cutter.   

Sponsor

Neat and Tangled

Prize is a $25 gift certificate to our lucky winner.

also

Helen is our hostess this month and she is offering this stamp set from Lily of the Valley as a prize. 





You have from today, July 4th, until the end of the month to play along and as long as your project is Christmas themed you can enter as often as you like. The DT will be by to visit your inspiring creations soon and we all wish you the best of luck.

Crafty Hugs,

Lisa xx 

H for Hat, I for Ice at ABC Christmas Challenge

It's good to be back with a post and design team project for ABC Christmas Challenge. I truly meant to be more regular with my posts here but I've been sidetracked with an impromptu craft room makeover. It took longer than I planned but glad it's done and I am back to crafting again. A big thanks to Samantha and Helen for giving me the month of March off to finish everything up. In a few weeks I'll be sharing the transformation right here on my blog. :)

This month we are on the letters H and I so a hat or ice on your Christmas themed project will work. Click the link above to visit the challenge blog and see more inspiration for both letters by my incredible design team sisters.

SPONSOR

All Dressed Up

For my card I used a wood stamp that belonged to my mom. I love having some of her crafty supplies in my stash, brings sweet memories to mind of all the cards she made me throughout the years. It's from Hampton Arts stamps and it's called Frosty. While Santa's red hat is iconic at Christmas I think Frosty's black brimmed hat is a close second. 

Join us this month and if you win you'll receive two free digital images from Wendy's Etsy shop. 

Good Luck!

Lisa xx

S for Sketch T for Trio at ABC Christmas Challenge

Angel Trio

I'm hosting the challenge this month at ABC Christmas Challenge and we're already up to the letters S and T. To change things up we'd like you to link to a current sketch for S and for T create a project using a trio of images/items. Click the link to see inspiration by my teamies and see if one of their sketch challenges will work for you. 

Remember to create a Christmas themed project!

For my card I used a designer paper which I layered on a white mat frame and adhered it to my red Bazzill cardstock base. I stamped a trio of angels from Verve's Angel Voices stamp set onto vellum using Versamark ink and sterling silver embossing powder by Stampendous. A trio of Tim Holtz mirrored stars and white opal Liquid Pearls by Ranger added the finishing embellishments. A sentiment from the same Verve set was stamped in Ranger's Black Tie ink and added above the center angel. I love the addition of vellum and the way the embossing looks on it. :)

As the hostess this month I am also offering our lucky winner a prize.

Two stamps from Impression Obsession

Sponsor

Bugaboo Stamps

One lucky Random winner will win 4 Digi images for their choice

and 

Sponsor

Visit our blog http://blog.craftyribbons.com

Inspiration Blog http://craftyribbonsinspiration.blogspot.co.uk/

The challenge ends on September 30th at 1pm BST and I want to wish each of you good luck!

Happy Crafting,

Lisa xx

N for New, O for Old at ABC Christmas Challenge

N is for New, O is for Old

Hard to believe it is July already! 

A brand new challenge is up at ABC Christmas Challenge and we are on the letters "N" and "O". 

The NEW on my card is the digi image and the sentiment stamp (new to me) from Avery Elle. The OLD is the holly paper which has been in my stash for so long I can't remember. There's a feeling of satisfaction when you cut into a paper that has been around 10+ years...think I am going to do that more often and stop hoarding. 

SPONSORS

Prize is a $10 gift certificate to our lucky winner.

Our second sponsor is 

https://sweetstampshop.com

They are also offering a $10 gift certificate as well. 

Last but not least...Helen is hosting this challenge and she has a prize to offer as well.

Today's card was made using a digi that one of our sponsors provided, Fred She Said, and it's Little Fat Santa Digi. This is such a cute image and it is a great purchase because several options come with the image including a printable sheet of mini-Santa's. I requested the uncolored version however there is a colored version and after looking at my image I wondered why I did not request the colored one. ;) I readily admit that coloring is not my gift but one of these days I plan to sit down and really apply myself to learning to use my Copic's and other markers to their full advantage. Does anyone else struggle with coloring? I'd love to know if you do or if you've found some awesome tips or tricks you'd like to share. 

Be sure to visit the challenge blog to see more inspiration using digital images from our sponsor, Fred She Said. Samantha has a handmade crochet project to share that you won't want to miss! Hope your summer (winter for Aussie's) is going better for you than ours is.....too much rain here. ;)

I'll be back Thursday the 6th with a design team project for The Cutting Cafe. 

Crafty Hugs,

Lisa xx

E, F and G at ABC Christmas Challenge

We have a brand new challenge at ABC Christmas Challenge that runs the entire month of March. We are on the letters E, F and G and you have the choice to play along with all three letters or combine them as I did on my card. 

E is for Edge

F is for Family

G is for Girl

Sponsors

Wild Orchid Crafts

Prize is a gift certificate to their online store.

Helen is hosting this challenge and she is also offering a prize. 

Set of Sizzix Dies

My edge is snowbanks created from a My Favorite Things die and my family is from the Taylored Expressions stamp set-Penguin Pals.

I colored my background with distress inks and added my heavy snowfall scene by diluting gesso with water then splattering with a paintbrush. The images were stamped with black Archival ink then colored with my new Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils which were gifted to me by my dear friend, Katrin. It is my first experience coloring with them and they're awesome! Thank you for sharing those with me sweetie. :) I love snowy scenes and I created some dimension between my snowbanks with Scotch foam tape. For a little sparkle I added glitter and subtle shading was applied with Copic markers. 

We look forward to seeing your creations. To see more inspiration for our E, F and G challenge visit the link above and check out what my design team mates created. 

Before I close today I'd like to share that on the 22nd of February my mother went home to be with the Lord. I will miss her but I am grateful that her battle with Alzheimer's on this earth is over. It is a disease I would not wish on anyone. I pray for those who suffer with this disease and for the families affected by it. May God bless and comfort each of you!

Thank you for your visit today, it means a lot. 

Lisa xx 

A is for Anything Christmas, B is for Things Beginning with 'B'

A - Anything Goes

B - Things Beginning with 'B'

My first post for 2017 is a design team project for ABC Christmas Challenge. There are new challenge rules this year so be sure to check the challenge blog. My card features an image by one of our sponsors, Sami Stamps. 

Sponsors

Sami Stamps

  

and 

Wild Orchid Crafts

Both sponsors are offering gift certificates to their online shops.

Helen also has a nice prize for the lucky winner.

On my card I used the Waiting for Santa image and colored it with Prismacolor pencils. 

I decided to turn some of the greenery into poinsettias on the garland, a bit of a twist on this image. I added a chipboard number '24' to the left side and a dotted ribbon behind it. I cut my red card base at 4.25" x 5.25", layered a green panel on top and Scotch foam tape provides some dimension. 

The challenge runs from today, the 1st Wednesday of the month, until the last day of January so you have plenty of time to play along. You can choose either 'A' or 'B' and we look forward to seeing your creations. I love the sponsor's image and if you like it as well be sure to visit Sami Stamps. 

Thanks for the visit today, to view more inspiration visit the challenge blog to see the creations my teamies made. I'll be back on Friday with another design team post so I'll see you then. 

Happy New Year,

Lisa xx

F is for Frills or No Frills

Our new challenge at ABC Christmas Challenge is 

~ F for Frills or no Frills ~ 

which is basically a ruffled ribbon / trim. Helen added a pretty rosette to her DT card and that works as well. One more thing, be sure to tell us in your blog post whether you chose frill or no frill. 

For my card I used ruffled gingham trim and layered two pieces for a very frilly look. A fun designer paper by Recollections creates a nice background for my stamped gingerbread house and the sentiment was also part of the stamp set. A large button with pink twine and a band of Flamingo liquid pearls complete the embellishments.

SPONSOR

Sweet Stamps

Prize is a $10.00 gift certificate to the online store.

We'd love to have you join our challenge!

Hugs,

Lisa

All About Embossing

Do you like to emboss? 

If you do then you'll enjoy our latest challenge at ABC Christmas Challenge. 

Embossing - Wet or Dry

It's your choice or you can live dangerously and use both!

SPONSOR

Wild Rose Studio

Prize is this lovely Snow Flourish Craft Die. 

I went with dry embossing for my CAS style card and it features a snowflake Cuttlebug embossing folder. I love the texture it adds to my card!

You can enter any project as long as it relates to our current challenge and it's Christmas themed. For more inspiration visit the main challenge blog and see what my teamies created. Looking forward to seeing your amazing creations!

Hugs,

Lisa

D - Don't Overdo It!

D for Don't Overdo It!

This is our new challenge at ABC Christmas Challenge. We're looking for projects with a minimal touch (meaning keep it simple) and it needs to have a Christmas theme, as always. Our sponsor is All Dressed Up Stamps and I chose to use the 3 Little Christmas Girls digital image and only one girl from the sweet trio on my CAS style card.  

SPONSOR

All Dressed Up

Prize is 2 FREE digi's of their choice.

To see all of the inspiration by the design team visit the ABC challenge blog. If you enjoy making clean and simple style cards this challenge is for you and we'd love to have you join us. 

Thanks for looking, have a great day!

Lisa

A New Adventure

ABC Christmas Challenge

Good news to share!

I am the newest design team member at ABC Christmas Challenge and I'm super excited to be a part of this team. I love Christmas and it's going to be a lot of fun creating projects all year long. A big thank you to Samantha for the invitation and to Helen and the team for the warm welcome. 

Thanks ladies! 

Every other Wednesday a new challenge begins and this challenge is

 ~   V - Very Cute    ~

As always you can make any item you like as long as it meets the current challenge theme and it's a new project. If you enjoy making Christmas items then check out the rules here  and join us.   

Our sponsor - Zlatoena's Designs - offers cute digital images and graciously supplied the DT with images to use. I used Bunny Christmas Lights on my card and I adore him. It's really hard to believe though, in a few weeks, I'll be putting up our Christmas tree. This year has literally flown by! 

Prize: 2 Free Digi's for our lucky winner.

To create my A2 size card I used dp's from the MME Merry Christmas 6x6 paper pad, a tree die by Verve Stamps, Kaisercraft hot pink bling, a pink button, twine and ribbon. The sentiment is by Hot Off The Press and I used an EK Success border punch to create a fancy border which I outlined with a black Spica glitter pen. The cute image was colored with Wink of Stella glitter pens (light bulbs) and Copic markers for a bit of shading on the rabbit.


I'm entering this card in the following challenges:
Christmas Card Challenge - Anything Goes

Merry Monday Christmas Challenge #177 - Christmas Lights and Glitter
(colored string of lights with glitter pens)
As You Like It Challenge - Favorite Brights or Pastels
(I love brights and hot pink is my fave)
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes

We'd love to have you join us for this challenge! 

For more inspiration drop by the ABC Challenge blog to see the other DT creations and our guest designer's, Sarah Wills, super cute card. 

Also, there's a DT CALL going on until the end of November and you can learn more about it by clicking the link to the blog. 

Thanks for the visit, have a wonderful day.

Lisa xx

A Merry Christmas To You from WMS

I'm back today with a card that features a sentiment from Very Vintage Christmas by WMS. I love Claire's stamps and hope to spend more time in 2012 exploring all of the creative options her stamp sets give you.  This is such a bold sentiment that I decided to keep this card clean and simple (CAS) with little to no fuss. A secondary reason is that it is going to my mom and Alzheimer's patients are not allowed cards with objects that they (or other residents) could potentially swallow. I hope the pearls make it through the security check though as she is aware of what they are and why they are on the card but we'll see.

I stamped the image onto Choice Buttercream then fussy cut it out and popped it up on foam dots to create some dimension. A wonky rectangle was die cut from aqua cardstock and a Jolly by Golly dp brings in the color factor. Four bliss pearls and a red grosgrain ribbon add some spark and this is an easy card to mass produce, which I'll remember for next year. ;)

Have an awesome day and happy crafting!
~Lisa

Stamps: Very Vintage Christmas (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Antique Linen Distress Ink (T!m Holtz)
Paper: Jolly by Golly (Cosmo Cricket), aqua cs (Bazzill), Choice Buttercream (TE store); white cardstock from stash
Accessories: Wonky Rectangle Die (Spellbinders); bliss pearls (Kaisercraft); red grosgrain ribbon (Hobby Lobby)

Fa la la la la

I'm making a quick stop here to post another fun holiday card featuring the cutest cupcake ever, Cuppie. It's a busy shopping day for me so I'll make this short and sweet.

For today's card I used stamped images from Home Sweet Home by Taylored Expressions and dp's from Holly Jolly Christmas by Echo Park. I ran into a wonderful sale at Jo-Ann's a few weeks ago and picked up a Susan Winget Glad Tidings Toys & Presents Chip Box and pulled two glittered chip snowflakes out to use on this card. A Spellbinders Large Classic Inverted Scalloped Circles die in pink cardstock helps to frame out the main stamped image and Cuppie was stamped onto TE's Choice Snow White in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. A few Rouge Liquid Pearls by Ranger finish it off and I stamped the Fa la la la la in the upper right corner also in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Two hot pink brads complete the embellishments and Cuppie was colored with various Copic markers.

I'm off to start my day and I hope all of you have a wonderful day wherever you are! Thanks for stopping by and I always enjoy your sweet comments. ;)
~Lisa

Stamps: Home Sweet Home (TE)

Viva la Verve Week 1

Hi everyone, hope all of those in the US had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with their families. So glad to be back in my craft room and today I'd like to share my card for the monthly VLV Sketch Challenge going on over at SCS. My head is held low, in total shame, for waiting until now to make my 1st card for this challenge but this month has been a blur. I am going with the "better late than never" attitude and pressing on. Here's Amy's fun sketch for the first week of November.

As I was choosing paper for my card I came across this Jillibean Soup-Homemade 6 Bean dp that actually coordinates brilliantly with the snowflakes in the Bright Spirits set. I decided to stamp the two smaller circles using the snowflakes and colored the smaller one with Copics YG03 & YG21 while the larger circle was randomly stamped with the large snowflake image. Julee designed Santa's Helper (aka Rudy) with a snowflake on the hat which coordinates perfectly and I stamped the smaller snowflake in a matching shade, cut it out and glued it to my main stamped image panel. The ribbon looked lonely so I placed three green dew drops at the top and I should note that I used a Copic marker to color the rhinestones to match the outlined snowflakes. Love this little trick! 

This card is serving as one of my "thank-you" cards for Christmas gifts we'll receive from friends and family. Just in case you are wondering why Rudy's nose is pink that's because this is Mrs. Rudy. ;) I have more "thank-yous" to make so might use the remaining sketches to do that, we'll just have to see where the mojo leads me.

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

~Lisa

Stamps: Bright Spirits & Santa's Helper (Verve)

Paper: Homemade 6 Bean (Jillibean Soup), Maraschino & Parakeet cardstock (Bazzill Basics), Choice Buttercream (TE store)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black & Pear Tart

Accessories: Classic Scalloped Circles Lg. dies (Spellbinders); Fresh Mowed Grass Dew Drops (The Robin's Nest); Fruit Punch & Black Diamond Stickles, Rouge & Lettuce Liquid Pearls (Ranger); Copics; rhinestones (PS); ribbon (TE store)

Merry Christmas to You...a little early!



It is a gorgeous day here in west Tennessee but the bad weather is on the way unfortunately. My thoughts and prayers are with those in Oklahoma affected by the recent earthquakes and tornadoes. The weather is crazy and I hope it calms down for everyone.

Today's card is one I made using a sentiment & border from Merry Little Christmas by Just Rite Stampers. I love going through their gallery and checking out the inspiration you can find there. Once again I decided to CASE Kathy Jones, Wattle on SCS, and her cute little Christmas card which you can see here on her blog. While I was in the same card gallery I spotted one by Amy Sheffer I'd like to CASE using the exact stamp set in a different way. Such incredible talent on that design team!

Thanks for stopping by today, I really appreciate it! The community of crafters is a special one and I join my fellow crafters in expressing my deepest sympathy to the Renz family. Katie Renz died yesterday of Stage 4 Stomach Cancer and left behind a loving husband and three sons. All of them will be celebrating birthdays within the month so I thought it'd be nice to make birthday cards for them as some of Katie's friends have suggested. You can click here for more info if you'd like to send a card.

Have a wonderful day!
~Lisa

Stamps: Merry Little Christmas (Just Rite Stampers)
Ink: Memento's Rosebud, Celadon (Versa Color)
Paper: Jolly by Golly (Cosmo Cricket), cardstock
Accessories: Classic Scalloped Circles Lg. & Standard Circles Lg. (Spellbinders); clear rhinestones (PS); glitter snowflake brads (PS); MiniStitch Doodle Dot template (Crafter's Workshop)