Category Archives: Christmas

2023 Stamp & Swap projects

Last month we had our 8th annual NEPA (Northeast PA) Stamp & Swap and today I’m finally sharing the projects that I made for it. Be sure to read all the way to the end for a really cool project we did!

The first one I made was for our 6×6 Recipe Swap. I used Angie Blom’s Coolest Chicks Ever digital images, which are also available as physical stamps through Unity Stamp Co.

For the ATC swap, I wanted to create a shaped ATC. This retired MFT Milk Carton Die was the perfect size. I also used Lawn Fawn’s Cerealsly Awesome set & Dies, which was a cerealsly awesome gift from a friend! 🙂 How cute! I couldn’t decide what color to make the bowl, so I did several and let the participants choose.

Several weeks prior, I found the event theme in a sentiment set of scrabble tile letters at Hobby Lobby. They already had an adhesive backing, so I just formed them in the shape of a tree and added brads for the trunk & star. I embossed the background and added a frame and ribbon.

The Mini Slimline Swap was one of the most popular. I made mine a gatefold card using my favorite Christmas plaid paper from Hobby Lobby and SU! Snow Wonder Bundle. My base is 3 x 12, scored @ 3 and 9.

For my shoebox card, I used the retired Spellbinders Sharyn Sowell Winter Friends die set, Simon Says Stamp Pine Landscape embossing folder and die set, and SnSS Christmas Sentiments. The large bunny and sentiment circle are popped up with foam tape.

A new swap that I came up with for this year’s event was a Sketch & Card Front Swap. I used the SU! Penguin Place Bundle and coordinating papers on the card here. Below is my sketch that I started with. Participants swapped both of these together…the card front & it’s coordinating sketch.

The last project that I’m sharing is the favor that we made for everyone who attended the swap. We decided this year to make the tools to use on the MISTI or other stamping platforms, but to also PERSONALIZE them. Someone from our committee (I can’t remember who) named them our NEPA tool. 🙂

We purchased mini candles from the Dollar Tree and used the glass tops, making sure to pick out the ones with a large clear space in the center of the lid. My friend, Lou Ann, and I had several hours LOL trying to get our swap words in a circle with each name inside but when we were finished, it was so worth the effort (Don’t ask me how we did it lol)! They were then printed onto colored copy papers and punched out with a circle punch. Lou Ann’s husband cut wood circles for us to place on the bottom of the glass for stability, and then we covered the base with felt. So, there’s the glass candle lid (with a plastic covering on the bottom of it), then a wood circle which we painted white, and two layers of felt circles. Each attendee was asked their favorite colors without knowing what we were making.

We used several glues and adhesives with trial & error until we figured out the right combination! Lou Ann used her Xyron sticker maker with the punched circles, so they had adhesive on top. Then I carefully adhered them in place inside the lid using tweezers to get them inside. Our committee got together and working quickly, Mod Podge was applied inside the entire lid and chunky glitter was dumped inside. Next, a fine glitter was added to fill in the empty spaces. It’s hard to capture the glitter in the photos below! When dry, E6000 glue was used to adhere the wood circle to the candle lid. Again, they were left to sit as the glue dries. Aleene’s Felt and Foam Tacky Glue worked great to adhere two felt die cut circles to the base. We finished them off by adding some ribbons with Scor-Tape. Whew! It was a lot of work but so fun!

Thanks for reading all the way through! LOL. Have a great day!

quick & easy seasonal birds

Today I have a third card that I made with cute birds from the Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps December release. I still have one more to share later…they’re so fun! This card is CAS…the image is fussy cut and popped with foam tape. Then I made him festive for the holiday with a pop of color. The red scarf has Crystal Effects applied on it which made it shiny. (I can’t believe there’s only 12 days until Christmas!) This could also be used for a valentine or any other occasion.

Products used: Diagonal Plaid Background and Seasonal Birds 

Have a great day!

Christmas coffee

I have two more cards to share using new products from this month’s Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps release. Here I used Coffee Background, Travel Cup Dies, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Poinsettia Wishes Bundle, and Holly Jolly Bundle.

Don’t miss the sale!

For the first card, I reverse masked a circle, then stamped the coffee background and ink blended inside. The poinsettia flower and sentiment are popped up. It doesn’t show in the photo, but the white coffee lid shimmers.

I used the large scalloped rectangle die to create the base for my second card. The outer edge was masked off and I stamped/ink blended the inside again. I die cut the cup with some cute “sweater” paper. The sentiment was popped up on this card too.

Have a great day!

merry and bright pines

Hello! I have another card to share today using the Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps Pine Branch Layering Stencil Set. This time I paired it with a sentiment from Christmas Sentiments. The sentiment seemed fitting with the addition of the bright green cardstock. I also added some gems, plus silver and sour lemon splatters…I’m kinda addicted to the splatters lately! 😉

Have a great day!

pine branch

I’m plugging away at my Christmas cards and today I’m sharing one using new products from the Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps November release.

Products used: Pine Branch Layering Stencil Set, Stitched Rectangle Die Set, and Holiday Cheer Stamp & Die Bundle (sentiment).

Just like my card last week, I applied some Distress inks to a piece of watercolor paper for the background. Then I brushed green and brown inks over it with the pine branch stencils. It was cut out using the largest rectangle die which is double stitched with a scalloped edge. I layered it onto a green card base this time, but the scalloped rectangle is large enough to be used for a shaped card so watch for one coming soon! 🙂 My sentiment was popped up and I added a few sequins for sparkle.

Have a great Monday!

’tis the season trifold

Hello! Today I used a partial image of one of the SnSS Christmas Gnomes to make a Christmas trifold card.

Products used: Christmas Gnomes Stamp & Die Bundle and Circles Dies. 

This gnome is actually putting a star on top of his tree, but I cut the tree off and only used the top portion of the gnome. He was placed on a circle die-cut in which I added some shimmer splatters and a few dots of Stickles. Only the left side of the circle image and the sentiment are glued to the card. The right sides are hanging over the edges of the folds. I started with a 5 1/2 x 11 cardstock base and scored it at 1 1/4, 4, and 6 3/4. Then valley/mountain/valley fold and add various coordinating patterned paper layers. Very easy!

Have a great day!

snow boots

Today’s card features the SnSS Sweater Weather Stamp & Die Bundle, Sparkle Snowflakes Die Set and Circles Dies. My attention is always drawn to the cute sweater in this set but here I wanted to focus on the boots. This card is pretty self-explanatory. The boots are colored with Copics and popped with foam tape.

Have a great day!

snow family Christmas

Today I have another card with the new Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps Snow Family stamp set. I also used Sparkle Snowflakes Die Set and a sentiment from the Holiday Cheer Stamp & Die Bundle.

I have been wanting to do the Fractured Card technique and finally tried it out. I think there are several ways to make this and a google search will show them. I just “winged it” and placed my image panel on an angle over the plaid background paper. Then I added 1/4″ strips of black cardstock to each side. I think this is the easiest way to achieve this look.

Have a great weekend!

merry gnome

Hey! Did you see that Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps now has dies for the Christmas Gnomes stamp set? I used them here to make this simple side fold style Christmas card. These are some of the cutest gnomes out there. 🙂 They are fun to create with and stock up on your Christmas cards.

Products used: Christmas Gnomes Stamp & Die Bundle.

Have a great day!

warm thoughts and cozy wishes

For some reason I have been drawn to using the color yellow lately, and so that’s what I used to color this sweet sweater and hat from Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps. The knit background pairs so well with the set and I also pulled out the set of stitches stamps. 🙂

I added a second photo below because the first one doesn’t show the sparkly splatters. The card currently sits on my desk, and I love seeing the sparkle as I walk by!

Products used: Sweater Weather Stamp & Die Bundle, Sew Many Stitches, Snow Family, and Knit Background.

Have a great night!