Encore Set

Our very last Encore Set is one of my personal favourites - Christmas Cardinals. These sweet birds, with their bright red plumage, are always dressed and ready for the holidays. Kathy and Deanne have created a couple of new cards featuring this old favourite.

Christmas Cardinals

digital stamps

Available in Store

Selected, retired digital stamps at an incredibly low price for just 48 hours.

No rainchecks. No repeats.

Bauble Set

digital stamps

Available for a Short Time

2021 in Review

As the year draws to a close, I'd like to share twelve of my favourite cards from 2021 and hope that you'll also share a post of your favourite creations for the year by leaving a link in the comments section of this post.

JANUARY - Hello Sunshine

FEBRUARY - A Little Something

MARCH - Celebration Panels

APRIL - Tree Scapes

MAY - Funny Farm

JUNE - Little Cuties

JULY - Happy Couple

AUGUST - Warm and Woolly

SEPTEMBER - One Fine Day

OCTOBER - Christmas Blooms

NOVEMBER - Christmas Cheers

DECEMBER - Snow Time

Best wishes for a joyful Christmas,

from our home to yours!

 

Everything Papercraft - Applique

Paper appliqué is the process of applying pieces of paper onto a base piece to create patterns or to form an image. It’s very similar to paper piecing, although generally paper piecing is more like a jigsaw puzzle of a single image that is cut apart and then reformed, while appliqué uses repeating shapes to make an overall design. Paper crafters have borrowed the technique from the world of sewing and simply substituted paper for fabric.

Paper appliqué is easy to do, especially with all the dies, stencils and punches that are available on the market. You can make fabulous patterned backgrounds, card toppers, scrapbook and journal pages using the technique. As a shout-out to its sewing origins, you can even add real or faux stitching around the edges of each paper piece.

Simple paper appliqué using circles and faux stitching.

Sweet and Sparkly

Beautiful shades of pink, pretty ribbon bows and plenty of sparkly glitter makes for one fabulous Christmas card. Deanne has coloured and fussy cut the decorated candy cane from the new set to adorn the front of her holiday creation.

Deanne's Blog

Vintage Christmas

There's a definite vintage vibe to the beautiful card Kathy has made with one of the little snowmen from the Snow Time set of digital stamps. The ornate frame, heritage colours and mix of patterns give it an old world charm. And have a look at the way Kathy has brought the snowman's scarf through the frame. Fabulous!

Kathy's Blog

Shining Stars

Mixing mediums is a great way to layer colour and build depth in an image. It's also useful in situations where you want to add a light colour, such as yellow, over a very dark colour, like black. If I were using just one medium it would be almost impossible to see the yellow over such a dark background.

After printing the image, I coloured the entire background with a black alcohol marker, adding several layers to prevent obvious marker strokes. After that, I coloured the remainder of the image with alcohol markers and added some deeper shadows with a black pencil.

To make the yellow glow nice and vibrant, I first laid down some white pencil. The white pigment will provide a base for the yellow and help to lift it from the dark background. 

The yellow pencil layers well over the white. I also added some yellow highlights to the snowman's hat, carrot nose, scarf and belly to give the impression that the stars are "lighting" the scene.

Stamps:

Hot Tip Tuesday

Layering Tips

Papercrafters love to layer, whether it's on scrapbook layouts, journal pages or handmade cards. Some people are naturals when it comes to layering and can create beautiful projects quickly and easily, while others find it quite a struggle. Today I want to share some basic tips to help with your layering efforts.

• Create a cluster of objects to create a focal point.
• Coordinate the colours.
• Layer items from biggest (at the back) to smallest (at the front).
• Place items from the darkest to the lightest.
• Add some texture, such as torn edges, textiles or embossing.
• Work with groups of three.
• Mix large and small patterns.

All Hearts Come Home

Deanne has created this fabulous holiday card with lovely, bright colours and sparkly glitter... what more does a Christmas greeting need?

Deanne's Blog

Adding A Basecoat

A tutorial about adding a basecoat to your pencil-coloured images:

Adding A Basecoat Video Tutorial

Stamps:

Layer Upon Layer

Some images are just made for layering, like the new bouquet of candy canes from the Candy Canes set. I printed the image several times, fussy cut the elements and then built up the image for a three dimensional look.

Stamps:

A Bouquet of Candy

Kathy has coloured the candy cane bouquet from the new Candy Canes set to create this stunning card. The shadows and highlights she's added really give depth and dimension to the image, which really looks as though it's been fussy cut and popped up from the background. 

Head over to Kathy's blog to see more of her beautiful work.

Kathy's Blog

Tutorial - Gift Card Treat Box

I love a cute little treat box or a sweet gift card holder at this time of year, so combining both is twice the fun! You can fill the box with sweets or a small present and slip a gift card or some cash in the side pocket... perfect for all the teenagers in your life!

NOTE: I used a sheet of A4 card stock to create this project. If you cannot purchase card stock in A4 size where you live, simply cut a piece of 12"x12" card down to 111/2" x 81/4".

TEMPLATE

1. Place the card stock horizontally on your score board and score at 23/4", 71/4", 81/4", 10" and 11".

2. Turn the card stock so that it's now vertical on your score board, with the last score line you made in step one, closest to the top. See the photo below.

3. Score 13/4" from the left edge, starting at the top of the card stock and ending at the fourth score line. Repeat on the right hand side.

4. Place the card stock horizontally on your cutting mat and cut away sections from all four corners. The left hand corners are cut 13/4" from the top and bottom edge to the second score line. The right hand corners are cut 13/4" from the top and bottom edge to the first score line you come to. (NOTE: The cutting lines should line up with the score lines added in step 3).

5. Cut along the score lines as shown in the image below. You should now have three tabs at the top and three tabs at the bottom of your card stock. These pieces will form the top and bottom closures for your box.

6. Trim the two outer tabs on the top and bottom of the card stock to 1/2" tall.

7. Score the centre tabs, top and bottom, 3/4" from the edge of the card stock. Fold along all the score lines pressing firmly with a score tool.

8. If desired, round off the corners of each tab with a corner punch or small pair of scissors.

9. The first section of card stock will fold over to form the pocket for a gift card. As you can see in the photo below, it is much larger than a standard gift card, which will make it difficult to slide the card out of the pocket. To make it smaller, cut off a triangle of card stock from the top, left-hand corner, starting at the first score line and ending at the left side of the card stock.. It doesn't really matter how large the triangle is, but for reference, I came down about 2" from the top.

10. OPTIONAL. Cut a long, narrow window from the centre panel of the box and add a piece of acetate over the top. My window is 3/4" wide and 33/4" long.

11. To decorate, add patterned paper to the different sections of the box. Place one piece on the second panel, keeping in mind that when the pocket is glued shut you will only see the top part of the paper.

12. Flip the card stock over to decorate the outside of the box.

13. Decorate the front panel as desired, then add a strip of glue or double sided tape along the bottom and side edge to create a pocket. Secure it to the second panel.

14. Fold the last panel back and apply glue or double-sided tape to the entire length. Fold it over so that the folded edge lines up with the edge of the pocket you created in step 13. This will form the box.

15. Tuck in the tabs and close the top and bottom of the box. Add your gift card and fill with candy before giving it to someone special!

Stamps: