Avery Elle Simply Tags: Christmas

Hey there! I'm back with two cards today for Avery Elle. My awesome friend Nina Yang, who is a product designer for Avery Elle asked me to try out her stamp set Simply Tags: Christmas with its coordinating die set. Of course I was more than happy to play with this wonderful set! 

 I know it's says Simply Tags Christmas, but I wanted to show that it could also be used for other things. So I made this Happy Birthday card. I just stamped two string lines going across the cardstock and sprinkled stars and dots around them. I love how festive it looks! 

Then for the sentiment, I made this cute star with the banner that runs across it. And it's so much fun to combine colors for the banner too!

For my next card, I made a Christmas one. I made my own background panel by heat embossing a snowflake several times on gray cardstock. Then I made my little star tag to attach to the middle. See how different it looks to suit the theme just by changing colors? 

I added little die cut leaves underneath just to make it more festive and colorful. How does it look? :) 

There's going to be a blog hop in November so make sure to check in then! :) Thanks for stopping by today. I'll see you all again soon! :)

My first try at party decorating.

Hi there! I wanted to share a few shots of the little party we had last weekend. I was so busy getting stuff ready and entertaining people that I forgot to take more pictures. Hopefully, this is enough. :)

I don't know if you can see them, but by the window I made a garland. I die cut circles from gold and aqua tissue paper wrapping and sewed them together. It's pretty easy to make. And it looks great as a backdrop for any party!

I only have a view of the appetizer and dessert table. The main dishes were on a bigger counter but didn't have a lot of decorations on it. I just wanted to show you the pieces that I made.

The party was actually a birthday celebration for three! For hubby, me and a friend of ours who are all October celebrants. We just decided to celebrate it all together. :) So I made a little Happy Birthday piece that I stamped and framed with a $1 Ikea frame.

 I also made little buffet cards for the food. I stamped the bigger circles in aqua and then gold embossed the smaller circles. I placed the cake on some of my photo props. lol. So glad I had them for this party. :)

There you go! Hopefully there will be more parties for me to decorate! :) I would love to do some baby showers! Or first birthdays! I'll be back with another post for today. Thanks for stopping by I'll see you again soon.

WPlus9 Special Feature: Fanciful Feathers Card Set

Hello there! The WPlus9 October Release went well! I hope you liked the sets and dies we previewed last week. Are you playing with your newly acquired stamp sets already? Well, here's an idea...how about making a card gift set with a coordinating DIY gift box? :) 

If you're making several of these, it's a good idea to plan ahead for something simple. Because anything too elaborate and very layered would be very hard to make in multiples. For my card set, I used my favorite set from the August/September Release, Fanciful Feathers.

I made flat cards and stamped the filled in feather image in Hero Arts Fresh Peach. Then I heat embossed the outlined image of the feather in gold embossing powder, slightly over the first image. Then I stamped the sentiment beside it. To finish it off, I rounded the edges with a corner rounder punch.

As for add-ons, it's a great idea to make feather stickers to seal the envelopes. I just used the coordinating dies for the stamps, then stamped and/or heat embossed the feathers on the die cuts. Then I ran them through my Xyron sticker maker and there you go! Matching stickers! :) If you'll notice, I also lined the inside of the card. I think that adds such great detail to the stationery set. For this, I used the A2 Envelope Liner Die to make my brown liners. I used a darker color so that the lighter cards would pop. :)

I also made a matching stationery box for my little card set. Here's the little tutorial on how to make it. It's absolutely easy! I'm using brightly colored cardstock so that you can see it better. 

1.  Start with a 10 x 6 cardstock. Round the edges for safety.

2.  Score at 4.75" and 5.25". Then fold at the score lines.

3. Then cut another piece of cardstock this time at 5.5" x 6.75".

4.  Score 0.5" from each of the four edges.

5. Then cut 0.5" on each lengthwise side to make flaps.

6.  Fold at the scored portions of the cardstock.

7.  Assemble your little box by using strong adhesive on the flaps you made and adhering it to the side/flaps of the tray. 

8. Finally, adhere it to the bottom of the cover/folder that you initially made. Remember to use a very good adhesive so that it doesn't fall apart. You can keep it plain and simple. Or you can add a design on the cover like I did with mine.

I added a little designed cover so that the person I'm giving this set to has an idea of what's in store for her. :) 

I tied my envelopes and cards together with twine and inserted the stickers underneath. This card box can hold upto 5 cards and envelopes. If you want to make something to hold more cards, just increase the width of your scored edges.

And there you go! An easy card set with a matching gift box and coordinating stickers. I hope you learned something new today. Thanks for stopping by! I'll see you again soon!

WPlus9 October Release - Group Post

 Hi there! You made it to the end of the WPlus9 October Release! I hope you enjoyed these past few days and picked up some inspiration along the way. Today is the group post, so make sure you go through all the  DT ladies' blogs. 

Let's start with my first card. So this is my second go-to color combination for Christmas. Gray, Kraft and White...and maybe a little sprinkle of silver along the way.

I combined a few stamps to make my card. I love that all the sets this month can be used together. You know how I always do that. For this one I used Heartfelt Holiday, Woodland Wreaths, Merry & Bright as well as Under the Mistletoe.

I die cut and stamped a lot of small elements from each set and then grouped it together. I've seen a few Christmas decorations just like it so I tried to make a mini version of it on my card.

For my second card, I wanted to show you that these sets could also be used to make Thanksgiving cards.

For this card I used Woodland Wreaths, my favorite from this release. 

 I cut a strip of orange ribbon and tied it around the wreath.

And that's all I have for you today! Do you have your wish lists ready?! :) For more inspiration, please head on over to the other DT ladies' blogs as well as the WPlus9 Blog.

Hannah Craner
Jean Martin
Jinny Newlin
Kerrianne Bowen
Sarah Martina Parker
Savitri Wilder

WPlus9 October Release Previews - 3

Hello! Welcome back to WPlus9 October Release Previews. It's Day 3, and Christmas preparations are in full swing over at WPlus9. Have you seen the gorgeous cards and tags of the other DT ladies?! Amazing! I myself am having a lot of fun with the October release!!! And I am ABSOLUTELY certain you are going to LOVE them!!!!

Today, we're introducing Stitched Holiday Icons, Pretty Poinsettias, and Strictly Sentiments 3. For my first project, I used Stitched Holiday Icons. It's a set of dies with, yes, you guessed it, Stitched Holiday Icons. lol. :) 

 These tags are soooo easy to make. It's wonderful if you're planning on making a LOT to send out with Christmas presents this year. 

For my second project, I used the combination of Pretty Poinsettias and Strictly Sentiments 3. If you love building images with stamping then you are going to love this. It just adds so much detail to the flowers and leaves! Gorgeous! Since you know my aversion to using red because of staining, I made pink Poinsettias. :) I can also imagine these babies in ice blue or gray! Not that there are Poinsettias like that...or are there? :)

 The sentiment for this card was made with Strictly Sentiments 3. It's a small sentiment set with a modern twist. And doesn't it look good in gold? :)

That's it for me today! Make sure you head on over to the WPlus9 blog for a chance to win a prize! As well as the other DT ladies for more inspiration. Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you enjoyed today's preview. I'll see you again on Saturday for the Group Post.

WPlus9 October 2013 Release Previews - Day 2

Hello again! Welcome back to Day 2 of the WPlus9 October Release Previews. You're in for more inspiration today! We're featuring: Heartfelt Holidays, Silver Bells, and Under the Mistletoe. 

For my first card, I used Under the Mistletoe die. You are going to absolutely LOVE this gem!!! I know I do! The die cuts are so beautiful and delicate. You just need to add a sentiment and that's it!

I just love the texture and dimension on this one.

For my second card, I used Silver Bells as well as my favorite die cut from Under the Mistletoe. I just die cut my bells and heat embossed them silver. Then I die cut the ribbon and stamped in the coordinating image.

 I added the die cuts to balance out the stamped leaf branches on the right side of the card. The sentiment, I heat embossed white so that it would pop out from the kraft cardstock.

For my last card I used Heartfelt Holidays. This is another set with a lot of "accessories" which I think you'll all love putting together! 

I finally used red here. lol. This is my other go-to Christmas color combination. 

And there you go! I'm so happy with my Christmas cards this year. And sooo glad to have started on them early this year. For more inspiration, please head on over to the other DT ladies' blogs'. Thanks for stopping by today! I'll see you again tomorrow!!!

WPlus9 October 2013 Release Previews - Day 1

Hi there! It's one of my favorite times of the month. Release Week! Welcome to WPlus9 October 2013 Release Previews!!! Today we're featuring Woodland Wreaths + Coordinating Dies and Merry & Bright + Coordinating Dies.

The Woodland Wreaths is one of my favorite stamp sets for this release. It is absolutely beautiful!!!! I used the coordinating die cut for the different wreaths in the set. This one is my favorite among them. Doesn't it look so delicate? Gorgeous! 

I don't like using the usual holiday colors. This is actually my go-to color combination for Christmas cards. I just hate using red. Not because of the color itself, but because it stains my stamps and it's soooo hard to remove. Then, when I want to use the same image on a much lighter color, I find that the red is still there and it blends in with the new lighter color that I want to use!!! And worse, it rubs off the red onto my other stamp pad!!! If there's a solution for this that I haven't heard about, please, please tell me.

 For my second card, I used Merry & Bright. And again I used my favorite image from Woodland Wreaths. You will find that Merry & Bright has a lot of "accessories" that you will absolutely enjoy. :)

This candle/wreath combo has sooo many layers. I had to use glue to make sure that the little pieces would not fall out when it's mailed. But it's absolutely fun to put together! There are so many combinations you can do, not to mention colors you can use! I am totally going to enjoy making my Christmas cards this year! :)

There you go! I hope you enjoyed today's preview. Please come back tomorrow for more. And make sure to head on over to the other DT ladies blogs' for more inspiration. Thanks for stopping by today! I'll see you again tomorrow!