Merry Houses with Poppystamps

How about one more holiday card idea?  It's not too late to create some handmade cards.  Especially with this idea that is so easy to mass produce but still creates unique cards.  

For the background, I used watercolor powder on watercolor paper.   To get this look, I started by brushing on just water with a wide brush.  Then I randomly sprayed the powders over the paper (just a tip, a little powder goes a long way).  If you love watercolors and are looking for a different look, definitely try the powders! 

The sentiment (Poppystamps Proper Merry Christmas die) was die cut into the background and inlaid back in with plain white paper.  The inlaid technique really makes the sentiment special:) 

The last step was to add the row of houses (Poppystamps Brevilla Houses die) with some foam tape.  I added one last touch with one of the windows backed with yellow.  That's mom up late wrapping the presents and baking goodies;)

Aloha!

 

Paper Smooches December Blog Hop

It's Pep Rally week and we are here today to share a sampling of the NEW Paper Smooches DECEMBER release with you!  TWO new stamps and TEN new dies will be available to purchase on November 27th at 8:00pm pacific time. Once our release goes live, you will find our new products HERE.  

To celebrate BLACK FRIDAY - we have a special sale for you.  At check out, type the code BFSALE15 in the coupon code box to receive 15% off your entire order.  The sale ends on Saturday, November 28th at 8:00pm PT.

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize!  The prize - a $25 gift code to choose what you like at the PS online store.

Here are the details:

• FOUR winners will be chosen at RANDOM from any of the design team blogs and the PS Blog to win the $25 prize.
• Just leave a comment on any of the design team blogs listed below or the PS blog for your chance to win!  (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify but it increases your changes)
• Deadline: You have until midnight PT on Sunday, November 29th to leave a comment. 
• Please check the Paper Smooches blog on Monday, November 30th to see if you are one of the FOUR lucky winners. 

To increase your chances of winning:

• Tell us that you Facebooked about our blog hop
• Tell us that you Tweeted about our hop
• Tell us that you posted on your blog about our blog hop

(which means that you have up to three extra chances to win on each blog)

Here's a list of all the hoppers in case you get sidetracked.  Kara Vrabel is filling in for Pamela Ho this month,  We hope Pamela is having a blast on her honeymoon!  :)  AND the amazing Jennifer Mc Guire is playing along with us today as well - yay!

Alice Wertz

Ashley Marcu
Emily Leiphart
Jennifer McGuire

JJ Bolton (you are here)

Kalyn Kepner
Kara Vrabel

Laura Bassen

Laurie Schmidlin

Michele Boyer
Savannah O' Gwynn

Teri Anderson

Now on to the cards!  I have a couple cards today using the new Birds dies.  These dies are the die version of the birds in the Natural Beauties stamp set.  And the 3 birds comes with a cute little branch. I love creating little scenes and these dies make it so easy.  

The branch is inlaid into the smaller cloud panel.  The bird is inlaid with the outline) and the whole thing was attached with some foam tape.  I added a couple leaves to the branch for some more color.  Isn't that little bird die adorable?

This next card uses all 3 of the bird dies.  This time I used the outline die cut as a reverse cut and backed it with a watercolored panel.  A fun and easy way to get a rainbow on your card.  For the eyes, I used a dot of Ranger enamel accents.  The sentiment is from the new set Delightful Greetings.  

Thanks for hopping with the Paper Smooches today!  The next stop on the hop is the fun and lovely Kalyn Kepner!  Have fun!

aloha,
jj

Serene Forest with Poppystamps

So how's everyone doing with their holiday cards?  Today I've got a serene forest scene card in black and white.  

For this card, I stacked 3 layers to create a 3D scene.  The deer layer was done by partially die cutting the deer and then finishing it off with the curved die in the Stitched Landscape set.  (I used the side of the die cut with just the straight line)

The two tree layers were done using a technique where you connect the die cuts end to end.  This is an easy trick to do with open-ended dies like the Stitched Evergreens die.  

On the base layer, I went with black misted with white ink.  I love the monochromatic look!  

I hope this card leaves you feeling peaceful and refreshed!  Have a great weekend!

 

Merry Season's Greetings & a Goodbye

I have a lot to say today, but let's talk cards first!  I added 2 more cards to my holiday stash today.  This first one is a shaker that I made with the Avery Elle set, Snow Much Fun, and the matching dies.  For this card I used a technique that I haven't done in a while that has 2 steps: 1) partial die cut for the stamped image and 2) die cut the aperture.  In my case, I partially die cut for the bear/bunny/sled image.  Then I used the oval die and cut the aperture.  The key is to put the cutting edge behind the partial cut edge.  This way the partial die cut stays intact and still attached to the panel. 

After I got my die cuts done, I stamped the image.  I needed a little help centering my stamp, so I used my handy Misti.  

Here's a little closeup where you can see that the stamped image is partial die cut but still attached to the panel.  I had forgotten how much fun this technique is!  I colored the stamp with some Copics (gave the sled a little woodgrain look).  The shaker itself is backed with a cloudy background and filled with styrofoam balls and hexagon glitter.  Seriously, so much fun!

My next card uses the Christmas Florals stamp set and the Sweet Scallops die set.  I just quickly stamped the flowers and foliage in a loose oval shape.  Then I layered 2 die cut pieces over the stamped base.  To get the right color match, I blended ink for the scalloped edge instead of using colored card stock.  

The font of the sentiment is so pretty.  It almost looks handwritten!  

Before I go, I have some news to share.  After more than 3 years and over 180 posts with them, I am stepping down from the Avery Elle design team.  This past year has gotten exponentially crazy with my new responsibilities at work and the boys in their junior year of high school and something had to give!  

The Avery Elle team has been like home to me and I will miss working with those wonderful ladies!  I want to say a special thanks to Jamie at Avery Elle!  It's been an absolute pleasure to know you and to work with you!  Thanks for taking a chance on me all those years ago:)  Much love!

Hugs,

jj

A Trio of Cards with Paper Smooches

Hello folks!  Are you all in the mood for some more holiday card ideas?  I've got a few Paper Smooches cards to drop today, and I've got two holiday and one "anytime" card.    This first one uses the fun Snowman 2 dies.  I love these outline dies because they make it so easy to make shaker cards!  

First I started with my background.  Since it's a shaker card, the background is all one layer.  I die cut a panel in two with the wavy Borders 2 die.  Then I blended ink on just the upper piece.  I used Ranger white watercolor paper which I really love because it's more white than other watercolor papers I've bought.   You really don't want a yellowy snowman;)

For the shaker part, I used my Fuse tool to create a little sealed pouch.  I really wanted my snowman shaker to be totally filled up, so I used the Snowman die to draw an outline on the pocket page as a guide for fusing.  If you want a looser fill, a simple rectangle would be fine.  The great thing about the Fuse tool is that it is very easy to follow any line, straight or curved, to get that custom shaker.  Here's a pic of me filling the partially fused shaker with my mini styrofoam ball filler.  {BTW, I got the styrofoam balls from the dollar store.  I *think* they are meant to be used to make snow globes.}

As you can see in this close up, I added a couple extra touches to my snowman by drawing in his arms with a marker and substituting paper eyes with black enamel dots.  This was such a fun card to make!  

Here's another holiday card for you!  I used the Evergreens dies.  This card shows you how versatile those outline dies can be when you just use the inside of the dies.  I layered multiple die cuts to create a larger tree.  Each tier is colored with watercolors and the whole thing was misted with white ink.   The background sky is just blended ink.  I really wanted to focus on the tree, so I created a frame with the oval reverse cut and the stub punched corners.  

This last card is not a holiday card, and made a quick colorful card using the Natural Beauties stamps and dies.  My goodness is this set ever cute!!!  I heat embossed the wreaths and then loosely colored each one with my watercolors (the Peerless watercolor papers if you're wondering).  

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you have a great weekend!  

Mahalo and Aloha,
jj

Polarity with Avery Elle

Hey y'all!  I'm stopping in with a quick winter card with cute little bears from the Avery Elle Polar Pals set.  I colored my bears with a bit of white pencil on a kraft paper panel I die cut with the Wonky Stitches die.  Aren't those little guys cute?



Thanks for stopping by today!    Have a good one!

Mahalo,

jj

Christmas Chalkboard Label with Avery Elle

Today I've got a Christmas card design that would be great for mass producing.  For this card, I used the Avery Elle Fa La La stamp set and the coordinating dies.  If you are looking for new sentiment set for the holidays, you can't go wrong with this set.  The fonts are so versatile and really go with almost any holiday image stamps you've got.  

For my card, I die cut a stitched label (using the You're Invited die) and did it up chalkboard style with some blended white ink.  The sentiment was stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with white detail powder.  I love how the vines wrap around the label.  For a little extra detail, I layered some striped paper over more "chalkboard" black.  

I used enamel dots for my card, but flat sequins would be a great alternative if you want to mail your cards.  

Thanks for stopping by today!    Have a good one!

Mahalo,

jj