Christmas cards and tags in a box

I was trying to think of a present for the Culinary Consultant's Sister for her birthday. I was thinking chocolates, or flowers, but it seemed a bit boring. Then I thought why not give her one of the boxes of cards I've made (here, here and here). But then I thought of something even better, why not make some Christmas cards instead. It's the time of year when everyone needs Christmas cards. And I thought why not add a few tags in there for good measure as well. 

I used this card from Michelle Last as inspiration for my cards. I stamped snowflakes from the Penny Black All is Calm set in white craft ink and added Perfect Pearls for a beautiful, subtle shine and colour. I also created two matching tags. I made a box using the instructions here from the same copper cardstock I used for matting on two of the snowflake cards.

I'm joining the Inspiration Journal challenge where the November challenge is Happy Holidays, the Christmas Stampin' All Year Long where the theme is Anything Goes and the Christmas Cards All Year Round where the Challenge is not to use any patterned paper.

Card: Stampin' Up Crumb cake, Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, Centura Pearl copper card

Stamps: Penny Black All is Calm, Papermania Urban Stamps 12 Days of Christmas Word Banner

Ink: Stampin' Up Whisper White craft ink, Tsukineko Versamark

Other: Perfect pearls, Papermania adhesive gems, gold ribbon from my stash

Be Grateful

I don't know if this applies to most crafters out there or just me, but most of my cards turn out a bit disappointing. It's just because I often have such a clear idea in my mind of what they are supposed to look like, and then they never do. But you have to learn to live with your limitations and not kick yourself too much about it. And then, from time to time, you do get a very surprising card that actually turns out much better than you expected. Maybe it's because I had very low expectations for this card, as I'm not a big fan of autumn colours. Or maybe because I don't usually like the fall themed cards with leaves. Or maybe because there is a lot of brown in this card, which I usually find a bit stuffy. But I have to admit I think it turned out rather nice. It's the distress inks, I love playing with them, and there is always some magic happening when they blend. That Tim Holtz is truly a genius, what more can I say. 

The basis of today's card is the colour challenge over at My Favourite Things, and I was very skeptical when I started as these colours just don't do it for me. But I thought I would go with them anyways, if for no other reason than learning new things and creating something I wouldn't have otherwise. Over at RetroSketches they are running a "pick your favourite" challenge, and I poured over the great sketches, having a really hard time deciding but ended up with sketch #49 from February last year. I was also inspired by this month's theme over at STAMPlorations which is Stamping & Embossing. I used emboss resist for my card. I'm also entering the card in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge where the theme is fall, Craft Hoarders Anonymous where the theme is Happy Fall Y'all and Shopping Our Stash where the theme is fall colours. My stash items were using leaves from stamp sets I already had, instead of buying new ones. Also, I think this is the first time I have ever used my Forest Moss Distress ink despite having it for ages. Thinking about it, I also have had that pad of Core'dinations card stock for at least a year, and although I have used up my favourite colours from it ages ago, it's great to find some use for the other colours as well.

For the background I stamped small leaves from the Lawn Fawn Critters from the Past set in Versamark and heat embossed using clear powder. I used Tim Holtz Distress inks Fired Brick, Forest Moss, Spiced Marmelade and Walnut Stain to ink the background. I love how the embossed images appear when you layer the ink onto the paper. I used Tim Holtz Distress Core'dinations cardstock for the green panel, and lightly distressed it with sandpaper and inked the edges in Walnut stain. I stamped the large leaves from the Hero Arts Layered Flowers set again in Versamark and heat embossed using clear powder and applied inks before fussy cutting them. Last, I stamped a part of a stamp from Penny Black Life's Messages in white ink onto the brown cardstock and added tow red adhesive gems.

Card: Craft UK kraft card, coloured 240 gsm kraft card in Chocolate Brown, Tim Holtz Distress Core'dinations Forest Moss, Hobbycraft 160 gsm cream card
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Critters from the Past, Penny Black Life's Messages, Hero Arts Layered Flowers
Ink: Tsukineko Versamark, Tim Holtz Disterss inks Fired Brick, Forest Moss, Spiced Marmelade, Walnut Stain, Stampin' Up Whisper White craft ink
Other: Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder clear, Papermania Adhesive Gems Capsule Red Hot