December Card Chain Challenge Reveal

 The challenge at Card Chain Challenge was a Tic-Tac-Tic-Tac-Toe challenge, meaning we're challenging ourselves with a 5 X 5 grid.

To challenge yourself and also make new friends across the world, check out the Card Chain Challenge blog.  I love receiving a hand-made card, so much better than a store-bought card.

It took me awhile to decide what to make, but I finally fell in love with this Winter house all done in glitter papers set onto a flocked vellum onto a matt red base.  I got two in one for both red and gold glitter papers.  I die-cut those cute birds and stamped and colored Santa Clause who is perfect for the doorway.  I used a fuzzy embossed vellum behind the windows.  I spent a lot of woman-hours die-cutting each single piece since I made 7 different houses (it took me several days), but I am soooo happy with these.  Making sure the different pieces stick is one little problem when working with glitter paper, but I'd do it again!

The birds are not part of the Winter house set, but they are perfect little birds to cheer up the house.

Supplies:
Poppy Stamps Winter House Pop Up Easel set can be found at Frantic Stamper

IO dies Birch Trees (little red birds from tree set) found at Frantic Stamper

Hero Arts Mr. and Mrs. Stamp and Cut found at Frantic Stamper

Glitter papers in my stash

Flocked Vellum from Stamping Up (last year's catalog) in windows

Copic markers used on Santa

Vagabond die cut machine

Hope your year has been GOOD, no, GREAT!

 

Lots of Christmas Cards for Family

 

Frantic Stamper is Die Cut Divas' Sponsor for the December Challenge of Winter/Christmas project with an optional twist to make a shaped Winter/Christmas Card.

You can find so many "must haves" at Frantic Stamper and I was looking for something that had a WOW factor and I think I found a couple of "must haves" and I know I found many wonderful "must haves".

These houses are going to family.  Since I cut everything from glitter cardstock, which is heavier than normal cardstock, so I was cutting for what I thought was forever, but was not.  For the results, I would gladly do this again with glitter cardstock.  The glitter is incredible and even if I say so myself, just beautiful.  Since my base cardstock was glossy, I used a stopper for each card, e.g. "ho-HO-ho!" on the blue cards.

Supplies:

Poppy Stamps Winter House Pop-up Easel Set at Frantic Stampers

IO dies - Birch Trees (small die-cut birds on houses - may be more than one set labeled Birch Trees)

Elizabeth Craft Designs various sentiments stamp sets

Glitter paper in stash

Vagabond die-cut machine

I'm entering the following challenges:

Christmas Kickstart Challenge # 57 anything Christmas

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #41 - anything Christmas goes

FOUR SEASONS CHALLENGE BLOG!  

Poppy Stamps Challenge - PSC#87 Happy Holly Days

Challenge your Life - Magical Christmas

End of Year Season's Greetings

Last Day of the year and Die Cut Divas is thanking Dies R Us for it's sponsorship. Be sure to check Die Cut Divas blog out here.


I have not used the Birch Trees dies very much at all, so it was time to put a scene together.  I liked the idea of a dark Water Blue or Sky Blue as a background for a forest of white birch trees. There are two layers of beach edges faking it as snow banks where I poked trees in  so that there are actually three layers of trees, a couple on the panel with the truck, several more under that panel and more under the layer against the blue card.  The truck is entirely made of a heavy shiny cardstock that I have no idea where I got it.  This is such a neat truck too.  I thought Red hub caps worked here too.

Close-up of truck and birch forest

Supplies:
Impression Obsession Birch Trees at Dies R Us
Impression Obsession Class Truck at Dies R Us
Elizabeth Craft Designs Beach Edges - yes used them for the snow
Copic marker for the birds R27 & R29
Black shiny paper for the truck
Nuvo Crystal Drop Red Berry on the hubcaps
Elizabeth Craft Designs Stickers (Season's Greetings)
Vagabond die cut machine

Wheat is turning from Green to Brown

Recycle - July's mantra.  What can I recycle?  The famous TISSUE BOX.  There are many tissue boxes tempting you on the shelves to buy them.  I check the price and then the color, finally the design.  My co-workers save boxes for me too.  I am now floating in boxes, some high caliber designs and colors and then some on the decidingly DRAB end.  This tissue box was beautiful.

To go on, I framed the tissue box with Garden Patch to see what it looked like and loved it.  Adding the wheat in the same green tones enhanced the whole.  I added a message to encourage a friend..

This is also my example card for July at Die Cut Divas..  In July, I hope for green as I live in dry California.  This is my dream vision of July.  

Elizabeth Craft Designs Garden Patch

IO Dies Wheat

Sizzix 658696 Framelits & Stamps

Hero Arts My Words CL695

Tissue Box

Close-up of the card 

Message is "make life better:

Leaving you on a dreamy note.

Land of Sunshine

I had just finished this card when I checked my emails and saw that a2z Scrapbooking was having a design team call.  YEAH!

Until fairly recently, I had no idea a2z Scrapbooking sold Hero Arts stamps.  When I visited a couple of Hero Arts enthusiasts' blogs, I wondered what this a2z Scrapbooking was all about.  I thought the name was catchy..  When I visited the website I was "in love" of course.

My oldest Hero Arts stamp is from 1995 and my latest is from last week.  Yes, I do indulge and encourage others to get personal and confidential with Hero Arts products.  A stamp or ink is not far away from my hand.

You can find me on Facebook and Pinterest as Arlene Pagent McClung and definitely part of the first group of people to hang out at the Flickr Hero Arts group as Clarian's Hawk * Arlene.  I do most of the communication with the Die Cut Divas' sponsors from initial contact to followups and re-bookings.  I am grateful for the Design team in helping with sponsors and keeping up to date on their postings.  What's even better is that I also get to create and have fun too.

I would definitely love to be an a2Z scrapbooking DT.  It would keep me more involved with creating and producing cards or projects made with some of my favorite stamps and products

I am giving this card to a friend at work who needs some sunshine in his life.  He commented to a fellow co-worker that he hoped his wife lived to see their granddaughter graduate high school in two years.  I think a little sunshine will help.

Close-up

Hero Arts clear stamp set "A Little" CL758
Hero Arts die cut that must not be in use anymore
Hero Arts inks Red Royal and Soft Cantaloupe
Impression Obsession dies "Birch Trees"
Vellum

Put more sunshine in your life and in someone else's life too.

Trucks and Trees

I never went up to the Sierras to cut a tree, but I know many people love to go and cut their own tree.  I thought this truck could bring home the tree.  Using a Christmas patterned note card makes it easy when it comes to a background.  I had such fun with this truck.  You can see my cards are not quite making themselves, but well on the way.

Hero Arts embellishment - tree on the left side

I used a Impression Obsession die Classic Truck from Dies R Us here.      

These were super fun to put together. 

I can see using this truck for those old fashioned cards.  

Elizabeth Crafts Designs Noel

Elizabeth Crafts Designs - Evergreen Pivot Card - tree 

Impression Obsession (IO) die  - truck

Xmas note cards bought at Hobby Lobby a couple years ago