PAPER GIRLS CHALLENGE #204 - Christmas in July

While some of you may be experiencing a heat wave, the gals over at the Paper Girls Challenge Blog is already thinking about Christmas! Christmas in July is this week's challenge. Grab those new papers that are coming out (like Authentique Paper's Magical Christmas!!) and those amazing stamps and dies, and create something that is Christmas-themed. Don't want to think ahead... Scrap those pictures from last Christmas that you haven't even looked at yet!

For this card, I started with the Mama Elephant Slimline Basic die set. I love slimline cards (if you've seen the past few projects, you'll totally understand my obsession!!), and this die set is fabulous for creating easy-peasy slimline cards.

I also used the NEW Diamond Press Believe in Magic #247188 stamp and die set. I colored all of the stamped images with my Chameleon markers, then backed it all with the wonderful NEW Authentique Paper A Magical Christmas (Four). Pin It

AUTHENTIQUE PAPER: Merry Christmas from All of Us at Authentique!

We just took Christmas photos with Santa, and I couldn't resist creating a layout to document the fun occasion. I started with papers from the Jingle Collection, added a few Silhouette Design Store cuts (#281468, #282335) with my Silhouette, and a little bit of ink and dimensional adhesive.

 The dimension created with the foldover cut file makes this really interesting. A little Spectrum Series paper behind the trees, and there are some great shadowing effects. The Santa stamp is from Diamond Press, and is colored with markers.

For my second project, I created a birthday card using both Jingle and the Spectrum Series for my lovely neighbor who has a Christmas birthday! The Dala horse for me always celebrates Christmas, as my family would put out our Dala horses around Christmastime. This uses a steel die (Neat & Tangled) and a small stamp (Lawn Fawn).

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PGCB - Challenge #166 - Santa and his elves

I loved today's challenge for the Paper Girls Challenge Blog, Santa & his elves. I love Christmas. Seriously love Christmas. I love the lights, the smells, and of course the chocolate. Santa epitomizes Christmas to me, and I just love all of the cuteness that his elves can bring.

Crazy enough, I didn't have any images of of elves! So I looked online at the Silhouette Online Store for a few cut files. I liked a lot of them, but these adorable print and cut "stamps" from the Silhouette Online Store (#111379, #111949, #111952) stood out to me. I just loved the baked good aesthetic.

I colored these with my Prismacolor colored pencils to look like all of the characters from the movie "Elf". The paper is the Jingle Collection from Authentique Paper, and the stamp is from this year's Holly Collection by Felicity Jane Christmas Collection.

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DIAMOND PRESS: Mix and Match Nestable Holiday Tag Dies

Hello! It's almost Christmas. Okay, it's 15 weeks until Christmas, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't start working on Christmas cards, right?!?! Today I'm sharing with you the wonderful Diamond Press Mix and Match Nestable Holiday Tag Dies. I loved these. I tried to make each of my examples really different to showcase all of the ways that you could easily incorporate the Diamond Press Mix and Match Nestable Holiday Tag Dies into your stash. There are SO many options. The greatest part... you can also mix and match these Tag Dies with the other sets that Diamond Press has previously released! This ability stretches your die collection even further.

Fa La La La La La (Llama)

 Diamond Press Mix and Match Nestable Holiday Tag Dies, Alpine Collection (Authentique), Fa La Llama (Neat & Tangled), Starry Night sequins (Neat & Tangled), ink, twine, cardstock, watercolors (Peerless)

Just For You!

  Diamond Press Mix and Match Nestable Holiday Tag Dies, Tidings Collection (Authentique), cardstock, ribbon, ink

 Snow What Fun

 Diamond Press Mix and Match Nestable Holiday Tag Dies, Solitude Collection (Authentique), doily (Doodlebug), ink

 Noel

 Diamond Press Mix and Match Nestable Holiday Tag Dies, Solitude Collection (Authentique), cardstock, ribbon, star picks (Petaloo)

 Happy Holly Days

  Diamond Press Mix and Match Nestable Holiday Tag Dies, Tidings Collection (Authentique), cardstock, ribbon, ink, holly and berries (Petaloo)

Merry Christmas

Diamond Press Mix and Match Nestable Holiday Tag Dies, Tidings Collection (Authentique), cardstock, ribbon, ink, wooden tree (ImageineCrafts)

With Love <3 b="">

Diamond Press Mix and Match Nestable Holiday Tag Dies, Vintage Christmas (Authentique), cardstock, ribbon, ink, holly & berries (Petaloo), star picks (Petaloo)

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AUTHENTIQUE PAPER: Christmas in July

For today's post, I have a trio of fun Christmas Tags using our Jingle Collection. It was easy to create some wonderfully colorful and fun tags with a few of the 12x12" papers, some stamps, and ribbon ends that I had in my stash. 

The first of the tags that I had was this fun cocoa flavored tag. I paired a sweet little cup of cocoa stamp set from my stash with the wonderful papers from Jingle Three.

The wonderful marshmallows were just too adorable. The adorable Santa image is from the NEW Jingle Elements, die cuts that are pre-punched out for you!

Tags are a great way to use up some of those smaller elements that are just lying around in your stash. In this case, the star has been hanging out in my stash for over a year. Use up those fun little details on tags!

I couldn't resist pairing this wonderful image from the Elements sheet on this tag. The adorable Santa just looked perfect against the marshmallows of Jingle Three.

The second of the trio of tags focused on the wonderfully, vintage Santa from the Jingle Eight cut-apart sheet. The doily behind the Santa was from the reverse of Jingle One. I loved the peek-a-book look of the patterned paper behind the main image.

Again for this tag, I used little scraps of ribbons to create the attachment bows. Don't be afraid of using just small ribbons. By using a tiny attatcher or stapler, you can secure even the smallest of ribbon scraps.

For the last tag, I pulled out one of my absolute favorite Christmas stamp and die sets, Light Parade by Brandi Kincaid. I just love this image of the little girl (there is also a boy). I colored her to mimic one of my own little girls, and paired a non-traditionally Christmas rainbow ribbon scrap with the fun patterns of Jingle Two.

I really loved the little Christmas tree snowglobes from the Jingle Two paper, and the sentiment from the Elements die cut page. The colored image works perfectly with all of the papers.

I hope this inspires you to start your Christmas tag collection going! I cannot wait to add these to my Christmas tag stash, for those extra-special presents!

Authentique Supplies Used: Jingle Collection (Jingle One, Jingle Two, Jingle Three, Jingle Eight, Jingle Elements, Jingle Collection Kit)

Other Supplies: tag dies, Tiny Attacher, ribbon scraps, inks for edging, Chameleon Markers, stamps (Light Parade by Brandi Kincaid for Ellen Hutson, Mug Hugs by Sunny Studio) 

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AUTHENTIQUE PAPER: A Colorful Christmas Pedestal Frame

When I created an Autumn version of today's project, I knew that I also wanted to create a Winter decor item as well. I imagined a snowy scene, filled with trees and snowflakes. I couldn't resist pairing the wonderful "snow" that I found earlier this year, with Authentique's Colorful Christmas.

 Today's project started with a lightly painted wooden base. I used some glitter mist from my stash, and added in some painting medium to soften the color. I then added in the trees. The two that were larger, I cut off the back of the tree, making the back of two of the trees flat. This was, they would fit into the frame once both pieces of glass were added back into the frame.

Once the trees were situated, I added in a piece of Colorful Christmas Seven.  This was a perfect backdrop for the trees in front. Before adding in the front glass piece, I glued in the bottom layer of snow. A few pieces were kept loose.

 Even the back of this is pretty! The stars from Colorful Christmas Seven are just beautiful.

 I then added strips of paper covering the front, sides and top of the frame. Gluing them with the Art Glitter Glue and burnishing really well will not only lock the top in place, but also give structure and detail to the frame.

 The tag was a tag from my stash, covered in a part of Colorful Christmas Eight, and a pair of Details stickers. The last touch for the topper of this frame was a beautiful bow.

Once the entire decor piece was put together, a couple of the Details stickers covered a smashed tree section, and added some great detail.

Another season, and another gorgeous home decor item. Wishing you a fantastic holiday season.

Supplies Used:
Authentique Collections: Colorful Christmas (Two, Six, Seven, Eight, Details Stickers)
Other Supplies: wood and glass pedestal frame (SPC Crafts), ribbon (May Arts), mini trees (Michaels), faux snow (Hobby Lobby), Art Glitter Glue, color mist (Heidi Swapp), twine and wooden tag (Maya Road) Pin It

AUTHENTIQUE PAPER: Remember December Mini Album

I would like to say that I always finish every project, but that is not always possible when the holidays are right around the corner. To make the completion of my Colorful Christmas December Mini Album a reality, I decided to prep a few things early to make it a little easier to create during the upcoming busy season.

To start, I grabbed a container to keep everything in. This is an Ikea basket, but others are just as fantastic. Then I just started grabbing things from my stash. I have had some of these items for years!

I pulled stamps, washi tape, alphas, ribbons, wood pieces, enamel dots, and other fun embellishments to add to my mini as I go.

 The Colorful Christmas 6x6 Bundle is perfectly sized for projects like this.

I then grabbed my foundation pages. I bought a few of these foundation pages from a sale awhile back. The days would have been wrong, so I printed new day names on sticker paper and cut them out with scissors. Once I create each page, I'll either hand write, or type using my manual typewriter.

 Having each of the patterned papers pre-cut will save time when I start creating next month.

All I need to add is a stamp pad and a few colored pencils. Any leftovers could easily be turned into a couple of Christmas cards.

I found this cute album on sale, and gussied it up with a little punched reindeer edge, and a journaling card.

 Adding a little faux stitching makes this more personalized.

 Because I know that the first part of the month will be hectic, I created a few Colorful Christmas foundation pages to start.

 I wanted something for the inside cover, so used my Silhouette (#111484) to cut a large tree, and added a Details sticker and an enamel star. The "Story" page will have some of my hopes for the Christmas season, possibly a wishlist of fun events.

 The next three pages are to be used with the foundation pages. Each will sit on the larger squared section, with the journaling or messages below them.

Hopefully this inspires you to gather all of your supplies just a tad bit early for some fun December Mini Album making. A little preparation now, will make the project easier to complete.

Authentique Supplies Used: Colorful Christmas Collection Kit, Colorful Christmas Details Stickers, Colorful Christmas 6x6 Bundle, Spectrum Green Thumb

Other Supplies Used: alphas (Thickers, chipboard and alpha stickers), various washi tapes, Twinery twine (Blossom, Cappuccino, Maraschino), ribbons, buttons, enamel dots & shapes, stamps (Lawn Fawn Milk & Cookies, Essentials by Ellen - Light Parade), mini album & inserts, Silhouette Online Store & Cameo

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Xyron's 30 Days of Holiday: Decorative Wrapped Frames

For thirty days, the Xyron Design Team is creating and sharing various tutorials focused on the holidays. Today, I am sharing how you can change up your current decor to be more festive with minimum cost. Make sure that you keep checking back on the Xyron Facebook page daily for more inspiration.

I have some amazing art, but not all of it is the right color for my Christmas decor. This is a take on the "present wrapped frames" that many people do around the holidays. I started by taking my framed picture, and tracing the edges in pencil onto some kraft wrapping paper that I have.

I then found the center of the rectangle, and lightly penciled in a triangle. This will become my "tree".

I then die cut various sizes of Christmas paper. For this project, all of my papers are from Authentique's Believe Collection. To maintain the tree idea, I used predominately green patterns.

I then used my Silhouette Cameo to cut a large sentiment, which I then ran through my Xyron 9" Creative Station.

I really wanted some sparkle on this project, so lightly adhered a few of the smaller circles to some scratch paper using my Xyron Mega Runner, by tapping the Mega Runner onto your circle instead of dragging it. This way, only a tiny bit of adhesive sticks to the backs of the circles. Then I used some Versamark Ink and Tim Holtz embossing powder in Super Fine Gold to create ornaments.

To finish off each of the circles, and the sentiment, I inked the edges using ImagineCrafts Inks (Bamboo Leaves, London Fog, Pistachio).

Once all of the pieces were inked, I ran all of the larger circles through my Xyron 9" Creative Station. 

Then, I started adding all of the circles, keeping them within the edges of the triangle I had drawn earlier.

To add more detail, I die cut some small red circles and ran those (and the embossed gold circles) through my Xyron 1.5" Sticker Maker.

Then I attached all of the small pieces, filling in the gaps with red buttons of various sizes.

Once the piece was complete, I wrapped the frame up as if it was a present, leaving the back open so I could hang it to the wall. Instead of using wrapping paper tape on the artwork, I used Xyron Double-Sided High Tack Tape so that the seams were hidden.

When the entire piece was wrapped, I used a Uni-ball Signo White pen to add some faux stitching around the edges.

Isn't this just a fun piece to have hanging?!?! I especially love the large sentiment.

Thank you for stopping by to see today's tutorial. Make sure that you check out all of the Xyron's Design Team member's blogs (links are to your right), and the Xyron Facebook page regularly this season to see all 30 Days of Holiday!

Supplies Used:

Xyron 9" Creative Station, Xyron 1.5" Sticker Maker, Xyron Mega Runner, Xyron Double-Sided High Tack Tape, Silhouette Cameo, Authentique Believe Collection, We R Memory Keepers Nesting Circles Die Set, Tim Holtz Embossing Powder (Super Fine Gold), ImagineCrafts Inks (Versamark, Bamboo Leaves, London Fog, Pistachio), random buttons, Uniball Signo white pen, kraft wrapping paper, framed picture from my living room

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