Be of Good Cheer ATC

Hi crafters! Today I have a fun surprise project to share, a Santa Artist Trading Card.

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

DieCember® has just gotten started at Simon Says Stamp and today there is a big Cyber Monday surprise. You will get the exclusive Tim Holtz Be of Good Cheer set as a gift with any Tim Holtz $25 purchase (while supplies last). You don't need to add a code.

I decided to make an Artist Trading Card for this project, since I thought Santa would fit well on the space of an ATC (2.5x3.5 in). I die cut Santa from various left-over papers and from Simon Says Stamp velvet paper. 

Here you can see the cute exclusive Be of Good Cheer set. There is also a snowman head. I die cut the pieces for Santa as you can see here. The rim of the hat was die cut twice, once from collage paper and once from white velvet paper. I cut off the beard part from the velvet paper.

Coat the collage paper die cut with Moon Dust Stickles. I used this same technique on my DieCember® blog party tag yesterday.

Assemble and glue all the pieces.

I cut the ATC from watercolor paper which had already been colored with Distress Ink. Smear Distress Inks on a non-stick craft sheet and mist with water. Press the paper into the ink. Let the paper dry and then repeat. 

Mist with Distress Spritz Tumbled Glass through the Sparkle Fade stencil.

Die cut pine branches using Tim's Vault Festive Wreath and Festive Gatherings sets. I die cut them from silver kraft-stock, Simon Says Stamp silver glitter paper and Navy cardstock.

Layer the pine branches on the ATC and add some Clear Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Gems. The sentiments come from Tim's Christmas Sticker Book.

The Pawsitively Luxury Velvet paper adds a nice touch to the hat. 

This shadow die cut is so cleverly done. It was die cut from a small piece of paper where I had tried out some watercolor paint. Santa was adhered with foam tape.

Mixing different types of pine branch die cuts adds interest. 

The small stars also comes from the Be of Good Cheer set and were die cut from silver cardstock. I added gems to some of the centers. 

Thank you for visiting!

Happy Christmas crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

Sparkly Snowflake Tag

Hi crafters! I hope you have had a good weekend! It is December and although we had an unusually warm weekend, Christmas is in the air.

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

This week we have a Make it Sparkle theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. Since it is the first Monday of a new month, the team is also showcasing products by a specific company/designer and this week it is Paper Artsy. You can find Paper Artsy's versatile range of products here. You don't have to use their products to join in the challenge, but it is fun if you do. 

We also have a new guest designer and this week Anita Rao will be joining us. I hope you will step by her blog to see the art journal page that she has created for the challenge.

I am waiting for a parcel with new stamps by Paper Artsy and it might very well arrive tomorrow, but for this tag I used Paper Artsy's Infusions Colored Stains instead, which is one of my favorite products by them. You can do so many fun things with the Infusions and they are great for texture. 

I have a whole bunch of watercolor papers which have already been colored with Infusions. Mist the paper with water and add a tiny bit of Infusions Colored Stains, mist with more water to blend. You can dabb off the walnut crystals if you want a less distressed look. 

I used Simon Says Stamp EZ Strips Rectangles die, from the brand new DieCember® release to die cut the stripes from the papers. It cuts strips in different sizes.

Glue the stripes to a tag. I also die cut thin stripes from silver glitter cardstock. 

Die cut the snowflake from Tim Holtz Vault Winter Wishes from Simon Says Stamp Holographic paper and from Teal and White glitter paper. I ended up not using the silver version.

Stamp sentiments on some of the stripes.

I also glued Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Dazzling Gems to the tag, for even more sparkle.

Layer the three snowflakes together and add a sentiment in the center. The snowflake is very sparkly.

You can use any colors you want and it is easy to line all the stripes up since the die cutting makes sure they are the same width. 

Join us this week in our Make it Sparkle challenge! You have a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today! 

Happy Christmas crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

Simon Says Stamp DieCember®

Hello and welcome to my blog on this first day of December! I am happy to be a part of the big Simon Says Stamp DieCember® blog party, to celebrate the new release. 

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

This is the 12th annual DieCember® celebrations at Simon Says Stamp and the new release is filled with versatile and fun products. They are perfect for winter and Christmas crafting, but also for many other themes. You can find the whole release here. 

Customers who spend $100 or more on DieCember® release products will receive the exclusive Fancy Ornaments embossing folder and die set as a free gift. The offer is valid until 12/1 at 11:59 pm ET or while supplies last. 

I made a glittery, winter tag featuring two cheerful snowmen. The snowmen were die cut with the cute Simon Says Stamp Festive Snowman set from the DieCember® release. You can easily turn the design into a card instead or you could add a whole bunch of little snowmen.

Start by coating the background with gesso.

When dry, paint the sky with Distress Paint and mist with water.

Add a thick layer of texture paste as snow and sprinkle some Mica Flakes into the paste. Then sprinkle Rock Candy glitter to cover up the rest of the paste.

Splatter the sky with white paint. 

I made the snowman bodies from a piece of collage paper that I made for a tutorial on the Simon Says Stamp store blog. That time, the paper was turned into ghosts, this time it became a good textured background for the snowmen. 

I die cut the rest of the Festive Snowman pieces from Simon Says Stamp Pawsitively Luxury Velvet cardstock, Simon Says Stamp glitter cardstock and left-over pieces of inky or watercolored paper.

Apply Stickles Moon Dust to the bodies. Let dry.

Glue the snowmen together. Aren't they cute?

Die cut the Simon Says Stamp Snowflake Swirl from White Glitter Cardstock. I also die cut it from vellum, but ended up not using that piece.

Glue the Snowflake Swirl to the top of the tag. I cut sentiment from the DieCember® sentiment strips and added Bubblegum Pawsitively Dazzling Gems. 

The snowmen were adhered with foam tape. I also added Surf and Clear Dazzling Gems to them. 

The rim of the hat and the scarf are die cut from Simon Says Stamp Velvet paper, giving a warm and fuzzy feel to the snowman.

The buttons and eyes were die cut from Simon Says Stamp Black Glitter Cardstock. 

The text in the background adds texture and interest without overwhelming the design.

Texture paste combined with Mica Flakes and Rock Candy glitter is one of my favorite ways in which to create snow. The sentiment was stamped with the Simon Says Stamp Cozy Together stamp set.

Don't miss all the inspiration along the blog party or during the entire month. All the links are available at the Simon Says Stamp Store blog. Don't miss it!

There is also a special DieCember® gallery where you can find inspiration and add your own projects.

Thank you for visiting!

Happy Christmas crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.