Friday, September 21, 2018

Spellbinders A Charming Christmas Collection | Guest Post Three

Hello everyone!
I am sharing my third and last guest post today for Spellbinders. I have three projects to share today featuring the ever elegant 'A Charming Christmas' collection by Amazing Paper Grace.

This collection is full of absolutely gorgeous and elegant dies, and I couldn't resist making some non traditional Christmas projects using them. These dies are infinitely versatile, and can be used for a wide variety of projects, and not just Christmas ones. I will be sharing one such example today.

Here's my first project for today! It's a gate-fold card:

This card measures well over 6 x 6 inches. I seldom create cards which are this large in size, but I wanted to create one this time just to use the beautiful Snowflake Toppers Etched dies. Becca always creates the most exquisite and detailed dies and I absolutely love them! The inspiration for creating this card most definitely came from this die set. :)

To create this card, I first started with a sheet of 12" X 12" Cream Textured Cardstock and cut the paper in half so that I'd have two pieces of 12" x 6'' cardstock. I scored and folded both of them in the middle, that is the 6 inch mark. I adhered both the pieces together in the centre creating two flaps, which I then cut into triangles.  Next, I created the insert for the card which was 5.5" x 6" and adhered the Snowflake Toppers Etched dies to the top of the insert.

I die cut the Snowflake Toppers Etched dies from gold foil cardstock. I have started using gold foil cardstock quite recently on my projects, and it is totally inspired by Becca's projects. I love the elegant touch it gives to any project!

I wanted my card to have a belly band which was removable. To create the band, I used a 13" inch strip of cream textured cardstock. (I know most cardstock sheets come only in 12" X 12"size, so what I did is, I attached another 1" strip to the 12" strip to make it 13" in total). I camouflaged the extra strip which was glued on the band by adhering a swirly die cut frame in the centre.

Here's a stand-alone picture of the band. I kept the embellishing very simple on this one: I die cut the outer and inner frame from the Sentimental Christmas Stamp and Die set from cream textured cardstock and gold foil cardstock respectively, and adhered them on the band. I then stamped my sentiment directly on the band using Black Dye ink. I also included a small floral cluster on the left side. The flowers are made with peach Foamiran sheets using the Cinch and Go Poinsettia Etched dies. The leaves are also from the same die set.

Here is a closer look of the flowers on my card. I have a little trick to share here - I used the same Cinch and Go Poinsettia die to create both my Foamiran flowers and leaves. This die can be used for creating leaves as well, and this is a great way to get more out of your dies from a single die set.

I wanted the card design to look balanced, so I adhered some Foamiran flowers directly on the card as well. I also added grey pollens to my flower centres, and some golden pollen bunches and peach micro rose buds as foliage on the card.

Another picture to show the floral arrangement. Flowers are my all time favourite (which some of my crafty friends might be knowing), and I can't stop adding them to each project of mine! :D

Here's an aerial shot of the card. This is a very dimensional card as you can see in the picture.
 
And here's a flat-lay picture of the card. I hope you liked it!

My next two projects for today are gift tags cum gift card holders. These are again my favourites to make, and I totally love the idea to having a die which can create a tag and gift card holder all at once. I created two very simple Christmas gift card holders:

Both the tags were super quick and fun to put together. For the first tag, I used the Charming Tag Pocket Etched dies for die cutting the base of the tag using White heavy weight cardstock.

Next, I die cut the pocket to add to the front of the tag again from White heavy weight cardstock. I didn't want the pocket to have a very plain look so I took one of the decorative insert dies, and die cut the pocket so that it would have an intricate design on the front.

I also die cut another decorative insert piece, and adhered it to the top half of the gift tag cum gift card holder.

To embellish my project, I added a red poinsettia flower and few holly leaves made using the Cinch and Go Poinsettia Etched dies and Holly Jolly Christmas Etched dies respectively. And this tag was done!

Here's how it looks with a gift card.


The next tag is even more simple in terms of the design. I die cut the tag base using the Charming Tag Pocket Etched dies. I followed the same steps I did for creating my previous tag. This time, I chose to die cut a different design of the decorative insert pocket.

I again added a red poinsettia flower, but this time, I die cut the holly leaves from gold foil cardstock. The poinsettia flower was made using the dies from the Cinch and Go Poinsettia Etched dies, while the holly leaves were die cut from the Holly Jolly Christmas Etched die set.

And here's how it looks with a gift card!

Supplies used:
S5-384 Charming Tag Pocket Etched Dies
SDS-164 Sentimental Christmas Stamp and Die Set
PE-100 Platinum 6 Die Cutting and Embossing Machine - 6" Platform
T-001 Tool' N One

Other supplies used : Neenah Solar White 110 LB cardstock, Cream Linen Textured 12 x 12 Cardstock, American Crafts Colored 12×12 cardstock, White 80 LBS Cardstock Sheets, Gold Foil Cardstock, White Fun Foam; Stick It Double Sided Adhesive Sheets; Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares, Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue, Double Sided Foam Tape, Glue Gun; Versafine Onyx Black Ink Pad, Foamiran Sheets (Peach), McGill Inc. Paper Blossoms Tool kit, Pollens, Micro Rose Buds, Ribbon.


Thank you so much, for taking out time and reading my post. If you liked my projects, please do leave me a comment below. I always love to hear what you think of my projects. :)

Have a nice day everyone!

Monday, September 17, 2018

Spellbinders A Charming Christmas Collection | Guest Post Two

Hello everyone!
I am back to share my second guest post over at the Spellbinders blog. This post is a part of a series featuring the A Charming Christmas collection by Amazing Paper Grace. You can check out my first post using this collection HERE. I have a total of four projects to share today so let's get started!

I wanted to create a non traditional Christmas card using this collection and here's what I came up with:

To create this card, I first started by die cutting my card panel using the largest die from the 5 X 7 Matting Basics A Card Creator Etched die set. Next, I die cut the second largest die from the same die set from gold foil cardstock and layered it on my white card panel. I repeated this process two more times, and die cut the panels from white cardstock and patterned paper respectively, and adhered them one on top of the other.

I wanted this card to have a very ornate look, and the dies from this collection helped me achieve that look effortlessly. I used the Holly Jolly Christmas Etched die set to die cut the rectangular frame from gold foil cardstock. I also die cut it one more time from white fun foam so that it would have some dimension.

Next, I die cut the main snowflake die from the Charming Snowflake Doily Etched die set from white cardstock. I die cut the die several times from white cardstock so that it would have a raised look. I also added a small circle die cut in the centre of the snowflake and stamped my sentiment in the centre of the circle.

For creating the flowers, I used the Cinch and Go Poinsettia die set. I die cut them from White Foamiran sheets and inked the centres using pink and blue dye inks. I also added some matching pollens to the centres. The leaves were die cut from Green Foamiran, and I added some filler flowers and a bow to the card which I made using White Satin Ribbon to complete my floral arrangement.

Here is a shot showing a closer look of the flowers.

I also added four corners to my card which were die cut from gold foil cardstock.

Here is a picture of the complete arrangement.


Next up, I have a cute lil' Pillow Box to share!

I made this pillow box by tracing the template for it on a sheet of 8" X 8'' patterned paper and then hand cutting it. To embellish my pillow box, I simply die cut a border from the Charming Christmas Words Etched die set from gold foil cardstock. I created a band using the die cut border to add to my pillow box.

I also die cut an ornament and reindeer using the Charming Christmas Bough Etched dies and Charming Round Tag Etched dies. I attached both these ornaments to my pillow box using red baker's twine.

Here's how the back side of the pillow box looks like.


And lastly, I have two festive tags to share using the Charming Round Tag Etched die set!

To create these tags, I started by die cutting the base for the tags using the Standard Circle SM Etched dies. For the tag on the left, I used the Charming Round Tag Etched die set to die cut the intricate rim. If you have seen this die, you would know that the tag die has two different designs on the top and bottom. I only wanted to use the design on the top, so I die cut it twice from gold foil cardstock so that I'd end up with a full intricate circle overlay. I finished it off by adding a sentiment banner in the centre of the tag.

My second tag is a shaker one, and I used the same technique to create this one as well. This time I used the other design from the tag die in the Charming Round Tag Etched die set. I die cut it twice so that I'd be left with this pattern.

I stamped a sentiment in the centre and added a peach poinsettia flower and some leaves made using the Cinch and Go Poinsettia die set, and my tag was done.

S5-384 Charming Tag Pocket Etched Dies
S6-001 5 X 7 Matting Basics A Card Creator Etched Dies
S6-151 Holly Jolly Christmas Etched Dies
PE-100 Platinum 6 Die Cutting and Embossing Machine - 6" Platform
T-001 Tool' N One

Other supplies used : Neenah Solar White 110 LB cardstock, Cream Linen Textured 12 x 12 Cardstock, Papericious Ethereal 12" X 12" Patterned Papers, American Crafts Colored 12×12 cardstock, White 80 LBS Cardstock Sheets, Gold Foil Cardstock, White Fun Foam; Stick It Double Sided Adhesive Sheets; Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares, Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue, Double Sided Foam Tape, Glue Gun; Winnie & Walter Merry & Bright with Evelin T Designs Stamp, Versafine Onyx Black Ink Pad, Foamiran Sheets (White, Olive Green, & Peach), McGill Inc. Paper Blossoms Tool kit, Pollens, Micro Rose Buds, Filler Flowers, Ribbon, Baker's Twine.


Thank you so much, for taking out time and reading my post. If you liked my projects, please do leave me a comment below. I always love to hear what you think of my projects. :)

Have a nice day everyone!

Friday, September 14, 2018

Spellbinders September 14th 2018 Blog Hop

Hello everyone,
I am so thrilled and honoured to be joining Spellbinders for their 14th September Blog Hop today. I am sharing a layered Christmas card with handmade flowers made using the exquisite dies from the A Charming Christmas Collection by Becca Feeken.

You should have arrived from the incredibly talented, Becca Feeken's blog. If not, I do have the full blog hop list at the end of the post. Today, we are featuring the following four collections: A Sweet Christmas by Sharyn Sowell, Zenspired Holidays by Joanne Fink, A Charming Christmas by Becca Feeken & Holiday Die D-Lites.

If you would like to see some more inspiration using the A Charming Christmas Collection, then you can check out my posts at the Spellbinders blog HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Here's my card using the A Charming Christmas collection:

My card measures 7" X 5" and is a top-folding one. To create this card, I started by die cutting the large elegant frame from the Holly Jolly Christmas Etched Die set from Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80 LBS cardstock. Next, I die cut a coordinating frame from the same collection using gold foil cardstock. I adhered the gold frame using foam tape so that it would have some dimension.

I wanted the sentiment to be the main focus of my card, hence I decided to use the 'Merry Christmas' Word die from the Holly Jolly Christmas Etched Die set for my card. I die cut it twice, once from bright red cardstock and the other from white fun foam. I adhered the red die-cut over the white fun foam and glued this piece to the center of my card.

I used the Cinch and Go Poinsettia die set to create the flower clusters on both sides of my card. I die cut the Poinsettias from White Foamiran and inked the centers using a pink Zig Clean Colour Brush Marker. I added some ink to the center of the die-cut and spread it around using my fingers. 

I also added a bunch of thread pollens to the flower centers in order to give them some dimension and structure. The leaves were die cut from Olive Foamiran using the same die I used for creating the flower.

At this point, I felt the card was still missing something, so I die cut few holly leaves using the tiny three-leaf holly cluster die included in the Holly Jolly Christmas Etched Die set from Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80 LBS cardstock. I coloured the berries and leaves using my Zig Clean Colour Brush Markers. 

If you see my card closely, you will notice that I have coloured some leaves and berries directly on the large white frame as well. I tried to strike a balance so that the card design would not get very cluttered

And here's a final look at my card for today. Hope you enjoyed seeing it!


Giveaways:
To celebrate this release, Spellbinders is giving away a $50 gift certificate to one lucky blog reader - selected from the comments across all of the blogs in the hop. Giveaway closes on Sunday, September 23rd at 11:59 pm EDT. The winner will be announced in the blog hop post the following Monday. Winner is responsible for shipping cost, duties and taxes.


Your next stop on the hop is the wonderful, Kittie Caracciolo!


Blog Hop Order:
                           Hussena Calcuttawala  (You are HERE!)



I would love to hear what you think of my card :) Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. Have a great day!

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Spellbinders A Charming Christmas Collection | Guest Post One

Hello everyone!
I am super stoked to be a guest blogger this month on the Spellbinders blog. I have two projects to share today featuring the ever elegant 'A Charming Christmas' collection by Amazing Paper Grace.

In my first post, I wanted to highlight the Cottage Box Etched die set. This is a really big die set with a beautiful gift box and numerous little add-on dies. I made these in two different styles: traditional Christmas colours and light spring colours. I will first showcase the one with traditional Christmas colours:

To create this box, I first started by die cutting the Cottage Box Etched die set from a sheet of 8.5" X 11" Neenah Classic Crest Solar White Cardstock in 110 LBS by running it through my Spellbinders Platinum 6" machine.

Once my box was cut, I die cut the little windows, scallop trims, and doors to add additional interest to the box. I die cut the little scallop trim die multiple times from bright red cardstock, to create the roofs for my box on both sides (front and back). The little windows were die cut from gold foil cardstock.

I also wanted to add some details to the sides of the gift box, so I die cut a swirl accent from gold foil cardstock, and window insert and rim from bright red and green cardstock. These dies are all part of the Cottage Box Etched die set.

No project is complete without flowers, right?! Atleast, I think so! :) I created a small cluster of these gorgeous poinsettias using the Cinch and Go Poinsettia Etched die set. I die cut them from white cardstock, while for the leaves, I chose a dark green cardstock. Once the flowers were die cut, I embossed them in the middle and added golden pollens in the centre to accentuate their look.

Here is another view of the side of the gift box.

I also wanted to add a little sentiment tag to my project, and the cute tag included in the Cottage Box Etched die set was perfect for my project! I die cut the tag from white cardstock, stamped my sentiment in black ink, and adhered the holly and berries from the Sentimental Christmas Stamp and Die Set. I die cut the berries from red cardstock, and for the leaves I used deep green cardstock. I attached this tag to my box using some red Baker's Twine.

And here's a look again at the gift box. I added a red door and golden knob to the front of my box to add some interest to my project. I love the Cottage Box Etched die set for the variety of dies included in it. One can create several different kinds of boxes using this set, and the results are simply amazing!


My next project is again a gift box, but this time in light, summery colours. I die cut the box entirely from patterned paper. Here's a look at my project:

To create this box, I first started by die cutting the Cottage Box Etched die set from a sheet of 12" X 12" patterned paper by running it through my Spellbinders Platinum 6" machine. I chose a very light blue checkered pattern for my box.

Once my box was die cut, I die cut the little windows and scallop trims to add interest to the box. I die cut the little scallop die multiple times from white cardstock to create the roof for my box. I also die cut it twice from spring green cardstock to add to the bottom of my box. These dies are all part of the same die set, the Cottage Box Etched die set.

On the front side of the box, I added few berries to the green scallop trim. I thought it added a nice little touch to my box! These berries are a part of the Sentimental Christmas Stamp and Die Set, and were cut from red cardstock.

You will notice that in both the boxes, I have kept the basic layout and design almost similar. This is because I wanted to show how a single die set could be used for various occasions.

The flowers on the top left corner were handmade using Cinch and Go Poinsettia Etched die set. I die cut them from dark pink cardstock, and added light pink pollens to the centre. I also added few green leaves to the flower cluster!

For the sides of the box, I used the intricate decorative insert from Charming Tag Pocket Etched Die set. This adds a certain 'wow' factor to the box, and makes it stand out even more! I did this for both sides of the box.

Here's how the back portion of the box looks!

I added a gift tag to the box, which was die cut from white cardstock. I stamped my sentiment on this tag, and adhered holly leaves and berries to the side of the tag. I used a tiny circle punch to punch out the berries from pink cardstock, while for the leaves, I die cut them from green cardstock using the Sentimental Christmas Stamp and Die Set. I attached this tag to my box using some red satin ribbon.

And here's a final look at the box. I hope you like my idea!

Supplies used:
S5-384 Charming Tag Pocket Etched Dies
S6-163 Cottage Box Etched Dies
SDS-164 Sentimental Christmas Stamp and Die Set
PE-100 Platinum 6 Die Cutting and Embossing Machine - 6" Platform
T-001 Tool' N One

Other supplies used : Neenah Solar White 110 LB cardstock, American Crafts Colored 12×12 cardstock, Papericious Ephemera 12" X 12" Patterned Paper, White 80 LBS Cardstock Sheets, Gold Foil Cardstock, White Fun Foam; Stick It Double Sided Adhesive Sheets; Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares, Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue, Double Sided Foam Tape; Versafine Onyx Black Ink Pad, Distress inks, McGill Inc. Paper Blossoms Tool kit, Pollens, Ribbon, Baker's Twine.


Thank you so much, for taking out time and reading my post. If you liked my projects, please do leave me a comment below. I always love to hear what you think of my projects. :)

Have a nice day everyone!