The Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas - March 2021 Edition

 

Hello everyone and welcome to the March 2021 Edition of the Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas!  It's the 25th of the month and time for the Crafty Elves...me, Debra (Meticulosity), and Lisa (Life of a BZscrapper), to show you our 4 amazing Christmas/Holiday cards for the month.  My cards are super simple to make and they can all be made in less than 15 minutes.

Here is a video that also shows a quick look at the 4 cards because a photo is not always as good as a video.

Card No. 1

I found this stamp set - Sketches Scrollwork Christmas from Inkadinkado - in my stash and realized how simple, but classy, a card can be made with it.   

• I made a top-folding A2 card base of red cardstock.
• I die cut two pieces of white cardstock using a stitched rectangle die.  One I adhered inside the card.
• On the other, I stamped the sentiment and then the holly/berries wreath images.
• I colored them in using only Rambunctious Red and Key Lime BIC Intensity Ultra Fine Tip markers. 
• Then I adhered some red and green Stickles to the berries and holly leaves. 
• Lastly, I adhered some super small crystals on each of the letters.
  
  

 

Card No. 2

For this card, I used Love Bug Christmas from Unity Stamp Co.  Who doesn't love a VW bug??

• I made a top-folding A2 card base of white cardstock.
• I stamped the image from Love Bug Christmas in the center of the card and the sentiment "Oh, Christmas Tree" under it.
• Then I colored in the image.  I started with green for the tree and wreath and red for the bow.  Then I went to yellow for the car so it would stand out from the green and red.  
• I added a dab of glue where the snowflakes are and then I adhered Polar White Flower Soft so it would look like snow.  I set it aside to dry.
• Lastly, once it dried, I added Glossy Accents to the headlights and front glass of the car.
  
  

 

Card No. 3

For this card I used a die to make a stencil so that I could use embossing paste.  Did you get that?  LOL

• I made a top-folding A2 card base of white cardstock.  
• I cut another piece of white cardstock and die cut the Dazzling Snowflake from Memory Box.  This die is OLD and from my stash but you can use almost any snowflake die to make this card. 
• I mixed some light blue glitter with modeling paste and adhered it through the "stencil" to the card front.  I admit, I think it needs more glitter and I may need to remake this card.  
• Once dry, I typed up the words "Happy Holidays" on my computer, cut them out and adhered them using some pop dots. 

Card No. 4

For this card, I used another adorable set from Unity Stamp Co. called Classic Christmas.  It's pretty much made the same way as Card No. 2 but I was looking for simple this month.  

• I made a top-folding A2 card base of white cardstock.
• I stamped the image from Classic Christmas in the center of the card and the sentiment "Sending Christmas Joy And Cheer" under it.
• Then I colored in the images using mainly red, gree, blue and a gold{ish} yellow.   
  
• I added a dab of glue where the snowflakes are and adhered Polar White Flower Soft so it would look like snow.  I set it aside to dry.
• Lastly, once it dried, I added little colored crystals to the tree to look like ornaments.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed these 4 ideas for March.  I had a lot of fun making them and I hope they give you inspiration to make some holiday cards too.  

Please remember to check out the other Crafty Elves to see what ideas they have come up with for this month.  Links to their blogs and IG pages are below.

Debra's Blog - Meticulosity

Debra's IG - djdavison814

Lisa's Blog - Life of a BZscrapper

Lisa's IG - bzscrapper

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today.  Let me know if you have a favorite card this month.  Until next time - 

Hugs from Brasil!

~Michael

Easter Cards With the Anthony's Paper Craft Design Team

Hello everyone.  The Design Team for Anthony's Paper Craft Design Team went with an Easter this month for our group post.  Anthony's website has been completely redone and he is now selling more than just his stamps online.  You can now get papers, glues, embellishments, pens, markers, cardstock and a ton of other things. 

Now, on to my card for the month. Links to the other Design Team Members' cards are at the end of this post.

To make my card I needed Easter(ish) papers, of which I had none.  So I looked through my stash and came across the It's Your Birthday - Girl paper pad from Echo Park.  Several of the designs in this pad are perfect for Easter.  

I made a top-folding A2 card base to which I adhered the dark pink paper to the card front.  Then I used a stitched rectangle die to cut a piece of the plaid design, which I then adhered to the card front.

I cut a piece of white cardstock, 1.75" x 5.25", and stamped the various eggs from Easter Set 2 using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink.  I layered it on the same paper from the card front, leaving a small border, and then I colored the eggs using Sharpie markers. 

I adhered the strip with the colored eggs to the card front on the right side. Then I stamped "Happy Easter", from Easter Set 1, on the card front on the left side. 

Lastly, I added various Stickles from Ranger to the eggs to give some shimmer and shine.  

Here are the cards made by the other Design Team Members.  Chris and Pam made Easter cards and Misty made a sympathy card using the beautiful tulips stamp, which you can totally transform into an Ester card by using an Easter sentiment.  Links to each card are under each photo if you want to go check out the posts (which I hope you will).

Christopher Crafts

Pam - Mustang Creations

Misty - The Jolly Fat Elf

Don't forget to check out the new Anthony's Paper Craft website.  I'd love to know what you think of my card and the other cards made by the team.  Leave a comment below and let me know.  Until next time - 

Hugs from Brasil!

~Michael

Spring Flowers - A Hug in a Mug

 

Hello everyone and welcome to my Anthony's Paper Craft Design Team project for March.  This month we have 2 themes - spring flowers and Easter.  For our individual weekly projects we used the "single flower" images from Anthony and, for our group post on the 15th, it's all about Easter!  For my individual project, I wanted to use this MDF coffee mug from my stash with some of the flowers popping out.  

Although this mug is from here, there are a lot of companies making chipboard or MDF pieces and there are also "coffee mug" dies out there if you wanted to recreate this idea.

I started with a card base 5.5" square to which I adhered a piece of decorative paper, cut 5.25" square, from the Color Wash pad by Pink Paislee (a gift from my friend Debra).  I also cut a piece of white cardstock that I adhered to the inside.   

Next, I stamped the Daylilies and Gladiolus images from Anthony's Paper Craft on white cardstock.  Then I used my Scan N Cut by Brother to cut the images out.  And, then I colored the images in using some old Stampin Up markers.  

Next...I have a coffee cup made out of MDF that I wanted to emboss.  So, I pressed a Versamark ink pad into the cup, layered Opaque Pastel Yellow Embossing Powder from WOW over it, removed the excess and heat set.  Then I did the same thing a 2nd time so that I could get that porcelain look to the cup.

So, here was my game plan - to have the flowers coming out of the cup.  But, since the MDF cup is thick, I need to stamp my sentiment BEFORE I adhere the cup and flowers down.  So I played around with the cup and the flowers, gauging where I was going to adhere everything, and then I went and stamped my sentiment, "Thanks a Bunch" from the Floral Background 2 set.  

I played around with the flowers until I got something I was happy with.  But, before adhering it all down, I felt the card front need "something".  So I grabbed some washi tapes from my stash and adhered some strips.  

Then I adhered the cup and the flowers down using wet glue behind the MDF and foam tape behind the flowers.  I also added some Stickles to give some shimmer.  

And here is the final card.

I'm happy with how this came out but I'm wondering if I should have gone with a different color for the mug.  I wanted a spring/pink/yellow feel to the card.  Well, next time!  I hope you enjoyed this quick card.  I love the idea of using the MDF or chipboard with the stamps.  

Let me know what you think of the card.  I'd love your feedback.  And please remember to check out the group post, right here, on the 15th...for some Easter card inspiration.  Until next time - 

Hugs from Brasil!

~Michael