Christmas Cards - Variations on a Theme #1

Hello everyone and welcome to my little  blog!!

A very special welcome to my new followers and a big thank you for joining me, I'm so pleased to have you come along on my creative journey. 

Well, it is December and another year has almost finished.  Where does the time go??  Is it just me, or does it really go by faster each year!  Getting scary!!

So, I'm back to share some more Christmas Cards.  Should have posted these a few days ago but better late than never!!  I don't have a huge amount of Christmas cards to make each year.  I really only make them for family and very close friends.  Everyone else gets the store bought kind.  Even so, it can get a bit hard to get them all done so, to make things easier on myself, I find a design or two that I like and then I just make variations on those designs (hence, the title on this post!!  LOL!!).

I have already shown the two designs I'm using this year in previous posts and here I am sharing two variations of one of those designs.

They are very similar as you can see, I simply use different papers and different elements.
The papers are mostly from Megs Garden's 'Tis Christmas Time' and 'A Musical Christmas' Mini paper packs,  although the base layer is from Kaisercraft.

This design has a wider back section so there is an extra piece on the side which is separate from, and yet still part of, the front view.  Means I can clutter up the front of it without having to worry where the heck I'm going to fit the greeting.  LOL!!

I gather a selection of flowers and also decide on which other embellies I want to use such as leaves, tickets, berries, etc.  All of these usually end up in a pile on my work bench ..

.. and then I simply pick out whatever I wish to use on the particular card I'm working on.

The insides of my card are pretty much the same.

So, that is card No. 1 and
here is No. 2

No lace on this one, just some strips of paper and I've used a half doily on the side.

The die cut pine boughs are the same, just cut from different paper.

Used some tickets again on this card but, used slightly different ones ..

.. and a different flower and bauble spray. 

Same greeting ..

.. and same inside.

Normally, I do use gesso quite a lot on my finished cards but here I've used a gritty texture paste and then, while it is still wet, I have sprinkled it with glitter.  It sparkles so prettily in real life.  Thank you again to Pamelia Johnson from whom I got this idea.  She has a great tutorial on the 'snowy' look HERE.

Well, there you are, two cards made practically the same, just with different colours and slightly different elements.

Thank you so much for stopping by and thank you so much to those of you who leave me such lovely comments.  I read them all and really appreciate them.  Enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.

Christmas Cards

Hello my beautiful visitors.  A very warm welcome to my blog, so nice to have you visit!

So, here I am, back again to share another Christmas card.  I have to give you fair warning, I will be sharing quite a few Christmas cards with you over the next week or so, I hope you won't get too bored.  (I'm really hoping you'll keep coming to visit regardless.  LOL!!)

This one is the very first one I made this year.  It was actually completed at the beginning of November!!!!  Shock!!!!  Horror!!!   Yes, I actually started making my Christmas cards  early this year.  Well, early for me anyway.  Some of you may remember that, last year, I started making them in mid December.  Talk about a rush!!  Anyway, got myself sorted this year and have made quite a few already .. Sweet!!!

The papers used are from Kaisercraft's Holy Night 12 x 12 Paper Pad.  I don't usually buy the 12 x 12 as the patterns, I feel, are usually too big for card making, but this one was ideal.  Traditional colours (which I love) and fairly basic designs.

Sprayed a bit of watered down acrylic paint on the base paper  (it actually is green although it doesn't look it here) and added a touch of texture with a stencil and some texture paste.

Layered some labels from another KC paper line and topped it with the lovely little word circle from 2Crafty Chipboard.  The chippie was coloured with Fired Brick Distress Ink and then covered in Glossy Accents.

Coloured a small piece of gauze with Distress Inks, my flowers with watered down acrylic paint and wrapped some twine around the top layer and finished it off with a couple of twine bows.

Decorated the inside with my usual strips of paper.  The chippy on the side (I have no idea what brand it is) was coloured with VersaColor stamp pads and then coated in Glossy Accents.

Can't believe it is less than a month till Christmas.  Where has this year gone??  Hope you are all staying on track with the preparations!!  We're actually going to our older son's house this year for Christmas and our oldest grandson is cooking the dinner!!  So looking forward to it, going to be awesome!!!

Thank you so  much for visiting and do enjoy the rest of your day.

Happy Christmas crafting!!
Take care and God Bless.

Christmas Cards for Megs Garden

Hello everyone and a very warm welcome to my blog.  So pleased you dropped in for a visit.

Christmas is nearly upon us again (where does the time go??)  so I am here to share some Christmas cards with you.
Megs Garden has some wonderful Christmas papers in the store which are perfect for any Christmas items you may wish to create.  There are Mini Paper Packs, Mini Papercrafters Packs, 12 x 12 Scrapbooking Papers, Collage Sheets, and so much more.  All of the papers are available in printed form but some also come as downloads, which means you could buy them, download them and start using them the same day!!  Awesome!!
These cards were created with Megs Garden's Mini Paper Packs.  These particular papers only come in the printed form but they are so gorgeous, I absolutely love them.

Card #1 made with 'A Musical Christmas'  Mini Paper Pack.

The paper I've used here is my fave from this pack .. love the stripes and the lush purple grapes in the corners .. stunning!!

The large bloom in the cluster and the small white flower are also from Megs Garden.  As is the lace.  All of the red flowers, and the lace as well were originally white.  I simply sprayed them with  some Dylusions Cherry Pie Ink Spray to change the colour.  It reacted differently on the lace but still came out quite pretty I think.

Added some Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paste through a stencil and, once it was dry, I used some diluted acrylic paint to enhance the cracks.

Cut the label shape from another sheet of paper from the pack and then edged it with gold embossing powder.  The '25' comes from a collection by Kaisercraft.  I used a circle punch to cut it out and then mounted it on some thick card for dimension.

The 'Merry Christmas' gold sticker came from my stash. 

 Decorated the inside with more of the same paper.

Once it was all assembled, I dabbed on some gesso in random places and then, while it was still wet, I sprinkled over it with glitter.  I also splattered the card with white ink to simulate snow.  We don't have a white Christmas where we live, but I just love the look.  On the Frilly & Funky web site there is a fabulous step by step for a snowy Christmas card by Pamellia Johnson. I didn't go as snowy as she does but I did use part of her technique.

Card #2 made with 'Tis Christmas Time' Mini Paper Pack.

Used my fave paper from this collection.  It has a gorgeous tartan pattern and I love the roses in the corner!!

Stenciled again on this card but this time I used Jo Sonja's Translucent Texture Paste.  I love that you can still faintly see the paper through it.

The leaf chippy is from 2Crafty Chipboard and the lace is from BoBunny.  Used another '25' circle as an embellie as well.

The flowers in this cluster are also available from Megs Garden.  They are from the Fantasy Flowers range and, once again, were originally white and sprayed with Dylusions Cherrie Pie to colour.

The word 'Noel' comes from a sheet in the 'A Musical Christmas' pack.  I simply cut out the letters and mounted them on card stock for extra dimension.

The inside decorated with the same paper as used on the front.  The quote is a cut-apart from Kaisercraft.

Added some 'snow' again on this card.  I did say I loved it didn't I??  LOL!!  I think I will be doing that on all of my Christmas cards this year.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my Christmas cards.  I urge you to go and take a look at the Megs Garden Christmas shop.  You will find so many wonderful items to use in all your Christmas crafting.  HERE is the link to the Christmas shop, and do take a look around the blog at all of the fabulous creations by my Team mates.  HERE is the link to the Blog.

Megs Garden products used

Papers
'Tis Christmas Time Mini Paper Pack
A Musical Christmas Mini Paper Pack
Flowers
Puffy Paper Flowers
Cherry Blossoms
Fantasy Blooms
Lace
3.5cm White

Thank you so much for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day.
Happy Christmas Crafting.
Take care and God Bless.
 0x0x  Marg

Christmas with Feeling Sketchy #133

Hi everyone!!  Welcome, and thank you for dropping by, so nice to have you visit.

I started making my Christmas cards for this year a few weeks ago.  Haven't made very many yet but am totally stoked that I actually managed to get them started this early.  Well, early for me anyway.  It's usually December before I even start thinking about them and to have actually started making them in November is amazing!!  I am so proud of myself!!  Anyways, I thought, seeing as I was making cards anyway, why not make one for a Challenge, and so the card I am about to share with you was made for the Feeling Sketchy Challenge # 133.
I saw the sketch thanks to Lizzy Crust at Crumbs of Creativity (love her work!!) and thought it would be perfect for one of my cards so ..

This is the sketch  ..

 .. and this is my interpretation.

I have used papers from Megs Garden's  'A Musical Christmas' Mini Paper Pack and turned the sketch upside down ('cos I could!!)  LOL!!

This large bloom was white originally.  I simply sprayed it with Dylusions Cherrie Pie Ink Spray.

I've had those gold 'Merry Christmas' stickers in my stash for years.  Found them again while I was cleaning up and they came in very handy!

The tickets to the North Pole are from an old Kaisercraft Sticker Sheet and the little bauble spray was pulled out of a Christmas decoration which was bought specifically for use on my cards!

Created a pocket for a Gift Voucher by fussy cutting one of the paper sheets.  The quote at the top is a cut apart from another Kaisercraft collection.

Created a bit of 'snow' on my card by adding some spots of gesso and then, while it was still wet, sprinkling it with some glitter.  You can't see it too well on these photos but it looks really pretty!!  Pamelia Johnson did a fabulous tutorial on the Frilly and Funkie site.  Her card is a lot snowier than mine but I did use some of her technique!!

So, another card done, and a Challenge entered!!
At the beginning of the year I had intended to enter at least one Challenge each month.  Well, that never happened so, I'm thinking, maybe next year!  Maybe!!  You never know!!

Thank you so much for visiting and here is the Link again for the Feeling Sketchy Challenge.  Why not have a go??  It's really fun and so easy to make a card following a sketch!

Thank you so much for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day!!
Happy Christmas Crafting!!
Take care and God Bless.

An Anniversary Card

Hello again everyone!!  A very warm welcome to my blog, so pleased you came for a visit and I hope you are all having a wonderful day!  I have some new followers as well.  A very warm welcome to you and thank you so much for joining me.

I am quite busy making my Christmas cards at the moment and really enjoying the process.  Will start showing them soon but not just yet.  Gotta keep you in suspense just a bit longer.  LOL!!

My oldest son and his beautiful wife celebrated their Anniversary a few days ago and so I am here to share the card I made for them. 

The papers used are from Prima's 6 x 6 Timeless Memories Paper Pad.  I  simply tore it at the top and bottom, rolled the edges and added a small piece of black lace behind the openings ..

.. then inserted my flower clusters along with some stamens and bits of twine.

Added some Prills, did a little doodling and splashed a bit of white gesso and black ink over the paper.

The flourish was cut with Die-namics Framing Flourishes die.  I actually cut two and glued them together for a bit more dimension.
I'm really enamored of this staggered style of card at the moment.  That extra bit at the side just makes it a little more unique!!  I think so anyway.

The inside edged with strips of  the same papers.

I really liked this colour combination .. will definitely have to use it again!!

Thank you so much for coming to visit. For my South Aussie peeps, hope you keep your cool over the next few days, it's going to be HOT!!!

Take care everyone and I hope you have a very enjoyable week.
God Bless.