I have been having so much fun making New Zealand themed Christmas cards using a wide range of different products and I am so happy with how they turned out. My card today features the New Zealand native bird the Fantail or the Piwakwaka in Te Reo. This is a very cute little bird and we have a lot around where I live by native bush and they are almost impossible to photograph as they are always flitting around without stopping. You can find out more about the birds here. This is another stamp that I purchased from Montarga Rubber Stamps in Christchurch which I have coloured with Copic Markers. I thinks this card was my favourite as I just loved how all the colours came together.
Scroll past all the photos for a list of all the products I have used.
Products Used:
Heartfelt Creations Holiday Ornament Paper collection
Heartfelt Creations Luxe Gold Cardstock
Heartfelt Creations Decorative Circle Frame dies
Heartfelt Creations Christmas Lanterns Stamp and Die sets
Today I have another Kiwi Christmas card to share with you. This card is a little outside my comfort zone with ink blending and silhouette stamping but I was so pleased at how it turned out. Once again I have used a couple of Kiwiana stamps from Montarga Rubber Stamps shop but gave it my twist with die cutting a gorgeous frame for the silhouette image, trees with lights and of course a poinsettia flower to celebrate Christmas down under. Plus there is a cheeky kiwi peeking out from behind the Christmas tree with a wee present. I have used a mix of Heartfelt Creations, Honey Bee Stamps Lovely Layers and Amazing Paper Grace dies to complete my card – scroll past the full list of products I have used.
Products Used:
Heartfelt Creations Holiday Ornament Paper collection
Heartfelt Creations Luxe Gold Cardstock
Heartfelt Creations Deluxe Flower Shaping Paper
Heartfelt Creations Simply Classic Rectangle Frame die
Honey Bee Stamps: Lovely Layers – Trees Honey Cuts
Amazing Paper Grace Die of the Month – Pop up 3D Vignette Sleigh (poinsettias and leaves)
Amazing Paper Grace Silent Night Make a Scene dies
Christmas is less than two months away and I have some more Christmas card inspiration for you today. I was inspired by a couple of cards I saw on Instagram and thought I would mix the two ideas to make my own version using Amazing Paper Grace dies. So for my card I have mixed two Amazing Paper Grace interactive collections – Make a Scene and Pop Up 3D Vignettes to create a beautiful elegant slightly dimensional Christmas card embellished with some beautiful Christmas Roses or Hellebore flowers. I love the soft tones that I have used in this card with the muted ink blended background highlighting the white on white scene from the Amazing Paper Grace Silent Night Make a Scene Dies. The Amazing Paper Grace Grand Christmas Lattice Arch Dies were a perfect frame for the Make a Scene dies and also gave me some space for my flowers.
Dies were provided by Amazing Paper Grace for today’s creations.
My Project
For my card I have created a top folding base card measuring 5″ x 5 3/4″ out of white cardstock. I cut a piece of plain white card 5 3/8″ x 4 5/8″ adhered it to the front of the card. I die cut a plain frame and decorative frame out of white cardstock using the Amazing Paper Grace Grand Christmas Lattice Arch Dies. I ink blended one of the inside panels using Lemon Whip, Sky Blue and Summer Shower inks and added it to the front of the card using the previously cut frame as a guide. I then die cut three different height white ‘hills’ using the three different shaped landscape dies from the Amazing Paper Grace Silent Night Make a Scene dies. The width of these pieces was 3 3/8″ just enough to cover the sides of the coloured insert. I then added these to the bottom of the ink blended panel using foam squares in between each piece. I then adhered the decorative frame over the plain frame and added it to the font of the card using thicker foam strips.
To decorate the inside of the frame I have die cut the different houses and trees from the Amazing Paper Grace Silent Night Make a Scene Dies out of white cardstock and added them in between the layers using foam squares as need.
I die cut three Santa and reindeer dies out of white cardstock and stacked them together. I die cut a shaped strip out of acetate using the die from the Amazing Paper Grace Silent Night Dies and adhered the Santa and reindeer dies to it before added it to the frame as shown.
I die cut four Merry Christmas sentiments out of white cardstock using the die from the Amazing Paper Grace Silent Night Make a Scene dies. I stacked the four dies together and then adhered the sentiment at the base of the scene.
I die cut some foliage and holly leaves from the Amazing Paper Grace Holiday Labels Motifs Dies out of different colours of green cardstock and adhered them to the top left of the card on the frame. I handcrafted the flowers using the larger flower die from the Amazing Paper Grace Die of the Month – March 2020 Elegant Infinity using soft flower shaping paper and micro thread stamens. These were added over the foliage. To finish the flowers I added some green leaves using the leaf die from the Amazing Paper Grace Cinch and Go V Dies.
Amazing Paper Grace Products Used:
Grand Christmas Lattice Arch Dies
Silent Night Make A Scene Dies
Amazing Paper Grace Die of the Month – March 2020 Elegant Infinity (flowers)
Today I have another non-traditional New Zealand themed Christmas card featuring a Tui to share with you. The Tui is a bird native to New Zealand and it is very distinctive with very dark almost black feathers and a tuft of white features on it’s chin. We have a lot of Tuis where I live and one time I counted about 40 to 50 birds in a kowhai tree having a feeding frenzy but they can be noisy and at times drive me nuts!! You can find more information about the Tui here.
For my card I have combined Heartfelt Creations decorative dies and papers with Spellbinders, Honey Bee Stamps and Amazing Paper Grace dies to created this card. The full list of products I used is listed after the photos. I was very happy with how this card turned out as the colours worked perfectly together to coordinate with the purple and blue bird. I have also used Wink of Stella on the bird to add some sparkle and replicate the iridescent blue/purple feathers.
Products Used:
Heartfelt Creations Holiday Star Paper Collection
Heartfelt Creations Luxe Silver Cardstock
Heartfelt Creations Deluxe Flower Shaping Paper
Rajni Chawla’s Flower Shaping Paper
Heartfelt Creations Elaborate Oval Frame
Heartfelt Creations Starry Holiday Greetings Stamp and Die set – die cut the sentiment from the Holiday Star Paper Collection and another plain sentiment.
Rubber Stamps by Montarga 1999 Tui on a Flax Bush
Spellbinders Sealed Holly Sprigs Dies
Amazing Paper Grace Die of the Month – Pop up 3D Vignette Sleigh
I live in New Zealand where we have a warm Christmas with picnics at the beach or barbecues at home on Christmas days. I have done many many snow and ‘traditional’ Christmas cards over the years and while I have enjoyed making those cards it is nice to do a card that is more in keeping with our seasons here and to send to friends and family overseas. For my card today I have used just two Amazing Paper Grace dies – the Amazing Paper Grace Callista Rectangle Shadowbox Die and the Silent Night Make a Scene Die to create a stunning down under themed card using traditional Christmas colours.
There is a company here in New Zealand that does NZ Christmas themed (and other NZ themed stamps) and I finally made the plunge to get some of these stamps. I will have some more NZ themed Christmas cards coming in the next few weeks but I am starting with this card featuring poinsettias and a Santa preparing lunch on the barbecue.
Dies were provided by Amazing Paper Grace for today’s creations.
My Project
To make my card I have created a top folding 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ card out of white cardstock. I cut a piece of gold cardstock 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ and added it to the front of the card. I then cut a piece of green cardstock 4 1/8″ x 4 3/8″ and adhered it over the gold card. I then die cut the frame from the Amazing Paper Grace Callista Rectangle Shadowbox die out of gold cardstock and adhered it to the front of the green paper. I cut a piece light green paper 2 3/4″ x 4″ and adhered it to the centre of the frame.
I stamped the Santa and poinsettia images in Tuxedo Black ink on alcohol friendly paper and coloured them in with Copic markers. I fussy cut the poinsettias out and added one to the bottom left and one to the top right of he card. I trimmed the Santa image to fit inside the inner decorative frame from the Amazing Paper Grace Callista Rectangle Shadowbox Frame die and then adhered this to the front of the frame with foam tape.
To finish I die cut two sentiments from the Amazing Paper Grace Silent Night Make a Scene dies, stacked them together and adhered it to the base of the Santa as shown.
Amazing Paper Grace Dies Used:
Callista Rectangle Shadowbox Die
Silent Night Make a Scene Die
Other Products Used:
Heartfelt Creations Holiday Ornament Paper Collection
Yikes!!! Christmas is just around the corner!! I really don’t know where the time has gone but I am feeling very organised for my Christmas cards this year. My theme has been white, gold, pink and green and I have another Christmas card to share with you today to inspire you. I have used the beautiful Amazing Paper Grace February 2022 Die of the Month – Marvelous Medallion. I love how easy it is to get the gold shadows with this set. I have paired this die with the Amazing Paper Grace November 2020 Die of the Month – Pop Up 3D Vignette Sleigh poinsettias and the gorgeous birds from the Amazing Paper Grace Holly Frame Gala dies. The sentiment is from the Amazing Paper Grace Silent Night Make a Scene dies. I made a lot of flowers and birds at once so once I did my die cutting this card came together very quickly.
Dies were provided by Amazing Paper Grace for today’s creations.
My Project:
I made a top folding 5 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ card base out of white cardstock. I layered one gold card and two white layers to the front of the card. The top layer has been embossed with the Amazing Paper Grace Flourished Holly embossing folder.
I die cut the two medallions out of gold and white cardstock and layered the white top layer over the gold layer. These were added to the front of the card . I then die cut two banners out of white cardstock and stacked them together and adhered it across the centre of the medallions. I die cut two Merry Christmas sentiments from the Amazing Paper Grace Silent Night Make a Scene dies and stacked them together before adding them to the banner.
The poinsettias have beenI have handcrafted the green and pink poinsettias out of flower shaping paper using the poinsettia dies from the Amazing Paper Grace Die of the Month – November 2020- 3D Vignette Poinsettia Sleigh.and adhered them to the top right of the banner and bottom left of the banner over green leaves from the Amazing Paper Grace Die of the Month – November 2020- 3D Vignette Poinsettia Sleigh.
I made a pair of birds from the Amazing Paper Grace Holly Frame Gala dies out of gold and white cardstock and added a touch of pink to the bodies of the birds and then added them above the poinsettias.
To finish the card I have added some gold pearls around the flowers and sentiment.
Products Used:
Amazing Paper Grace Holly Frame Gala dies
Amazing Paper Grace February 2022 Die of the Month – Marvelous Medallion
Amazing Paper Grace November 2020 Die of the Month – Pop Up 3D Vignette Sleigh
Amazing Paper Grace November 2020 Die of the Month – Pop Up 3D Vignette Sleigh
Amazing Paper Grace Holly Flourish Embossing Folder
Today I have my final Christmas in July themed card. This time I have created a beautiful interactive card using the Amazing Paper Grace Christmas Cascade Collection by Becca Feeken from September 2020. I love making interactive cards and Becca has made it so easy with this collection. All the elements to make this card come with the Christmas Cascade Collection and I just added a frame from the Amazing Paper Grace Deco Bloom Dies for the kinetic element to sit in. I have also kept to my white, gold, pink and green theme for a very elegant card that I am sure will delight the recipient.
Dies were provided by Amazing Paper Grace for today’s creations.
My Project
For my project today I have created a 5″ x 7″ card base out of white cardstock. I die cut two outer frames using the three outer dies from the Amazing Paper Grace Deco Bloom Dies out of white cardstock and adhered them together. I then die cut a frame out of gold cardstock using the plain outer frame dies and adhered the decorative frame to the plain gold frame before adding the frame to the card front with foam tape. I used one of the leftover inner rectangles and embossed it using the Amazing Paper Grace Holly Flourish Embossing Folder and added this to the centre of the frame. I then used the dies from the Amazing Paper Grace Christmas Cascade Dies (you can find a video tutorial here on how to create the base: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XAL_CovQrE) out of white cardstock. I have then decorated the flaps with embellishments from the Amazing Paper Grace Holly Frame Gala Dies and Holiday Word Blocks Dies from the same collection, and the flowers and leaves are from the Amazing Paper Grace Die of the Month – November 2020- 3D Vignette Poinsettia Sleigh. To keep with my pink, gold, white and green theme I have blended some pink ink on the birds and on some spare white cardstock and then die cut the word blocks out again and inlaid the pink to gold words to highlight the words.
To finish I have added gold pearls to the centres of the flowers and the bird dies.
I have another Christmas card to share with you today that I have made for a challenge in a Facebook Group I belong to. The challenge was to use Susan’s Garden poinsettia flowers in a project. I have had the original Susan’s Garden Poinsettia dies from when Susan was with Sizzix and have never used them as I did not have all the right products to make them. Now this challenge has got me to make the poinsettia and yes I do have all the right tools and equipment now.
My project
I have made the base card using the instructions for the Triple Diamond Point Cards from YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3ESQqfhJSs&t=19s and decorated it with the new Heartfelt Creations Holiday Ornament paper collection and gold cardstock. One diamond point has a small decorative border from the Pink Fresh Studio Stitched Scallop Squares die.
I die cut the basket from the Susan’s Garden Gathering Basket dies out of Portabello cardstock and inked the basket with some brown inks to really show the texture of the basket. This was added to the bottom right of the card.
I have made the poinsettia, Bee Blossom flowers and leaves out of Susan’s Garden specialty papers which have been coloured with Copic markers. This paper is new to me and it was interesting to use but I am happy with the results. I have added Lemon Chiffon and Heart of Gold Prills to the stamens in the centre of the poinsettia and yellow pollen to the ends of the stamens in the Bee Blossom These were adhered to the basket and card as shown. I painted the poinsettia with clear gloss gel medium and finished with some clear Wink of Stella for a subtle shine. The holly and ivy sprays were die cut out of green cardstock. I painted the holly leaves with clear gloss gel medium and then added Red Berry Nuvo Drops to the berries and when dry I have added them around the flowers and leaves.
I have dyed some small styrofoam balls with green alcohol ink and adhered them over the the lighter green leaves and added some spots to them with a fine tip black marker.
To finish I have heat embossed in gold the sentiments from the Heartfelt Creations Christmas Holly Accents Cling stamp and die cut with the coordinating die. I then die cut another two plain dies and stacked the dies together with the embossed sentiment on top and adhered it to the centre diamond. I added some holly leaves and berries to the corner of this point.
I then added gold pearls to the front of the card.
For the inside of the card I have heat embossed the sentiment from the Starry Holiday Greetings in gold on white cardstock and die cut it with the coordinating die. This was adhered to the inside of the card.
Products Used:
Heartfelt Creations Christmas Holly Accents Cling Stamp and coordinating die
Heartfelt Creations Starr Holiday Greetings Cling Stamp and coordinating die
Spellbinders Gathering Basket Die
Sizzix Susan’s Garden Poinsettia Die
Spellbinders Sealed Holly Sprigs Die
Spellbinders Ferns and Ivy Dies
Spellbinders Bee Blossom Die
Pink Fresh Studio – Essentials Stitched Scallop Squares Die
This is a very sad post for me today as it is my final Design Team post for Heartfelt Creations. I have been on the Heartfelt Creations Design Team for over five years now and it has been such an amazing experience. I have learnt so much and worked with so many incredibly talented people from around the world and I am very grateful and humble that Heartfelt Creations believed in me and selected me to be part of the Heartfelt family. I have so many wonderful memories of my time with the Heartfelt Family and they will always be in my heart. Thank you Heartfelt Creations for all that you have done for crafters around the world. You have made the world a much better place with your hearts and caring souls. I would like to wish Linda, Willis, Emma-Lou, Richard, Ellen, Ben, Waneda, Kathy, Pam, Martha and all the Heartfelt family all the best for their new ‘seasons’ and wish them all good health and happiness in their new journeys. Kia kaha and ka kite anu.
Today’s project was created with products provided by Heartfelt Creations.
For instructions on how I have made this card please scroll past the photos.
Instructions:
Cut a piece of Deluxe Flower Shaping Paper 10 1/2” x 7 1/4”, score at 5 1/4” along the long side and fold. Die cut the shaped card using the outline die from the HCD2-7383 Simply Classic Rectangle Die set with one edge slightly over the fold to create the hinged shape card. Die cut a piece of green pattern paper using the outline die from the same die set and adhere to the front of the card. Die cut a frame using the outline die and the plain rectangle die out of pattern paper. Die cut the decorative die from the HCD1-7246 Fanci-fold Pocket & Accent Die out of gold cardstock and adhere behind the frame. Adhere the frame to the front of the card with foam tape. Die cut the decorative frame from gold cardstock using the No. 2 die from the HCD2-7383 Simply Classic Rectangle die set and adhere to the frame. Inlay the gold accents as shown.
Stamp the ornaments from the Colour the images from the HCPC-31030 Sparkling Holiday Ornaments Cling Stamp Set and the HCPC-31031 Noel Holiday Ornaments Cling Stamp Set in Tuxedo Black ink on alcohol marker friendly paper. Leave the stamps in on the stamp positioner and colour the images with alcohol markers and then stamp again with Versamark ink and heat emboss with gold embossing powder. Die cut with the coordinating dies, Add Wink of Stella to the ornaments and then add 3D Crystal Lacquer. Add Wink of Stella to the ornaments and then add 3D Crystal Lacquer. Die cut another set of plain dies and adhere the coloured images to the top and add the larger ornament set at the top of the card. Add smaller ornaments under the gold decorative die as shown.
Stamp the birdie images from the HCPC-31027 Festive Berry & Birdies Cling Stamp Set and the HCPC-31028 Christmas Holly Accents Cling Stamp Sets in Tuxedo Black ink on alcohol friendly paper. Colour with alcohol markers and die cut with the coordinating dies. Die cut another set of dies from Deluxe Flower Shaping Paper and adhere behind the coloured images. Add the birdie images over the large ornament decoration with foam squares as shown. Add a small birdie to the bottom left of the frame.
Stamp the sentiment from the HCPC-31026 Christmas Lantern Cling Stamp Set in Versamark ink on Deluxe Flower Shaping Paper and heat emboss with gold embossing powder. Die cut with the coordinating die and adhere the sentiment to the bottom left of the card inside the frame.
To finish add Crystal Clear glitter to the birdies with clear gloss gel medium with a paintbrush. Add gold gems around the sentiment.
Sometimes you need to make a very special card for a very special person and today I am sharing a spinner card made using two dies from the Amazing Paper Grace Christmas Flourishes collection by Becca Feeken – the Merry Flourish Dies and the Flourished Ornament slimline Dies combined with some old favourites. This card is a little fiddly and I had to take extra time to line up the layers but it is so worth it! And the Merry Flourish Dies lined up beautifully behind the circle aperture which was a happy accident but I was so thrilled at how this card turned out.
Dies were provided by Amazing Paper Grace for today’s creations.
My Project
I have created a base card of 5 1/2″ x 5 1/2″. I die cut the circle out of the front of the card using the Amazing Paper Grace Round Fluted Classics Dies. I then worked out the layers I wanted on the card front and used the circle to make a template for die cutting the circles from the layers. I die cut a gold decorative layer from the Amazing Paper Grace Round Fluted Classics Dies and layered them with white squares. I adhered two layers together at a time before die cutting the circles out so the sandwich was not too thick in my die cutting machine. The front white square was embossed using the Amazing Paper Grace Holly Flourish Embossing Folder after I had cut the circle out. Before adding the layers to the front of the card I die cut two ornaments out using gold and white cardstock from the Amazing Paper Grace Flourished Ornament slimline Dies and assembled them with the gold decorative accent on top of the white base. I added some heavy cotton (I used upholstery cotton) down the back of one ornament and fastened it securely with some double sided tape and glue and then adhered the other ornament to the back. I adhered the strings to the top of the circle and the bottom of the circle with double sided tape and then adhered the previously die cut layers to the front securing the strings to the card. To finish the front I die cut a circle frame using the Amazing Paper Grace Round Fluted Classics Dies and added it to the aperture. I also die cut another circle frame to place on the inside of the circle to create a neat edge.
To strengthen the card base I have added a gold layer and white later to the inside of the card. I then die cut the flourish die from the Amazing Paper Grace Flourished Ornament slimline Dies in gold cardstock and adhered it to the inside back lining up with the circular opening on the front of the card.
I die cut two sentiments from the Amazing Paper Grace Flourished Ornament slimline Dies – one in gold and one in white. I layered the white sentiment over the gold sentiment offsetting it slightly and added it to the bottom of circle on the front of the card.
I have handcrafted the green and pink poinsettias out of flower shaping paper using the poinsettia dies from the Amazing Paper Grace Cinch and Go Poinsettias and adhered them to the top right of the card over green leaves from the Amazing Paper Grace Die of the Month – November 2020- 3D Vignette Poinsettia Sleigh.
To finish my card I have added gold pearls to the centres of the flowers.
