iluvcats and scraps: December 2017

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Every Moment Matters - Even when Marcy has an Opinion

What better way to end the year than with a layout of a cat!

This is no ordinary cat either!

She's my Grand Kitty, Marcy, who I passionately love!

This wonderfully glorious photo of her was taken Christmas Eve Day Dec. 24, 2017.

She's telling me that I've entered her space just a bit too close - ha ha!
I did get 'slapped' once by her. Literally slapped - no claws; just paw. LOL!

She's a talker and definitely lets you know where she stands!

I respect this little doll. She loves me.....no matter what she says! HAHA!

***important note: because Marcy's nose is pale pink means that she's not upset.

If she was upset, her nose would turn a bright cherry pink! She's not fooling Gwamma at all!**

The paper I used is the new Remnants collection from Blue Fern Studios!

It's quite stunning and gorgeous!

I love the rusty browns with jet black & olive greens that match Marcy's hair color and eyes so perfectly.

Along with this stunning collection came new stamps!

Here are some close up photos to show you how gorgeous they are!

Large butterfly from the BFS Remnants Butterflies Stamp Set

Beaded Flower Vine from the BFS Remnants Butterflies Stamp Set

Also, I finally bought a new die set that I've been so anxious to own for quite some time!

Cheery Lynn Designs Doily Dies - Horizon French Flair Boutique.

I absolutely LOVE them!

The beaded flower vine is one of the new BFS Stamps for the Remnants collection that

I dressed up with amber colored rhinestones and on the larger die cut, I used black paper

from BFS Sanctuary collection and decorated it with copper nailheads.

(along with cat hair if you look closely - ha ha)

Blue Fern Studios started adding printed chipboard to their collections not that long ago
and I decided to get the one for the Remnants collection.
Here I placed a circle butterfly printed chipboard with some pink chrysanthemums
(pink to match Marcy's nose >^..^<).

Lastly, a few close up photos to show you the flower arrangements I made.

This one with the printed chipboard title from the Remnants collection is placed on one of Blue Fern Studio's Mixed Chains chipboard that I heat embossed in Stampendous! Fran-táge Shabby White Embossing Enamel.

I love the Fran-táge shabby EPs because of their metallic flecks.

I'm sure most of you remember 5 years ago when Prima came out with these wonderful wooden clocks!

Tucking in some natural reindeer moss sprayed with Lindy's Stamp Gang's Starburst colors

Saxifrage Olive Copper (olive green with copper highlights - unfortunately now a retired color)

and Cowabunga Copper worked perfectly with the color palette of my layout.

Thank you for stopping by!

I wish everyone a very Happy New Year in 2018!

Lisa : )

Products used:

Blue Fern Studios:

Main layout

Backside for Torn/Distressed & Accent Corner Pieces

Printed Chipboard - Title & butterfly circle

Butterflies Stamp Set for Remnants collection

Sanctuary-Birdsong Melody
Backside for large die cut

Chipboard - Mixed Chains

Cheery Lynn Designs

Doily Die Set - Horizon French Flair Boutique

Rose Leaf Strip

Stampendous!

Sample of Shabby White

Prima - Decorative Wood Clocks

Lindy's Stamp Gang - Starburst sprays - Saxifrage Olive Copper (retired color) & Cowabunga Copper

Michael's - Ashland Natural Reindeer Moss; Bargain Bin White Daisy flower with green beaded center
Ranger - Archival Ink

Mark Richard's - Copper Nailheads

Wild Orchid Crafts flowers

Pale Pink Chrysanthemums

Green Mix Sweetheart Blossoms

Earth Tone 25mm Cottage Roses

Earth Tone Hip Rosebuds

Sunday, December 10, 2017

2017 Old-World Santa Christmas Cards

It's that time of year again -

Sending out handmade Christmas cards!

In December 2016,

I was already envisioning an Old-World feel for my 2017 Christmas cards.

I drew a crude design (that’s me-unskillful in the drawing department)

of what I had in mind and by February had made most of the card embellishments –

NO, this is not a typo! LOL!

However, during the year I occasionally spent time
meticulously inking the tiny leaves of each poinsettia die.
For 16 cards that added up to 144 die cuts!

Using the gloriously gorgeous Maja Design (Sweden) paper collection Vintage Frost,
I created my Old-World Santa-Rudolph cards.

I also created another card with a simpler design using the same
gorgeous Maja Design papers from the Vintage Frost collection.

These are smaller than the other ones
because I decided to make TWO cards with one scrapbook page,
whereas the 'Santa-Rudolph' cards were ONE card per 12x12 scrapbook page!

I named these the "Santa Snowflake" cards.

Here are the two cards on display together.

Merry Christmas everyone!!
Lisa : )

for my process documentation & extra close up photos,

see this post "The Creation Process for My 2017 Christmas Cards"

The Creation Process for My 2017 Christmas Cards

~First is the Old-World Santa - Rudolph Card~

This is honestly how it all began….

In December 2016, I decided on an Old-World theme for my 2017 Christmas cards! I found an internet image of an Old-World Santa with very kind eyes that I absolutely loved!
Michael’s had their Christmas items on clearance and I hoped to find something rustic & 'natural' for my cards. Then, I couldn’t believe my eyes! Recollections wood tags!!!!!!!!!! OMG! I bought every pack they had left (reg $4 – for only 80 cents each)!

After a very successful Christmas clearance shopping spree, the online search for Christmas paper began. "Naturally" the colors should include reds, greens, browns & perhaps gold. All of that changed when I viewed Maja Design's Vintage Frost collection

with an absolutely gorgeous color palette!!!

Even more convincing was the page "14th of December"!!

I actually counted the number of Santas on the page and was able to determine the approximate size of each based on the number of them on this 12x12 paper!

I knew that they would fit wonderfully on the little wood rounds!!

So, out with the internet Santa image and in with these beautiful Maja Design Santas!!

Unbelievable how perfect this worked out!
Hummmmm…this was meant to be for sure!

Look at all of the Santas!

There are two Santas on this page and I chose the one with the plum & ivory suit.

With these colors, the definitive color palette of plum & cadet-blue was set!

I punched out each Santa with a 1-1/2” circle punch & inked the edges in Raisin color.

Then I adhered them to the wood pieces with Beacon 3-in-1 glue.

Rustic natural jute double bows were hand tied;

then hot glued to the Santa wood rounds.

Cheery Lynn's Wreath Strip die cuts were perfectly sized to place behind the
Santa wood rounds to look like the Christmas tree he is carrying!

A reindeer just had to be part of this design to add to the imagination.

I bought the adorable 1” sized Dusty Attic Mini Reindeer!

I simply inked them in Chestnut color.

I couldn’t resist adding a touch of Christmas Red Stickles to the nose tip of each : )

After all, Rudolph DOES guide Santa's sleigh!

Also in my never ending search for just the right embellishments,
I ‘studied’ poinsettia dies online.

**NOTE: Some poinsettia dies on the market have leaves shaped like holly leaves and NOT like a poinsettia, so be careful in your selection.**

I settled on Impression Obsession Small Poinsettia dies
because they were the correct leaf shape and also the perfect size for my cards!

These wonderful sharp dies are made in the USA.
Maja Design papers are very thick and these little dies cut them very easily!

The beautiful plum colored page named “3^rd of December” was used for the poinsettias.

The largest and smallest die cuts are plum.
The middle die is cut from the backside of the same page for coordinating contrast.

Each card contains 3 poinsettias so that means 9 die cuts per card.

Using a craft nib & Dark Brown chalk ink,
I outlined the edges of 144 die cuts for my 16 cards!

Here is the difference edge inking can make –

Inking gives outline & wonderful dimension.

After pinching each leaf in half, lightly misting with water

and then heat setting with a heating tool,
each die cut then retained its shape.
Each layer is glued to the next, alternating the leaves.

In the center of the top layer which is the smallest die cut,

small (4MM) brown beads are hot glued in place.

Yes you did the math correctly….144 beads needed to complete my 16 cards.

Using the bottom strip
(you know the brand & page name strip at the bottom of scrapbook pages?)
from the page named “16^th of December”,

I was able to make a nice holiday sentiment!

These are edge inked in Dark Brown chalk ink
and then given dimension with foam tape underneath.

The ivory color of the “19^th of December” page was perfect to use for the main card.
I inked the edges in Raisin color.

When folded, the light plum colored design on Side B makes a pretty inside for the card.

"Merry Christmas” is computer printed in a dark plum color using the Old English font.

My cards are 5” x 6-3/4” & fit perfectly in 5-1/4” x 7-1/4” greeting card envelopes.

A short back track for a moment -
I cut & distressed papers for the layered pieces on the front of the cards.

The first layer is 4-1/2” x 6” and the top layer is 4” x 5-1/2”.
The colors & printed designs in this collection are fabulous!

The top layer is splattered with white gesso to mimic snow.

A fan brush produced tiny spots, like very light snow.

Isn’t the printed design in this paper so stunning?!

Here’s the completed Christmas card I created.

~This is the Santa Snowflake Card ~

Next, I began making simpler cards using the same gorgeous
Vintage Frost collection by Maja Design.
I used one 12x12 scrapbook page to make TWO cards,
so these are a little bit smaller than the other ones.

I used a pretty Spellbinders D-lite die Medallion Seven that reminds me of a snowflake.

Using the leftover paper pieces from the Santa-Rudolph card (backside of page named 19th of December)
I cut a 3.5" x 3.5" square; distressed the edges; inked with Raisin pigment ink and
die cut the snowflake in the center before adhering it to the main card.
A circle punched Santa is placed in the center using foam tape for a little dimension.