Santa

Tired Santa

| ullycatdesigns

This is a holiday card for a busy Santa. It features the Bam Box dies from Karen Burniston’s December 2022 release. It also uses previously released die sets of the Fireplace Pop-up die set, Fireplace Extras 1, Fireplace Extras 2,  Gnome and Santa, Slim Frames and Family Room die set.

Card Base:  The card base is an A7 size (5 x 7 inches) with a top fold. The base was what I glued decorative papers to as well as attaching the fireplace pop-up mechanism.

Bam Box:  The bam box is a rubber band powered spring box that allows the sofa to pop-up. Watch the assembly video before assembling. Heavy weight cardstock is recommended and allowing glue to dry at each step will make for the best working bam box.

Bam Box chair and ottoman closed
Bam Box chair and ottoman open

Chair:  A bam box is covered with the chair from the Family Room die set. The back of the chair is just the seat portion left flat. I cut a bam box decorative rectangle to cover the front base of the chair and hid the bam box. The pillow is attached as per assembly video directions. Santa is made from the Gnome and Santa set coloring the boots to look like socks and adding a pair of pants so his legs can stretch out onto the ottoman. Santa is glued to the pillow and his pants are glued to the Santa suit edge. The ottoman is just a bam box covered with decorative paper. (I originally was going to have a sofa in the scene as well, but decided on a chair and ottoman foot rest. The photos below depict the sofa assembly. The chair is made similarly.)

Fireplace and accessories:  For the fireplace cut two of the fireplace brick front – one in white and one in black as well as two of the lined mantle/hearth pieces – one white and one gray. The black brick is colored with a white crayon and the fire and logs are also cut twice and colored with watercolor pencils.

To assemble the fireplace, watch the assembly video first. You will need to attach the gray hearth and black brick pieces to the card base before adding the mechanism. There are two fireplace extra sets. I used the clock, fireplace fender and basket of logs from set 2 and the fireplace tools and candles from set 1. The tiny pop-up mechanisms for the objects on top of the mantel are from the fireplace die set. I also add strips of white cardstock to the wall on either side of the fireplace as floor moldings.

Rugs and Wall Decoration:  Using patterned papers that suggest wallpaper or carpeting make this type of card pop. The picture molding strip above the fireplace is a scrap trimmed off the patterned paper and the reverse side used. Slim Frames is the die set that the gold frame comes from while “Happy Boxing Day” and the calendar page are computer generated. The large green round rug is cut from the second largest circle crosshatch die. It can be used to write a personal message.

Card Front:  The card front uses a mat of silver glitter paper overlayed with the snowflake pattern plate cut from white handmade paper that has silver glitter swirls on it. The Holiday House is cut from papers used on the inside of the card. “SANTA” has been written on the door mat to hint at who is inside the card. “Happy Holidays” was cut three times with the top layer colored with silver gel pen.

Envelope: The back flap of the A7 brown kraft paper envelope has Santa’s sleigh and reindeer stamped in white to hint at what’s to come.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Echo Park Paper Co. – 12 x12 Double-sided coated cardstock – A Perfect Christmas by Lori Whitlock – Berry Merry Christmas – APC135003
  • Echo Park Paper Co. – 12 x12 Double-sided coated cardstock – I Love Christmas by Lori Whitlock – Glad Tidings – ILC114009
  • American Crafts – The Color of memories 12 x12 Red Plaid Paper – 348968
  • Recollections – Signature Especial 12×12 Foil Paper – Silver Glitter -220520
  • White Glitter Handmade Paper
  • Colored scraps of cardstock
  • A7 Kraft Card and Envelope

Pens, Crayons & Inks

  • Pink, Red and Black Fine-Tipped Markers
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink – Walnut Stain
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Crayon – White
  • Simon Says Stamp – Premium Pigment Ink – White

Stamps

  • LeCrea Design by Leane de Graaf – Combi Stamps – Santa & Small Christmas Trees – 55.3707

Miscellaneous

Santa Stop Here

| ullycatdesigns

Fur babies can enjoy the winter holidays as much as their human parents. This little pup doesn’t want Santa to forget her. She’s got her Santa hat and lights on her house as well as a sign asking Santa to stop.

The card front uses the dog from the Dog House Tiny House Add-Ons cut three times to make her stand out from the busy background paper. Dog bones from this set were also added to hint at what is to come on the inside.

To create the dog house, cut out and assemble a red Tiny House. (See assembly video.) I used the same red lightweight cardstock for the side panels from the add-ons. I choose not to ink the dies to print the siding lines, but rather to emboss them and then, using a white ink cube, to add a powdery dusting of snow.

For the colorful lights, use the lights from the Holiday House die set. (I used shimmer paper and colored them with fine-tipped markers.) The wreath is also from the Holiday House. Pup is added to the front of the dog house with a thick foam dot.

The snowy look on the roof was created by painting a thick coating of glitter gloss and using Effect Snow around the edges. To hold up the “Santa Stop Here” sign, a grassy strip from the Mushroom Tiny House Add-Ons set was cut, Effect Snowed, and glued to the card base and dog house. The sign is made from three of the school signs from the Church and School Tiny House Add-Ons set.

White octagons from the Bam Box Pop-Up die set are placed in opposing corners like snowballs for personal messages. Snowflake borders cut from shimmer paper using the Long Nature Edges 2 set.

Card backs are just as important as fronts. This one is decorated with left over strips.

The back flap of the envelope hints at what’s to come with the Santa capped pup.

Thank you for reading this blog post. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Echo Park Paper Co. – 12 x 12 Double-Sided Cardstock – A Perfect Christmas by Lori Whitlock – Christmas Collage – APC135008
  • Red Light-Weight Cardstock – 8.5 x 11
  • Colored Cardstock Scraps
  • White A7 Envelope

Pens & Inks

  • Blue, Red, Yellow and Blue Fine-Tipped Markers
  • Gelly Roll 08 Pen – White
  • Pigma Micron 05 – Archival Ink .045mm – Dark Brown
  • American Crafts – Metallic Markers – Silver

Miscellaneous

Santa’s Sleigh Pop-Up

| ullycatdesigns

A wet snowy night for Christmas Eve and Santa and his reindeer are feeling a bit blue with the weather, but whoever receives this card will be cheerfully surprised when Santa pops-up.

This is a slimline card version of a non-traditional color scheme Santa scene that I used on another project that will be unveiled during the sneak peak week of Karen Burniston’s December 2022 release.

To create the the inside pop-up scene, I used four of Karen Burniston’s previously released die sets – Sleigh Pop-Up, Christmas Animals and Gnome and Santa. I had to reverse the direction of the sleigh to make it work with the reindeer dies. The reindeer are each made up of two die cuts that are glued together at their antlers and have the face colored on the front side only, but with narrow strips of cardstock forming “U” shaped bases for the feet to be glued onto. Blue and white baker’s twine is glued on to the reindeer for the harness and reins.

The front sentiment and pine branches are all by Karen Burniston. The tiny bows are from the sleigh die set while the pine branch is from the Holiday Charms set.

Velvety flocked paper lines the inside of the card with crisp white snowflakes (from holiday charms and sleigh die sets) and a fancy edged label for a personal message finish the inside scene.

As per my usual, I like the back of the envelope to hint at what is to come. The stamps are by Paper Discovery.

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Recollections – Signature Especial 12×12 Foil Paper – Silver Glitter -220520
  • Spellbinders -8.5×11″ sheets of 100lb. Cardstock – Waterfall – CS-017
  • Stampin ‘Up – 12×12″ Specialty Vellum – Snowflakes
  • Stampin’ Up – 12×12″ Snowy White Velvet Sheets
  • Brazzill – 12×12″ Cardstock -Coconut Swirl
  • Pink, Black and Yellow Cardstock Scraps

Inks

  • Blue and Pink Fine-Tipped Markers
  • Sakura – Gelly Roll Pen – Silver -XPG#744
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink – Salty Ocean
  • Stampin’ Up – Classic Stampin’ Pad – Blueberry Bushel

Stamps

  • Paper Discovery by Olga Direktorenko – A5 Clear Stamps – Rustic Christmas – Christmas Sentiments

Miscellaneous

A Clean and Simple Pop-Up

| ullycatdesigns

A simple and clean stamped card is not my usual style so I added a pop-up mechanism to make Santa fly.  The mechanism is Karen Burniston’s Spinner Square Pop-Up and the scene stamps are by Leane de Graaf.

Before assembling this card, I rewatched the two assembly videos Karen Burniston has made for the Spinner Square Pop-Up. Once I understood how to fold the mechanism, I folded it backwards from the video so that it would move its arm upwards instead of downwards.

I wanted a slimline card, so I cut a front panel with a ½ inch tab (9 x 3 ¾ inches) from heavy white cardstock. The back panel is 8 ½ x 3 ¾ inches also cut from heavy white cardstock.  The inside panel that floats up is 7 ½ x 3 ¾ inches cut from light weight white cardstock. I die-cut the mechanism and its arm (3 ½ x 1 ¼ inches) from lightweight white cardstock. The stamping was completed before assembling the card.

Stamping the trees on the front and inner panels, required creating masking papers to cover the trees that were to be in front of the other trees. The back trees are the darker color and stamped after the front tree.  A white pigment ink was used to stamp the snow onto the trees. The moon was stamped in Citrine with the crescent specks in Sunbeam. The “Winter Wonderland” sentiment is by Stampendous! while the inside “Magical Christmas Wishes” is by Sheena Douglass.

To assemble, the front tab was folded and glued on the back panel. Next, the pop-up mechanism was folded backwards and glued into the inside of the card. The arm was glued onto the square spinner as directed in the assembly video. With the card closed I positioned the fussy cut Santa’s sleigh and reindeer onto the arm top so that it would not be visible when the card was closed and played with the positioning before the glue set-up. Last to glue, is the inside stamped panel that hides the mechanism. It is glued on to the small raised platform on the mechanism.

The card fits into a #10 business envelope with the Sheena Douglass “Winter Wonderland” sentiment stamped on its back flap in black ink.

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this blog post, please like it and follow the blog. 😊

Dies:

Stamps & Inks

  • LeCrea Design by Leane de Graaf – Combi Stamps – Santa & Small Christmas Trees – 55.3707
  • Winter Woodland by Sheena Douglass, Creative Stamping, issue 62, December 2018
  • Winter Stags by Stampendous!, Creative Stamping, issue 90, December 2020
  • Memento – Fade-Resistant Dye Ink Pad – Tuxedo Black
  • Stampin’ Up – Stampin’ pad – Pear Pizzazz and Lemon Lime Twist
  • Simon Says – Pawsitively Saturated Ink – Citrine and Sunbeam
  • Simon Says – Premium Pigment Ink – White

Papers

  • White Cardstock in both light weight and heavy weight
  • Cream #10 Business Envelope

Additional Supplies:

Holly Jolly Santa Greetings

| ullycatdesigns

What a jolly feeling the “Ho Ho Ho” of Santa brings to anyone who hears or sees it. This 3D snow globe designed by Becca Feeken for Spellbinders makes you hear the jolly old elf.

This was my first time using these die sets. I focused on using just four colors of red, green, white and gold and mostly mirror or foiled cardstock.

My Santa and tree are based off of the picture on the packaging using Nuvo Drops instead of jewels. I die cut several layers of the Santa and tree using up scraps to fussy cut the various pieces of the scene which are glued onto a red base. The belt and boots are colored with a fined-tipped black permanent marker. The belt buckle is a freehanded square of gold paper.

The holly leaves are fussy cut and glued onto the sentiment and front layers. The red berries are red glitter glue. I added a thin green stripe at the bottom of the front layer for interest.

As is my style, I stamped the back of the envelope with hints of what’s inside using red and green ink and Christmas sentiment stamps from Paper Discovery. I used a new stamping tool with my stamping platform for an even and easy stamped image. I highly recommend the Stampendable Stamping Tool.

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this blog post, please like it and follow the blog. 😊

Dies:

Stamps & Ink

Papers

Additional Supplies Used:

Waiting on You Know Who!

| ullycatdesigns

The anticipation of the holiday season, the longing to see family and friends, the desire for relaxation and time off from the work world, and all the other anticipated joys and adventures of the holidays are what this card is about.

Colorado Craft company’s clear stamps and coordinating dies of Anita Jeram’s delightful drawings and hand lettering make it a joy to make a holiday card using a permanent black ink and watercolor pencils. Thin foam squares and festive background paper complete the front of the card.

My Favorite Things has a cute, layered stamp set and coordinating die which I used inside the card for the famous red suited elf.

I made this card in an evening starting with an A2 card base (4 ¼ x 5 ½ inches) in white. I trimmed a 6×6 background paper down to 4 x 5 ¼ inches and saved the scraps to decorate the back of the card. Using the leftover white cardstock from the card base, I stamped all the images and sentiments and then colored the images. Next, I die cut the images and fussy cut the sentiments. The front of the card decorations are adhered with thin foam squares while the inside stamped pieces are glued in place.

The back of the card was stamped in white with a snarky sentiment of “Yep I made this . (Don’t throw it out.)” from Technique Tuesday. (If I had had more time and forethought, I would have heat embossed all the sentiments on this card.)

To set the experience for the card recipient, I always decorate the envelope back. This time the flap was stamped with a sentiment from another Anita Jeram’s stamp sets Make A Wish and sparkles from a vintage Disney stamp set.

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this blog post, please like it and follow the blog. 😊

Stamps

  • Colorado Craft Company – clear stamps & dies – AJ527 – On The Lookout by Anita Jeram
  • Colorado Craft Company – clear stamps & dies – AJ481 – Make A Wish Mini by Anita Jeram
  • My Favorite Things – clear stamps & dies – CS-600 Sweet Christmas
  • Disney -Mickey Mouse & Friends – clear stamps – DUS0171 Mickey A6 Stamp
  • Technique Tuesday – Clear Stamps – Made with Love

Inks & Waterolors

  • Memento – Fade-Resistant Dye Ink Pad – Tuxedo Black
  • Stampin’ Up – Classic Stampin’ Pad -Pear Pizzazz and Real Red
  • Simon Says Stamp – Premium Pigment Ink – White
  • Nuvo – Highly Pigmented Watercolour Pencils – Pastel Highlights, Brilliantly Vibrant and Elementary Midtones

Papers

  • Heavy white cardstock – 1 sheet 8 ½ x 11 inches
  • Catherine Pooler – Winter Pick-N-Mix  6×6 Patterned Paper
  • A2 white envelope

Additional Supplies:

Santa Vintage Trifold

| ullycatdesigns

Sometimes we just need to believe that there once was a perfect Christmas Eve with Santa flying through the starry night.

This shimmering trifold Christmas card delivers on that idea. Based on the Spellbinders’ Christmas village vignette frame die set, the scene is set with Santa flying his sleigh through the air, over the tops of fir trees to the next house. Each screen frame holds another layer of the snowy scene.

To make this card, I cut three of the lacy frames from bright blue foil cardstock and three backing panels from shimmer cardstock. I waited to cut the center openings in each back panel knowing that they had to line up for the scene to work. To cut the front panel opening I place the blue frame over the back panel and lined-up the “Christmas Greetings” die based off the blue frame center. To cut the lower hill window from the center panel, I use the front panel to line up the lower hill die on to the shimmer side of the cardstock. Using the first two panels to position the back panel’s higher hill die, I used the same technique to cut the final window.

Assembling the card was easy, gluing the blue frames to the white shimmer side panels and using clear removable tape to join or hinge the panels together on the back side.

To decorate the scene, I die cut two large fir trees, five small fir trees, 12 holly springs, one house and one Santa’s sleigh from the scrap shimmer cardstock left from cutting the windows. (Hint: Always make sure you are cutting with the shimmer side of the cardstock up.) The shimmer card takes the water-soluble markers well giving the images a nice texture. Color can be layered-on allowing some shading. The trees on the center panel are glued with a tree on both front and backsides of the panel so that when folded shut they are visible. The back panel has a single layer of trees and house. I used a paper scrap from a Hunydory paper pad that had a starry night sky to be the backdrop for the final panel’s window.

Holly springs were colored and glued to the frame inside corners of all the panels, but only the top panel had red Nuvo drops added to the berries. Nuvo drops were also added to the circle parts of the blue frame on the top panel only.

Finished card when folded shut measures 5 x 4.5 inches (127 x 113 mm).

Thank you for reading about this card. Please like and leave a comment. 😊

If you enjoyed this tri-fold card, check out some of my other trifolds:

One In A Melon

Shabby Chic Trifold Card

Festive Foliage and Hearts – Trifold card

Sleepytime Dreams

SUPPLIES

Dies/Punches

Ink

Paper

Miscellaneous

Santa Delivers to the Tropics

| ullycatdesigns

How does Santa deliver presents to places where there is no snow for his sleigh? I think he goes in his trusted vintage white convertible with Rudolph to those tropical places. This is the sixth house card in my series of “A Week of Christmas Houses” using Poppy Stamps 2020 Winter House Pop-Up Easel die set.

This double easel card is designed as a slimline card to fit a #10 envelope. The car and Santa are part of the Spellbinders’ Sunday Drive collection.

I found both the Poppy Stamps and Spellbinders sets easy to use following the images on the packaging but recommend having a pair of tweezers handy to glue and place the tiny details. I also recommend having a small container or bag to put your die cut pieces into as you cut them out. They are quite easy to lose on your workspace or get dropped onto the floor.

To make sure the Fired Brick Distress ink I used under the Ho Ho Ho did not bleed onto the white car, I clear heat embossed the piece which adds some texture and shine to the license plate.

Because both die sets for this card are designed to represent snow and cold weather, I had to modify the die cut pieces. For Santa, I cut the sleeve off his shirt and used colored papers to have him wearing a more causal tropical shirt and created his arm by tracing around the outside of the skeleton’s arm in another add-on set for the Sunday Drive collection. On the house I trimmed off any of the snow on rooflines and used the poinsettia flowers from the Sunday Drive collection to plant in front of the house. To fit in a #10 envelope the tiny tips of the roof edge had to be trimmed off the card base.

Once again, I used peach organza ribbon to create some interest at the windows of the house. The door and roofs are inked dark with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. The door wreath is from the Tonic Studios set and the palm tree towering over the house is from a Karen Burniston pop-up die set. Nuvo drops were used for the doorknob and flower centers.

The welcome mat, which acts as the easel stop, was stamped and heat embossed using a stamp from a retired Stampin’ Up set. I used a blend of Ranger Black Sparkle and Recollections Ebony Detail Embossing powders that give the welcome mat a snowy sparkle. Once heat embossed, the mat was weathered using Antique Linen Distress Ink on a sponge dauber and cut out with the coordinating die. Foam squares where used to adhere the mat to card and make it tall enough to act as an easel stop.

The “Merry Christmas” is cut from heavy black cardstock glued down.  A personal message can be written behind the house.

Finished off the card by stamping its envelope with some hints as to what’s inside using a “Magical Christmas Wishes” sentiment in dark green ink.

See the more the series of “A Week of Christmas Houses”

Day 1 – From Our House to Your House

Day 2 – Santa is Coming

Day 3 – A Baby is Coming

Day 4 –Keeping the Home Fires Burning

Day 5 – Red Four-Square

Day 6 – Santa Delivers to the Tropics

Day 7 – House Luminary

2019 – 12 Days of Christmas Trees

Other Sunday Drive cards:

Sunday Drive Celebration

A Snowy Sunday Drive with Santa

Santa Bauble

Santa Delivers to the Tropics

Being Spooky

Driving into a Spooky Sunset

The Best is Yet to Come

Hoppy Spring!

SUPPLIES:

Dies

Stamps

Papers

Ink/Embossing Powder

Miscellaneous

Santa Bauble

| ullycatdesigns

This Christmas card/ornament is a prototype for a shaker card. The car and Santa are part of the Spellbinder’s Sunday Drive collection and the pierced circles is also a Spellbinders nesting circle die set.

To make this bauble card, I cut a circular card base using the largest nesting die placing it just off the edge of a 6 ½ x 5 inches white card base.

I cut the series of pieced holed circles on white glitter cardstock and colored the front of the card base with silver metallic ink to show through the pierced holes. I also cut a piece of acetate between tissue interleaves so as not to have the cutting plates leave marks. Two strips of silver foiled cardstock ½ x 1 ¼ inches and a piece of thin silver wire 3 inches long were cut as well.

Next I cut a circular frame using the largest nesting die and the next size down circular die out of glitter cardstock. (I used a stitched circle die from another set to get a narrow border, but you could use the Spellbinders circle set and have a wide pierced border frame too.)

At this point I should have stamped and heat embossed the inside greeting before assembling the card. I like to use a stamping platform and the assembled card was too thick to get a good stamped impression. (My improvised solution was to stamp and heat emboss a tissue circle and glue it inside which is not as professional a finish as I would like.)

Previously I had cut and assembled a number of the Santa in the car and assembled them. (See Sunday Drive with Santa post.)

The whole process should be:

  1. Cut card base, acetate circle, nesting circles, silver foiled strip, all parts for Santa, reindeer and car.
  2. Stamp and heat emboss inside card sentiment.  (If in inking back of license plate with distress ink, clear heat emboss it now.)
  3. Add any colored ink or paper to go behind pierced circles to front of card base now.
  4. Assemble Santa, reindeer and car
  5. Glue down pierced circles
  6. Glue Santa and car to top of circle frame and place foam tape on back side of car
  7. Using a thin line of glue at outer edge of circle frame, glue acetate circle on top of circle frame and car
  8. On the back side of the circle frame place short, thin strips of foam tape with no gaps. This will hold your shaker contents from escaping. (I cut ¼ inch wide stripes of foam tape.)
  9. Place a small amount of craft snow in the middle of the front card base and then peel off backing paper on foam tape and adhere the acetate circle assembly to card base.
  10. Score on backside of foil strips every 1/8 inch and accordion fold both strips and flatten out again. Cut two strips of foam tape ¼ x 1 inch and adhere at top edges of foiled strips on back.
  11. Make a loop from the thin wire.
  12. Glue one of the foil strips to the top of the card base over fold so that foam tape is above the fold. Remove backing paper from foam tape on this piece.
  13. Place wire loop on foam tape. And add a drop of glue to secure wire.
  14. Remove backing paper on other foil strip foam tape and glue in place on backside of card.
  15. Tie ribbon through wire loop.

To finish the card, I stamped its envelope with a hint of what’s inside using a “Believe in the Magic of Christmas” sentiment in red ink.

Other Sunday Drive cards:

Sunday Drive Celebration

A Snowy Sunday Drive with Santa

Santa Bauble

Santa Delivers to the Tropics

Being Spooky

Driving into a Spooky Sunset

The Best is Yet to Come

Hoppy Spring!

SUPPLIES:

Dies

Stamps

  • Kaisercraft – Clear Stamps – Sentiments -Traditional – CS313

Papers

Inks/Watercolors

·  VersaMark – Watermark Stamp Pad

·  Recollections Pearl Embossing Powder – Sapphire

·  Recollections Detail Embossing Power- Clear

·  Stampin’ Up Classic Stamin’ Pad – Real Red

Miscellaneous

  • Foam tape
  • Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue/PVA Glue
  • American Crafts – Metallic Marker – M – Silver -62212
  • Blue Snowflake satin ribbon
  • Thin silver wire (I used 26 gauge round medium temper silver plated jewelry wire)
  • Craft snow (I got my package years ago from a hobby shop that sold materials for making model train scenes)