Snowmen

A Small Album of Encouragement to Chase Away the Winter Blues

| ullycatdesigns

This mini album was made for Craft Roulette #195 whose parameters included Project type of Encouragement, calm colors, stuffed element and ticket(s).

I have made one other journal similar to this one in a virtual workshop by Kim Hein from Art Impressions using their Mini Journal Template and stamps. In thinking about the layout, I decided that I wanted a positive affirmation for the center back page and all the interleaving pages to it to be wintery and joyful. The theme is chasing the winter blues away.

Watch a painting tutorial before coloring any of the watercolor pieces.

Window Journal Cover:  Using the window frame and window arch dies from the Mini Journal template set, cut the arch opening into the left album cover and two of the window frames from white cardstock.

Cut a piece of clear acetate/plastic slightly larger than the window frame. Using narrow double-sided tape on the backside of one window frame, adhere the frame to the acetate piece. (Hint: If the double-sided tape is wider than the frame, peel off the backing paper and fold the tape over on itself to fit the frame.) Trim off the excess acetate around the frame. Add double sided tape to the back of the acetate and adhere over the cover opening. Attach the second frame to the back of the cover over the opening.

Room Scene Journal Cover:  Stamp onto patterned paper the chair from the Matchbook Den stamp and die set. Cut out using the matching die and trim off the tab with scissors. Stamp the fireplace onto watercolor paper using a alcohol based ink and color using water-soluble inks with a water brush. Die cut fireplace and trim off tabs. Die cut picture frame and color with ink. Write the word “JOY” in the frame’s picture area with a fine-tipped blue marker. Cut a scalloped edge rectangle from a wallpaper-like patterned paper using die from the Mini Journal Template set. Assemble room scene onto the right cover panel.

Pocket of Encouragement and Ticket Pages: The blue ticket was computer generated. The yellow tags with affirming statements were from my stash of batch foiling using Spellbinder Glimmer System products. A large needle was used to pierce and thread the embroidery floss through the tags. The scalloped background piece and white lacy pocket were die cut using dies from the Mini Journal Template set.

Joy and Snowman Twister Pages: Stamp the fronts and backs of the twister Joy and snowman using the Mini Christmas Twister stamp and die set. Watercolor them. (I used glitter gloss and glitter brush markers on the twisters.) Watch a twister assembly video before assembling. Die cut two of the rectangles from patterned paper for each page using the large straight edge rectangle die in the Mini Journal Template set. Position the decorative papers onto the white page base pieces making sure not to cover the tabs. Secure the papers to page with removable tape and tape in place the smaller of the twister oval dies. Die cut through all three layers. (I had to recut the bottom layer of decorative paper, but the impression of the die was there to show me the position.) Glue patterned paper to page. (I die cut two oval frames for the “JOY” page using the two twister oval dies. They made the opening too thick to get good action with the twister, so I had to trim some of the notch away. I would not use frames unless they were from very thin paper.)

Snowman and House Pages: Using the WC Snow Globe stamp and die set, stamp the house and snowman on to 2×2 1/2-inch rectangles of watercolor paper. (I watercolored the images after viewing a number of the Art Impression painting videos.) Use the frame die in the Mini Journal Template set to cut out the images. (You can use the rest of the image that is die cut as I did with the house, or die cut a frame from decorative paper as I did with the snowman.)

Little Birds Pages:  Die cut two scalloped circles using the die from the Mini Journal Template set. Stamp two birds from the Matchbook Garden set. Watercolor as shown in the opening video of this blog post. Using two of the oval cut outs from the patterned papers used for the Joy Twister page, and two scalloped rectangles of patterned paper, assemble the two bird pages. Stamp and die-cut the “hello Sunshine” banner from the Matchbook Garden set to place on the back center page.

Back Message and Ribbon Closure: I computer generated the back cover sentiment and used dies from the Mini Journal Template set to cut it out, frame and mat it. This panel is glued over the 24-inch piece of ribbon to hold it in place. Trim ribbon as needed once tied into a bow.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this inspires you and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

  • Art Impressions – Steel Dies – Mini Journal Template – 5718
  • Art Impressions – Steel Dies – Mini Christmas Twister Set – 5815
  • Art Impressions – Steel Dies – Matchbook Den Set – 5322

Stamps

  • Art Impressions – Clear Stamps – Mini Christmas Twister Set – 5815
  • Art Impressions – Clear Stamps – Matchbook Den Set – 5322
  • Art Impressions – Clear Stamps – Matchbook Garden – 5444
  • Art Impressions – Clear Stamps – WC Snow Globe Set – 5791

Foiling Plates

  • Spellbinders – Glimmer Hot Foil Plate – Mini Everyday Sentiments

Papers

  • Art Impressions – 6×6 Double-Sided 80lb Cardstock – Mini Journal Series -Mini PP -5835
  • Studio Light – 6×6 inch/15.2×15.2 cm Single-Sided Papers – Let it Snow
  • Master’s Touch – Watercolor Cold-Press Surface, Acid-Free Paper- 140lb/300gsm
  • White Cardstock

Ink

  • StazOn – Solvent Ink – Jet Black
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink- Walnut Stain, Salvaged Patina, Salty ocean, Prize Ribbon, Mowed Lawn, Fossilized Amber, Forest Moss, Fired Brick and Black Soot
  • Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White
  • Scrapbook.com – Glitter Brush Marker – Frosty Blue
  • Sharpie – Permanent Marker – Ultra Fine Tip – Turquoise
  • Pigma – Mircon 01 Fine Tip Pen – Black
  • Nuvo – Aqua Shimmer – Glitter Gloss

Adhesives

  • Neutral PH Adhesive by LINECO
  • Fine-Tip Glue Bottle
  • Scor-Tape – Double-Sided Tape -1/8-inch wide

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Bone Folder
  • Stamping Platform
  • LDRS – Stampendable Stamping Tool
  • Water Brushes
  • Craft Mat
  • Scissors
  • Spellbinders – Glimmer Hot Foil System
  • Large Needle

Miscellaneous

  • Gingham Ribbon – 5/8-inch wide – Blue
  • Embroidery Floss – Blue #824, Yellow #3822, Green #906

Meet the Snow Family – Baby Snow

| ullycatdesigns

This card is part of the Karen Burniston Design Team snowmen challenge for November.

Today, I’m show you how to Baby Snow.

Baby Snow is comprised of the Mini Ball Pop-Up and the Bitty Ball Pop-Up with his coal features and scarf from the Snowman Add-Ons. His smaller carrot nose and stick arms are from the Snowman Twist Circle set while his cap is custom made.

Cut two of the Bitty Ball halves and two of the Mini Ball halves. (I was able to get all the pieces from a single sheet of 8.5×11 inch cardstock.) I find watching the assembly videos for the balls very useful. (Bitty Balls, Mini-Balls) Numbering the order of gluing the tabs is useful for the assemble of the balls. I cut all the trapezoid panels from an embossed white cardstock. And the ball halves are cut from a 100 lb. smooth white cardstock.

Assemble the balls as shown on videos, including a brad in the bottom of the Bitty Ball. (I didn’t have a brad when I made Baby Snow, so I improvised with a pipe-cleaner. I works, thin wire would be a better choice as the pipecleander adds bulk to the bottom of the card.)

Add facial features to the mini ball. The hat is one half mini ball cut in red, embossed with a knitted pattern embossing fold, and then trimmed down to fit the head. Once glued on, a three snowflake pom-pom was added to the top.

The scarf pieces are glued to the top of the Bitty ball edges and a full-size hexagon is traced using the die to cover the top of the body.

The ear flap and bill of the hat were free handed pieces cut first from scrap paper and once correct size traced onto the red cardstock and fussy cut. Some red and white twine was added when gluing on the ear flaps.

Once the decorations are complete attach Baby Snow to the card base.

Learn more about how each member of the Snow Family was created in these blogs:

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Spellbinders – 100 lb cardstock – Waterfall
  • Hot Off the Press – Black Suede
  • Hot off the Press – Black Glitter Cardstock
  • Blue, orange, brown, red and white cardstock scraps
  • Recollections – 8.5×11 White gold shimmer cardstock
  • Staples – 8.5×11 Printable glitter paper

Miscellaneous

Meet The Snow Family

| ullycatdesigns

This card is part of the Karen Burniston Design Team snowmen challenge for November.

Today, I’ll introduce you to the Snow Family and then each of the next three days, I’ll explain how I made each member of the family.

In her August release, Karen Burniston has come out with some additional die sets that make putting together snowpeople so easy. An add-on character set includes the top hat and band, carrot nose, large and small circles for eyes, mouth and buttons, as well as stick arms and a large snowflake. The Double-Ups for the all the pop-up balls have the side trapezoids linked together to cut 6 pieces all at once, so with the original individual trapezoid dies, you can cut all 12 side panels in one pass.

I started with a pale blue card base of made up of two 6x 6 1/2 inch pieces. I scored the extra 1/2 inch at 1/2  and 1/4 inch to make tabs with a gusset to glue each piece to a central 6 x 6 inch square.

The decorative papers are 5 ¾ x 5 ¾ inches. (Flap assembly video) I cut the the flap from pale blue cardstock and two decorative panels from scraps of the decorative papers.  Off the back of the center section is where the flap is glued.

The flap dies set cuts six washers of which three are glued together for each of the circle brad cover. Glue the front decorative panel onto the flap. Using a sharp piercing tool, punch a hole in the center of the flap.

Glue the washers over the hole. I used a needle and thread to pull the twine through the hole leaving knot on underside of flap. Pull brad legs through hole and bend the legs onto the back of the flap and glue the twine in place on back of flap.

Glue the back decorative panel over the twine knot.  Cover back of card and flap tab with decorative paper.

Glue the front decorative papers to the card front. Mark the center of the front of the card base and pierce, glue the next two washers. Thread another brad through the hole Then thread the brad legs into the hole in the bottom of the bottom all of a snow person. (It is easier to add just the bottom ball and then build the snowperson onto this ball once it is attached to the card base.)

Once all the snowpeople base balls are attached to the card base and decorative papers cover the brad legs or wires, decorations can be added to the outside of the card panels.

The card is too thick to be mailed in any standard envelope to mail.

Learn more about How each member of the Snow Family was created in these blogs:

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Spellbinders – 100 lb cardstock – Waterfall
  • Hot Off the Press – Black Suede
  • Hot off the Press – Black Glitter Cardstock
  • Blue, orange, brown, and white cardstock scraps
  • Recollections – 8.5×11 White gold shimmer cardstock
  • Staples – 8.5×11 Printable glitter paper

Miscellaneous

Scandinavian Snowman

| ullycatdesigns

Thank you for joining the Karen Burniston Blog Hop for the August 2022 Release.

Such a joyful little snowman enjoying the snowy cozy Scandinavian countryside.

In her newest release, Karen Burniston has come out with some additional die sets that make putting together this snowman a snap. An add-on character set includes the top hat and band, carrot nose, large and small circles for eyes, mouth and buttons, as well as stick arms and a large snowflake. The Double-Ups for the all the pop-up balls have the side trapezoids linked together to cut 6 pieces all at once, so with the original individual trapezoid dies, you can cut all 12 side panels in one pass.

I started with a brown craft card base of 5 x 7 inches trimmed down to 5 x 6.5 inches. Next, the smaller side of the card was scored at 4.75 inches to form a gusset. Cut two of the Bitty Ball halves and two of the Mini Ball halves. I find watching the assembly videos for the balls very useful. (Bitty Balls, Mini-Balls) Numbering the order of gluing the tabs is useful for the assemble of the balls. I cut all the trapezoid panels from a white gold shimmer cardstock. And the ball halves are cut from a 100 lb. smooth white cardstock. Assemble the balls as shown on videos, including the brad in the bottom of the Bitty Ball.

The decorative papers are two layers. The measurements are listed in the photo. (Flap assembly video) I cut the the flap from another craft card blank and two decorative panels from scraps of the decorative papers. The flap dies set cuts six washers  of which three are glued together for each of the flower brad cover. Glue the front decorative panel onto the flap. Using a sharp piercing tool, punch a hole in the center of the flap.

Glue the washers and flower over the hole. Thread the twine into the brad legs and pull the twine and brad legs through the hole. Bend the legs onto the back of the flap and glue the twine inplace on back of flap.

Glue the back decorative panel over the brad legs and twine.  Glue flap tab to back of card base.  Cover back of card and flap tab with decorative paper.

Glue the front decorative papers to the card front. Mark the center of the front of the card base with pencil and pierce. Glue the second washer and flower over the hole. Thread another brad through the hole and fold the legs against inside of card. Glue the inside decorative papers to the card base covering the brad legs.

Adhere the snowman’s face. Glue the scarf pieces onto the bitty ball while flat. Cut a hexagon using the hexagon from the Surprize Ball Double-Up set or trace the center of the Bitty Ball die with a pencil and cut out. Assemble the top hat with a red hat band on front and back.

Mark the location of the hole to secure the snowman’s brad using the Bitty Ball die to fit within the card. Pierce the hole and thread the snowman brad through the hole. bend the brad legs to the back of the card. Glue the back decorative paper and white message label to cover the brad legs. Glue the hat onto snowman.

Decorate the front of the card using the faces from the Snowman, and Gnome and Santa sets Add the sentiment of “Merry Christmas” to inside. Large snowflakes are from the Snowman add-on set.

The card fits into an A7 envelope for hand delivery, but I would put the card in a padded envelope to mail.

Continue reading →

A Candy Winter Card

| ullycatdesigns

Gingerbread, candy canes and snowmen make this accordion card a treat for the eyes and imagination. The papers are all by Heitz Cuppleditch for Craft Consortium. The accordion-fold card base dies, words and frame dies are all by Karen Burniston.

I followed the assembly video for the accordion fold card. (I found it useful to layout the card and its decorative pieces before gluing as sometimes a tab that connects the various panels needs to be hidden by a decorative piece so the order of gluing all the tabs together needs to be thought through before assembly.) The base is cut twice – once from solid pink cardstock and again from decorative papers and glued together.

Leftover striped pieces and decorative frames are the finishing touches along with narrow washi tape make the accordion frames standout. The one fancy frame was gilded using Distress Foundry Wax which requires a heat tool to set the gilding.

The card fits into a A7 envelope which has been stamped on the back with a stamp of the gingerbread train in pink ink. The stamp is also from the Candy Christmas Collection by Heitz Cuppleditch for Craft Consortium.

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

Here is a sneak peak of the August 2022 Release of Karen Burniston dies.

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

Inks

  • Simon Says Stamp – Pawsitively Saturated Ink – Sweets
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress- Foundry Wax – Gilded

Papers

Miscellaneous

  • Die cutting Machine
  • Neutral PH Adhesive by LINECO
  • Fine-tipped Bottle
  • Tim Holtz – Tonic Studios – Stamping Platform
  • LDRS Creative – Stampendable Stamping Tool
  • Stamp Cleaning Cloth
  • Poking Tool
  • Scissors
  • Small Paint Brush
  • Craft Mat
  • Heat Tool
  • Narrow pink and red washi tapes from my stash

Winter mail

| ullycatdesigns

Who doesn’t love getting mail! The most famous snowman, Frosty sure does enjoy his mail in this card celebrating wintertime mail. It uses dies by Karen Burniston to create a delightful pop-up card.

The main die sets used were the Mailbox Pop-Up and the Snowman Pop-Up. Watch the two assembly videos for tips on how to construct the pop-up snowman and mailbox by clicking on the links above before starting your card. (If I had been smart and followed my advice of watching the assembly videos before starting the card, I would have known I needed at least 5 inches from the card fold to have Frosty in his top hat and should have done a top fold card instead of a side fold vertical card.)

Because I constructed my card base before I watched the assembly videos, I had to make the snowman without his hat to fit in the card. I used the top hat and snowflake from another snowman die set by Karen Burniston.

My inspiration for this card was the Carta Bella paper pad that has a page of envelopes addressed to various North Pole and winter characters. I cut out several of the envelopes from the paper and scattered them throughout the card. The other patterned papers are from this paper pad as well.

I like creating an outer frame for my card bases covered in patterned papers. I used the medium sized crosshatched rectangle to cut the frames in the inside green plaid paper panels and I used one of these rectangles on the back of the card over a border made from paper leftovers from the inside of the card.

For the card front I constructed a background from three leftover pieces of the snowflake print. The snow in the foreground was cut using a nature edge die that cuts a stitched rolling hill with trees. The trees I cut off.

While the mailbox is designed to be inside the card as an interactive element, it can be simplified down to a flat element. I used the main mailbox, lid, flag and wood grained post dies. The brown wooden post I inked the dies with white ink to get it into the wood grain and then gently rubbed the piece over the ink cube to get a snowy effect. I added the Santa hat and snowflakes to give some hints, if the name on the mail box didn’t clue the viewer that it is Santa Claus’ mailbox. I leave it up to the viewer to decide if the small Rudolf is the real one or a winter decoration.

Using the die as a stencil, I colored with a white gel pen to shade Rudolph’s ears and tail and a black fine-tipped marker for his hooves. I used Glossy Accents over his red paper nose to look more like a light. For Rudolph’s eyes and the snowman’s coal eyes and buttons, I used Nuvo Drops. With both these products be sure to allow 12-24 hours for them to dry. (I swished Rudolph’s nose and didn’t notice until the glossy accents had almost set.)

Inside the card, the finishing touches include: a snowflake, a stitched heart, and the sentiment of “Season’s Greetings” from the Karen Burniston Word Set 3.  (I’ve been experimenting with various dies by Karen Burniston with the dotted outlines because they are easy to make stitched or embroidered charms and embellishments for cards. This heart is from the Circle Charm Pop-Up set.)

For the envelope, I made a snowman face with top hat from Karen Burniston’s Snowman set and glued all its pieces and back securely to the back flap of the envelope. Sometimes for thick cards to fit into a standard size envelope (A2 for this card) you need to trim a total of 1/4 of an inch off the non-fold sides of the card.

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

Dies:

stamps & Ink

  • Craft Smart – Ink Pad – White
  • Ink
  • Stamp
  • Sakura – Gelly Roll Pen– 08 -White
  • Sharpie – Ultra Fine-Tipped Marker – Black

Papers

  • Carta Bella – 6×6 Paper Pad of Double-Sided cardstock – Letters to Santa
  • Lightweight 8.5×11 inch white cardstock
  • Matte silver foil cardstock scrap
  • Colored cardstock scraps
  • A2 Envelope

Additional Supplies Used:

Snow Days

| ullycatdesigns

What North American children hasn’t hoped for a school closing day due to a snowstorm.  This is a card celebrating a snowy day in lighthearted pastels. Karen Burniston dies are used for the card.

To make this A2 size card, cut a rectangle 4 ¼ x 11 inches of pink heavy cardstock and fold in in the middle to make a 4 ½ inches tall by 5 ½ inches wide card base.  Cut four decorative paper panels at 4 x 5 ¼ inches. Adhere these panels to front, back and insides of the card base.

It is easiest to die cut all the pieces you will need to make both the inside and outside snowmen at the same time so that they are similar in colors and papers used. Also cut three circles or other label shapes on which to mount your sentiments. (For the personalized message circle, I added a smaller white circle.) Think about using contrasting colors for your words and their backgrounds. (I used blue to make the mostly white with snowflake paper I used for the words standout.)

After watching the assembly video on the inside snowman assemble as directed. Once the snowman is adhered to the card base, you can begin to decorate the card. (I used a sled die-cut from Memory Box to add to the snow time activities.) Remember to balance out the position of decorations from one side of the card to the other. There are two different snowflakes in the two snowmen die sets by Karen Burniston. They make wonderful filler decorations for the card.

Because I could not make up my mind on which stamp to use on the back of the envelope, I stamped two envelopes with hints as to the card’s theme. The word cloud is from Stampendous while the snowman is from Art Impressions.

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

Dies:

Stamps & Ink

  • Stampin’ Up Classic Stampin’ Pad – Dapper Denim
  • Stampendous – Winter Stags stamp set from Creative Stamping issue 90, Dec 2020
  • Art Impressions – Unmounted Rubber Stamp – Scrapbook.com exclusive Snowman – 5084

Papers

  • American Crafts – 348953
  • Pink card base – Bazzill -Pink Icing – PS1 – 102
  • Glitter paper – white from my stash
  • Colored cardstock from my stash
  • A2 Envelope

Additional Supplies Used:

Fineline 20 Gauge Applicator & Bottle

Shake Your Snow Globe

| ullycatdesigns

Snow Globe Shaker-Front

This snow globe is filled with pearlessense sequins and silver star sequins and a hint of snow glitter.  I was inspired by a number of snow globe stamp and die set project cards by a variety of companies, but in the end, I made the card with affordable alternatives that I had on hand.

I stamped the pine boughs and red berry branches on a stamping platform, turning the card four times and then changing color ink and stamp for the next layer and once more for the final color and stamp change.

Next, I cut out the opening for the plastic shaker globe from the stamped card. I then stamped and cut out the house, snow man and trees. Using white glitter paper to cut the two snowy hills, I attached the house, trees and snowman using foam squares.

Assembling the globe: I added a few white and silver sequins and a hint of fine snow glitter. (I find the that glitter clings to most of the surfaces inside the globe and a hint gives a sparkle without fogging up the globe.) Using clear removable tape, I sealed the back of the globe with the house and hills which were attached to the stamped globe cut-out. Once the globe was sealed, it was placed into the stamped card with the globe cut out.

The red and white background paper, heavy white card stock with the red sentiment stamped on it and the red globe base where all recycled from junk mail, and packaging. A ribbon was taped to the back of the pine boughs stamped card before it was adhered with double-sided tape to the card base. The “Magical Christmas wishes” and red globe base were attached using foam squares.

Snow Globe Shaker -inside

The inside sentiment is from an old Kaisercraft clear stamp set that I was unable to find a link for.

SUPPLIES USED:

Dies

Stamps

Paper:

Miscellaneous: