Stockings

Naughty or Nice?

| ullycatdesigns

It’s the Karen Burniston design team challenge for December 2023 with the theme of “Naughty or Nice” using Christmas stockings and the idea that naughty persons get coal in their stockings while people who have been good/nice will get presents and sweet treats in their stockings.

While I used Karen’s Fireplace Pop-Up and Fireplace Extras 1 dies I did not make it a pop-up, but I did have Santa’s boots swing in the fireplace.  Inside, two greenery wreaths pop-up using the Twist Flower Pop-up and Crosshatch Circles, Christmas Borders 2, Holiday Charms, Big Birthday Charms, Adirondack Chair Pop-Up and Small Script – Christmas were used for decorations and sentiments.

Before starting, I recommend watching the assembly videos of the pop-ups which are usually near the bottom of the linked pages for the various dies used.

Cardbase: I folded a 7 3/4-inch by 8 3/4-inch rectangle of white cardstock long-wise in half for the cardbase. Because my decorative papers were 4 1/2-inch by 6 1/2-inch, I centered the papers on each of the four panels.

Fireplace: The fireplace main piece was cut using white ink rubbed on the die before cutting. The mantel piece was die cut and folded in half and glued together to add dimension. Christmas decorations – candles, stockings, greenery, bows, fireplace guard and tools are all in the Fireplace Extras 1 set. I cut down the pail from the Adirondack Chair Pop-Up set to be a coal shuttle next to the fireplace. For the picture of Father Christmas, I fussy cut it from the decorative paper collection I used.

Santa’s Boots: The boots are cut from black and white cardstock using the dies in the Fireplace Pop-Up set. Use the tab atop the boots to attach red pants that were cut free-handed with a holed punched and widened to accommodate a small foam dot. The boots were coated with glitter gloss before attaching to the card. Follow the pictures above for order of assembly of fireplace and Santa’s pants and boots. The fireplace was attached with two layers of foam tape to be slightly taller than the foam dot so that the boots would swing freely.

Wreaths: Using the second largest crosshatch circle, I cut two from heavy white paper. The greenery was made by cutting off the fir needles from the branch piece in the Holiday Charms set. Stockings and their coal, teddy bear and candy cane come from the same charms set. The wrapped gift is from the Big Birthday Charms set.

Inside Pop-Up Mechanism: I added extension arms onto the Twist Flower Pop-up mechanism to form a “W” shape. (Watch this Halloween card video to see how to make the mechanism.) The circle wreaths were folded in half and glued to the two “V” arms, playing with the positioning of the circles so there are no catchpoints.

Borders: The inside border of candy canes comes from the Christmas Borders 2 die set while the coal comes from the Holiday Charms. For the back borders, the branch die from the Holiday Charms set was used. Leftover strips of decorative papers were added to the card front as borders.

Sentiments: Clear tape over red cardstock is the secret to the glossy script letters with plain white cardstock shadows. The sentiments all come from the Small Script – Christmas die set. On the front is “ho ho ho” with “Christmas greetings” inside the card.

Envelope: The stocking border from the Christmas Borders 2 set was cut from the same striped paper that was used on the fireplace stockings and glued to the back envelope flap to hint at what’s to come.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • The Paper Studio – 4.5in x 6.5in Single-Sided Textured Paper Pad – Old World Winter
  • Bazzill – 8.5×11 Embossed Polka Dots – Phoenix
  • My Colors – 12×12 Textured Metallic Cardstock – Black Bear
  • White and Black Cardstock
  • #10 Business Envelope

Ink

  • Craft Smart – White Ink Mini Cube
  • Sharpie – Permanent Marker – Ultra Fine Tip – Red, Orange and Yellow
  • Pigma – Mircon 01 Fine Tip Pen – Black
  • Sakura – Gelly Roll Pen – Medium – White
  • Nuvo – Aqua Shimmer – Glitter Gloss

Adhesives

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • We R Memories – QuickStick
  • We R Memories – Scoring Board and Trimmer
  • Craft Mat
  • Scissors
  • Hole Punch – 1/4-inch
  • Clamping Reverse Tweezers

Dear Santa I Can Explain…

| ullycatdesigns

With Santa shimmering down the chimney with his legs swinging left and right, this card became my submission for Craft Roulette episode #191 whose parameters were a drop-down card, supper table colors, seasons element, and shiny.

I had started this card earlier in the week after discovering Spellbinders Large-Die-Of-the-Month set for October 2021, but hadn’t finished the easel stop/sentiment. It is part of my Fireplace series.

Cardbase: Cut one 5×7-inch rectangle from heavy black cardstock. Cut another piece from black using the template pictured below. Train the folds of the larger piece. This will be the bottom base with easel arm. Glue the tab on the easel arm to the back of the 5×7 piece making sure when the card is folded shut that the top 5×7’s edges are aligned with the bottom piece. Cover the card front with decorative paper as well as the bottom panel. I added decorative borders for quarter floor molding and picture rail near the ceiling top.

Fireplace and Santa: Watch the assembly video. I used two layers of cardstock for the fireplace and four layers for the candlesticks. The foam dot I used was thick, so I used two layers of foam tape to keep the fireplace higher than Santa. Glitter gloss was brushed over all of Santa as well as the fur on the stockings’ tops. The gold foil in the fireplace decorative panels is from an envelope liner.

Decorations: The set comes with dies for the greenery, tiny flowers and berries as well as the bow. I used a red glitter pen for the candle flames and a yellow marker for the flower centers.

Sentiments: The fireplace set comes with four messages. I choose “Dear Santa” to die-cut into the red hearth piece which is backed with a solid white hearth piece. Glitter gloss was applied to the red hearth. To create the easel stopper, cut an oval rug and pop it up on foam dots. Glue die-cut “Happy Holidays” onto oval. Because of my dark background paper, I added a smaller white oval for a personal message.

Envelope: I decorated the back flap of the envelope and the card back with decorative paper scraps.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Graphic 45 – 8×8 Double-Sided Paper Pad – Warm Wishes Collection – Glad Tidings and Winter Wonder
  • My Mind’s Eye – 6×6 Double-Sided Paper Pad –Cozy Christmas
  • White, Black, Red and Cream Cardstock
  • Gold Foil Cardstock from packaging
  • Gold Foil from envelope liner

Ink

  • Stampin’ Up – Stampin’ Blends Marker – Dark Daffodil Delight
  • Scrapbook.com – Glitter Brush – Red
  • Nuvo – Aqua Shimmer – Glitter Gloss

Adhesives

  • Neutral PH Adhesive by LINECO
  • Fine-Tip Glue Bottle
  • Foam Dots
  • Foam Tape

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Pokey Tool
  • We R Memories – QuickStick
  • We R Memories – Scoring Board and Trimmer
  • Scissors

Magical Fireplace

| ullycatdesigns

This is the sixth card in the Fireplace Christmas Card series.

Fireplaces have a bit of magic in them on Christmas eve. This easel card plays into the magic complete with an elf sitting on the mantel shelf.

Hero Arts made the Stamp & Cut XL Fireplace set that was used to make this card along with Graphic 45 patterned paper Lets Get Cozy.

Cardbase: Starting with a purchased A7 cardbase, I cut it along its fold to have two pieces of 5×7 inch rectangles. Next, I cut a piece of the heavy weight pink cardstock 7.5-inches by 4.25-inches and folded at 2-inches and at 5.5-inches. (You may need to change the fold in the easel arm as I did, but you can cover the extra fold line with decorative paper.)

One tab was glued to the top of a cardbase panel and the other tab will be glued to the base of the other panel once it is decorated as the card front. Cover the bottom card base panel with a carpet like patterned paper. Also cover the back side of the case base with patterned paper. (I choose a wallpaper-like floral print and put a house border along the bottom edge to ground the back of the card.)

Fireplace: While designed to be a single layer die-cut, the fireplace can be cut multiple times to create a more 3D effect. The dies need to be clipped to separate the main outline of the fireplace from the mantel piece and the stocking from the rest of the piece. Cut one outline piece and one mantel piece from heavy blush pink cardstock. You will have to cut the mantel piece from the cardstock at its connecting points with a kraft knife. Cut another mantel piece to fussy cut the scalloped inner opening that frames the firebox. (I like to cut this piece to include some of the columns.)

On the outline piece, trace the firebox opening with a light pencil using the mantel piece die.

Using the layering stamps with two shades of brown ink for the logs and yellow and orange ink for the flames, create the burning logs within the penciled firebox. Using a blending brush, ink up the firebox to make sooty walls. Glue the inner firebox frame around the inked firebox. Use foam squares on the back of the mantel piece to adhere it to the outline piece. Blend some color onto the mantel piece.

Decorations: There are a number of decoration stamps in Fireplace Stamp & Cut set. I stamped both candles, the elf, tallest tree and the pinecones in greenery onto white heavy cardstock and heated embossed them before coloring with watercolor pencils. Next, I fussy cut them out leaving a long tab at the bottom of each to attach them to the fireplace I glued the tabs to the backside of the mantel piece and place foam squares on the backs of the pieces. The stockings were also stamped, heat embossed and watercolored. They are glued to the front of the mantel piece.

Sentiments: All of the sentiments were stamped, and heat embossed onto cardstock. The “ho ho ho” was stamped on pink cardstock to go at the base of the fireplace as if the sounds were coming down the chimney into the firebox. Crosshatch dies were used to cut out the larger sentiments of “Warm wishes” on a rug and “Merry Christmas” on a wall plaque. A second white rug was added for a personal message. The first rug is popped up on foam squares to act as an easel stop while the second rug is glued down for the ease of writing a message.

Envelope: The back flap of the envelope is stamped with a green elf to hint at the magic to come.

easel-card-sheet-2Download

CRX Sheet:  With many interactive cards, the recipient needs instructions on how to open and set-up the card. I create CRX sheets (card recipient experience) to include in the envelope. You can download for free the easel/double easel CRX sheet.

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

Other Fireplace Cards by designer/brand

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

  • Hero Arts – Stamp & Cut XL – Clear Stamps – Fireplace – DC295

Papers

  • Graphic 45 – 8×8 Double-Sided Paper Pack – Let’s Get Cozy
  • Recollections – 8.5×11 Cardstock 110 lb – Rose Petals
  • White Cardstock
  • Park Lane Paperie – A7 Cardbase and Envelope – White

Pigments: Ink, Watercolors & Embossing Powder

  • Simon Says Stamp – Pawsitively Saturated Ink – Aegean
  • VersaMark – Watermark Stamp Pad
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink- Black Soot and Saltwater Taffy
  • Hero Arts – My Monthly Hero Mini Stamp Cubes – Cup O’Joe, Lemon Drop and Creamsicle
  • My Favorite Things – Premium Dye Ink – Milk Chocolate
  • Sharpie – Permanent Marker – Ultra Fine Tip – Red
  • Crafter’s Square – Metallic Marker – .05 In Point – Gold
  • Nuvo – Highly Pigmented Watercolor Pencils – Elementary Tones and Brilliantly Vibrant
  • Recollections – Detail Embossing Powder – Ebony

Adhesives

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • We R Memories – QuickStick
  • Stamping Platform
  • LDRS – Stampendable Stamping Tool
  • Stamping Cloth
  • Sponge Dauber
  • Ink blending Brush
  • Craft Mat
  • Scissors
  • Heat Tool
  • Kat Scrappiness – Anti-Static Tool
  • Water Brush
  • Kraft Knife