Sweet Holiday Wishes

Hi friends! The Not 2 Shabby quarterly release is available in the shop today! You can purchase all the new goodies in the Festive Christmas I Want it All Bundle to save a little, or most of the items are available to order individually. 

This release includes the Festive Christmas Paper Pad, Gingerbread Houses Ephemera, Christmas Shops Ephemera, Vintage Christmas Charm Enamel Dots, and Mini Messages Stamp Set. Today I'm sharing a couple of projects with the sweet Gingerbread Houses Ephemera and the Mini Messages Stamp Set.

Do you ever have those days when you just have a color in mind and want to create with it? When I saw these houses my mind kept coming back to mint macaron and regal rose. I haven't used my Stampin' Up cardstock in a while because I have a rolling cart in front of the file cabinet it's stored in. But I pulled some out just for this crafty session and think I will find a way to get it back on a shelf I can reach for the future. There are so many good colors.

My card starts with the Gingerbread Houses ephemera as my focal point. I layered some of the candy canes and candy swirls on either side to create a scene and then added a bunch of accents with glossy glaze and a sprinkling of glitter. I just love the way this dresses up a piece of ephemera.

The background for the card, as well as for the tag I'm sharing next use the Striped Honeycomb Stencil. Here I used wheat ink on wheat cardstock, then added to a scallop rectangle mat from Sage Shadow.  The sentiment is from the new Mini Messages Stamp Set and cut with one of the dies from the EZ Wonder #1 Add Ons. These sentiments were intended to be used with your EZ Wonder Dies and I know this set will be WELL loved!

I finished with a chipboard snowflake from my stash, a couple of sparkling enamel dots on the candy swirls and some Doodlebug heart stickers on the sentiment banner.

Next up I created a tag with a gift card holder pocket on the back. I started by die cutting the tag shape and then stenciling with the Striped Honeycomb Stencil and roughing up the edges. I then took a little gander through my shabby chic supplies and found some leaves, a flower and some lace that I thought would go with the Gingerbread Houses Ephemera that I had chosen.  I collaged everything together, adding another Mini Messages sentiment on a banner.  A little gold ribbon at the top finishes things off.

I forgot to photograph the back side, but I did cut a gift card pocket from patterned paper and adhered to the back for gift giving.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I have lots more to share with these products, so be sure to check back soon.

Click here for details about affiliate links

Christmas in Gold and a Video Hop

Hi friends! It's the 10th of the month and time for the Not 2 Shabby design team to share inspiration with our October subscription products. Hop along on YouTube and enter for a chance to win a gift code to the Not 2 Shabby shop.

They say a picture's worth a 1,000 words but sometimes a video captures even more. Today for my video I'm just doing a project share of the ensemble of cards and gift card holders I made with the elegant Christmas in Gold papers in the October Paper Pad Club. You can watch it below or on my YouTube channel.

I really love this gorgeous paper pad, but a lot of the patterns are busier than I typically reach for. So I challenged myself to use the patterned paper in several different ways, and here's the ensemble of cards, gift card holders and coordinating envelopes I created.

Ways I used patterned paper on these projects:

1. Fussy cut pieces from the paper to use as images on your card. I did that here with the beautiful flowers, arranging them in a lovely spray to accent the sticker sentiment I chose as my focal point. A little gold foil matting between each layer is a great way to add a touch of elegance. I finished with some sparkling enamel dots to accent the flowers.

2. Create a shape out of your patterned paper to use as a focal point. Here I layered two strips of patterned papers together then accented with pin stripe stickers and washi tape.  I used a corner punch to create a ticket/label shape. I added a doily behind, then accented with a wooden deer shape and a sentiment from the Deer Friends stamp set.

3. Use strips of paper to create a focal panel. Here I cut strips out of my scraps and glued them to thin white cardstock, alternating the strips.  I then die cut with a rectangle die for a fun panel.  I finished the cards with a sentiment from the Elegant Christmas stamp set and another wooden shape from my stash.

4. If you're paper isn't the right size or direction, glue pieces together to create what you need. For this gift card holder I wanted to use a scrap of paper with the deer design. However, it's  a directional print and didn't fit the top fold version of the gift card holder.  So I decided to make a side fold version and glued a 2" strip of the deer design to a 6" strip of  the floral design and then covered the seams with a pin stripe sticker. The inside is covered up with a piece of cardstock to write a note to the recipient. And if you didn't like the idea of fussy cutting on the first card, you can also just die cut a portion of the paper, like I did here with the deer to use as a focal point on the front of the gift card holder.. 

5. When you have a big piece of paper with a large design or scene, it's okay to cut it up. Even if it cuts off an image, it can make some beautiful patterns you might not have noticed in the larger scene. Here the tops of the trees make such an interesting piece for the inside of this gift card holder.

My final gift card holder doesn't use a unique technique per se, but I did choose the pattern knowing that the back was the large scene paper and this would be a great way to use it up. It gives a great border around the inside of the gift card holder and you'd never guess there's a huge deer behind there.

I fussy cut a couple more flowers and inked the edges with black ink. The sentiment is from the October Stamp of the Month, Vintage Santa and cut with the coordinating die set.

The gift card envelopes are made with the Envelope Punch Board with the measurements for a full sheet of 6 x 6 paper. Makes it so nice and easy to coordinate your gift.

If you're still reading, high five! That was a long one! Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hope you have a super creative day.

Click here for details about affiliate links