What's Up Wednesday: Easy Mass Production Christmas Cards

Hello there peeps!

It's Shay here today.  First, did you see our cool new contest: pin it to win it?  You could be one of three to win!  And if you need some inspiration on which stamps to pin, did you see Norma's ornament HERE or Julie's canvas HERE?  Keep on checking back all month for more amazing holiday projects from Norma and Julie!

I know that the holidays are almost upon us.  Perhaps you need a little help with getting some pretty cards out pronto?  With a single stamp, ink, patterned paper, a punch and a little bling you can mass produce several cards and have them ready to mail or give out in no time.

I chose solid block type images: the snowflake block from Holiday Greetings cling stamp set or Snowy cling stamp set; the holly block from Holiday Greetings cling stamp set or Holiday Greenery cling stamp set; and wise men block from Wise Men cling stamp set to stamp in three colors which coordinated with the patterned paper I picked out.

For these cards I wanted to play with non-holiday patterned paper in non-traditional colors.  We all have beautiful patterned paper that with a holiday stamp can be transformed for the holidays.  I went with a white cardbase to make these cards even more streamlined and inexpensive.

I found with the snowflake and holly stamps I could cut a strip of 2" height from the patterned paper and still have plenty of the patterned showing.  I adhered three blocks onto my strip of patterned paper and then adhered a strip of coordinating punched paper to the bottom.  Next, I adhered the whole strip to the cardbase and cut off any overhang.  Last I added some jewels to the blocks for that holiday sparkle (a slightly larger jewel was placed on the center block).

The Wise Men card is a bit different in that the stamp is taller than the snowflake and holly block stamps and has more negative space.  Because of the differences, I cut a strip of  3" from patterned paper and also added a banner style sentiment strip cut from white cardstock to place over some of that negative space.  The sentiment comes from Holiday Greetings or Holiday Script--excellent stamp sets for this time of year!

Snowflake card (bonus: could be used for any winter holiday):

Holly card:

Wise Men card:

Without a doubt you could stamp the cardbase for more color and interest, but this design is so easy and quick that you could crank out a ton of cards without much trouble and then add your own touches and embellishments as you desire.  Buttons, sequins, sprays/mists, pearls and brads are just a few things you could use.  If you love to sew, sew your layers with matching thread or be even more bold by using metallic thread!  You can also add a sentiment of your choice or put the sentiment inside.  Merely change up the colors and patterned paper each time for a unique card each and every time!

I hope you ink up some Paper Wings Productions stamps and create your holiday cards!  We would love to see what you make with Paper Wings Productions stamps.  Add your projects to our flickr group, to Pinterest, comment with a link on this post or even email pictures to us!

Take flight,

Shay.

Supplies:

Snowflake card

Stamps: Holiday Greetings or Snowy

Ink: Jenni Bowlin for Ranger in lemon drops, stick candy and chewing gum 

Cardstock: Georgia-Pacific in white

Patterned Paper: Neapolitan 6x6 paper pad from Dear Lizzy by American Crafts

Other: border punch by EK Success; clear jewels

Holly card

Stamps: Holiday Greetings or Holiday Greenery
Ink: Jenni Bowlin for Ranger in lemon drops, seed packet and chicken feed
Cardstock: Georgia-Pacific in white
Patterned Paper: Sketchpad 6x6 paper pad from Amy Tangerine by American Crafts
Other: border punch by EK Success; clear jewels

Wise Men card

Stamps: Wise Men and Holiday Greetings or Holiday Script

Ink: Jenni Bowlin for Ranger in seed packet, chicken feed and cough syrup; Tim Holtz Distress Ink by Ranger in broken china

Cardstock: Georgia-Pacific in white

Patterned Paper: Memoir 6x6 paper pad by Studio Calico

Other: border punch by EK Success; clear jewels

Feature Friday- Advent Calendar: Part 2

Hello Peeps! 

Welcome back to Part 2 of the Advent Calendar!  Today I"m sharing tag 9-16.  Since I used smaller tags for this project, I felt the smaller numbers from the Perfect Alphabet Clear set would be a better choice, and keep the focus on the image. The number 9 is from the Perfect Number Clear Set and all were stamped with Versa Fine Black Onyx.  Let's take a look at them!!



 I've been inspired by so many ideas on Pinterest, Splitcoast, and Online Card Classes Holiday Workshop.  Here are today's tags!

Details:  This tag features one of our Christmas Sentiments stamps in the background, and one of our border stamps from our Life Framer set. I inked cardstock in yellow, red and green, and then embossed the border stamp in a contrasting color and cut the strips to length for the tree shape.  The star is from our Hanging Stars set, and it is also embossed (Egyptian Gold-Judikens)

Details: Cardstock background (Basic Grey), white Neenah Cardstock with a torn edge added for snow and snowman from Snowman Love set and used the cute little scarf for this little guy.  The Let it Snow was stamped to fit the space and embossed with Stampin' Up Whisper White ep.  Since he was looking upward, I had to give him a little snowflake to watch from the Winter Mix It Up set.  And of course, I couldn't resist a little Rock Candy Distress Stickles to make the snow sparkle.

Details:  I'm a Texas gal!  So, I had to pay a little tribute to Texas!  I used the Lone Star State clear stamp and stamped it on this cute Christmas plaid paper and cut it out. I added the cute Texmas sentiment in Festive Berries distress ink. And finally, a sweet little mistletoe from the Holiday Tags clear set. The woodgrain paper is from Studio Calico.  Perfect!!

Details:  I just love this pine bough and pine cones from the Pines Cling Stamp Set. I added another element from the Holiday Tags clear set to create an ornament.  I drew the hanger and bow with a gold pen.  And, I love this sentiment from the Winter Mix It Up set.

Details:  Basic Grey green paper from Figgy is accented here with Flourish Fun 2 stamp and two more strips of BG Figgy paper.  All edges are inked with Walnut Distress ink, and the Happy Holiday Script sentiment added and embossed in red! Simple and Elegant.

 Details: Here is another stamp from the Pines Cling Stamp Set using the large tree and I used a white pen to add snow to the tree and Frosted Lace stickles.  Although it is faint here, I used the small dot stamp from the Art Textures set to create falling snow stamped with SU! Whisper White craft ink and embossed with clear ep.  It reminds me of a trip I took to Wyoming for my first Christmas in snow.  I'll never forget that.

Details:  This one took a little work, but I love how it turned out.  The tag background is inked with two colors of Distress ink plus a little Walnut.  I've added a strip of paper to separate the two areas and give it some interest.  Then I used the Merry Clear stamp with Christmas in black, and merry stamped in Festive Berries on a separate brown inked tag.  I embossed merry ink clear to give it a little shine, and then trimmed the sentiment to expose the background and have the letters hang off the side. The finishing touch is the holly berries and leaves from Holiday Tags stamped and colored with Distress markers, with a touch of Barn Door distress stickles. It feels classic and delicate.

 Details:  I loved seeing this technique from Jennifer McGuire in the Online Card Classes Holiday Workshop.  First I stamped the sentiment from Snowman Love  and using a mask, I have sectioned off part of the tag and stamped a flourish and several snowflakes in a variety of blues along the edge.  Using an ink blending tool, I shaded the exposed areas of the tag.  And, to add that icy look, a touch of Diamond Stickles.  I love how this one turned out! (Flourish Fun 2 , Holiday Mix It Up, and Winter Mix It Up for the snowflakes).

Lots of festive designs here for part 2 of our Advent Calendar.  There will be one more installment of the remaining tags before the end of the month.  I hope you found something today (or several ideas) that will inspire you for your projects. As always, I'd love to see what you create!  Add your projects to our flickr group, to Pinterest, comment with a link on this post or even email pictures to us! See you soon with the final set of tags. 

"Deck the Halls!!!"
Happy Stamping!

Julie