Last Minute Holiday Cards Quick and Beautiful!

Do you need some last minute Christmas cards you can make in a hurry and be proud to send out to family and friends? I made a dozen beautiful cards in just one afternoon with crafty favorites such as layered stencils, patterned mirror card. 3D embossing folders, and of course dies and I show all of them in my newest video here. 

These three cards were made in just minutes with patterned mirror card and Easy 3D Toppers I found at Paper Wishes. The layered Merry Christmas die is a favorite from Karen Burniston. Look what I added to the inside of the square card in just minutes with a new die from LeCrea Design:

In the new video I show how easy it is to make 4 colorful card fronts using Taylored Expressions Create In Quads Snowflake layering stencils and then how to quickly make them into 4 cards. Here are the first card I made: 

This card took just seconds to layer the snowflake stenciled card front on a teal layer and add a Easy 3D Gnome Topper from Hearty Crafts. On the inside I edited a Tonic Studios die to say: From Our Gnome to Yours.

I learned this easy fast fun fold from Frenchie here on her blog and cut one of the snowflake quads to layer in the front pieces to make this card. The sentiment inside is from Cutplorations and I added some more Gina Marie Designs gems to this card. I cut the last quad into a Christmas tag with a Crealies tag die that can be used as a card or on a present:

I have many more cards in the video that can be made in just minutes so be sure to watch the new video here. I will probably end up with more Christmas cards than I need, but that is OK because I will send them out to others who would love to receive some Christmas joy in the mail. We can find names and addresses on The Angel Card Project or on Because Kindness facebook groups. On both of these Faceook groups, names and requests for cards are posted all year round but especially during the holidays.

Rubberstamp Madness Column Sharing Holiday Joy

After writing an article recently for Rubberstamp Madness magazine, I was asked if I wanted to write the Card Shoppe column for the Holidays 2022 issue and I was thrilled to do so. One of the cards in the column was mine (see above)  and the other three were by talented card artists who I contacted and got the details on each card as well as their holiday memories and how they share joy with card making. 

I have always believed that as card makers we feel great joy in the fun of creating our cards and then spread that joy out into the world when we send our cards into the world. "Seek joy, embrace joy and share joy" is my resolution all year round.

I created the card shown in the magazine with fun Christmas cactus stamps by Impression Obsession, musical note dies from Dies...to Die For, sand embossing powder from Stampendous and a A2 shaker pocket from Tonic Studios. 

I love to personalize holiday cards for loved ones and made this one for my sister and brother-in-law who live in Arizona. I also love to use humor and changed the words on a Christmas song to say "Have Yourself a Merry Little...Cactus." 

I was honored to be the author and one of the cardmakers for this column, and you can check it out and all the other holiday cards in the Holidays 2022 issue of Rubberstamp Madness available here and in bookstores.

More Wax Seal Cards and Tags For Special People

I decided not to put my wax seals on envelopes to mail as they would have to be hand cancelled at both post offices. I will give any envelopes with seals on personally, but I made a bunch of tags for Christmas with some holiday wax stamps as I show in the new video here. I also decided to make gift bags of tags and some loose wax seals with two sided sticky circles on the back so they can be used on any card or envelope:

The wax seals either on a tag or on the present make lovely decorations on Christmas presents. Here is another card I show in the video with wax seals for each season:

One more card from the video shows a wax seal made with gilding flakes and a debossed technique I featured a few weeks ago in this video. It shows my wish for all - Happy Thanksgiving! 

I am entering the tags in the Not A Card challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

I "Woof" You Puppy and Doghouse Card

I am a huge fan of Kat Scrappiness dies and when I saw the recent pet release I knew I wasn't going to be able to resist the adorable Build A Pawsome Dog or his In the Doghouse die sets. And of course I adore stitched background dies, so the Pawsome Love Stitched Backdrop die just had to come home to me as well. 

The pawprint "Woof" is part of a Kat Scrappiness pet sentiment die set I have owned for years and used on many pet cards, and the alphabet dies are from Karen Burniston. I think this card is going to make a special little boy or girl smile when they receive it and that thought makes me happy too. 

Wax Seals Tips and Ideas for Special Occasions and Holidays Video

Well Spellbinders did it! It is all their fault - OR should I say their brilliant enabling that made me buy all the products I am featuring in my newest video here. I show how to make wax seals with lots of tips and how to make this slimline z-fold pop up card:

I learned how to make this card from Karen Aiken and it is much prettier in the video where you can see the pop up movement. The Mr. & Mrs. die is from Tonic Studios and layered forever die is from Gina K Designs. I added a heart wax seal and one I made with a plain wax stamp and some dried flowers. I also will put a wax seal on the envelope when I give this wedding card to the special couple: 

I saw an idea I loved by LaRetta Madsen where she put a mini envelope with a wax seal on a card for a gift card and just had to try it. I made a pretty patterned envelope with my Mini Envelope Punch Board from WeRMemory Keepers and used the beautiful Sealed Twine die from the Sealed by Spellbinders release to hold the envelope. I added a Christmas tree wax seal with gilding flakes. The envelope can be removed by the gift card recipient. Here are a couple more cards I made with the lovely wax seals I made:

I used some pretty foiled acetate on the first card with a wax stamp that was blank so I could rub on a Christmas 49 and Market rub on and add some gems. The second card was another made with the gorgeous kirigami dies from Anna Griffin on patterned mirror card. Showing in the inside is another beautiful wax seal and a Happy Birthday message on a Gina Marie Designs leaf die. 

I had great fun making cards and other projects with the many wax seals I made and hope you will watch the video here and give some of the ideas and products a try.

My Newest Obsession - It's All Spellbinders Fault- OR Brilliant Enabling!

I was asked by Spellbinders if I wanted to design with a few dies from their new Sealed By Spellbinders release and of course I said yes! Just look at the gorgeous Sealed Twine, Gingko and Squiggles dies here (with a Spellbinders embossing folder background.) But then I checked out the wax seals and seal stamps and I just had to try them too! The beautiful butterfly wax seal stamp is one from Spellbinders new collection here. Here is another card with that same Spellbinders lovely butterfly wax stamp:

The front of the card is a foiled acetate from Paper Wishes and I added a string to the wax seal balloon with a die from Sizzix. I had so much fun designing with wax seals I created a bunch of cards and tags, and of course made a video which will be live on Monday here. (This link will work after Monday November 21 at 6:00 a.m. cst). 

But if you don't want to make wax seals now, Spellbinders has you covered with their Faux Wax die and  clear stamp set. Looks almost the same as the card above, right? Here is another card I made with the faux wax clear stamp set and dies:

The sentiment stamp and dies are also from Spellbinders and the background sunshine die is from Crealies. I also played with using rubber and clear stamps in the wax seal and they both worked, so those can be subbed if you don't have the actual wax stamps. Here is a card I made that way with more Spellbinders dies and a snowflake punch:

Be sure to stop back next week for the new video and many cards and tags for special occasions and holidays with wax seals.

It's A Brew-tiful Day Coffee Card

I have been playing with a new die from Moonstone and Hunkydory called Interlace Snowflake and some gorgeous paper from Paper Wishes and decided to make a coffee card and join in with the 2022 Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. There are tons of prizes to be won, so you should check it out before the end of this week. 

I have decided with different colors this Interlace Snowflake die does not have to be a Christmas or winter card, and I made this one with a two sided woodgrain paper I just received from Paper Wishes. The coffee cup is from Trinity Stamps and the perfect sentiment die is from Cutplorations. 

I am entering this card in the 2022 Fall/Winter Coffee Lover's Blog Hop.