I was an elementary school teacher for many years. During Christmas time for Social Studies we studied Christmas traditions around the world. This was my absolute favorite time of the year with my students. So, for our Christmas Around the World card kit I have chosen my most favorite countries we studied to feature.
Mexico: Great food and wonderful traditions centered around Papa Noel.
Sweden: St. Lucia was my favorite tradition in Sweden we studied.
Australia: My students got the biggest kick out of the fact that it was hot and summer there during Christmas.
Germany: Of course what would a study be without studying the origin of the Christmas tree.
Please sit back and enjoy the elements we put together for our Christmas Around the World Flavor of the Month Card Kit. Make sure you leave our designers some love on their blog and hop back to the SFL blog to enter the Rafflecopter. You can purchase the kit on Scrapping for Less on the Subscription page.
Welcome to my blog! I am guest designing for Scrapping for Less for their October Flavor of the Month Card Kit. I designed a card for each of the four different collections included in this kit. Check out my process video below! I love Scrapping for Less’ card kits, especially their October kits because they are Christmas themed. It’s a great kit to help you get started on your Christmas cards.
I really love the theme of this year’s kit–Christmas around the world. There are so many fun and unique stamps, papers and crafty goodies inside. I especially love the Papa Noel Stamp along with the Feliz Navidad sentiment! For each of these cards I used one of the Card Sketches that Scrapping for Less provides.
Here is my process video for these cards! You can watch it here or over on my YouTube channel in HD.
Card #1: Papa Noel
I stamped out Papa Noel on some Stonehenge colored pencil paper–see link below. This paper is fabulous to use with your color pencils of choice. It’s smooth, but it has a fine texture that pulls the pigments off your colored pencils. I used odorless mineral spirits and blending stumps to smooth out my coloring.
Card #2: Santa in Australia
For this card I stamped out the images on a circle die cut, and I used Arteza alcohol Markers to color it in.
Here are the markers I used: Santa – Pale Peach; Trunks, Beard & Ball of Hat: White Diamond, Cloudy Gray; Trunks & Hat – Red, Ruby Red, and Apple Green; Surf Board – Lime Green & Tuscan Sun; Beach – Jasmine Yellow & Beach Sand; Ocean – Arctic Blue
Card #3: Easy Ephemera and Pattern Paper Card
This card was the quickest of the set to create. This card leans heavily on the cuteness of the pattern paper and ephemera pieces, and they support it well! I love all the pattern papers in these collections!
Card #4: O Christmas Tree Card
I love a great tree stamp, and this one really tickled my fancy. I stamped it out with some green Ombre ink that gives it even more dimension and interest. I stamped the star with yellow ink.
Hello everyone! Thank you for stopping by! I am reviewing Arteza’s watercolor pencils and their 100% cotton watercolor pad today. I’m also using a darling stamp set from Hello Bluebird called Pumpkin Time. Thirdly, because of one the the sentiments from this stamp set, I’m also going to talk about one of my favorite authors, L.M. Montgomery.
Let’s start with the Arteza Watercolor pencils & paper first. Watercolor pencils is one of my favorite mediums to use. They give you a lot more control than pan watercolors, and they’re fun to use, especially if you like colored pencils like I do. I have a few different sets of watercolor pencils, and I’m very happy to add Arteza’s set to my arsenal. They sent me the 72 pencil set, and I love the bright and vibrant colors. They look beautiful on the paper even before you activate them with your paintbrush. The watercolor paper they sent along with them is 100% cotton which I prefer to use these days. I used to enjoy using Canson XL watercolor paper, and it’s not a bad paper, but once I tried out all cotton papers, it’s hard to go back. The colors blend and move so beautifully on 100% cotton papers. They are more expensive, but as a card maker, the paper lasts me a long time.
Here is a link to the free swatch chart I created for these pencils:
The stamp set that I chose to use with the Arteza watercolor pencils and paper is from Hello Bluebird. This is the first time I’ve used one of their stamp sets. I love fox images, and this fox is pushing a wheelbarrow of pumpkins! I just couldn’t resist it. All of the sentiments in this set are beautiful, especially one in particular.
The sentiment I used on my card says, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” This was written by L.M Montgomery–famous for her Anne of Green Gables series. I have very fond memories of reading these to my grandmother who had failing eyesight and couldn’t read anymore. After the PBS series came out in the 80’s, they started re-publishing all of Montgomery’s other works. I gobbled them up. One of my favorites is “The Blue Castle.” It’s sad and funny, and I’ve read it several times. A close second of my favorites is Jane of Lantern Hill. I also really love the Emily of New Moon series. All of her books are great reads!! Let me know if you’ve read any of these, or if you do decide to read one, let me know how you liked it! I love book talk!
Here is a picture of the Octoberesque card I created using all the products I mentioned above. It’s was so fun using Arteza’s watercolor pencils, and I love how the card turned out!
Here is a list of the Arteza Watercolor Pencils I used: Fox – Pumpkin, Blood Orange, Cinnamon, Smoke & Pink Macaroon; Vest – Pewter & Charcoal; Scarf – Moss & Pink Macaroon; Pumpkins – Pumpkin, Blood Orange & Matcha; Wheelbarrow – Burnt Ochre, Charcoal, Pewter, Espresso; Mouse – Elephant Gray & Pink Macaroon; Leaves – Honey, Pumpkin, Blood Orange, Moss, Matcha, Burnt Ochre
Here is the process video showing how I created this card. You can watch it here or over on my YouTube channel in HD. I hope you have a lovely day!
Hello everyone! We are in the midst of a gorgeous fall here in Chicagoland. I love creating cards with all the traditional fall-time colors, and I went all-out fall with Simon Says Stamp’s October card kit. The floral images and the sentiments in the stamp set form this kit are lovely! However, its the kind of set that you can use all year round.
I created these cards using a lot of different art mediums, and a lot of different techniques. I always have a ball creating with SSS’s card kits, and this one was no exception. You will see pictures of all the cards I created, my process video, and supply links below.
Card #1: Note of Thanks Card
I stamped the flower image from the Thankful Blooms set onto a piece of darling pattern paper and colored it in with Faber Castell colored pencils. A small strip of metallic paper from the kit, brings this card to the next level.
Polychromos Colored Pencils: Cinnamon 189, Light Purple Pink 128, Fuchsia 123, Red-Violet 194, Earth Green Yellowish 168, Permanent Green Olive, 167, Cream 102, Venetian Red 190
Card #2:Black & White Thanks Card with Metallic Sentiment
This black and white floral pattern paper is beautiful enough to stand on it’s own, so I just added my sentiment, a few gemstones and called it done.
Card #3: Double Emboss on Patter Paper Card
I embossed the floral image as well as the sentiment with Penny embossing powdered onto a piece of pattern paper. I love all the browns of the embossing, the lines on the pattern paper and the dark chocolate card base. I added a pop of interest by coloring in the flowers and leaves with some Distress Oxide inks. Very fast coloring!
Card #4: Fall Flowers Card
This card took the longest to put together, but it’s my favorite. I colored in the flowers with alcohol markers from Arteza–These flowers are the star of the show; however, I really love the cute pattern paper, and the bold thanks die cut.
Arteza Everblend Art Markers – Tuscan Sun, Sunflower Yellow, Amber Yellow, Macaron Pink, Coral, Tea Green, Olive Green
Card #5: Diagonal Pattern Paper Cards
This card design in a two-fer. I created two cards in the same time it takes to create one card. I cut down the pattern papers into 5 1/4 by 4 inches, and then I put them together and cut them out diagonally. I added a stripe of metallic card stock and some gemstones to add some bling. I was able to stamp the sentiments right onto the pattern paper because they are bold enough to not get lost.
Card #6: White Embossed Pattern Card
I really enjoyed working with this dark chocolate card stock from the kit. A lot of card crafters, it seems, don’t like to work with brown, but I love it! I embossed the large flower cluster several times around the dark chocolate card stock. I used the same thanks sentiment die on this card, a few iridescent bubbles, and that is all. The beauty of the stamp speaks for itself.
Card #7: Wood Grain Flower Card
I used my Prismacolor pencils to color in the flowers on this card. I really love the wood grain pattern paper, and I though a wood grain frame would compliment it well. I stamped my sentiment right onto the pattern paper even though the letters are very small. The pattern paper was light enough to allow me to do this.
This was the fasted card to put together. I simply stamped the flower inside the squares of this plaid pattern paper. I used a strip of metallic paper to add a pop of interest to this card. I then adhered everything down onto a black card base on which I heat embossed the sentiment.
Card #9: Watercolor Card with Tiny Notes
I just had to watercolor in these flowers, and I enjoyed every minute of it! I used another piece of pattern paper behind the flower cluster. I stamped two tiny sentiments onto cream colored card stock and tucked them behind the flower cluster.
Card #10: Stamped Pattern Background Card
I stamped all the small images from the stamp set onto a piece of kraft card stock. I adore the dots stamps. I’m keep though out on my desk, because I know I will use them a lot. They aren’t perfect circle dots–they’re wonky dots! I love anything wonky! I feel a bit wonky myself oftentimes. Lol!
After I was done coloring in my background with Prismacolor pencils, I felt it just needed a little something more, so I added a little bit of teal colored pencil on some of the images. It just needed a little pop of color. It didn’t need any gemstones this time; the background is busy enough. I used a piece of metallic paper to mat it. However, I wanted the metallic paper to show up a little more, so I cut slits into two of the corners and slid my panel into it. Kinda different but fun!
Prismacolor Pencils: Goldenrod 1034, Yellow Ochre 942, Limepeel 1005, Artichoke 1098, Olive Green 911, Kelp Green 1090, Light Aqua 992
It’s time to create some fall-time cards!! I found this darling stamp set from Newton’s Nook called Pumpkin Latte, and I just love the images in it!! I started out with one design and then mixed it up to create 4 cards with this fabulous stamp set.
Card #1: Latte Lady
I started out with my background for this card. I used several Distress Oxides to blend out a background for my latte lady. I colored in the images with some alcohol markers from Arteza. I used the coordinating dies to cut everything out, and then I simply adhered them to my card base. I heat embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder.
The background on this card is darker than the first one because I blended on a lot more distress oxide. I used more images that I colored in with alcohol markers. This card is very similar to the first one.
I love creating stamped pattern backgrounds. I used pigment ink to do this, as it stamps out dark and crisp without a stamp positioner. I blended on some carved pumpkin Distress Oxide ink to create a focal point for my latte lady.
Card #4: Latte Lady on Kraft Card Stock
This card is different from the other 3 because I stamped my images on to kraft card stock and colored them in with some Faber Castell Polychromos pencils. I used a banner die cut to spotlight my latte lady.
Colored Pencils: Skin – Coat – Cold Grey II, Cold Grey III, Cold Gray IV, Cobalt Blue; Pumpkins – Cadmium Orange, Dark Cadmium Orange, Light Yellow Ochre, Caput Mortuum, May Green, Olive Green Yellowish; Jeans – Cobalt Blue, Prussian Blue Hair – Burnt Siena, Raw Umber, Dark Naples Ochre
Hello everyone! Happy autumn!! I felt it was time to pull out my Gelly Roll pens to create a couple of Halloween cards. I came across a new-to-me stamp company called The Rabbit Hole Designs. I just love these two jack-o-lantern stamp sets called Pumpkin Hair Don’t Care, and Pumpkin Friends. These stamps were perfect to use with this gel pen technique. The lines of the stamps are very sketchy, and that helps to add shading and more interest to the cards.
I am also very excited to announce the launch of my very own Jackie’s Craft Table Glue!! I use liquid glue on practically every card I create, and my glue is a strong, archival quality glue that dries clear. In my slightly biased opinion–lol–it’s as good as any other liquid adhesive out on the market, and it’s cheaper. It’s also super cute with its bright pink cap! Please check out my Etsy shop if you are interested in this new product.
Card #1: Pumpkin Hair Don’t Card
On this card I stamped out the image with white pigment ink, allowed it to dry for a few minutes, and then drew right over the lines with some Moonlight Gelly Roll Pens. The moonlight pens show up really well on the black card stock. I also used a few Metallic Gelly Rolls. This card was so fun to create, as well as fast and very cute!!
Card #2: Pumpkin Friends
On my second card I stamped the image with dark brown pigment ink. Then I used an ink smearing technique. All you need to do is put down a little section of ink at a time and then smudge it with your finger. You have to work in small sections to be able to smear the ink before it dries. I left a lot of the kraft card stock showing through because I love the look of it on these pumpkins. I re-stamped my images after I finished coloring them to crisp up the lines–you can skip this step if you want to. I made a mask for my image and then blended on two different Distress Oxide Inks to add a little bit of background color behind them.
Jackie's Craft Table 