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Monday, September 9, 2019

Cardmaker Problems

I had blocked out Sunday to make some Christmas cards and had a completely organized and clean house and office. Started the day with my favorite tacos, at a place that also has the best coffee in town. I watered the plants, and filled up the birdbath and bird feeders - a.k.a. - turned on CatTV.

So I was set up for success, right? It should have gone like a session Cinderella might have had, with little bluebirds bringing me die cuts and ribbon, and me singing and adjusting my perfectly coiffed hair, occasionally stopping to pet my adorable pet talking squirrel.

But in case you can't hear the creepy theme music, that is not at all what happened.

Well, that's a little dramatic. It went well for most of the day. But I was also working on a project via text with two friends while I was working. And I had had my class on Saturday, so the cards that we made at class were on my desk. And although it was empty when I started, you know that doesn't last long.

So we are sending ideas back and forth, and I'm working in my growing pile of supplies and cards, and I make the CUTEST card front that you'll see below - so bright and happy. I loved it when I was done. And I flip it over to glue it onto the card base, and, in slow motion, as I flip it over, I see what I had done.

I made my card on the back of one of the 
class cards we had made on Saturday.

Yep. I'm super smart and organized and deliberate.

This meant that I had to destroy the class card to be able to make a card out of my cute card front - it was like Sophie's choice.

But I had leftover kits for the card we made at class, so I had to choose the new card. Oh well. On to today's projects.

I'm plugging along on Christmas cards, and I remember fondly the release that launched Concord & 9th - with that adorable little Christmas tree die. The tree I made when I bought their very first project is still on the shelf that's next to me as I type this.

I look forward to their Christmas releases every year since, because they're always bold and graphic and just different. Today is no exception. I'll start with my favorite clean & simple card, because that's typically what my Christmas cards feature. Plus, the imagery in this gorgeous stamp set is perfect for an all Blueprint Sketch card.

I used my Life Changing Blender brush to ink the entire card front with Blueprint Sketch Distress Ink. I used a second brush to make a very subtle beam of light on top of the blue ink with Gina K's white pigment ink. Then I set the cradle and sentiment up in my MISTI and stamped them in Nocturne.

I used the matching dies to cut a little star from the neutrals glitter paper and glued that down. I made little rays with my Graphik pen as well as the highlights on the cradle, and then outlined the star in black fineliner. This is an easy, duplicatable and beautiful Christmas card. I could stare at that blue all day. The dies also allow for stitching!
 Next - the tragic card. The one that made me rip up Santa! :D

Their new turnabout cried out for my electro pop neon inks! It's SUCH a cute Turnabout, and it's a double - so you do the berries and the leaves separately so that you can alternate the colors. Adorable!

This turnabout does have a fabulous set of frame and sentiment dies that match, as well as additional leaves and berries, but I used this month's free with purchase die. This will be included with every $60 and up order! It's so cute in the sparkly Neutrals glitter paper. I love negative space word dies. This card was worth ripping Santa's face up, right? I think so. The colors make me happy. Another quick and easy card that would be a snap to reproduce.
 Their new stocking set is cute just stamped, but it also has an interactive component that I couldn't resist! It has sentiments perfectly sized for the little pull tab that's included in the die set, as well as the tag and the pull here stamp. You can put various things in the top of the stocking. So adorable! I cut the stocking and topper pieces out of cold press watercolor paper, and watercolored them with Daniel Smith. The little hearts on the card base are from the heart bundle, but just stamped once in Sandy Beach.
 Next up, a stamp set I consider to be one in Concord & 9th's signature style. It's a floral builder set with a frame and word dies. I stamped the whole thing in Nocturne, and watercolored it with Daniel Smith. Then I also cut the Christmas letters from Neutrals Glitter paper, as well as the cute little merry, and then I glued those down on top of the stamped letters.

I cut it out with the matching frame die, and then put it on a card I stamped the Woven Stripes Background once vertically and once horizontally in Gina K White ink, and then glued down my little scene.
 And last, but not least, the card I actually started the session with!

I used this sweet mistletoe stamp & die bundle and cut the mistletoe out of watercolor paper. Did you know mistletoe comes with white AND red berries? It's true! So I went with red, because it's so pretty with Phthalo Turquoise.

I mounted that on a piece of watercolor paper I embossed with this stunning embossing folder, and put the whole thing on a kraft card base. The little banner die is included with this set.
They also have TWO full release bundles this time. One with the foil paper, and one without. Both at a big discount!



That's all I need for holiday cards! 

Holiday Release Bundle
[ C&9 ]
Holiday Release Bundle No Foil
[ C&9 ]
Silent Night
[ C&9 ]
Sew Silent Night Dies
[ C&9 ]
Mistletoe Messages Dies
[ C&9 ]
Embossing Folder - Aztech Stars —...
[ BMR ]
Mistletoe Messages
[ C&9 ]
Stocking Stuffers
[ C&9 ]
Stocking Stuffers Dies
[ C&9 ]
Hearts BUNDLE - Concord & 9th
[ C&9 ]
Holly Berry Turnabout
[ C&9 ]
Holly Berry Dies
[ C&9 ]
Christmas Florals
[ C&9 ]
Christmas Florals Dies
[ C&9 ]
Merry Shapes
[ C&9 ]
Sew Merry Shapes Dies
[ C&9 ]
Jolly Dies
[ C&9 ]
Woven Stripes Background
[ C&9 ]
Neutrals Glitter Paper Pack - Concord...
[ C&9 ]
Holiday Foil Paper Pack
[ C&9 ]
Neutrals Foil Paper Pack
[ C&9 ]
Gina K Designs SANDY BEACH Premium...
[ SSS ]
Picket Fence Studios LIFE CHANGING...
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad BLUEPRINT...
[ SSS ]
VersaFine Clair Ink Pad, Nocturne -...
[ ELH | SSS ]
Electro Pop Ink Pads- Set of 8 - Gina...
[ GNK ]
Gina K Designs WHITE PIGMENT Color...
[ SSS ]
White Porous Point Pen
[ BLIC ]
Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors
[ BLIC ]
Escoda Versatil Brushes, Travel Round...
[ UTR | BLIC | INK ]
Fabriano Extra White Cold Press...
[ BLIC ]
Mermaid tidy towel case and glue...
[ ETS ]
Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473
[ SSS ]
Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White
[ GNK ]
MISTI Stamping Tool
[ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ]
Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -...
[ BLIC ]
LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for...
[ BRG ]
Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC
[ ELH | SSS ]
Crafter's Companion GEMINI...
[ SSS ]
Essentials by Ellen Storage...
[ ELH ]
Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets...
[ CHC ]
XL Stamp Storage Pockets
[ ELH ]
Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045
[ SSS | CST ]
Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies
[ ART ]
Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring...
[ SSS ]
Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two...
[ SSS | MFT ]


Well, that is if I don't ruin one Christmas card making another. :)

Loveyameanitbye.

7 comments:

  1. Love what you have done with all of your cards!! It was a very creative Sunday!!💜🌵

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cat-TV is a must on busy stamping days! I could actually here Cinderalla singing and blue birds brining you die cuts! :) Wow! What a gorgeous set of cards! The blue one is stunning. I LOVE the stocking card because I am not an interactive girl but this actually looks simple enough for me to do AND is still interactive. I LOVE that! I love the colors on all the cards. So fun!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a terrific release - thanks for sharing! At first glance I didn't notice the interactive feature of the stocking set - so cute!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love C&9 Turnabouts! This one is exceptional! Gorgeous cards, I never thought to use white pigment ink this way, I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Arrrggghhh! That moment when you realize you made a beautiful card on the back of another beautiful card! What a beautiful collection on your blog today. Love the clean and simple look of the blue "Adore Him" card.

    ReplyDelete
  6. These are wonderful......and I am totally the Dory of cardmaking......oh look that’s a pretty color, ooh wow maybe that will match, oh here’s my lost marker, wait there’s a diecut on the floor, better find the rest of the set, oh this set needs a new label.....and on and on and on.....

    ReplyDelete

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