Christmas in July - July 31, 2014

I did it!
Another Christmas in July challenge I set for myself - One Christmas card for each day of the month with no duplicates during the month.

At the beginning, I wasn't so sure I could do it, but actually, I could keep going!  No - I'm not...  one card a day was tough, but doable... and life tended to creep in and interrupt this year.

 Today's card was an idea from my friend Sonya.  She was over to visit, and I needed one more card idea.  She said, "Why don't you make that fireplace?"  I actually forgot about it!!!  There for awhile, I made MANY of these - cards, challenges, 25 for the December calendar...and so on.

I used more of my Be of Good Cheer DSP for the stockings.  Even though most of my cards this month featured this paper, I used MUCH LESS than one sheet of each design, leaving me with a big stash.  LOVE LOVE LOVE this paper so much!


 So there you have them... my 31 cards - one per day for Christmas in July 2014. 

Let's see what I come up with next year if I again take on this challenge. 


 

Christmas in July - July 30, 2014

This card features a card form I've used many times - the Stampin up Card Framelits.  LOVE LOVE LOVE them!

You can make them 'short' cut at 4 1/4", or 'tall' cut at 5 7/16"... and decorate so many ways...  limitless!

 The only new piece I cut for this card was the Merry from the framelits.  I had the gingerbread men from the earlier stair-step card (made way too many!), and the Merry Christmas from a scrap I stamped and hadn't used yet.

Here you can see the card opened up to view the inside details.

Christmas in July - July 29, 2014

Does someone want a dress from Santa, or will Mrs. Santa wear this when he returns?  Who knows!

Another scraps card!  I had an extra circle left from the trees (posted earlier this month), and it fit the dress framelit quite well!  I adhered the circle to the edge of a piece of vanilla cardstock, and cut out the full dress.  Layer on some of the ribbon flowers,  a folded piece of Cherry Cobbler for the sash, and a small bow at the waist.  The bow is not so overpowering in person as it is in this picture.
Use markers to color the holly pieces, and Cherry Cobbler ink for "Dear Santa,". 

Christmas in July - July 28, 2014

 Today's card features Washi Tape!  I have to thank Linda Guild, a Cricut and Stamping friend for this idea.  I've used it often - and came up with this card from a scrap of paper just big enough to fit the stocking punch.

How?  Layer the Washi tape on a scrap of cardstock, then use your punch to cut!  This particular Washi design lined up easily, and when I overlapped the dots, it made a nice continuous design.

I then layered it on a piece of glitter cardstock cut with my Deco label framelits, added some ribbon, and the Merry Christmas.

Christmas in July - July 27, 2014

 Something NEW!   Some time ago I bought another Cuttlebug Quilled flower - this time from Amazon.  They are not difficult to make by any means - you just need some equipment.  Since I use longer dies, and have 2 other quilled flower pieces, I had what I needed.  You need the long A, B, and C plates.  This technique will also work easily in a Big Shot with the same long plates for the die cuts.

Ok... enough about the supplies.

Here are two of the quilling flowers - Poinsettias.  Instead of using yellow for the centers, I used a scrap of vanilla cs I had, and added yellow stickles to the stamens.

This card has quite a bit of dimension, and will either be delivered in person, or sent in a small box.

Christmas in July - July 26, 2014

 Here again I'm using the Watercolor Winter stamp set.

The only thing I can think of saying about this card is that I'm going to add a layer of black between the stamped image, and the red/green striped DSP.  I looks great in person, but having that layer of black, even on a Christmas card helps the image show better.

Christmas in July - July 25, 2014

There's a stamp technique 'out there' called Triple-Time Stamping.  I put a tutorial here with measurements of the layers.  I'll give you the link a bit later in this post.

I call this Triple-Double stamping.  It's the Triple-Time Stamping technique along with 2 step stamping which is a two layered stamp to make a single image.

I used the Watercolor Winter stamp set, and the Merry Christmas from my very favorite Bells and Boughs set.

The Triple-Time stamping takes a little courage, as it doesn't look like much when you're in the middle of it, but it always comes together beautifully!  Remember, you're stamping on layers, so some of the areas will not stamp along the edges.... BUT that area is covered with the mats.  

Click HERE for the post including all the measurements and instructions you'll need to make these amazing cards.

Christmas in July - July 24, 2014

 

Here's another more detailed card for today's Christmas in July celebration.

 I really like the Tri-shutter card design.  It's not all that complicated for a seasoned card-maker, though maybe a little challenging for someone just starting out.  I first made one of these a year or so into my card making only because that's when I discovered the tutorial. 

 For this card, I used a base of the Gumball Green,  the retired Be of Good Cheer DSP, and lots of other details.  The mitten punch, Scent-sational Seasons stamp (gingerbread man) and die set,  one of the SU ornaments, and one of my favorite stamp sets... Jolly Bingo Bits!

I've had lots of fun with my Stickles the last two days... lots of little touches here and there.  Red and Green buttons on the gingerbread men, holly berries on the wreath, yellow to accent the star.  I also added rhinestones on the ornament, and as holly berries.

One thing about these, every time I make one it never seems to come together well until the end.  I'm thrilled with how this one turned out!

Click HERE to find a tutorial on how to make the Tri-Shutter Card.  No, it's not difficult, it just takes some time and patience.

Christmas in July - July 23, 2014

 OOPS!  I meant to get this card up for yesterday, but I've been very busy getting ready for this coming school year - starting out with a full classroom and all after years working peripherally - it's been a hectic summer!  That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!!  :)

 Today's card is a tri-fold card.  Not difficult to make, just a little time consuming, but SO worth it!

This card does fit into a regular A2 envelope, even though it doesn't look like it will.

I punched and die cut a lot more gingerbread men than I needed for this card, so you're going to see them pop up in the next few days! :)

I used the Gumball Green Coordinations cardstock  as a base, and embossed the front and back panels and sanded them to take advantage of the effect of this paper.  I didn't emboss the center panel so I could use it for the greeting, and it would be hidden when the card was closed.

Click HERE for a tutorial on how to make the cuts for this very cute, relatively simple card.

Christmas in July - July 22, 2014

This card uses one of the new photo-polymer stamp sets from Stampin' Up called What's My Type.  It has so many possibilities! This stamp will get lots of use!  The catalog shows an entire alphabet stamped with the shapes.
Here, I used it as a type of awning (I hope that's the impression you get).
As I work with this set more often, I see endless possiblities - and have learned about getting the images lined up.  It takes only a little practice.  Once you get started, it's not as daunting as it seems.

The bottom piece of cardstock is the piece I tore from the card earlier this week - I couldn't just let it go to waste!
In the center snowflake are some more Christmas Red Stickles.

Christmas in July - July 21, 2014

LOVE this card!  It features a small piece of the Candlelight Christmas DSP, a double bow from the Cherry Cobbler seam binding, and NOEL!

This NOEL is so much more informal that the earlier card this month - but cute!  So why do I have a bow in the center of the middle image, you ask?  Because my original plan didn't quite work the way I wanted it to... but I didn't hate the image.  SO, I added some Christmas Red stickles to the package dots... and because the center NOEL was a little to crowded, the bow seemed to add some way to break up the "crowdiness"....  Yes, a new word! 

Christmas in July - July 20, 2014

Today I'm featuring another of my Clearance Rack finds!  Coordinations cardstock.  I've looked at this cs for many years - it's been available a long time.  Since Gumball Green is a retired color, and supplies of this cardstock are either low or difficult to find, I took advantage of the sale.

This is just a first toying with the cardstock, I tore it to get the color difference and show the inner color, and got out a sanding block (also on the clearance rack) to distress the front.

The stamp set is from CTMH - and I added some Christmas Red stickles for a little sparkle.