Christmas Card Making Day ~ 1st set of cards

I’m back – ready to share the 1st set of items we created from our Christmas Card Making Day which was held on Sat, Sept 22nd.

If you didn’t get a chance to read the first post about Christmas Card Making Day – CLICK HERE.

Today, I will be sharing 6 out of the 12 items made at this Annual Day held in Lancaster County!!

Our GOAL as we designed cards for this day was …
~ to use ALL of the new paper packs in the current Idea Book (whether they were Christmas like or not)

~to use AS MANY of the NEW EMBELLISHMENTS as possible!!

 We COMPLETED our GOAL!!!

We divided up each of our customers into six different groups of ladies.  Each group stayed together all day and rotated  to a NEW table every 20  minutes.  Once there – they used different techniques AND created a brand new CARD or 3D item!!!

Here are the 6 items we created in the morning…

( As I finished typing this post – I realized…these were not exactly the 6 cards we created in the morning!  Sorry about that!  Rather than re-taking pictures to include just the morning pictures, I thought I’ll just share these 6 cards and go from there.  Thanks for understanding! J)



Let’s start with Nickie Hoffer’s card…

There was a lot of embossing on this card, so Nickie took it upon herself to pre-emboss some of the items to make it less stressful for our customers.  They still did their own embossing, and learned how to do it…but were able to get the card completed and not be frustrated by the time restraint.

Products used: Pirouette stamp set, Perfect fit-Holidays stamp set, Avonlea paper,  Silver Shimmer Ribbon, Embossing Powder, Boutique Assortment, and Pigment inks


Next we have Sheri Reiff’s card…


A elegant and beautiful card using a “non-Christmas” stamp set! 

Products used: Love Blooms stamp set, Merry & Bright stamp set, Pear & Partridge paper, Almond Glitz Glitter Gel, Brown & Tan sparkles


Kate Fisher used the new Blessings of Peace stamp set


Kate created the burlap bow a different way too – and that was quite the hit with our customers!  I only have a cell phone picture of this bow…pardon the bad quality – BUT I thought it may be very helpful to share to show you how many DIFFERENT ways the Burlap Ribbon can be used!!!


Products used: Blessings of Peace stamp set, Clementine paper, Twilight Cardstock, burlap ribbon, almond glitz glitter gel, square durables


Brenda Rutt’s card is next…

Brenda & I found a card created by fellow consultant Lisa Stenz similar to this card design.  Brenda loved the idea, and from there went with it and created THIS card!  I LOVE the changes she made, and how she turned it into a soft, BEAUTIFUL Christmas Card!!!

Products used: Monogram C stamp set, Perfect Fit-Frames stamp set, Everlasting Life stamp set, La Belle Vie paper and Clear Sparkles


Gennette Feagan’s item-

We wanted to do some type of 3D item, and because of that – we chose to use the Flirty paper pack to create a fall like gift bag!!  The ARTISTE Cricut Cartridge is the PERFECT solution to creating something Fast and easy!!!

Products used: Artiste Cricut Cartridge, Casual Expressions stamp set, Olive cardstock and Black Tulle



We will end with the first card I created for this day! J 

 I love trying to think of a TECHNIQUE that may be new to some…so I put on my thinking cap and tried it on this snowman card! J  Did you notice the edging around the card base?  Can you guess how we created that look?

I used Whisper re-inker & our stipple brush!!!

This was something that I was taught how to do at the Scrapbook Spa Getaway that I won from CTMH two years ago!!!  What a FUN time with Kristine, Monica and my 9 wonderful CTMH friends!!! 


Any way – by dabbing your stipple brush in the re-inker, wiping off the access ink – you can create this look! 

1. Lay your card on top of scrap paper

2. Ink up stipple brush

3. Starting from scrap paper – PULL brush TOWARDS card base.  Your brush marks will START on the scrap paper – and end up on the edge of the card base as well.

I hope this makes sense – if not, let me know and I’ll try and get some pictures to share with you!!!

Also, by taking sand paper and sanding off an area, it gives a GREAT background to stamp a word directly over that white spot!!!

Products used: Flakey Friends stamp set, Avonlea paper pack, Slate Polka-dot satin ribbon, sanding kit, stardust glitz glitter gel

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for stopping by to see the 1st part of our Christmas Card Making day!!  Make sure you come back at the beginning of next week to see the other 6 cards we created!!!

As you start creating your OWN Christmas cards, don’t forget about my Mystery Hostess Contest that is going on NOW! This is a special that I, Krista Hershberger, and giving to my CMTH friends!!!

You have until Oct. 31st to place your order, earn tickets and get YOUR chance to be one of my THREE Mystery Hostess winners – winning FREE Close To My Heart Products!!!

CLICK HERE for all the details!!!

Have a BLESSED weekend!!!

 Krista J

Is winter coming? :)

Winter is NOT my favorite season…BUT I do LOVE snowmen!!!





So, when I saw Close To My Heart’s NEW snowman stamp set in the 2012 Fall/Winter Idea Book called  “Flakey Friends”, I knew this stamp set would become one of my new favorites!  Isn’t it CUTE?!?






It is SWAP time again, and that means I have sent off my created pieces, and am “patiently” waiting for my swaps to be returned back to me! LOL!! J

Each time a new Idea Book comes out…I participate in a swap with my team leader Karen Morris.  She coordinates everything, and swaps all of our items!!!

How does it work???  I design 5 different pieces of artwork(12x12 page, and 4 different card designs) using all new paper, ( I chose Avonlea paper) new stamp sets and new embellishments as MUCH as possible!  Then I create 8 of EACH of the 5 items!!!

I send 7 sets that I created, off to Karen (I keep one for myself) and anxiously await the arrival of the package that will contain 7 different sets of swaps…each set will use a NEW paper pack from our 2012 Fall idea book!!!!

Here is a picture of my swaps, all ready to go…

I LOVE being a part of a swap!!! It generates so many ideas AND I get beautiful artwork in return using the 8 new paper packs!!!

Today I would like to share the details of ONE of the cards with you that I created for this swap. 

I chose to use my Friendly Snowmen stamp set, “Flakey Friends”. I also chose to use our GREAT die-cut cards...these colonial white cards are 3 1/2" x 8" and I love the fancy design on the card!  J

I chose to use the Avonlea paper pack…a beautiful, elegant paper!!! I wanted to pull in the color Smokey Plum with the colors and design of this paper pack and was excited with how the card turned out!!!

 Let me share some of the FUN techniques I used in creating this card!!!

Did you notice the designed background on the top of the card?  Can you guess what it is??

Check it out!!!

I was so excited when I discovered that by laying down my Tulle ribbon, I could use my sponge and ink some of my Smokey Plum ink onto the ribbon and get a great design!!!



 I also tried out our new PIGMENT inks!!! 

I learned to really like these inks…they are PERFECT to use when I want to color in an image with our NEW alcohol markers!!

When using the pigment inks, after stamping them…make sure to give them 20-30 minutes to dry OR heat set the image, before you try to color them in.  The ink needs to bind with the paper, and this takes a little bit of time. 



Here are my snowmen, all inked and ready to be colored! J






I used the smokey plum, crème brulle, autumn terracotta (carrot nose) & olive alcohol markers to give “my men” a bit of color.  I am not a great color inner (is that a word? LOL!) but I really like how smooth these new alcohol markers color!!  I think I could get used to and ENJOY coloring in stamped images!!! LOL!!!





One of my FAVORITE new embellishments is the SILVER shimmer trim…do you see it?  Yes, it’s not silver in the picture above…I tried to color my silver trim with my alcohol smokey plum marker!  It worked!!!….kind of? J

Yes, it colored my self adhesive silver shimmer trim ribbon a beautiful plum color – however, my marker didn’t fare too well.  Because of the roughness of the silver shimmer trim, the marker tip now has some fuzzy ends.  Oh well – I will use this marker for only coloring on items….problem solved! J I added our grey wool baker's twine next to the silver ribbon as a finishing touch. 

I hope I have inspired you to get out your crafting items!J 
Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful rest of the week!!!

Blessings to you!
Krista J