More creations to help you get started on your Christmas preparations.

Hello & welcome to my blog,

My name is Alison & I live in beautiful Melbourne, Australia. For those of you who have previously visited my blog & are now returning, thank you. For those of you who are here for the first time, welcome!

 Here's a little bit about me. I love creating cards & gifts for my loved ones & this blog will show you how to create something special for those you love. I blog twice a week, once on a Sunday where I mainly showcase a stamp set or dies, embossing folders, projects & sometimes special DSP and Wednesday evenings when I highlight a technique, fun folds or tools & tips. I would love to hear from you if you have any questions or suggestions & my email address for that is craftedbyalison@gmail.com.

Stampin' Up® launched their new Annual Catalogue in May & it's a beauty! It's set out quite differently to previous catalogues but there are benefits to that. They now have sectioned it to have beginners, which is a step by step collection of materials in kits, then there is quick & easy where you select base materials & packs of pre-printed or diecut materials plus some stamp sets then there is create your way where you choose all the materials, stamps etc yourself & create your way! In the quick & easy section Stampin' Up® have also provided some inspiration with a colour wheel & information of various ways to use colour combinations. There is a section explaining 4 different ways to vary your colours - Monochromatic, Complementary, Analogous & Triadic. It's a wonderful tool to help with creativity & I shared my first post using it in my midweek blog of 29/5/24 & also in my midweek blog of 24/7/24 but it's not what this week's post is about, that is something I will explore more in future blogs.

Now, not everyone likes to be an early organiser. Many people are happy to start thinking about Christmas once the shops start getting their decorations out. I prefer to start thinking about it around about now. There's lots to think about after all - cards, presents, food, where, who's coming, budget..... To that end, I will be sharing some tips on how to prepare for Christmas in the crafting area. Lists of people, cards & presents need to be prepared. Cards need to be made, written on & sent. Will there be home made presents, vouchers or store bought? Are the gifts going to be wrapped or given in gift bags? Will I need cards that can hold a gift voucher? So many questions. Plus I'm not a fan of shopping or buying at the last minute. That can be when you panic & end up buying more things than you should or spending more than you would like to. 

To help get myself sorted I shared how to make a start on Christmas cards. Being early & prepared means I will have enough on hand for both sending & selling & not get too stressed as Christmas draws nearer. This week I will be sharing more of the easy layout from last week for making your own Christmas cards. 

This week I'm continuing with the simple card layout that uses 2.5cm strips of DSP. In total I was able to make 6 cards using 9 strips of DSP. This week I will share the second set of 3 cards with you. I split them up as there were a lot of products used overall and this allows me to spread them out over the two weeks. I hope you enjoy this week's creations!

To create all of these cards, I started with a sketch from the Stampin' Up® annual catalogue which has 22 different sketches on page 22, all there ready to inspire you. I have used 2 other sketches in my May 5th 2024 post & my July 10th 2024 post. It's a very handy tool!


Once I'd drafted the sketch on paper & worked out the measurements I then chose some gorgeous papers to work with. As I wanted to share ideas to get you started on your Christmas stash I chose papers that are suitable for the season, adding complimentary foils, cardstock & bling. I chose some of the new Christmas stamp & die sets that are in the Annual & Mini catalogues as well as in the On Line exclusives.
Here are the strips, cut to 2.5cm x 11.85cm. I chose this length as it allowed a 1.5cm border at the top & bottom of the card base.


Card #1 


Card one has a Pretty Peacock base, a Pecan Pie matte & Dry Brushed Metallic specialty paper & Thoughtful Designs specialty paper strips. The ribbon is Natural Polka Dot trim. The sentiment is heat embossed in Copper on Lost Lagoon cardstock & the embellishments are from the Adhesive Backed Swirl dots.

Card #2  


The second card has a Terracotta Tile base, a Basic White matte embossed with one of the 3D Basics folders & Thoughtful Designs specialty paper. The cute ribbon is the new Pool Party Pom Pom ribbon & the embellishments are Petal Pink & Pretty Peacock Foiled gems. To create a little more oomph I added some clear embossing powder after stamping in Pretty Peacock. This gives it a glossy finish.

Card #3 


For the final card I started with a Garden Green base, adding a matte of Gold Foil. The strips are Season of Green & Gold plus Very Vanilla, embossed with the old Layering Leaves embossing folder. The sentiment is heat embossed in gold on Old Olive cardstock. The finishing touches are retired Old Olive Twill ribbon & some Petal Pink & Pretty Peacock Foiled gems.

All of the sentiments on the cards are raised on dimensionals over the ribbons.
All of the cards start with the same card sketch but have been tweaked just a little to give a slightly different finish. This is a great sketch for showcasing pretty DSP or to use up scraps of papers & foils.
I also added a small strip of DSP to the inside of each card as well as the envelope. It's a nice way to add a little extra to the card & a lovely surprise for the postie & recipient.

That's all I have for you this week. Now I'd like to share some of the latest news from Stampin' Up®.

Stampin' Up® has a number of ways to purchase their lovely products. You can look through their physical catalogue or browse through the catalogues online  but there are also some products that are only available exclusively online that don't appear in any catalogues. These products are called the Online Exclusives & are only available under the Online Exclusives section of the Stampin' Up® shop. Check out the online exclusives in my online store. Stampin' Up® adds more product items to the online shop so don't forget to keep checking the store to see what's new. There are some lovely new products now available including kits, embellishments, stamps, dies & embossing folders. Something for everyone! If you would like a copy of the catalogue please send me a message at craftedbyalison@gmail.com or on my Facebook page, craftedbyalison. 

NEWS & REMINDERS: 

  1. Stampin' Up®'s newAnnual Catalogue is a beautiful piece of artwork as well as an amazing resource for crafting. As mentioned before, it's very different to any other catalogue that I've seen from Stampin' Up®. They have changed the front cover from featuring cards or supplies to a casual stamping picture as well as a radical change to the layout of the contents. There are still lots of beautiful pics of the products & ideas aplenty, it's just set out differently. I think you'll love it. If you would like a copy of the new catalogue then send me a message at craftedbyalison on Facebook or email me at craftedbyalison@gmail.com & I'll send you one. 
  2. The brand new Mini catalogue was launched on 4th September! There are lots of gorgeous items ready to inspire your creativity. If you would like me to send you a copy, send me a message on my facebook page or email me.
  3. Don't forget the Online Exclusive products with new products added and available now Check out my online shop here. Stampin' Up® have also released a whole lot of new items at the beginning of July. As a demonstrator I was able to order in a pre-release which is a great perk of being a demonstrator.
  4. Stampin' Up® have a great range of Kits including crafting, card making & gift giving. Click here to check them all out in my online shop. As Stampin' Up® have so many beautiful kits available I will be featuring a different kit in each blog so that you can see the range. 
This week's featured kit is a Christmas card kit called Christmas Everywhere. As we're looking at creating cards for Christmas plus bags, wrapping etc. I thought a Christmas card kit might be appropriate, in case you prefer ready to go kits instead of making from scratch with your own supplies. It includes stamps, an ink spot, envelopes, an acrylic block & adhesives.



Here's how Stampin' Up® describes the kit...

Share the joy of Christmas effortlessly with those you love wherever they are around the world with the Christmas Everywhere Kit. Featuring trees from all places in the world and warm Christmas greetings, mix and match designs and sentiments to customise your cards, and send friends and family some Christmas cheer their way!

If you feel that you'd like to add this to your list then click here to purchase one from my online store. 

A lot of demonstrators use the special Host Code for their customers but I'm trying it this year as a new idea to see if this is what you, my customers would like to use. If you shop with me then don't forget to use this month's host code E49P6DHD. This will allow me to pass on any hostess benefits to customers when the sales reach the required qualifying amount.

Lastly, there have been lots of great items in the clearance rack so make sure you check them out using this link to my online store.

If you would like to purchase any of my creations that I feature in my blogs they can be found in my FaceBook shop at craftedbyalison or you can order something unique. 

If you would like me to send you a copy of the current Annual catalogue then please message me via my FaceBook page, Crafted by Alison or send me an email at craftedbyalison@gmail.com.

My next blog is on Wednesday and features a triple point fun fold card. In Sunday's blog I will be revisiting the Beautiful Balloons stamps & dies & sharing some more creations.
I'm really looking forward to sharing these creations with you & hope you can join me for both the Mid week & Sunday blogs.

Well, that's it for another week. I hope you enjoyed this post & come back for more next week. Til next time, take care & keep creating! XX Alison.

Here are some links to the products I used today & some craft room essentials.


Stamps, Dies, Embossing folders & punches
Cardstock, DSP & paper goods


 

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