Using Up my Xmas Stash

I've been using up my stash for quite awhile, and have quite a long way to go yet, but I'm starting to see that at some point I WILL use up these materials so I can move on to more current designs!  

Card #1 (above):  As you can probably tell from the picture, I embossed a chevron pattern (Darice embossing folder) onto a strip that runs across the middle of the card front.  The border was actually a wide piece that I cut in two so it would fit both top and bottom.  Other than that embossed strip from my stash, everything else was fussy cut from the set.  I used a fine-line marker & ruler to add a black border along the candy-stripe border strips.  

Card #2:

Next up is a Santa suit card.  Everything is from the kit EXCEPT: the white part of the border was from my stash - as was little bits of white card stock used to mat the greeting.

Inside:

I got a kick out of putting these two tags together on the inside.  The message on the first seemed a bit odd, but paired with the 2nd, really puts a twist on a common Christmas greeting!  Everything on the inside is from the set.

Card #3:

The patterned paper was pretty, but it was a bit challenging trying to figure out how to bring the different elements together.  All are HOTP products, but the greeting is a transparency that didn't come in the set.

Inside:

Both pieces with words were from the transparency book rather than the set, but once again everything is from HOTP.

Card #4:

I had some real trouble with this card.  Sometimes cards come together easily, sometimes not.  This one took me awhile to get it so I was happy with it.  Here you see the first attempt.  The black is card stock from my stash - the rest is from the set.  The green came separately & was fussy cut & layered on top of the original tag.  It's a bit hard to tell from the picture, but the lower edge is cut-away so the inside of the card shows through.

Inside:

The border strip was leftover from the card front, and the tag used here was also from the set.

2nd Attempt:

I knew I didn't like the tag seemingly hanging from nowhere, so found some bias tape & added a border strip from which it could hang.

3rd Attempt:

I decided some Dazzle stickers would help, so added these white ones to the borders - with small bits on the round red dots.

Inside:

I added more stickers on the inside.  The card looks much better now. 

Thanksgiving 2020

 

Yesterday morning I finished the page for LAST YEAR's Thanksgiving.  

As you can see, I used part of the paper napkin from that dinner in my layout - using double-sided adhesive to adhere it (after I separated the layers and removed all but the top layer).  

The layout is sort of the mirror image of the facing page (Thanksgiving 2019).  

The Title & Journaling were printed on a sheet of cream colored paper.

Little Birdies ACK - Part 2

Today I have more from the Little Birdies ACK (HOTP).  Like I mentioned last time, several die cuts and papers were missing, so I clearly had started working on this set some time before, but I can't find any sign of those cards on my blog.  I probably needed some quick card(s) and didn't get pictures taken.  At any rate, because of what had been used already, I was left with die cuts that don't go with any of the papers & papers that don't have any die cuts to go with them!  This obviously makes creating cards more challenging.  Since I showed 4 cards in "Part 1", I'll start numbering today's cards with #5.

Card #5 (above):  This is the ONLY card I made today where the die cuts and papers seemed to coordinate with each other!  As you can see, I added quite a few of the die cuts.  

Inside:

On the inside, I added more of the paper & die cuts - everything was from the kit.

Card #6:

The original color of the background paper for this card was a coral/peach for the mini-flowers.  Obviously, that wouldn't go with the pinks in the die cuts!  So, after layering everything the way I wanted it, including a small brown border strip from my stash & more of the brown for a tag/mat for the cut out sentiment, I took a marker & colored the flowers to make them more pink.

Inside:

Another piece of the brown, plus a couple more of the die cuts for the border on the inside of this card.

Card #7:

I still had more of that patterned paper, but truly nothing I had left in the kit looked good with it.  SO, I paired it with some artwork from a Debbi Moore download.

Inside:

Inside is more of the same - along with a scrap of turquoise from my stash & a stamped message (from JustRite's Friends Antique Labels One).

Card #8:

I still had more of that paper, so looked to see what else I could put with it.  I found this peach colored note card in my stash & a card board ornament.  I added the ornament with removable tape so the recipient can hang it on their tree if they like.  The sentiment (HOTP bulk Christmas Stamp Set) was stamped on a scrap from my stash.

Card #9:

I had a couple of die cuts left that didn't really go with any of the papers I had left.  I paired them with some black card stock from my stash to make a little note card.  Here, the black background was die cut using a Fun Stampers Journey die called Asian Lattice.

Inside:

Inside was very simple - a button die cut (from the kit) was sewn with thread and added to a strip of black card stock.

Card #10:

For this last note card, I wanted to use up some of the remaining blue patterned paper and a cut out - both from the kit.  I paired them with a piece of aqua card stock from my stash & a pink card base which I embossed with an M-Bossibilities folder called Valor.  I finished the card by die cutting a sentiment using one of my new sentiments dies - Thinking of You by Creative Expressions.

Little Birdies ACK - Part 1

This really SHOULDN'T be part 1 of the Little Birdies ACK (Artful Card Kit) because I clearly had used quite a bit of it already - but I don't find any other posts, so I must not have actually posted my makes.  So, I'll start numbering this with number "1", but my total will probably be only 1/2 of what I actually made from this kit!

Card #1 (above):  I clearly used all the best papers already, and what was left really didn't go with some of these toppers.  The die cuts were so pretty that I didn't want to sacrifice them by putting them with "iffy" papers, so the first two cards are made using papers from my stash.  The only other thing that I added to this card front was a small strip of black/gold washi tape.

Inside:

The washi tape & paper make another appearance on the inside - along with the rest of the border & other die cuts from the kit.

Card #2:

There was nothing remotely supportive of the colors in this focal (since I had already used up the pinks from the kit) - so I found some lavender papers in my stash.  I also added gold poster board, black/gold washi tape, & a couple of Hunkydory Sentiments.

Inside:

More of the same - with another die cut from the kit.  The gold was cut with a stitched die from Fun Stampers Journey (Rectangles Long).

Card #3:

The main background paper for this card & the next one, DID come from the kit.  However, I could not find paper in the dark pink color in my stash (and had already used what came in the kit).  Since I REALLY wanted it matting & border, I used 3 layers of inks on plain white card stock to get as close to the color as I could.  Most of the rest of the elements are from the kit, but the peach colored tag was a Hunkydory Sentiment.

Inside:

Inside I inked some more & added a piece of paper & a die cut from the kit.

Card #4:

Much of this card came from the kit.  I did add gold poster board from my stash, and a couple of Dazzles border stickers.

Inside:

By this time I was running out of materials - AND ideas - so the inside is pretty simple.

DM Christmas Bears

Today I have a couple of quick cards using a freebie download from Debbi Moore.  

Card #1 (above):  For this first card, all elements were from her printouts, except for the dark teal mats and the stamped greeting on the inside (Happy Elf Small Stamp from HOTP).  I did use Nesting Circle dies from LifeStyle to cut the focal & other elements & mats.

Inside:

Card #2:

Here, in addition to white & teal mats (from my stash), and cutting the focal smaller using my nesting circle dies, the only change I made to the elements she provided in the download is that I applied ink to one of the "buttons" I had cut out.  This made it a darker brown shade so that it would form a bit of a visual triangle with other buttons brown buttons on the background paper.

Inside:

While I definitely cut some things apart & pieced others, all elements on the inside were from the set.

DM Nativity - Part 2

Today I have 3 more cards from the Debbi Moore Nativity set.  This first is a square card.  The background is a scrap from my stash, but everything else is from the set.  This square card opens to a "corner card":

Inside, all pieces are from the set except for little scraps of folded card stock that I used to create the "pop-up" donkey & cow.

Card #2:

This was supposed to be another flip card - but I'm not particularly enamored with them.  I chose instead to use the pieces to create this card.  I added Sparkle paint for highlights.

Inside:

Card #3:

Here's another square "corner card".  On the front, the background is again from my stash, with the rest of the elements from the set.

Inside:

A lot of the elements on the inside of this card are made "pop-up" style with the addition of little folded pieces of card stock glued in place. Other than those little pieces of card stock, everything else is from the set.

Cowboy Card

This card is another one from an old HOTP set - this time it was from a booklet of shaped cards.  Once again I didn't care for the way they designed the shaped card to have the fold at the bottom, so scrapped the shaped portion & used the elements in another way.  Everything is from the set, except for the ink I used to ink the edges of the papers.

Inside: 

Monochromatic Trio

Today I have 3 more cards made from an old HOTP Card Makers Personal Shopper set - this time a monochromatic color scheme.

Card #1 (above): Everything is from the set except for the cream-colored card stock & the owl die cut.  I'm not sure where the die cut came from - probably a swap sometime - but I thought it worked perfectly with this color scheme.  Since my niece loves owls, this makes a perfect birthday card for her. The "to you" is stamped using a HOTP stamp set called Happy Hello Love & Thanks.

Inside:

A gift card holder is great for the inside.  It and the border strip are from the set.

Card #2:

I'm not sure why, but there wasn't much in the way of a focal with this set, so I went looking in my stash trying to find something that kept to the color scheme.  This gorilla (cut from a calendar) was the perfect focal.  Once again, everything except the tan piece & the stamps were from the set.  The "Smile" stamp was part of a larger message in a JustRite rubber stamp set called Botanical Swirls Labels.  The sentiment below that is from an A6 Sentiments set by Phil Martin.

Inside:

Once again, the cream was from my stash.  Both stamps came from the Birthday Cheer set by HOTP.

Card #3:

There wasn't a lot left from the set at this point - but still a bit of the brown & the striped paper.  I found some gold from my stash and used it for mats inside & out.  The "WISH" is an old foiled embossed piece from HOTP.  The "Happy Birthday" is die cut using a HOTP die called Happy Birthday!

Inside:

The stamp is another one from HOTP's Birthday Cheer set.

Up-Cycled Ceramic Gifts Part 2

Several months ago I showed the up-cycling of some ceramic trucks.  Today I can finally post the up-cycling of the remaining ceramics - cars this time.  They started out looking like the one above.  I used enamel paints - some of them metallic - to clean up the cars.  You can see the result below.

Car #1:

Car #2:

Car #3:

Car #4: