Different Drummer Christmas Card

Each year I make traditional Christmas cards: Tree and Ornament cards, Santa and Sleigh cards, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer cards, Holy Family cards, Wise Men cards, Baby Jesus cards.

The card to the left is one of those traditional cards. Embossed notes on red paper with a bracket tag on top  stamped with an image of a little drummer boy and colored with Copics. "The Little Drummer Boy" was a favorite Rankin/Bass Christmas Special from my childhood so when I saw this stamp a few years ago I had to get it.

I've been getting a lot of use out of my old Xyron lately adhering full card fronts on card bases made with Papertrey Ink Basic White.

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I made a set of 3 cards using the Little Drummer Boy idea in a new way. When I was working on the Rock Star Rosie Benefit I downloaded a drum set from the Silhouette Online Store thinking I would use it to make thank you cards for people drumming up support. I never made those cards so I used the shape to make untraditional Christmas cards. Wishing a Rockin' Christmas to a Little Drummer Boy. The guitar was created from an outline of a guitar in the Rock Out set by Stampendous using the method described in my Lazy Snipper tutorial.  I forgot to tell the machine NOT to cut the text in those guitar and wasted a piece of cardstock and more time than I was interested in losing. Is there an oops or undo button on the Silhouette SD?

The card fronts on these cards are from the DCVW Rockstar mat stack. Black and metallic magenta are not  traditional Christmas colors but I know a few people would probably be happier with these cards than the first card.

So what do you think? Do you know a drummer who would appreciate these cards?

drum_set_C20091009222859_2581

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Happy Crafting,

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Christmas Tags — Prep for Craft Show

The Silhouette Online Store has all their shapes for 50¢ ea now through Monday (11/28/11) and I went a little crazy. I committed the cardinal sin of scrap booking last weekend - I had a party for my son's birthday and forgot to take any pictures - too busy living to record the living I guess. Because it was a Harry Potter Party I was able to get a lot of images from the Silhouette Online Store so when it comes time to tell the story on a layout I will have SOMETHING.

adorable_box_5_C00378_20509

I also went a bit box crazy in preparation for my first real craft show. I purchased pretty much every box that a domino magnet or ornament would fit in nicely. The first box I made was for a set of tags. 

6_bracket_labels_C01131_20509  with a hole added for hanging.

The tree stamp (PSX © 1993 (D-1163)) is retired
but you may be able to find it on eBay or Etsy.

I also used a set of bracket labels to make the tag stamping them and distressing the edges with Old Paper colored Distress Ink.
The dots are Stampin' Up! Sahara Sand, the tree is Mellow Moss, and the To/From is Cranberry Crisp.

I added 6 yards of baker's twine to the box to make it a complete package.

I have a ton of ideas for Christmas gifts, cards and tags. I wish I could be 3 people to get them all created. I should really get back to creating, I only have an hour before "Once Upon a Time" is on - it's our families favorite new show and I don't want to miss it.

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Happy Crafting,

Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts. Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

Domino Magnets Tutorial

Supply list:

• White Plastic Dominoes
• Stazon Solvent Ink black
• Your favorite stamp to color
• Colored Pencils (I prefer prismacolor)
• Blender Stump
• Mod Podge Dimensional Magic

Sand the back of a domino until the shine is gone.  The finish should be dull and there should be sanding pattern. I go across the domino in one direction, then the other, then finish with small circles.

Ink up your favorite stamp with Stazon ink and stamp onto the sanded surface. I used the angel from Stampin' Up's Holy Triptych set. This set was in the Holiday Mini in 2007 but has gotten a lot of use here since then.

Epic fail. Lesson learned.

When stamping on dominoes be sure to press straight down and pull up gently, it's very easy to slip and have to start over Stazon cleaner is the only cleaner that works. Let the ink dry completely before going to the next step. I tried using red stazon and it ran badly after I put the dimensional magic on it.

Color the image with light pressure and without filling in the entire space. Using the blending stump move the color around to fill in the space. Go over areas that you want darker and repeat the blending stump process. You can use Copic markers but they will smear the Stazon so I don't recommend it.

You can add the Mod Podge Dimensional Magic as soon as you're done with your coloring. Place a thin line around the edge of the domino and slowy fill in the center with the Dimensional Magic. I keep a pin handy to poke in the tip of the Dimensional Magic bottle as it gets clogs. This pin is also handy for poking any bubbles that form. Bubbles would be bad.

The bottle suggests a 3 hour drying time. I don't move them for at least an hour then I place them up and out of the way and wait a day to be sure they are really done.

I used the silhouette matchbox shape and a label for the gift box. I was able to get 2 boxes, 7 labels and 2 belly bands from every 8.5 x 11 sheet. I filled the boxes with shredded bills, flyers and ads to give the magnet a little bed to lay on.

I used sticky strips in the boxes and on the belly band because I didn't think other adhesives would be strong enough. I could have used glue and clamps gut sticky strip was so much easier.

The sentiment is from the Star-Studded Season set also from the 2007 Stampin' Up Holiday Mini.

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Happy Crafting,

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Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts. Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.

Change of the Holiday Decor

We've been a bit busy around here, my apologies for not posting more regularly.

The day before Veteran's Day my son and I made cards for all the veterans at the retirement living center near our house. Because there was no school on Friday and I wasn't working we were able to go deliver them. I think I saw at least a couple of gentlemen tear up. I don't know how it affected my son, he was acting a bit shy, but I was really moved by these veteran's stories.

No trace of Halloween decor here.

This weekend we also finally converted the Halloween wreath to a Fall wreath. We removed the words and the black flowers and pinned on silk fall leaves. Lots of T-pins, lots of leaves.

I overlapped the leaves so the pins were hidden but there were some spots where that just wouldn't work so I used ball pins as the centers of flowers that covered the T-pins. I just love the styrofoam base because you can use pins on it and the orange burlap hides all the holes in the base. A great combo really.

Yellow ball pin as the center of a flower hides the pin below.

almost FREE PAPER

I don't know about you but I have to watch all the pennies lately so I am making an effort to USE IT UP. Those bananas that have turned to color of last year's Halloween chocolates are going into pancake batter tonight.  The bits of paper that may have gone in the garbage before are being used in projects more and more.

 

Today's card features a couple of trees that were made from the scrap of paper I used to clean off a paint brush. Notice the big haphazard strokes. But the really cool bit is the paper they are mounted on: paper packaging from a light bulb, it's lightweight, corrugated and the right color. Awesome. 

 

So was the paper free with the light bulb purchase OR did I get some really cool paper with bonus light bulbs?
I guess it depends when you're asking.

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Happy Crafting,

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Click here to help my son pay his own way through scouts. Order Trail's End popcorn using code 79936evan674 and great tasting treats will be delivered to your door.