Have Yourself a MERRY Little Christmas

What a busy time of year! I figured today I would take a break from my baking and share the Christmas cards I sent this year. I didn't make nearly as many as I normally do because we had all new windows installed in our house and that all happened the first week of December...kind of bad timing! At least it was fairly warm, so that could have made things much worse. Getting everything back in order and painting all the new woodwork around each window (3 coats each!) was a much bigger job than I thought it would be. I've decided painting trim ranks right up there with painting ceilings...not much fun! I would rather have been stamping for sure!

I made a variety of cards using the Delicate Ornament Framelits. These are Blackberry Bliss and Silver. It was such a gloomy day I couldn't capture the true color, they looked so much more elegant in person.

These cards were inspired by a card I previously share here.

The ornaments look so pretty cut from Foil Paper and layered on Shimmer Paper. I didn't have a lot of the Mossy Meadow pattern of DSP left from the Home For Christmas pack, so I went though my huge stack of patterned paper to find an alternate print that would work, and made several that look like this card...

I sure wish I had the new Die Brush Tool that will be available in the upcoming Occasions Catalog when I cut all these ornaments out! I received my pre-order a few days ago and tested out this tool and it works fantastic! It helps remove all the little unwanted bits from intricate die cuts.

Last but not least, I made a half dozen of these little cuties...

I absolutely LOVE that little Bambi look alike! After fussy cutting each one I covered with a layer of Crystal Effects. This one was a little time consuming, so I mainly sent out variations of the Delicate Ornament cards showed above.

This will probably be my last posting until after Christmas, so I want to wish you all a very MERRY Christmas filled with LOVE, family, laughter, wonderful food & PEACE. To those that will be traveling...be safe!

Home For Christmas & Autumn Blessings Pocket Album Tutorial

I'm so excited to finally be able to share these great new albums I've created to hold holiday memories. I have also written a step by step tutorial if yo are interested in creating these albums for yourself.

After making one, I am sure you are going to want to create several of these versatile mini albums! They go together quickly with coin envelope pages that create pockets to hold tags, photos, journaling or memorabilia. The cover is made of chip board wrapped with DSP for a professional, finished look. The hinge style binding allows enough spacing for heavily embellished pages, and also enables the album to close flat. The two albums shown in this tutorial are the adorable Home for Christmas Album and the Bohemian Autumn Blessings Album. By simply changing your papers and embellishments you can create an album for any occasion.

The page sizes are staggered to really show off the the Designer Series papers and embellishments right when you open the cover and make you want to flip from page to page to take in the whole album. Here's a peek inside of the Christmas album. Wouldn't this make a darling Baby's 1st Christmas album.

The Autumn Blessings album uses the Bohemian papers, Vintage Leaves and Feel Goods sets, but you can change it up using the stamps you have to fit any occasion. Here's a peek inside...

Each album has 6 pocket pages...that's a total of 12 pages with front and back, plus 6 tags...front and back. That's a lot of area for photos and journaling! Here's a closer look at a few elements on three different pages inside the album...ready to add photos!

The Home for Christmas album uses Home for Christmas DSP along with the Cozy Christmas stamp set and Sleigh Ride Edgelits. Here's a closer look at a few elements on three different pages inside the album, ready to fill with your Christmas memories.

My 25 page tutorial, packed with quality photos, will take you step by step to create both of these albums. Once you learn how the wrapped chipboard cover and binding goes together you will be able to make albums for any occasion. Recreate the pages exactly as shown, or put your own spin on them using supplies you have on hand. I encourage you to personalize your album the way you would like. I think you will have fun creating this keepsake album!  Don’t be afraid to use some old favorite stamps sets and embellishments that may have retired. I used a few favorite retired sentiment stamps as well as a few embellishments in my albums.

I've had a few questions regarding the coin envelopes I used for this project. Here is a photo of what they look like before I cut them down...

They are No. 7 Coin Envelopes measuring 3- 1/2 x 6- 1/2". the weight is 28 lb Kraft. I've seen them in lots of other colors as well. I have a good sized box of the coin envelopes, so if you need those I am offering that as an option as well. Unfortunately I don't want to deal with variable pricing to mail them outside the United States...sorry. 

The finished size of the album is 4x7"

Coin Envelope Pocket Album Tutorial

The full 25 page, step by step tutorial outlining how to create both the albums shown above, emailed to you for $7.99.

After receiving payment, I will send the PDF file to the email provided with your PayPal payment. I usually check my email a few times daily, but please allow up to 24 hours for delivery to your inbox.

Coin Envelope Pocket Album Tutorial + Envelopes

In addition to the 25 page, step by step PDF tutorial emailed to your inbox as described above, I will mail you 12 coin envelopes which will allow you to create two albums using your additional supplies, for $10.99. (This option is for inside the United States only.)

After receiving payment, I will send the PDF file to the email provided with your PayPal payment. I usually check my email a few times daily, but please allow up to 24 hours for delivery to your inbox. I will do my best to put envelopes in the mail to you the same day, but please allow up to a week for the envelopes to arrive to your home and be sure to include your ship to address.

If you have any questions regarding supplies needed to complete this project, please don't hesitate to contact me.

If you have yet to purchase one of my tutorials, below are a few comments others have said after receiving one of my previous tutorials:

Kathy: "Thank you so much for the wonderful tutorial. Your work is stunning."

Barbara: "I have ‘stumbled’ upon your blog and it is truly amazing!!!! You are an amazingly talented and creative woman. I am grateful for your ideas and inspiration!"

Isobel: "Thank you so much for a speedy delivery of your tutorial. It looks fantastic and very detailed."

Dianna: "These cards are great!! I have bought tutorials from you before & you do beautiful work :) Thanks so much."

Kim: "Lynn, I made the cards with your tutorial and just love them...I enjoyed learning new techniques."

Thank you to all those who have purchased tutorials from me in the past and an extra THANKS! to those who have taken the time to share their feedback...I really do appreciate it! I hope you all love this project as well!

Home for Cozy Christmas

The paper printed with the adorable fawns in the Home for Christmas DSP is my favorite! I only wish these images were also available as a stamp set with framelits! Oh well...I got busy and fussy cut a bunch of these guys and here is one little cutie hanging out in the snowy forest.

I inked up my Woodland Embossing Folder with Soft Sky ink before running it through my Big Shot. The little snowflakes are one of the accessory dies included with the Square Pillow Box die set. I cut them from Dazzling Diamonds Shimmer Paper...another favorite of mine! Just love the beautiful sparkle this paper adds to any project.

The sentiment is from the Cozy Christmas set. I matted it onto a square piece cut using another one of the pieces from the Square Pillow Box die set...I sure have been getting a lot of use out of those little accessories!

If you like the Home for Christmas DSP I think you are going to absolutely love the project I've been working on! I cannot wait to share it with you...hopefully on Wednesday.

Don't forget...SU!'s Online Extravaganza Sale ends today with a 24 hour flash sale.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Lovely Cozy Christmas

Old stamps meet new and some sparkle adds a magical touch to this peaceful, monochromatic winter scene.

"The old"...is of course Lovely as a Tree and "the new" is Cozy Christmas which is available in this years Holiday Catalog. I just LOVE the Santa and reindeer image from that set, don't you? "The sparkle" is Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper for the snow drift and Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder used with the Gorgeous Grunge splatter image to create the falling snow. I embossed the wooden Snowflake Element with it as well.

Happy Friday (the 13th!) Have a GREAT weekend!

Cozy Christmas Ornament

I absolutely love the beautiful, intricate detail of the new Delicate Ornament Thinlits Dies...especially when cutting the foil papers! Here I've paired it with the Home For Christmas DSP and the Cozy Christmas stamp set.

I really like all the patterns in the Home For Christmas DSP pack because there are classic foliage patterns as shown here along with absolutely darling vintage patterns including adorable fawns that look like Bambi, cute Santas and more...cannot wait to work with these papers some more!

On the center of the ornament is one of the new Iced Rhinestone Embellishments. They are really pretty! You get two sizes, and I used the smaller one here. The die cut ornaments are a great size to use for gift tags...which I am planning to do.

Have a GREAT weekend!