Project: Candle Decor

Hello and Welcome!

Welcome to today's post! Christmas is getting closer and closer! Are you ready?! I certainly am NOT, but I think I feel this way each and every year! I am certainly ready for Christmas break though! This next long vacation cannot come soon enough.  Four days and counting...

This year I was excited because there seemed to be lots of opportunities to showcase some of my papercrafts and share my love of crafting with lots of different people.  From candle exchanges to ornament exchanges, it has been fun thinking of new ways to wrap fun little gifts.

And here is today's project...

My daughter's school hosts a "Moms Christmas Party" each year and I was excited to attend my first event with this mom group.  It included a candle exchange and overall was a wonderful evening. 

This is a very simple and quick project to create.  It starts with a candle as the base and I was just looking to decorate the top of the candle for just a little something extra.  The color combinations are very classic Christmas: Real Red, Mossy Meadow and Whisper White.  Pair those colors with a simple "Merry Christmas" sentiment and holly die-cuts to produce a quick and easy candle topper.  The Layered Circles die-cuts happened to be just the right size and added a great base in the Christmas colors.  Need another project idea?!...This could easily be transformed into a gift tag!

Project Details
Paper: Real Red, Mossy Meadow, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red
Stamp Set: Half Full
Tools: Alpine Adventure die-cuts, Banner Triple Punch, Layering Circles die-cuts
Accessories: Metallic sequins, Linen Twine

Keep Austin Crafty!

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• Leave a comment below! I love to hear your thoughts on the day's project!
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Card: Season's Greetings

Hello and Welcome!

Welcome to today's post! I hope everyone's week is off to a great start! We have had a blast of arctic air here in Austin, so it is beginning to feel a lot like winter around here.  I do think it's supposed to be warm again this weekend though, so we are just all kinds of confused here in Texas.  Not sure if we should be pulling out coats and boots or shorts and flip flops.  Oh well...that's Texas weather for ya!!

Today's project combines a few different stamp sets and die-cuts.  I love when I am able to feature multiple sets in one card because I think it helps to show the versatility of all of these sets.  I did also realize that I must be a HUGE fan of this gingham paper because as I took an inventory of my Christmas cards most of them are using this paper just in a different color!  So if you need some ideas for gingham paper, you have come to the right place! 

And here is today's project...

This card is just simple and I definitely get a farmhouse vibe with the simple wreath and little red bow.  I have been noticing the notched sides on several card examples and I am so glad that I gave it a try with this card because I love how it came out.  Not only does it protect the side of the paper from tearing, but I think it just adds a nice little touch.         

Card Details

Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Paper: Early Espresso, Neutrals 6" x 6", Whisper White, Mossy Meadow

Ink: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow

Stamp Set: Well Wishes, Alpine Adventures

Tools: Alpine Adventures die-cuts, Rectangle Stitched die-cuts

Accessories: Linen Twine 

Keep Austin Crafty!

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Card: Christmas is right around the corner...

Hello and Welcome!

Welcome to today's post! I am so excited to share today's card because I have been busy, busy with my Christmas cards for this year.  For a crafter who intends to make all her cards handmade for family, friends and co-workers, Christmas is right around the corner.  Don't worry, I haven't put my Christmas decorations up yet (I have a rule that we should celebrate Thanksgiving first), but it is all green, red and sparkles in my craft room!

And here is today's project...

I wanted to go #simplestamping on this card and I think I made that work.  The Well Wishes stamp set just lends itself to that task as the stamps are simple and elegant.  I love that beautiful wreath with a simple, Cherry Cobbler bow.  Stamparatus to the rescue on this on because it is so helpful to be able to get that bow positioned just right! It is just a lovely way to say Merry Christmas.

This is also a great layout and would be an easy card to "step-up" if you are an avid crafter and want to add a little more creativity.  Perhaps add some additional embellishments or maybe try your hand at heat embossing your sentiment?? Hmmm...all very good ideas! Perhaps you will see those in next week's post ;) For today, I simply changed the details a bit, but kept to the spirit of the original card.  Do you have a favorite? Can you spot the differences?

Card Details
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Paper: Very Vanilla, Mossy Meadow
Ink: Mossy Meadow, Cherry Cobbler
Stamp Set: Well Wishes, Half Full
Accessories: Pearl embellishment

Today's project was inspired by the following challenge:

Festive Friday #FF0046

Inspo List: use up scraps (Mossy Meadow pieces), circles (wreath), green (wreath and scraps)

SUOC 235: Favorite Holiday Products

Keep Austin Crafty!

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Did you like today's post?!  If so, don't forget to...

• Leave a comment below! I love to hear your thoughts on the day's project!
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Project: Wine Tag Project

Hello and Welcome!

Welcome to today's post! I hope everyone's week is off to a great start! This week is shaping up to be on the quieter side, which I am extremely thankful for.  Just a little trick-or-treating planned for Halloween and then hopefully the family is able to take it easy this week.  Here's hoping the weather holds out for Wednesday though...I think my little will be extremely bummed if yet another Halloween is dampened by the rain! Say your rain prayers people!

I thought I would play along with the fun over at the TGIF Challenge blog today.  They are featuring a "tag project" and I thought I would make up some quick wine tags to get ready for holiday season entertaining.  And what luck...the "Half Full" stamp set has two beautiful Christmas stamps.  Love when I can go through my stash and find some hidden treasures!

And here is today's project...

Both tags feature a Very Vanilla base and are paired with Merry Merlot and Mossy Meadow.  The metallic embellishments are a great little addition to bring out some Christmas sparkle.  I have always loved the sprig punch, so I was glad to have these little sprigs pre-punched and ready to use for these tags.  Probably will make a few more of these tags before the holidays are through.  I just love how they can be used to decorate your own table or be given as a part of a gift to dress up a plain old bottle of wine. 

Project Details
Size: 5 3/8" x 3 1/8"
Paper: Very Vanilla, Merry Merlot, Mossy Meadow, 6" x 6" Neutrals, Crumb Cake
Ink:Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake
Stamps: Half Full
Tools: Sprig Punch, Rectangle Stitched die-cuts
Accessories: Metallic embellishments, Linen twine

Today's project was inspired by the following challenges:

TGIF Challenge: "Tag You're It" 

Keep Austin Crafty!

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Card: A Christmas Classic

Hello and Welcome!

Welcome to today's post! It has been a busy couple of weeks here for the family in Austin, TX and as we approach the holidays I know it will only be getting busier.  Keeping everything straight and being the master of the family calendar has been requiring another 8 hours in a day.  Anyone know how to increase the number of hours in a day...no??  Ok moving on...

I thought I should start working on my Christmas cards this week, so I pulled out a few of my Christmas things and got to work! I was brand new to Stampin' Up! around this time last year and the first set I bought was the Alpine Adventure stamp set and coordinating die-cuts.  I know there are so many beautiful sets that come out each year; however, I don't think I got my full use out of this set last year, so I've decided to keep using it for this year's cards! I also have so much unused DSP that I am on a mission to try and use it up before the end of the year!  Challenge accepted!

And here is today's card...

Hey Angela, you didn't actually use any Christmas DSP?? You're right, you don't always need Christmas paper to make a Christmas card.  I'm loving that my cards may be a little less traditional in my effort to use up the paper that I have in my stash.  Once again, the gingham paper (part of the Neutrals 6" x 6" set) is great and paired with the Mossy Meadow cardstock really puts me in the Christmas mood.

Love that sled and wreath! I'm glad that I have chosen to use this set again because there are just so many options.  P.S. Inside stamp is simply a Michael's Christmas stamp purchase...needed a lot of good inside sayings so picked this up at a good discount ;) who doesn't love a good sale?!

Card Details
Size: 5 1/2" x 4 1/4"
Paper: Crumb Cake, Mossy Meadow, Merry Merlot Neutrals 6" x 6", Very Vanilla, Whisper White
Stamps:Alpine Adventure
Ink:Mossy Meadow
Tools: Alpine Adventure die-cuts, Layering Circles die-cuts
Accessories: Good Morning Magnolia ribbon


Today's card was inspired by the following challenge:

Sunday Stamps

Keep Austin Crafty!

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Did you like today's post?!  If so, don't forget to...

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Christmas Greetings!

Hello and Welcome!

I am sharing today what I think may be the last of my Christmas cards for the year! Boy has it been exhausting, but very, very fun to put together by hand the majority of this year's cards.  I am hoping to finish up a few more tags for presents and gift bags, but this should round out the Christmas card creativity. 

I pulled out my trusty Alpine Adventure set and got to work.  I was inspired by a sketch and color challenge today as a starting point for the card.

And here is the finished product...

In the second photo, you can see both cards that I made today.  The only difference is the rounded edges on the second card.  I think I am a fan of the straight edges, but the hubby said he liked the rounded...so you just never know!!

Supplies used: BoBunny Merry & Bright Collection cardstock, Alpine Adventure die cuts and stamps, Garden Green & Early Espresso ink and Recollection bling in green (for extra Christmas cheer!) 

And here are the challenges that inspired me today! 

CAS(E) this Sketch!: #300

The Paper Players #422: A Color Challenge

Keep Austin Crafty! 

Just Believe...

Hello and Welcome!

I am sharing a project today that was really inspired by this week's color challenge at The Color Throwdown.  When I saw the colors I couldn't wait to use them for the card/tag project that I had in mind for the wrapping of some gift card sets for my girlfriends.  I say card/tag because they are about the size of a card, but only flip front to back rather than open like a card.  Maybe the pictures will be able to describe that better :/

Today's Card

Front of card

Back of card

And shown together

So hopefully from the pictures you can see that you simply flip the card over for the sentiments.  I am planning to punch a small hole in the top left corner to run the ribbon through and tie them around the gift bags.  They measure 3 1/2" x 5", so there was plenty of room for stamping and bling but still small enough to (hopefully) attach nicely to the gift bag.  

I stamped all the images in black ink and the shimmering gray paper actually turned the ink to a sort of gray.  It came out quite lovely which I'm thankful for because at first I was a little skeptical of using the black ink.  It didn't seem quite festive enough, but I used what I had and I love the result.

Here are the challenges that I was playing along with for today's project:

The Color Throwdown

Just Add Ink #436 "Sketch"

 

Keep Austin Crafty!   

Tag it Up!

Hello and Welcome!

I am excited to share today's project mostly because I can't wait to give them out! This weekend I will be hosting a cookie decorating party for my daughter and her little friends.  She is super excited and I am too! We have all the cookies ordered and we have purchased enough red and green sprinkles to last a lifetime (she doesn't think there's enough).

I was wondering how everyone would transport their cookies home and what better way to do that than in little treat bags with homemade gift tags! So I've made a small variety of tags and then re-created enough for all of our guests.

So here are the three tag styles for our "Christmas Cookie Extravaganza 2018"

Here are two of the tags adhered to the treat bags with ribbon attached.  I went ahead and hot glued the ribbon and tag to the bag.  It will be as easy as dropping in the cookies, tying the ribbon and off everyone goes with their yummy treats!

Aren't they the cutest?!? The supplies used were across the board from the SU Alpine Adventure set to the Sizzix oval framelits.  The banner tag I actually just handcut rather than use a punch.  It probably took much longer to measure out, but it achieved the same look! 

Don't forget to check out my first Christmas tag post here.  

I'll be submitting these lovely tags in the following challenges this week: 

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Gift It

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes

Keep Austin Crafty! 

Let It Snow Tags!

Hello and Welcome!

Today I am sharing a fun project for creating some simple Christmas tags.  Who needs store bought tags when you have all the supplies to create your own!  I have plenty of uses for these wonderful tags, so I hope to continue updating this post as I create some new designs.

The color scheme for these tags are navy, grey, white and silver.  The tags measure 4 1/4 in width and were shaped using my Fiskars paper trimmer.  Rounding the edges gave them a finished touch.  The snowflakes are die cuts and stamps from the SU Alpine Adventure set and stamped in Dapper Denim.

The color scheme for these tags make for a more formal look, so I thought they might be the perfect tag to package my recently finished gift card set (see post here).

Today I was inspired by two challenges as a starting off point...

Just Add Ink #435

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Let It Snow

Keep Austin Crafty!

Sleds Away...let's try this again!

Hello and Welcome!

For today's post, I decided to share a re-do of the "sleds away" project from my previous post.  I wasn't totally in love with my project initially and then I saw a very similar card posted prior to mine that looked 210 times better.  So I'm going to give a shout out to Windy Ellard for her wonderful inspiration on the two-tone sled and I have given it a try below. 

So here is my re-do project...

I am so in love with this second version!  I guess some days my creativity comes and goes and it's nice to be inspired by others with new ideas.  The moose paper just makes me smile and I think it all just came together so nicely.  I used a plethora of supplies for this card from my BoBunny Christmas paper to my SU Alpine Adventure die cuts to my Christmas sentiment stamps from Michaels.  I popped the sled as well which really helps to highlight the beautiful cut out.   

Keep Austin Crafty!

Sleds Away!

Hello and Welcome!

I'm back today to share a quick project using some sketch inspiration.  I'm continuing to work on my Christmas stash and thought this little card would be perfect to share with my daughter's teachers.  Assembly went pretty quick and that's always a good thing when you need to make a few versions.

Today's inspiration comes from the team at Freshly Made Sketches.

Here is the sketch...

And here is my card...

Trying my hand at a little photo decoration! 

Supplies Used: BoBunny Merry & Bright Christmas collection paper, SU Alpine Adventure, SU Early Espresso ink, and a lovely strip of red sparkle paper (treasure find from my mom's paper goodies)
Keep Austin Crafty!

Christmas Stash

Hello and Welcome!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!  Austin saw some beautiful weather and it was a great time to be outside.  It's always good to get a little sunshine! 

I managed to find a little time to work on some more Christmas cards for this year's stash.  Again, my Alpine Adventure set to the rescue!  I was inspired by this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.   

Here is the sketch...

And here is my card...

This card was interesting to make because it's the first one that I went ahead and started preparing to make several copies.  I thought I would make these for my daughter's teachers because I loved the clean lines of the sketch, so I measured, cut and stamped the pieces for three cards.  Once I got the first one together (pictured above), I already started seeing changes that I would make to the next one.  I do love how it turned out, but I will have some fun seeing how the same pieces can be put together differently just to make each card a little unique.

Keep Austin Crafty! 

Jingle Jingle

Hello and Welcome!

I had so much fun creating today's card and I am so excited to share it!  I am still working with the wonderful goodies I collected from my mom's craft room and her stuff is awesome! I thought the wonderful, sparkly paper paired with the beautiful plaid background came out beautiful.  The Alpine Adventure bundle is really going a long way and as expected I have been able to create some beautiful cards for this holiday season. 

I am submitting this card to two challenges today...Tuesday Morning Sketches and Just Add Ink.  For the Just Add Ink challenge, I chose to work with Bows and Bling. 

Here are the challenge details...

And here is my card...

I started with a 5" x 5" green cardstock base.  Most of the background paper was the result of rummaging through scraps, so I don't have any details on the paper colors, etc.  I am always amazed by the things you can create from simple scraps.  The die cuts and stamps were all from the SU Alpine Adventure bundle and stamped in SU Early Espresso.  Add a little bling to the present die cuts and presto! one beautiful holiday card! I even had a little fun and stamped the envelope!  

Keep Austin Crafty! 

Time to Pick Your Favorite!

Hello and Welcome!

Ok so I know what you've been thinking..."why has it been so long since the ATXPaperHouse has posted? She makes such cute cards!"...just kidding, I know no one is thinking that!

But on the off chance that someone is, here is today's post! While I haven't been posting, I have been busy putting together a few "prototypes" for this year's Christmas card.  And now I need your help! I made three different cards because I was so excited to use all of my new stamping goodies!  Leave your comments below on which one you think is the best!  Perhaps your favorite will be the lucky card selected to be mass produced by yours truly and sent to all of our family and friends this holiday season!

Card #1: Winter Sports

For this card, I was inspired by the Stampin' Up catalog sample for the placement of my sporty die cuts.  I especially loved the wreath hanging from the skis.  I decided to go with a country theme using the wood plank background and traditional reds and greens. 

Supplies used: Alpine Adventure die cuts and stamps, Sizzix Oval Framelits, Recollections Ivory Plank paper, BoBunny Merry and Bright paper

Card #2: Let it Snow

I love how this snowflake inspired card turned out! The snowflake die cuts were so simple and elegant that they really popped on the card.  I loved being able to branch out from the traditional reds and greens.  I even decorated the envelope for this card!

Supplies used: Alpine Adventure die cuts and stamps, Sizzix Oval Framelits, BoBunny Merry and Bright paper

Card #3: Wreaths in a Window

Ok, so as I was working on this card, I never thought that it would turn out to be my favorite! I always have "wreaths in a window" during the Christmas season and I thought why not turn that into a card?!? And this is what I came up with! It just makes me feel warm, cozy and ready for the Christmas season.

Supplies used: Apline Adventure die cuts, Sizzix Oval Framelits, Recollections Christmas greeting stamps, BoBunny Merry and Bright paper

Time to pick your favorite! Don't forget to leave your comments below!

Keep Austin Crafty!

Wreaths and Bows

Hello and Welcome!

I am excited to share today's post because as promised I have finished my first card using my new Alpine Adventure Stampin' Up set!  I had so much fun playing with the die-cuts and stamps and I know I am going to get a ton of use out of this set!

The hubby and I recently took a trip to Colorado for the first time and absolutely fell in love with the scenery.  The mountains were magnificent in the summer and I can't wait to go back to see the true magic of those same mountains covered in snow.  When I saw this Alpine Adventure set, I knew that I wanted to use that trip as inspiration for creating a set of mountain/skiing/sledding themed cards this Christmas!

The layout inspiration for today's card came from the wonderful team at Tuesday Morning Sketches.

Here is the sketch...

And here is my card...

The lovely background paper is from the Merry and Bright Collection by BoBunny.  All of the ink is stamped in Early Espresso and I love how the dark reds and browns came together.  I went pretty simple for the inside with a quick stamped "Christmas Greetings" and snowflake border.     

Keep Austin Crafty!