Lovely Christmas Stockings With Stampin Up.

I love Christmas Stockings and all the lovely goodies I find in mine on Christmas morning. 

Many years ago - 1985 to be precise, I lived in beautiful Colorado for a year with my family, and not having a sewing machine, I started to make some hand made Christmas stockings for my 3 girls. It was so much fun and all done by hand as I didn't have my sewing machine in the USA.

We still hang those stockings every year, and it has become quite a tradition for each new member to receive a stocking. Each of the Sons-in-law have received one, and of course our darling little grandson, now it's time to get started on one for our new little grand daughter. 

So it goes without saying that I was quite excited to see the new promotion from Stampin' Up!® is all about Christmas Stockings.

You can see the details of the promotion here.

We made 3 different versions of the cards I designed - one in pink, one in plum and one in the traditional Christmas colours of Red and Green.

These cards were quite easy to make: tools like the BIG SHOT and Stampin Up PUNCHES really are a card-maker's best friends. 

The method I used was to stamp the bundle of gifts directly onto the white card, then stamp the stocking onto another piece of white card and punch it out. Saves all the hassle of trying to align your images perfectly. 

 

I used the ROCK 'N' ROLL  stamping method to get the Stampin' Up! Classic Ink - SOFT SUEDE onto the stocking, then lightly sponged  with the Soft Suede to soften the edges.  The gifts were coloured using a BLENDER PEN  and PRETTY IN PINK classic ink with a few accents in  SOFT SUEDE. 

The 2-WAY GLUE PEN  makes adding DAZZLING DIAMONDS  easy to apply, and exactly where you want it too!

Small areas of texture on a simple card just give a bit of a lift, and I love the SQUARE LATTICE embossing folder from Stampin' Up! 

HINT: Always punch and cut the card to shape BEFORE  dry embossing it. It can be very difficult to get a neat cut afterwards.

PAPER PIERCING  is another simple  technique that adds  to the Vintage feel I wanted to achieve with this card. 

My regular readers will know I get bored with mass production so my STAMP-A-STACK classes always allow for the individual's creativity to flow through. I usually give a number of different colour combinations for my guests to work with and give them free rein to position the elements of the card wherever and however they chose.  And embellishments are such a personal part of card making that I usually provide a number of options. (I get so many ideas from the girls - and they think I'm teaching them! ha! ha)

The next version of the card uses the  traditional Christmas colours of red and green. In this case we used REAL RED and GARDEN GREEN  from Stampin' Up!

This is basically the same layout with variations. I love the sponged, dry embossed background that adds more pattern to the design. 

The greeting is stamped onto a straight piece of card stock that is swiped with a BONE FOLDER to create the curve banner illusion. More sponging on the edges of the banner and the central WHISPER WHITE  card, removes the stark contrast of the red, green and white. 

NOTE: Red and Green are complimentary colours so when they are added together they become neutral and seem to be a brownish colour.

The detail shows how the stocking is given depth by selective sponging with SOFT SUEDE.

Hope you like these cards. If you'd like to attend any of my classes please contact me for more information.

Until next time

Stay Crafty!