Christmas Birds

I have made a couple Christmas cards with a very lovely little bird die and cool background embossing folder from Simon Says Stamp's DieCember® release!...

Let me start by saying that this bird could be used for any occasion!  I even thought of making one of my cards with a similar fonted birthday background and simply the word "happy", but had both these backgounds already embossed, so I just simply "went with it" for Christmas!  I used one piece of patterned paper that I absolutely love, for both birds.  Another confession...I had only planned on making one birdie, but when I got done die cutting the first bird, the pink one, and found the back side of the patterned paper was SO birdlike and pretty in it's color, that I went ahead and die cut the one that is above and below!  I LOVE the way this paper made them look...100%!!  I die cut and layered the bird, the sentiment, popped up the background on some gold cardstock and then the card, and added 3 little milky white enamel dots.  Here's a close up...

The second one, much like the first...

Okay...confession three...I die cut this second background, above, because I spritzed too much water on the first one, and it left a spot on the first one, so I had to cut the background down a bit, thus the gold(in a previous post, I had mentioned that for all the detailed print in this folder, it is best to spritz your cardstock with water, so it will make the paper more pliable and not tear when you emboss...just a tip!).  I really simply wanted an all white background, but like the gold, too!  Here's a close up of this pink lovely...

I don't know about you, but I'm not sure I will be ready for Christmas...ready or not, though, it will be here, so I am doing what I can, and trying to be really okay with that...enjoy the moments and the people in my life!  My daughter and granddaughter are coming in today for a couple weeks, my SIL will be joining us a few days before Christmas.  Please take care...enjoy the moments!

Thanks so much, for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Gathered Holly

I have made a card using a beautiful new Simon Says Stamp embossing folder and coordinating stencil set...both from their DieCember® release!

I know I've said this before, but I LOVE embossing folders with coordinating stencils!!  I LOVE that you can color an embossed image so wonderfully, and with stencils, so easily...making for some amazing card making!  I colored the holly leaves and berries with ink, and then used Glossy Accents to dot each berry and give them some shine!  I used a CZ Design sentiment, stamping and gold embossing on a piece of vellum, then die cutting.  Popped up the panel on a card.  Here's a close up...

This was so so much fun!!  I originally didn't have any shine on the berries, but am very happy that I dotted them, and made them shine!  Having so much fun with this release!  Please take care!

Thank you so much,  for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Christmas Gift Card Holders

I am a big fan of gift cards for Christmas!  My ability to endlessly shop is limited, and I love giving a gift, though it be plastic, that my family will really use, as they will buy something for themselves that they really like or need.  With that in mind, Simon Says Stamp has a sweet gift card holder in their DieCember® release that is PERFECT for my presents!!...

I die cut the two holders from different patterned papers, but opted for both being kraft colored paper with white polka do!   I die cut the tags from an off white cardstock that had a little texture.  Everything else about these two is different...

This first one, I used all the accessories that come in the die set...pine needles, berries, bow, and ribbon strands.  I die cut and adhered them together, then to the gift card holder.  Here's a picture with the giftcard that I chose...

and a close up of the holder...

The second one I chose to adorn the cover with leaeaves and holly that I had die cut with felt...

I die cut the leaves, then chose a floss most like the color of the felt and sewed the die cut stitched holes on each leaf.  I adhered them to the cover, along with the felt die cut berries, and the tag.  Here's a pic with the gift card I chose for theis one...

And a close up of the holder..

These were alot of fun, easy, and pretty fast, to make!  What is nice about these, is that they can be used for any time of the year, or any occasion...sweet!!  What did we ever do without dies...oh yeah, we had to cut everything out with scissors...this is so much more fun!!  Getting closer to Christmas with each and every day!  

Thank you so much, for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

DieCember® Blog Hop~Day 1!

I am thrilled to be a part of today's Simon Says Stamp blog hop, over at the Simon Blog, celebrating Simon's DieCember® release!  Diecember® is a trademarked yearly release, celebrating, for the 13th year, now, dies and diecutting!  When I started making cards, many many years ago, there were no dies, and cutting out and around stamped images with scissors was the only way to showcase a flower, a sentiment, or any image!  We've come a long way,  since then!!  Such incredible fun!!  

I have used three of the new Stitching dies, the Penguin, Birdie, and Snowman, to make Christmas gift adornments, and then use those adornments for the Christmas tree!...

What was wonderful, going back to the many, many years I have been in this craft, I have accumulated lots of colored pieces of felt, and having done lots of cross stitching, I have pretty much every color of floss!  These were perfect for making all these cute little guys!!  I die cut all the pieces of felt, and sewed and stuffed each of them.  I will say, I glued all the pieces that went on each of them, first, as it's much easier to glue and let dry first, rather than when they are stuffed and rounded.  Here goes with the parade...

The penguin has arms, which I sewed inside the fronts and backs of  his body.  Here he is hanging on my tree, so you can see how he looks...

Then there's the snowman...

He has a red scarf, which I chose to contine to the back of the snowman, as he will be hangin on a tree, so I wanted him to look like he was complete all the way around...  

Here's the "man" on the tree...

Then there is the birdie...              

                             

I tried to find a brown felt for this guy, but I didn't want a dark brown, so his colors are what I had.  I gave him a back and front, as well, so the top is 4 layers thick...but I wanted him to be whole in case he spins on the tree...

Here's the birdie on the tree...

Okay...I had SO much fun making my ladorable little adornments/ornaments!!  My fun was above, your fun is below!

Simon is generously giving a $25 coupon to every stop on the hop from our comment sections, so the more hop blogs you comment on, the more chances you will have to win!  Winners will be chosen and posted on the Simon Blog on Wednesday, December 10th, so make sure you check the Simon Blog on the 10th, to see if you are a winner!!  If you are a winner, you can email Simon to claim your prize!

The list of participants in today's hop are listed below...

Simon Says Stamp Blog 

Heather Hoffman
Barbara Tarayao
Cathy Zielske
Jennifer McGuire
Emily Midgett
Amy Rysavy
Heather Ruwe
                             Lisa Addesa<----You are Here
Miriam Prantner
Cheiron Brandon
Kath Stewart
Caryn Davies
Bonnie Crane
Rosemary Dennis

Heejung Hunsberger 

Just to let you know...as you read in the title of this post, this is day 1 of 2 blog hops, celebrating this release!  SO...there will be another blog hop tomorrow...and that gives you not only more projects with wonderful inspiration, but also more chances to win one of the $25 coupons from Simon!  Hope you will hop along and join the fun and inspiration! ALSO...don't forget the offer in the banner at the top of the post!  You will automatically receive the *not yet released* Bundled Snowman die set, when you make any purchase from the DieCember® collection!(I placed an order yesterday...can't wait to get that adorable snowman!!)  The offer is only good until the end of the day on December 7th, while supplies last, so don't wait!  Thank you so much for stopping by and "keep hopping"...hugs!  

      Lisa 

DieCember® Release!

It's December, and that means that over at Simon Says Stamp, it's DieCember®!  This is the 13th year of celebrating die cutting!  I can remember when there were simply stamps to make cards.  I hand cut flowers...and often didn't do a great job, but I loved the look of a stand alone flower.  Now, dies cut pretty much everything...and intricately, at that!  I LOVE dies!!!  I have used one of Simon's new dies, a background die, to make a birthday card!...

This Forest Background is so cool.  My daughter saw it and had the same thought I did, make it a masculine birthday card!  So, I used 6 different green inks(the Artichoke and Kale I used together), and a pastel blue for the sky, and brushed on ink to all the white die cut pieces.  I decided to use a silver sentiment...a CZ Design sentiment die, die cut and layered, and after I put it one the card, changed the white border to silver, to match the sentiment!  Here's a close up...

This was so much fun!  I think the possibilities are many, with this die.  You could make a rainbow of colors, or dot the greens with snow, for winter...just for a couple.  There will be two blog hops, celebrating this wonderful new release, tomorrow, Friday, the 5th, and Saturday, the 6th, over at the Simon Blog....hoping you will "hop" along!!  But until then, check out the new release below!  Please take care!  

Than you so much for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Christmas Birdies

I have made a Christmas card with an adorable  Simon Says Stamp die set from their And Everything Nice release!

I LOVE these little birds!!  I chose to make a Christmas card with these birdies having my son, Noah, and me as the birds!  I die cut all the pieces at one time, then put the whole thing together at one time...much easier and more fun!  I adhered the birds and all the accessories onto a stamped and embossed panel, then popped it up on the card!  Here's a close up...

SO much fun!!  Can't wait for these birdies to celebrate the next holiday or season!

Thank you for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Snowflake Rosette

I have used the beautiful new Tim Holtz Sizzix DieCember® 2025 exclusive die to make a Christmas ornament!...

To make this beautiful 3D snowflake, you die cut the die from the set, three times.  Bend/fold it back and forth then glue the ends of each die cut to each other.  I used a smaller circle die than the one enclosed, to glue all the middle ends together, to the circle, on both sides.  I pushed all the pieces together, towards the center, as I put the glued circle on the ends...a few steps to the end, but so worth the effort!!  I put a container over the snowflake centers to allow them to dry, then adhered the fancy die cut center on each side of the snowflake, covering the circle.  I used the new Simon Says Stamp Lightweight cardstock to make my snowflake...this die requires lots of folding, and this lightweight cardstock is not only pretty, but folds effortlessly, and that is wonderful!  Then...there's what this beauty looks like on my tree...

Then with the lights on, and the Christmas lights shine through it...

I am in love!!!!  I am going to make more to put on presents, for my family's trees!! The banner at the beginning of my post says it all...purchase $30 of Tim Holtz products, and you will receive this beautiful die free!!   DieCember® will be coming out on Thursday..., with two blog hops to follow...more die cutting to come!!

Thank you for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Magical Mistletoe

I have a sweet and simple Christmas card to share with you, today!  I have made it with a beautiful die from Simon Says Stamp's And Everything Nice release...

I die cut the leaves from green  cardstock, and brushed some darker green ink onto the centers of the stem and leaves for shading, and added two layers of glossy accents to the berries, to give them a berry look.  I made my berries red, though I believe that mistletoe berries are white, but wanted them to really stand out, and with all the white of my card, thought white would not be the best color for berries.  I stamped and gold embossed a pretty sentiment to the side of the stem and popped up the panel on the card.  Here's a close up...

I will never tire of simplicity...this card makes me truly happy!  I love being able to take a beautiful and simple die, and have that "be" my card...thank you Simon!

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Lovefilled Trees

I hope, for those of you in the states, you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  With family in town for the last week, and one sister still here, due to planes that never got here to take her home, due to bad weather in other parts of the country, I have been absent from posting on my blog!  I have made a love filled Christmas card to share with you today, though, made with a CZ Design die from the Simon Says Stamp And Everything Nice release!

I die cut the die several times from white cardstock.  I then layered the trees and covered with a top layer, die cut from cute, heartfilled pattterned paper.  I added a sentiment that I thought went perfectly with my hearted trees.  Here's a close up...

What great fun!! I had so much fun with this card...the design possiblities are endless!  I will have another card to share with you, tomorrow...stay tuned!  Please take care!  

Thanks for visiting me today!! Hugs!! Lisa

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Festive Merriment

I have used another of the sweet stamp/die sets from Simon Says Stamp's And Everything Nice release, to make a multi use mini slimline Christmas card...

I thought this mistletoe kind of leaves and berries was so adorable!  I opted to make my berries red(so they would show up, better), dotted them with glossy accents to make them "look" like berries.  I dotted the bow's center with an enamel pearl, and then used a CZ Design sentiment, stamped with versamark and gold embossed.  I popped up the panel on a piece of gold cardstock that I embossed with stripes from an old and much loved PTI impression plate.  Here's a close up...

I said this was a multi purpose card...you can simply send it as a card...or it's the PERFECT size card for a Christmas money gift...

This was actually one of the first things I made when I first got the products for this amazing release...I just loved it, and still do!  Hope you have a great weekend...will have at least one more card before family arrives on Sunday!

Thank you for visiting my blog and this post, today!! Hugs!! Lisa

Frosty Trees

I have used a couple really pretty dies from Simon Says Stamp's And Everything Nice release, to make a Christmas card...

The Frosty Trees are really pretty!  I chose to use both sets of tree dies for my card.  I used  a trio of inks to colors them.  I shaded the trees to all have the same colors at the same places, then layered them and adhered them to an embossed panel.  I added a torn piece of cardstock over their bases, for snow, and added a stamped and embossed sentiment,  I popped the panel up on a card and done.  Here's a closeup...

Hope you are doing well, as we draw closer to Thanksgiving, for those of you living in the states!  My sisters will be coming to visit for the holidays, so it will be a fun family feast!  Please take care!  

Thank you so much for stopping by today, and visiting with me!! Hugs!! Lisa