Honey Bee Fox & Christmas Lights

Oh, hi!  It's been a while, huh?  'Tis the season for things to start getting really busy!  So, this is a quick blog post to share two videos.  All the products used are listed over on my YouTube Channel in the description below each video.

 Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy, Merry, Joyful Penguins

Oh, hi!  How's the weather where you are?  It's been switching between mild summer weather and fall weather, with a few cold fronts thrown in, here in Texas.  But even those warmer days haven't stopped me from making Christmas cards.

{Supplies used are linked in the text in this post.
Compensated affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you.
Thank you for your support!}

For this card, not only did I use the Sweet Holiday Penguins stamps by My Favorite Things, but I also used the Blueprints 27 Die-namics.  Talk about making a layout super easy!  Where has this been all my life??

Oh, and there's a video, too:

I started out by running the window frame die and a piece of Neenah Solar White card stock through my Gemini Junior die cut machine.  I needed it cut out in white so I could stamp on the white squares and rectangle.

To get those penguins in just the right spot, I put a bit of adhesive of the back of the squares so they would stay put in my stamp positioner.  Then, I placed the penguins where I wanted them and stamped them using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

After they were stamped, I colored them up with Copics.

Here are the colors I used:

Penguins - W4, W3
Beaks - YR15, YR18
Cheeks - R00
Santa Hats - R59, R29, R24, BG10
Candy Cane - R29
Wreath - G05, R29
Scarf - G05, R29

Now then. . . on to the rectangle.  There are a few (easy) steps involved here.  I used the Happy Christmas die twice.  I cut it once from red card stock (for the letters) and once from white card stock (to use the negative).

I then used the white piece with the negative of the word Christmas and lined it up with the rectangle part of the window frame die from the Blueprints dies and ran it through my machine.  Why?  Because I can't draw a straight line with a ruler and I knew there was no way I was going to get those letters lined up or spaced just right.

So, now that I had my solid white rectangle and the white rectangle with the negative of the word Christmas, I used removable tape to hold them together so I could adhere the red letters to the solid white rectangle.  After all the letters were glued down, I removed the negative and Viola!  All letters are straight and perfectly spaced.

Now it's time to stamp the "Happy, Merry, Joyful" above the die cut letters.  The only problem is that the stamp reads, "Happy, Merry, Joyful Christmas."

But there's a fix for that.  I placed the rectangle with the die cut letters in my stamp positioner.  I placed the stamp where I wanted it be and picked it up with the lid of the positioner.  Then, before inking up the stamp, I placed a small piece of painter's tape over the word Christmas on the stamp.

With the painter's tape in place, I inked it up as I normally would.  Before I closed the lid on my positioner though, I removed the painter's tape from the stamp.

Yes, I'm actually going to say it again . . . I removed the painter's tape from the stamp. Then I closed the lid and stamped the sentiment.

It's important to remember to remove the painter's tape before stamping because if you don't, you'll have a really nice blob of ink right where you don't want it.

Okay . . . after I got the (rest of the) sentiment stamped, it was time to put the card together.

I cut the big scalloped rectangle from red cardstock and then decided that I wanted a bit of contrast for the window frames, so I cut that from light blue card stock.

I adhered the blue window frame to the red card stock and then finished the "puzzle" by adhering the stamped squares and sentiment rectangle into the light blue frame.  I then adhered that whole panel to a white A2 notecard.

For a bit of bling, I added some Star Dust Stickles on the hats on the penguins and went over "Christmas" with my Wink of Stella glitter pen.  Ta-Da!  All done.

Thanks for visiting today!

Happy Christmas Penguins

Oh, hi!  I had a whirlwind trip to San Diego last week, and next week, I will be on full Bridesmaid duty for my friend's wedding next weekend. . . so I thought I better get this blog post and video done. Besides. . . can you even handle the cuteness of these penguins??

{Supplies used are linked in the text in this post.
Compensated affiliate links may be used at no additional cost to you.
Thank you for your support!}

Here's the video for ya:

I started out by placing the Happy Christmas die (which is the current Free with $60 die) in the center of a Neenah Desert Storm card stock measuring 5.25" x 4" and running through my Gemini Junior Die Cut Machine.

After it was cut, I used my stamp positioner to stamp those penguins from the Sweet Holiday Penguins stamp set.  Once they were stamped, I colored them up with Copics and a White PrismaColor Pencil.

Here are the Copics I used:

Penguins - W4, W3, W2

Beak and Feet - YR15, YR18

Hats & Candy Cane - R59, R29, R24

After I was done with the coloring, I did go over their little eyes with a fine tip black marker to re-emphasize them.  The white colored pencil muted the black ink, so the pen was a quick fix for that.

Then I placed a mask over each penguin so I could stamp the Christmas Background stamp.  I inked up the stamp using Memento Pistachio ink and then placed my stamped panel on top of it.  I find it's easier for me to put the card stock on the stamp to make sure I get it straight.

After I stamped the background and removed the masks, I used a ballpoint glue pen on the fur trim and pompoms on the hats and used White Puff Embossing Powder to add some dimension.  That embossing powder worked perfectly!

I adhered the stamped panel to a piece of red card stock measuring 5 3/8" x 4 1/8" and then adhered that to a white A2 notecard.  I finished it up by gluing the centers of the letters on the Happy Christmas die and Ta-Da!  All done!

Thanks for stopping by today!