die-cutting

lavenderhousecreations

Christmas Sparkle

Our last cardz4galz challenge of 2025, as chosen by Dawn, is Christmas sparkle. Although the photo doesn’t show it clearly, my card is full of sparkle as I used sparkle pens by Sakura as well as a shimmer spray over the entire card.

To make this card I die cut, using Hero Arts infinity dies, a circle in a piece that could be used as a stencil. Following an idea seen on Pinterest, I used some fine tip brush pens by Sakura and flicked colour through the stencil. I added the hanging cord by hand using a glitter pen and other glitter pens over the brush strokes. The sentiment is from a set from Woodware.

I kept this design CAS as I felt the glitter was enough. Now it’s your turn and we hope you find the time to add your own designs to our gallery. We know the season is a busy one for everyone and hope that you have the Merriest of Christmases and a Happy New Year too.

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pet wagon

Sketch #566

Well here I am again being sidetracked by making another card, which came about because I wanted to use the dies before I put them away.

CAS Colours & Sketches are encouraging us to take either a colour challenge or a sketch challenge from 2025 and turn it into a seasonal card. My card is using Sketch #566 and I followed the orientation and shape of the sketch while changing what needed to be changed to give it a more seasonal look. The plaid paper is from the inside of a store bought envelope, the background oval (cut using Hero Arts infinity dies) is using a scrap piece from my stash. I jazzed it up slightly by adding dots of sparkle gold, but it doesn’t show much on the photo. It looks far better in real life. My little wagon and animals are all Gummiapan dies and my sentiment comes from a set by Crafters Companion. I love the font in this set and have used another of the stamps on the inside of the card. I used both alcohol markers and glitter pens to colour in the animals and wagon.

Although I don’t need any more Christmas cards now, I have several already completed for 2026 and this one will go into that stash. Thanks for joining me today, I appreciate you and any comments you leave.

lavenderhousecreations

just for you

I’m supposed to be cleaning up my craft room and cataloguing my new stuff, but in the process I’ve gotten a bit sidetracked. The latest challenge, AAA Card Challenge #305: Anything CAS Goes, optional twist: white on white and I do enjoy making white on white cards.

The die I’ve used is new and is from Crafters Companion. It comes in two halves with two stamps. I cut it using some scrap water colour CS. The popped up background piece was cut using an unbranded set, also fairly new to me. Using my smaller Misti I stamped the words and when the ink was dry I added the top and bottom parts of the heart. My embellishments are from Trinity Stamps and are clear, but they are designed to pick up colour from anywhere. In this case it is from the overhead light and on the photo they are reflecting the light and look more golden. In front of my computer screen it is all white so they look shiny white.

I guess now I’ve actually used this new die, I can put it away properly haha. As I have several new ones not even opened, I’m pretty sure I shall get sidetracked again. Hubby just came into my craft room, picked up the card and said how he liked it. Then he asked me if I could add the cuts to a coloured background, which was another idea I already had in my head.

I’m off to put away a bit more stuff before I stop for the day. I did all my embossing folders yesterday. They are now all labeled and numbered so I can find them more easily.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you, your time and any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

Christmas stocking

Well here we are with the last challenge of the season for Double Trouble and the recipe this time is: 3 -Something from your stash, 2 – Anything from your stash and 1 – everything from your stash. Twisted Sister says add a ribbon, twine or cord to your project but it is optional and Thing 2 says follow the TSOT #685 sketch and get additional entries to win. However you do need to be careful not to backlink when you join the challenge.

My card has 3 layers including the stocking but not including the actual note card, 2 tiny gems on the sentiment although there are more on the PP and my one is the sentiment, but could also be the stocking. I did add a twine bow to my stocking. I didn’t really interpret the sketch in my opinion, but others may think differently.

The stocking die comes from The Netherlands and is by Marianne Design. The twine is from my stash and is a challenge to use as the threads unravel too easily. The glitter CS and PP are from Michaels and I added Stickles to the stocking to define the toe, heal and top a bit more. Sentiment is from an MFT set and I used another one on the inside from the same set. While making this card I also made another stocking which is ready to use on another project.

Thanks for stopping by, you are appreciated. We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery and above all have fun in your craft room.

lavenderhousecreations

butterfly sympathy

As You See It – Challenge #362 – Bits and Pieces has a sketch challenge as the latest theme and unfortunately, we’ve had a recent death in our neighborhood, which affects two families. It is a close knit community so I decided to make a card today for the widow, and used the sketch as a guide to my design. I shall do the other one later.

My card uses StampinUP DSP and the butterfly is also from them. The sentiment is from GKD, The piece holding the butterfly is from an unbranded die set and the tiny gems are from Trinity Stamps.

Once I had the papers cut it was easy to put together and I like the monochromatic look that was the result. The photo doesn’t really do it justice.

It has been quite a week, I caught a cold, which settled into a bad cough, leaving me feeling a bit like a space cadet. Our friends were coming to help with the Christmas decor as they do each year, and I let them know that they might prefer not to come, just in case. They came anyway, and the house has been transformed into a magical wonderland. It always amazes me how Dale makes it come together, after seeing the mess of boxes and supplies everywhere for a few days. Before I realized I wasn’t 100% I had managed to put together several meals that would keep until they were here making it easier to handle the few days of their visit. I had also put the tree together with the exception of some beads which I had trouble with. Dale soon sorted that issue. The guys did the finishing touches to the outside, repairing a broken snowman and figuring out an issue we had with another set of lights. I helped as much as possible inside, but the bulk of it was done by Dale and her imagination.

Today is the party for my yoga group, and fortunately, I’m well enough and no longer contagious, to be able to host it. We’ve had a few cancellations due to others coming down with this cold. It is certainly going around at the moment. I finished the cake this morning and will put the table together soon so all will be ready and I can relax for a short time before.

Thanks for stopping by, you are appreciated, as are any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

Stack the holidays

Sue J has chosen the theme, Cute Christmas for our new challenge at cardz4galz and this is my idea. Using some different coloured CS and a 3D EF from SSS, I created several background pieces so I could make more than one card using this YNS stamp and die set. I stamped the critters several times and coloured each one using combinations of alcohol pens, pencils and a little glitter here and there. After die cutting I set them aside to begin the assembly of each card. For this one I took scrap DPS and using a die set called Essential Modern Ovals I cut one and using different PP I did enough to use on the 4 cards. The sentiment was stamped and cut using one of these ovals as well. Except for the texture this card is basically flat so should go through the post without issues. At the moment Canada Post is back on strike, so if I manage to actually mail Christmas cards this year, it will be a miracle. That said I’m hopeful and preparing them just in case.

It is hard to believe we are close the end of another year and trust that you’ve all had some good times through 2025. We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery, and above all, we want you to have fun.

lavenderhousecreations

get well soon note

Our 3-2-1 recipe for the current challenge is to use 3 colours, 2 layers and 1 image. The optional twist is to add ribbon, twine or cord and the double dare is to use the sketch #684 at TSOT. You may add more layers etc., but keep in mind the basic requirements. As well be careful not to backlink when entering into the TSOT challenge.

My card has 3 layers and 2 images. The stamp sets used are from GKD and MFT, the border die is from Crafters Companion Gemini and I used bright yellow, an orangey red along with some blue and a brown for my tree branch. My ribbon is also from GKD. Starting with a layer of 5X5″ CS I added colour by sponging and then sprayed it with a sparkle shimmer spray. While this was drying, I cut two border pieces using the border die. After stamping my bird I fussy cut it out and then coloured it adding a touch of sparkle along the feather edges with a pen. He was popped up on foam tape. I played with placement before stamping my tree branch and the sentiment. Then I added the ribbon which is see through so everything is still visible although softened. Last was to add my little bird. This panel was then added to the silver glitter piece giving me a pretty border and in turn this was added to a 5 1/4 by 5 1/4 note card.

I’m quite pleased with the end result and had fun putting it together. We look forward to seeing your creations in our gallery soon.

Thanks for joining me today, I appreciate you, your time and any comments you may leave.

lavenderhousecreations

far in miles …

In between other chores or obligations, I’ve spent a bit of time in my craft room sorting through paper scraps, which were getting out of hand. This morning I decided to use a few of the strips and make some backgrounds for using later.

Noticing a new colour challenge, I decided to use some of the strips in the colours and this card is the result of my playing around. I’m actually quite pleased with how it turned out. I used two different shades of teal, the darker in the striped piece with the lighter as a border. I also dry embossed the piece with a spellbinders EF that I received recently. Dies used are an unbranded rectangle set, leaves are from Waffle Flower and my sentiment is from Spellbinders heat set in silver.

It isn’t an elaborate design as the stripes do all the work and it is quite striking in reality.

Challenges I’m entering are:

Color Hues #122-Teal and Silver – haven’t entered this one for a while so it is time.

Anything Goes With A Twist of Food and/or Drink – twist not taken

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diamond fold Christmas

Having seen Sam at Mixed Up Craft, and her new mini series on Diamond fold cards I chose this one to try for myself. I watched the video twice so I understood the basics and then as she suggested took a screen shot of the template so I could keep the measurements handy. After that I chose my base card and the PP before proceeding to follow along with the video. My base card is from Recollections and isn’t a heavy weight type which made it easier for scoring and folding. My paper is from a pack by Alchemy of Art purchased in a sale. And the silver CS is also from Recollections. The die sets used are from Spellbinders, and Essentials.

It isn’t a hard card to make, but it does take time as the scoring and folding are fiddly. I had to stop and start as my neck and shoulder kept causing my left hand to cramp, but I got there in the end. This is another card that will be given by hand to the recipients even though it does fold flat and will fit into an envelope. They are coming to visit soon so it will be waiting for them in their room. If postage wasn’t so high I would enjoy making more of this style and posting them, but the costs involved are making it prohibitive. The card I made for my sister cost me $8.50 to mail.

Thanks for joining me today. In between posting and keeping up with my little DT jobs, I’m also baking for my upcoming party. This particular dessert can be frozen for several months so it is an good one to make ahead.

I shall enter this card into the following challenges:

Just Us Girls Challenge #801 – WORD Week – Winter

Krafty Chicks challenge #794 – Christmas

MLCCB #65 Anything Christmas Goes

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merry birth-mas

My last card as a guest designer at Seize the Birthday, and I’ve had such fun creating for each challenge. With this challenge asking us to use Christmas supplies and because I do have a male friend whose birthday is on Christmas day, I’ve decided this card is for him. This is always a birthday challenge but its asking us to use Christmas supplies to make it.

The strip of plaid CS used here is from a store bought card I received last year. The napkin music is the last piece of others I’ve used in the past. My Rudolph has been made by die cutting ovals and attaching them together. I cut a couple of small circles, one for his nose and another for his hands and I hand cut his teeth and then glued them as you see. Not my idea, but something I’ve seen on Pinterest and adapted for my own version. The bow is from an unbranded die set, the little stars are part of a die set by Marianne Designs and I used an MFT stamp and die set to create his antlers. A little bit of red sparkle on his nose and bow made him look more festive. The sentiment was created on my computer and is another thing I’d seen online. Initially I tried using stamps but couldn’t make it work nicely, so creating my own was the next option.

I’ve had a blast designing for Seize the Birthday and hope you have an equal fun time creating your own birthday cards with Christmas supplies. Thanks so much for stopping by, I appreciate you and your time.