Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas / April 2021

April showers bring May flowers and that has certainly been true here in Virginia Beach.. But at least Spring is here, along with warmer weather and beautiful flowers. Brian has started planting in his raised beds out in the yard and I watch him from inside ( no green thumb here ) !! Michael, Lisa and I are back for your holiday inspiration and we even have a guest this month.. Have you been working on your holiday cards along with us ?? 

My first 2 cards are made with Close To My Heart stamp sets. They have fabulous stamps and I was lucky enough to get some great savings at their recent sales . I've been wanting to use these sets for awhile.

• I stamped the deer and sentiment on Kraft  cardstock and the scarf on white watercolor paper, all with Gina K Jet Black Amalgam ink. This Winter Friends stamps is available with or without the matching dies ( but the cost WITH the dies is a steal !! ) .
• I die cut the deer and trimmed the sentiment .
• Snowflakes also from the Winter Friends set were stamped around the sentiment with blue ink.
• I cut some Kraft cardstock to fit the  snowflake panel and laser cut from the Merry Laser Cut Card Pack ( which is 4 x 6 ) from Paper House Productions .
• The deer and scarf were colored with my COPICS and then the scarf was adhered to the deer. 
• The laser panel was adhered to the blue snowflake panel and then to the Kraft card base.
• I popped up the sentiment in the upper left corner with foam dots .
• The deer was adhered in the lower right corner.

• The Christmas by Aimee Ferre stamp set is no longer available but I just had to use it for this card !! I stamped the mitten image on watercolor paper with Gina K Jet Black Amalgam ink , fussy-cut it then colored it with my COPICS.
• On a piece of ledger paper, I brushed some Ranger Ink Stickles Nebula Glitter Gel . I used a wide paint brush to apply it across the center . This glitter gel has stars in it, which is very cool !!
• I applied some washi tape across the top of the card panel.
• The mitten was popped up with foam dots.
• I adhered the completed panel to a cream card base.

Nebula Glitter Gel 

At a recent Sizzix clearance sale, I got some of the best dies !! This Folk Christmas Tree is very detailed and the card needed no sentiment, I just used a bit of washi .

• I brushed some Nebula Glitter Gel across a piece of patterned tan paper then adhered it to a cream card base .
• A strip of wide holly washi was placed down the left side of the card.
• I die-cut the tree and planter and star from some metallic and textured cardstock .
• The tree was adhered above the planter and then the star was attached with a foam dot.

Close-up of Nebula Glitter Gel

My last card was assembled with supplies from the  Tim Holtz Idea-ology  Christmas Noel collection from 2020 . I used the ephemera pack, worn wallpaper papers, layers, sticker book and milk caps. I love love love these supplies and used bits and pieces that reminded me of growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania . My aunt and uncle had a dairy farm nearby . We had coal delivered and later oil to warm our home . The ornaments on the paper are like those on out tree when I was little . Memories that bring a smile to my face .

I hope you are inspired to start on your holiday cards by seeing what we make each month . Please take a look at the cards made by Michael and Lisa too !!

Michael - World of Michael Trent

Lisa - Life of a BZ Scrapper

As I mentioned earlier, we have a guest this month . Vannessa Osbourn has joined us before and her cards are always amazing . This one for today can be found at her IG page - vclaireo . She used a stencil and Distress Inks and has really created a masterpiece !! Please go to her IG page to find out all of the details .. Thanks so much for joining us again, Vannessa.

Thank you for stopping by Meticulosity ... Until next time, please stay safe and as always, Stay Creative ..

Debra Davison