Christmas Cards - 2025

Here are a couple that I have just finished.  As I have now completed all my Birthday cards for this year - both personal and group ones - I am now concentrating on Christmas cards.   They are all being stitched as I haven't yet got the strength to tackle die-cutting or anything that doesn't involve just crafting, sitting quietly.

These are both using patterns from Stitching Cards.  Over the years, I have bought so many of their patterns that I have more than enough to use just theirs alone.  But I don't, as I have also collected many from other sources that I like as much.

Here are a couple that use patterns from other designers:

There will be more to show quite soon, as I have completed the stitching, but have not made the cards yet.  

Hugs

Carol

xx

More flowers and butterflies

 

 Actually just one flower and some butterflies.  Whilst nursing a stinking cough and cold I have tried playing some more with the Carnation Crafts 'Floral Embrace' set.  Again I played a little with the colours, but have decided that my current graphics programme isn't sophisticated enough so I am looking to find something better.

In the meantime I cut out a white lacy layer to act as a background.  (I can't remember the make I am afraid).  The little butterflies are also from Carnation Crafts with added Glamour dust and some gems.

Nothing from Katy Sue this time but I will confess that I have been shopping and have some more delicious 3D die-cut decoupage sheets to play with - so watch this space.

I hope all are well in this freezing weather.  Don't catch cold.  I did.  The first cough and cold for at least 4/5 years.  Stay safe.

Carol

xx

Flowers and butterflies

 I have been exploring and playing with some new purchases.  Three of which are from Carnation Crafts and  one is from Katy Sue.

I have had hours of fun using all these wonderful dies. Firstly the background frames are from a Carnation Crafts (CC) matting and layering set called Teardrop and Sweep.  I bought the whole set as follows.

The flowers and leaves all come from Floral Embrace. A new to me set of dies and vignettes from CC. I have spent hours printing out the flowers and making them up. I have even discovered that I can change the colours a little using my graphics programme.  Also changing the paper used makes a great difference in the colour tones. I added some fine beads to the centres .

The pink butterflies are from Perfect Packages - another set of dies from CC and the yellow are die cuts from Katy Sue.

I can't remember where I purchased the sentiment banner.  I bought it such a long time ago.

I have made up dozens of the flowers from Floral Embrace in all the different shades so I will be busy.  I think flowers and butterflies will be my theme for quite a while.

Carol

xx

A PCA Christmas card

This card was made using one of my latest purchases from PCA Australia.  Sadly PCA as a company is retiring and there will no longer be any new plates. The Company itself closes it's door online at the end of April but will still be selling some stock on E-bay.  I am lucky to have quite a good stock of plates that I have bought over the years.

This plate is TP3594E - sadly no longer available.

I have used the plate as it is - just added a touch of beads.  I tried many different colour backgrounds and surprisingly the green was the better choice.  Choosing the background is sometimes the hardest part of creating a parchment card as the background colour - if wrong - can kill it (in the creative sense of course).
Carol
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CD Sunday Plus - Challenge #31

When I was writing my post for our last challenge it was all doom and gloom here with bad weather and a carpenter who was muttering.  Well today the sun is shining and the decorator is here now to paint the said wardrobe doors and he is very happy and jolly.

For my card this challenge,

 ...... I have used an image from a La Pashe CD printed on parchment with a simple border that I designed.  The image of the Cardinal bird is a particular favourite of mine and makes a very pretty Christmas card.   I have used a few red beads to stitch the parchment to the red backing card and added a little glitter to the snow and pinecones.   A little difficult to see except in real life.
I have started even earlier this year with my Christmas card makes and to date, I have 22  24 including this one and later posting.
I am looking forward to much blog hopping for this challenge.
Please stay safe and well.
Carol
xx

Parchment borders 6 & 7

Less complicated patterns - and smaller - so they didn't take so long to do.  I added more of the 3D Push Out designs by Jeanine's Art to the centres.  For the one that is obviously for Christmas, I used some Czech beads to stitch the parchment to the background and some 'gems' for decoration.

I will give these a rest for a while as I now have a special stitch card to make for a fellow parcher.  Our next workshop date will also be her 85th Birthday. I think we may open a bottle (or two) of something.

Parchment Borders - 4 & 5

Yet more of these wonderful border patterns.

For No: 4 I have printed a scene from a La Pashe CD into the centre of the parchment and then created the border around it all.  I altered the border pattern slightly to accommodate a mistake I made towards the end of the project, as I didn't want to start all over again.

I used gold glitter and blue card as the mats and then stitched with complementary blue and gold silver-lined beads. The sentiment was embossed from a PCA  plate.

For No: 5  I stitched the finished parchment to a red mat using matching red silver-lined beads.  The decoupage in the centre is from a sheet of 3 x 3D Push Out designs by Jeanine's Art.  I bought these at The Art of Craft yesterday when I was there at our monthly parchment workshop.

I noticed on the border pattern website that many, many of the cards are finished off with the use of these small attractive 3D decoupage images.   So, I bought a few,  and this is the first one to be used.   I have another 5 ready to be used.   Just need to do the parchment.  Well, it is raining yet again so what else am I going to do.

Parchment borders - 2

Here is the second Christmas card I have made using one of the borders from here.

I again stitched the finished parchment topper to three mat layers this time using blue silver lined beads to match the blue glitter mat - followed by silver Mirri card and then the final blue card mat.
The central motif was from a Groovi plate - CH-41010-03.  The finishing touches are some lovely blue sparkly enamel type gems (from China).

 Still, quite a few to do.  I am in the zone now and thoroughly enjoying myself.

Hugs
Carol
xx

Parchment borders

As mentioned before I have been experimenting with patterns for borders on parchment from this site (in my sidebar).

Here is the first card that I have managed to finish.

 

 I downloaded a border pattern from the site.  After I had worked it on parchment  I then stitched it to 3 mats using red thread and silver-lined red beads. The sentiment is from a Groovi plate embossed with tools and white pencil.

I have now chosen another 4 patterns and worked them -  and am in the process of turning them into cards.   I will try to add beads to them all.   Apart from just enhancing the pattern, I need to use up some beads as I am sure I have enough for every one of the 999? patterns on the site.

Christmas 2019 - last few

Parchment and Groovi plate.

Digital from Serif with added parchment poinsettias.

Parchment and Groovi plate with Faber Castell Polychromos pencils used for colouring and a very small parchment poinsettia added.

Die-cut decoupage sheet from?

Parchment and PCA plate for the image and Groovi plate for the sentiment and Faber Castell for the colouring.

After I had finished these last cards and whilst posting them to my computer I realised that I hadn't done any stamped cards this year.  I will have to rectify that next year.  I have too many stamps not to use.
xx

ATC Swop UK - Facebook

Our theme for September is 'Unicorns'.

I sent in 5 - one with beads and 4 in parchment.

Here is how they have been presented by our team leader Sue.

I look forward to seeing the 5 that I will receive in exchange. We have some very talented ladies in the group.

ATC Swap UK (Facebook)

I have just sent in my swaps for the August swap - 'Pot Luck'.
Having this theme means that we can send in ones we have made earlier and our organiser - Sue - kindly arranged this to help me out.
So I have sent in 5 from my 'stash' - all made in parchment.  Hope the girls like them.

Carol
xx

More stitched Christmas cards for 2019

I have managed to finish off the last of my stitched cards for this Christmas.  In all I have now made 64 cards of different styles  but not as many parchment as I would have liked . Hopefully both cataracts will have been done in time for me to make some before Christmas.
Anyway here are the 9 I have just finished.

My favourites are Nos: 5 & 6 - the two star cards. Even as you are stitching them you don't think that the pattern is going to look as good as it does in the end.  The colour combinations can be endless.

I now have some ATCs to get on with.  Nothing too complicated until I am less like a Pirate with one good eye.
Hugs
Carol
xx

Christmas - 2018

Here is another card for the Christmas Card Box. I have actually made this card a couple of times but I just change the background a little each time and - of course - make a note of who I send it to.

The image is from a La Pashe CD printed straight to parchment. The bow, leaves and berries have been embossed and then some special Czech white glass lentil beads have been sewn in a few places to make some of the  berries 3D.   I used a PCA plate to add a border. It is hard to see unless you magnify the image.
The sentiment is a die cut and the card itself was bought - and I am desperately trying to remember from whom it was bought. I'll add it later.
Hugs
Carol
xx

p.s. I have found the link. Company is called Craft Creations and in my opinion they are second to none for their stock of background cards of almost every desciption. Here is the link to the page containing  the one I have used in the above card.

Facebook Birthday List

Here are some more cards that I made for those on the Birthday List.  These birthdays are now a thing of the past so I can show them:

The first two were made using a Kraftyhands CD and the third  in parchment using an image from an Ooh La La 'Shoes in Bloom' CD.
There were two others but these have already been shown as I combined them with  CD Sunday challenges - our '8th Birthday' Challenge and 'No patterned paper' challenge.
No more due now until July.

p.s.  My op was cancelled because the Surgeon didn't want there to be any risk of infection and apparently steroids can affect the healing process and it could be risky.  So I have to wait until I am steroid free and the pain comes back.  I have though been given a 'return ticket' so I don't have to join a long queue again. So it was all a good 'dry run'.  I can now start on my Christmas cards.

CD Sunday - 'Do what you love' - chosen by Pamela

Although teamie Pamela is still 'on leave' she has managed to choose a theme for our new challenge and a good one it is.  You can choose any subject and style to show off what you love most but do remember to use something from a CD in your creation.

Here is my own creation:

I particularly like combining my love of parchment with my love of making and swopping ATCs.
So here are four ATCs made using parchment butterflies  which have been made using a Pergamano grid and stitched to the background with beads.  I love beads as well.  I have hundreds possibly thousands if you count all the seed beads individually.  I must have been a Magpie in another life.
Today whilst I was preparing and thinking about doing this post and the CD Sunday one I also made a Banana loaf cake - another love of mine - the baking and the eating.
The backgrounds come from a CD -  Artylicious Butterfly Bliss by Glenda Waterworth.

I do hope you will enjoy Pamela's challenge and I look forward to visiting your Blogs - and perhaps you might be kind enough to leave me a comment or two.
Hugs
Carol
xx

Some more Christmas cards

Despite my best efforts I am so behind this year with my Christmas card making. Probably because I was feeling so poorly in July, Aug and Sept when I usually crack on with them.
Here are 3 more to show you, 1 x diecut, 1 x stitching and 1 x parchment work.

Diecut - with lots of bling:

Stitched card with beads - but needs some tweaking and I don't know what at the moment.:

and a parchment card using image from a La Pashe Cd:

I am thinking I might have to make some very quick cards or perhaps buy some.  I don't believe I said that.
Hugs
Carol
xx

Parchment - Christmas and La Pashe

The image is from a La Pashe CD - 'The Christmas Box' - one of my favourites.  It is called The Gingerbread House (for obvious reasons) and makes a super card for a younger person.
I printed it onto 140gsm parchment paper using my Canon printer on Matte photo setting highest quality.  Just remember to let the ink dry before touching as of course parchment paper is non absorbent.
I added a border using one of Wendy Walters designs that you can adapt to any size.  Such a simple idea but I love the effect.

Here is the finished card

I embossed most of the image with emphasis on the white.  The image was then stitched to the red matt using red glass beads.  I also added 5 little black beads to the snowman.  The card is a white 7" x 7" 300gsm - also from La Pashe.
I can't make all my Christmas cards from parchment as they take so long but try to do as many as I can. I started this one in our Parchment Workshop at The Art of Craft on Wednesday and finally finished it last evening - of course I have done other things in between.
Hugs
Carol
xx

'A Christmas Wish'

A pattern by Judith Maslen from her series 'The Musicals'.  Judith says this was inspired by 'White Christmas'.
As usual I have played about a bit .  This time it is the border.  I have changed  the use of the Moon tool to the Semi circle tool. Readers of my blog may remember that the Moon tool is a tool  of which I am not particularly fond.  Judith may be interested to note that the outer 'footprint' of the Moon tool is matched by that of the semi circle tool - so it made the change easier.
So I did two rows of the semi circle tool with a mega sun tool impression between the rows. I then stitched some very pretty glass beads along the inside line using the juxstaposition of the  holes for placement.
The lovely tree, moon, snow and poem were done exactly as per the instructions.
I loved creating this card and I hope you like it.

I am also going to enter this in the current Ooh La La Challenge #213 - Anything Goes.

Carol
xx

Stitched 'Bells and Holly'

Another stitched Christmas card for the box.  I used rather a nice multi coloured Sulky thread by Gutermann (CA 02776).  I managed to match the colour tones fairly well with the holly backing paper.

The pattern came from Form a Lines.
I did wonder about adding some die cut holly or some other embellishment but somehow nothing seemed right.  Oh dear - all these dies and I am not using them enough.  I can't be the only one - surely.
Hope you like the card - without extras.
Carol
xx