Graphic 45 Time to Flourish Christmas Tea Party in a Box Tutorial

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Graphic 45 Time to Flourish Christmas Tea Party in a Box Tutorial with Reneabouquets-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design Photo 01

Graphic 45 Time to Flourish Tea Party in a Box Tutorial with Reneabouquets:

Hello, Friends!  The Christmas train is rolling right along with this Graphic 45 Time to Flourish Tea Party in a Box Tutorial.  This is one of my “Use Your Scraps” challenges.  I’ll share all my best sneaky tricks for using tiny pieces of designer paper and a few images into a lovely 5″ x 7″ tea party in a box card.

We’re working with leftover bits and bobs from the December Banner tutorial that I shared earlier this month.  While I had quite a few images left over, I really had just a tiny bit of the Flourish patterned paper to work with.  I think you’ll enjoy seeing how I combined those bits with some lovely Reneabouquets Beautiful Board and Mulberry flowers to create this project.

Lots of Lovely Little Layers

Graphic 45 Time to Flourish-Christmas Tea party in a box tutorial-Reneabouquets-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design

So how did I manage to streeeeetch these designer papers?  Well, let’s just say that if you could see under all these lovely layers of images, you’d see a lot of naked cardstock.  A bountiful flower cluster and strategically placed images are a crafty girl’s best friend!

A Peek Inside

The challenge continued on the inside of this card.  I had to figure out clever ways to use odd shaped pieces of designer paper.  Thankfully, I had many of the large images from the 12×12 pad left over to help me finish the job.

We even managed to create a little flap page on the top half of the card!  I’ll share my secrets with you in the video tutorial below.

But let’s just say for now that a well-placed title covers up an obvious spot where scraps are pieced in.  It’s our secret, OK?

The Tea Party in a Box

Since I was low on designer paper, I wrapped my tea treats with cardstock.

Then I added smaller ephemera pieces to dress up the plain cardstock.  It worked really well!

Graphic 45 Time to Flourish Christmas Tea Party in a Box Tutorial on YouTube

You’re invited to grab a cuppa and a snack as I share this video tutorial with you over on my YouTube Channel:

 

Did you enjoy that?  I’m having lots of fun sharing these Christmas creations with you.  I’ll be back soon with more, so keep a sharp eye out!

You can find a linked supply list below this post.

Thanks so much for stopping by, friends.  I know how busy the holiday season is, and I truly appreciate you spending your time with me here.

Cheerio,

kathy

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Stamperia Sweet Winter Christmas Shaker Card

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Stamperia Sweet Winter Shaker Card-Really Reasonable Ribbon-Kathy Clement-Reneabouquets-Kathy by Design

Stamperia Sweet Winter Christmas Shaker Card with Really Reasonable Ribbon

Hello, Friends!  This Stamperia Sweet Winter Christmas Shaker Card sparkles and shines  just like the holiday!  Beautiful Really Reasonable Ribbon bows, heat-embossed Reneabouquets snowflakes, die cut glitter leaves, a mixed media shaker frame and frosty gems and sequins mimic the twinkling lights on the tree.   Shades of aqua and pink give it a wonderful vintage feel, too.  And that graceful skater takes me back to the fun back yard ice rinks of my youth.  I, however, was not graceful on skates!  I spent more time picking myself up off the ice than I did gliding over the surface. It was all wonderful fun whether I was gliding upright, or sliding on my bum!

Bluebird Gingham Bow

While I enjoy creating traditional red, green and gold Christmas projects, I also genuinely enjoy creating in a non-traditional color palette. Why? Using a non-traditional color palette means that I can leave this card out on display throughout the winter season, which I like.  It’s like getting more bang for your crafting buck!

I’m also a huge fan of plaid or gingham ribbons and metallic accents on my Christmas cards.  Really Reasonable Ribbon Bluebird Gingham pops against the softer pastel colors of this card.  And silver metallic string adds another layer of sparkle to the design.

A Peek Inside

Everyone knows you need a hot cuppa and a snack to revive yourself after skating out in the cold.  So I added a pocket inside the card and filled it with a seasonal tea bag, honey stick and chocolate treat.  After all, you just burned all those calories out on the ice!  You can afford to have a bit of chocolate indulgence, right?

No matter what color palette you are using on your Christmas projects, you can no doubt find the perfectly matched Really Reasonable Ribbon to dress it up.

Whether you are crafting, or baking, decorating or shopping, I hope you take a minute today to enjoy the beauty and wonder of this season.  It passes so quickly…be sure to make a memory or two!

You can find a linked supply list below this post.

Thanks for stopping by, friends!

Cheerio,

kathy

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Mintay White Christmas Shaker Folio Tutorial

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Mintay White Christmas Shaker Folio Tutorial-Reneabouquets-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design

Hello, Friends!  Well, I’m back from my break and ready to share this lovely Mintay White Christmas Shaker Folio Tutorial with you for Make & Take Tuesday.  I hope your Thanksgiving weekend was restful and restorative.  We enjoyed lots of good things to eat, lots of hugs, big laughs, great conversations and even time to rest.  What could possibly be better?

But now it’s time to get serious about Christmas crafting!  So many projects are dancing in my head, and only a few days to bring them to life.  I have quite a few new Christmas collections in my stash, and I’m excited to share them with you as we move through this festive season.

Mintay White Christmas is probably my favorite new Christmas collection this year.  It has just the right mix of traditional and fresh colors, patterns and images. Plan on seeing this collection pop up again in future projects, friends!

Reneabouquets Snowflake Shaker Frame

Reneabouquets snowflakes are so detailed and delicate, you can use them right out of the package.  But you know me…I’m going to gild the lily whenever I can!  So I heat embossed them with WOW! Powdered Snow embossing powder.  I wish you could see this 6 1/2″ x 6 1/2″ folio in real life because it positively glistens like fresh fallen snow.

TIP:  Add a little spice to your flower cascade by tucking fussy cut candy canes, cookies and snowflakes in between the flowers.

The Ribbon Closure and Spine

In keeping with the shabby chic design of this folio, I added torn linen ribbon as a closure.  I love the texture this adds, and the red centers of the snowflakes are a near perfect match for the paper collection.

TIP:  To keep the ribbon from fraying, place a little Dries Clear Adhesive on your fingertips, then brush them lightly over the edges.  It really works!

A Peek Inside

Designing folio bases is probably my favorite crafty pursuit.  I love to look for ways to add interactive elements so that flipping through the pages is an interactive experience.   So we will add a flip page on the left and a pull out folio on the right hand side of this album.

For even more fun, I’ve added a kinetic waterfall feature on the right and a sweet little gatefold door in the center panel.

Want to see what’s behind the door?  Well, you’ll have to watch the video to find out!

Mintay White Christmas Shaker Folio Tutorial on YouTube

This is one of my longer tutorials, so you might want to grab a cuppa, a snack, and put your feet up before you hit play.  We’ll start with a walk through of the paper collection, then I’ll share the finished folio with you.  After that, we’ll get to work building the folio base and adding the various elements.

For your convenience, you can find the basic measurements in the description box below the video on my YouTube channel.

I’ll be back tomorrow with another Christmas card featuring Really Reasonable Ribbon.  I look forward to seeing you then!

You can find a linked supply list below this post.

Thanks for stopping by, friends!

Cheerio,

kathy

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Snuggle Up House Mouse Stamped Card

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Spellbinders House Mouse Snuggle Up-Carta Bella Cabin Fever-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design

Snuggle Up House Mouse Stamped Card with Carta Bella Cabin Fever

Hello, Friends!  After a lovely Thanksgiving break, I’m back to share this cute little Snuggle Up House Mouse Stamped Card.  I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving , and maybe managed to sneak a little play time in amid all the cleaning and cooking and entertaining.

The winter sweater from Carta Bella Cabin Fever seemed like a good pairing for these adorable mice.  After fussy cutting it from a 4×6 journal card, I inked the edges and added rhinestones to the collar.  Now it’s the perfect holiday sweater, don’t you think?

Stamping and Coloring

One of my goals for this year was to work on my stamping and coloring skills.  Stamping really isn’t the problem…but coloring is a big challenge for me.  I’ve tried all kinds of mediums: alcohol markers, Distress Markers, Colored Pencils, Water Color, Water Color Pencils…and I never seem to be really happy with my results.  But this time, I tried water coloring with Distress Oxide Inks and water brush pens.  And you know what?  I had fun!

First I stamped the image onto a piece of the white woodgrain patterned paper from Cabin Fever using Sepia Archival Ink. Then I immediately heat embossed with clear powder.  The light woodgrain pattern added instant background texture to the image, so half the work was done for me.

Next, I used my water brush to pick up the color directly from the ink pad.  Simply swipe the brush lightly over the pad a few times.  This seemed to pick up just the right amount of ink.  The embossed lines on the stamped image helped me keep the color inside the lines.  Distress Oxide Ink layers nicely without turning into “mud”.  That also seemed to work well for me.

A Little Mixed Media

First I tore the bottom edge of the tree stump away from the stamped panel to create a more organic looking edge.  Then I scribbled Dries Clear Adhesive along the top of the stump and sprinkled with Rajni Chawla Crystal Clear Glitter to create my faux snow.  Finally, I painted a wooden snowflake white, added Dries Clear and more glitter.  It doesn’t show up as well in the photo, but it sparkles nicely in real life.

Foam tape between my layers added some nice dimension while a perky plaid bow and jingle bells finished everything off nicely.

A Peek Inside

Adding a flap to the top half of the card creates space for a hidden sentiment panel….

…and a pocket for a little winter warm up treat on the bottom.  See how I repeated the sweater image on the inside?  That’s one of my favorite things to do.

I hope you’re enjoying a restful and joyful weekend, my friends!

You’ll find a linked supply list below this post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

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Graphic 45 Time to Flourish December Banner

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Graphic 45 Time to Flourish December Banner-Reneabouquets-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design

Graphic 45 Time to Flourish December Banner with Reneabouquets

Hello, Friends!  Can you wrap your brain around the reality that it is time for us to create our Graphic 45 Time to Flourish December Banner?  Whoa!  This year has really gone by so fast!  We’ve been creating these sweet banners each month in 2023, and the December banner is the grand finale for this series.  Once again, I’ve used the 8×8 and 12×12 papers to create the banner.

Because of a very busy schedule and some unexpected appointments, I was unable to film a step by step video this month.  (Everything is fine…just super busy and time for annual checkups and all the rest.) But I did film a project share where I go over a lot of tips and we look at the details of each pennant.  Thanks for understanding!

However, you can find a very detailed step by step tutorial for the November Banner where I discuss process and how to’s HERE.

Christmas Merriment

Graphic 45 Time to Flourish-December Banner-Reneabouquets-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design-Photo 01

Nothing says “Christmas” like rusty jingle bells, frosty poinsettias, plaid ribbon, glittering stars and sparkling holly.   This banner is filled with Christmas merriment and traditional holiday colors.  Once again, I’ve used G45 ATC tags, Regular Tags and Eileen Hull Sizzix House/Pocket Stitchlet dies to create the pennants for our banner.

Graphic 45 Time to Flourish-December Banner-Reneabouquets Beautiful Board-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design-Photo 01

TIP: Layer the 2 largest nested star dies over gold glitter paper so that when you die cut, you get 2 stars at the same time.  Weave small images into the opening of the large star to create a very pretty frame for G45 tags and Reneabouquets Santa’s Elves Printed Beautiful Board.

Graphic 45 Time to Flourish-Eileen Hull House/Pocket Stitchlet Die-Reneabouquets-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design

Here’s another of those adorable Santa’s Elves perched on the medium sized star that I layerd with the largest die.  These little guys are sooo cute!

TIP: Gently round the center of sentiment tags to add extra dimension to your design.  I simply run the paper between my fingers, then glue the ends down.  It’s a simple technique, but it works!

Christmas Ribbons

Graphic 45 Time to Flourish-December Banner-Reneabouquets-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design-Eileen Hull Sizzix House/Pocket Stitchlets Die

I like to stitch my pennants to a ribbon border and I love adding a layer of lace to the top.  First, stitch along the top of the ribbon to secure the pennants.  Then, turn and stitch along the bottom edge.  This makes the banner hang nicely.

TIP: Vary the placement of your glitter stars to create interest and a sense of movement in your banner design.

Christmas Candy Cane

Reneabouquets Candy Cane Beautiful Board-Graphic 45 December Time to Flourish-Banner-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design

This might be my favorite pennant in this banner, thanks to the gorgeous Reneabouquets Candy Cane image.  It’s so perfectly vintage and provides a lovely pop of color in the banner design.

For another pop of color, stitch red shell buttons between each pennant.

Here we are at the very last pennant.  The bow clusters on each end are identical to create a sense of symmetry.

TIP: Tie a length of Christmas Plaid Ribbon to each end of the banner, leaving the tails long.  Then glue your bow, metallic string, leaves and flower on top to create a dramatic bow cluster.

Graphic 45 Time to Flourish December Banner on YouTube

I hope you can join me over on my YouTube channel for a closer look at this lovely Christmas banner.

 

Well, we did it, friends!  A beautiful banner for each month of 2023!  What shall we do in 2024?  Wait and see…I’m planning!

There will be no tutorials next week as I am taking time off to prepare for Thanksgiving…my favorite holiday!  I have a tradition of baking pies with my granddaughters, making place cards for the table together and I  might even manage to squeeze in a nap!  But I’ll be back after the holiday to share more crafty adventures with my friends.

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I wish you a day filled with joy, laughter, family, friends, good food and a thankful heart.  There is always something to be thankful for, and it’s good to remember to say thank you for all the many blessings in our lives.

You’ll find a linked supply list below this post.

Thanks for stopping by, friends!  I’m thankful for each one of you!

Cheerio,

kathy

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