Heart Of Christmas Week 17

 Hi!

Welcome to the final Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop for 2023. I haven't been able to participate as often as I have in previous years, but I was determined that I wouldn't miss the final week. I've missed not hopping each week, but life had other things in store for me.

This week I've used the April 2022 Sheetload of Cards template for my cards. I was determined to fussy cut some of the animals from the Beary Christmas DSP, and the layout of the card was chosen to suit. I think that this polar bear and bunny are adorable!

The cards have a shortened front, so that the snowflake DSP does double duty. An economical way to decorate both the front and the inside of your card. As a bonus economy, the trimmed section from the card base was used to matt the sentiment panel on the front of the card.

Here's my two cards together. I used my Brightest Glow stamp set for the sentiments. It's certainly been a favourite sentiment set for Christmas for me.

I hope that you've enjoyed this series of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops as much as I have. Sharon Davern has done a wonderful job of keeping us all organised along the way. Thanks, Sharon!

It's not quite over yet, though! Please keep on hopping around the blogs until you get back to your starting point. The next stop on the way is my lovely friend, Kathryn Mangelsdorf.

For one last time, if you run into issues with links tonight, jump on over to Sharon Davern's blog. She'll have a list of all tonight's participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 12

 Hi!

Welcome to another week of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops. I've taken a break from making cards using the Sheetload Of Cards templates this week, as I was extremely time poor. Although they save a lot of time by having all the dimensions set out, I still need to convert to Australian A4 size and then cut out all the pieces.

Beary Christmas DSP to the rescue! All I needed was a sheet of the paper, a card base, and a sentiment. The hardest part was working out where to put the sentiment panel so that I didn't obscure too much of the gorgeous DSP.

My sentiment is from Brightest Glow, cropped with the Modern Oval Punch. It just arrived in my latest order, and I can see that I will use it lots! I added a little piece of ribbon under the sentiment, just to help it pop a little from the DSP.

I love that the little strip of DSP that I used on the inside of my card has a polar bear peeking in from the side. I didn't plan that cut, it just happened. Serendipitous!

Please keep on hopping around the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop tonight. The next stop is my lovely friend, Andrea Sargent.

If you run into any difficulties with links, please jump on over to our wonderful Hostess, Sharon Davern's blog. She will have a list of all of tonight's participants with the correct links to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 11

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the eleventh week of the Heart Of Christmas blog hops. We are inching ever closer to Christmas! I'm enjoying the inspiration I get from doing the hops each week, and I hope that you are too.

Today I have a pair of cards for you, made using the August 2022 Sheetload Of Cards template. I wanted to use my Joy To You stamp set, and this was a template that I thought suited the large format of the sentiments.

I used a strip of the presents DSP from the Beary Christmas DSP pack on the inside of my card, and as I type my blog post, I notice that I've glued this one down upside down. Oops! Hopefully the recipient won't notice!

Here's my pair of cards together. I matted the sentiment on the more purple-ish of the Silver Foils, which looks quite blue against the blues in the papers. I like the subtle touch of shimmer.

My lovely friend, Kate Morgan, is bound to have something wonderful for you to see, so don't miss out. Just click the next button to jump over to her blog.

If you run into any issues, pop on over to Sharon Davern's blog. She's our wonderful hostess, and will have a list of all of tonight's hoppers to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 10

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for another Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop. We are up to Week 10, can you believe? We are creeping ever closer to Christmas. Hopefully you've been inspired to start your Christmas crafting along with us, so it's not such a rush at the end.

My card this week uses the June 2019 Sheetload Of Cards, which I think was the first one ever. I thought that it was a great way to show off the different papers from the Beary Christmas DSP pack.

I used my Brightest Glow stamp set for the sentiments, and the coordinating Labels Aglow Dies on the front of the card.

I made two cards, and constructed both of them slightly differently. The sentiment placement was to suit the DSP on each card, as I didn't want to cover up the polar bears. The longer Real Red label on the right side card was because I was worried that the one on the left was too short. Which do you prefer?

Please continue your way around our Blog Hop tonight - there's lots more Christmassy inspiration to be found. My lovely friend, Judy May, makes gorgeous Christmas cards!

Hopefully all tonight's links are working as they should for you, but if you do run into a problem please pop on over to Sharon Davern's blog. She will have a list of all of tonight's participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 9

 Hi!

Welcome to Week 9 of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops. I was a bit lacking in inspiration when I made my cards, so I once again looked to the Sheetload Of Cards templates to give me a boost. I chose to use the February 2022 sketch, as I thought that it was the one that suited my new stamp set the best.

More Wishes was near the top of my must-have list when I first saw the new Mini Catalogue. I love the two different fonts, although I've only used one on my card this time. I also love that the words in the stamp set can be mixed and matched.

I also love that it coordinates perfectly with Biggest Wish - but do you expect any different from Stampin' Up!? In this case, the word 'happy' was borrowed from Biggest Wish to make my sentiment for the inside of the card.

I made two cards again this week, to help boost my stash. The DSP is Beary Christmas, my favourite of this year's offerings. I also pulled out my Silver Metallic Enamel Effects. I just dotted it a few times on the front of each card.

That's all from me for tonight, but please keep making your way around all of the blogs. The next stop along the way is my lovely friend, Christine Blain.

As ever, the wonderful Sharon Davern keeps us all organised, so if you run into any issues with links, just pop on over to her blog. She'll have a list of all participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 7

 Hi!

Welcome to the seventh week of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops. I finally have some new stuff, so I was excited to play along this week.

How gorgeous is the Beary Christmas DSP? It really doesn't need much else, so I used the May 2023 Sheetload Of Cards to show off as much of the paper as possible. I paired it with the new Joy To You stamp set for the sentiment.

As I used the More Dazzling paper on the front, I also used a small strip on the inside. I changed my stamp set to Brightest Glow, as I didn't want to put a big sentiment on the inside of the card.

I've decided to make only two cards each time using the Sheetload templates. I was in the enviable position of having too many cards last year, so I don't need to make as many this year. You can see hat I varied the position of the sentiment panel, mostly to try not to cover too many of the polar bears.

That's all from me for tonight, but please do keep going around the blog hop until you get back to where you started. The next stop along the way is my lovely friend, Kate Morgan.

If you run into any issues with links, just pop on over to the wonderful Sharon Davern's blog. She will have a list of all of tonight's participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 5

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me again for another Heart Of Christmas blog hop. Did you miss me last week? The concert band I play in competed in the State Band Championships last Sunday, and I was so absorbed in preparing for that, that I forgot to join in with the hop. Oops! This week I'm back and raring to go!

Today's card features the fourth (and final) tag in the Love, Santa Kit. I've been avoiding this one, as I wasn't sure what to do with it. I ended up making it as directed by the kit, and then popping it up over some Merry Melody 3DEF embossed Poppy Parade cardstock.

It looked a bit too plain when I laid the tag straight on the card, so I tilted it for a bit of added interest. I very carefully peeled off the sentiment panel, and was able to stick it down again to make it straight on the card. 

The green in the kit is Just Jade, which has retired, but Lost Lagoon was a reasonable substitute. This is especially the case on the inside of the card, where it can't be directly compared to the front.

Keep hopping your way around the blogs, as there's lots more Christmassy inspiration to be seen. The next stop along the way is my lovely friend, Kate Morgan.

As always, the wonderful Sharon Davern is hosting our blog hop. If you run into any issues, just jump on over to her blog, where you'll find a list of all of tonight's hoppers to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 3

 Hi!

Welcome the third week of the Heart Of Christmas blog hops. I hope you've found lots of Christmas inspiration as you've joined us each week. I know that I have!

I'm still using my Love, Santa Tag Kit as the basis for my cards. I'm loving that the extra large tags are the perfect size to add to a card with very little extra work or supplies.

Once again, I just snipped off the loop for the twine at the top of the tag and made the tag up as per the kit instructions. I used Sweet Sorbet DSP on my card base, as the pink in the kit (Polished Pink) has retired. It's a reasonable match! 

The leftover DSP and another stamp from the kit were the perfect choice for the inside of the card.

The next stop in tonight's hop is the lovely Michele Taylor. You won't want to miss her project!

If you run into any issues with links, jump on over to the wonderful Sharon Davern's blog. She'll have a list of all of tonight's participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 2

 Hi!

Welcome back to my blog for the second Heart Of Christmas Blog Hop. Do you enjoy starting your Christmas card making early in the year, or are you a last minute crafter? Either way, there's lots of inspiration for you when you are ready.

I've once again used the tags from the Love, Santa Tags Kit as the basis for my card. The tags are quite large - the perfect size to feature on a card, I think! I just chopped the tag loop off the top of Santa's head and he was good to go.

I made the tag as directed by the kit, except that I added the loops of twine under the sentiment label rather than use them in the (now chopped off) tag loop.

The inside of my card is a little nod to the fabulous Matildas - I used a little piece of left over Shaded Spruce DSP from the front of the card, and then I trimmed a little piece off the side of the laser cut elements piece from the kit for the yellow strip. 

That's all from me for tonight's blog hop, but please keep on hopping around all of the blogs. There's lots to see! Just keep on going until you get back to where you started. The next stop along the way is the lovely Amie McIlroy.

If, at any stage, you find a broken link, please pop on over to our lovely host, Sharon Davern's blog. She will have a list of all of tonight's participants to help get you going again.

Bye for now,

Tina

Heart Of Christmas Week 1

 Hi!

Welcome to another year of the Heart Of Christmas Blog Hops. It's great to get started early with making Christmas cards so that you're not scrambling to get enough done in December.

I was a bit slow off the mark with my preorder from the upcoming Mini Catalogue, so I've delved into my stash for this week's card. I've used elements from the Love, Santa Tag Kit and added bits and pieces to make a full card rather than a tag. It was easy enough to snip away the loop at the top of the Christmas tree to make it more suitable for a card.

I've layered the Christmas tree as it is supposed to be for the tag, but I've added it to a card base that's been embossed with the Merry Melody 3DEF. I was so pleased when this embossing folder carried over! If you look closely, you can see a little scattering of gems from the kit over some of the baubles on the tree.

I used some of the stamps from the kit to create the inside of my card. Don't forget your kits - they are a great source of stamps and are on sale this month. The Love, Santa Tag Kit is reduced from $39 to $27.30. Bargain!

Please keep on going around our blog hop tonight, as there's lots more Christmassy inspiration to be seen, starting with my lovely friend, Judy May. She's bound to have something gorgeous!

Sharon Davern is once again our wonderful hostess for the Heart Of Christmas blog hops this year. If you run into any issues with links, just jump on over to her blog where she will have a list of all of tonight's participants to help get you back on track.

Bye for now,

Tina