It's the fifteenth of the month--PaperTrey Day! With four new Christmas sets out, I'm guessing that Nichole has a little something for almost everyone. My first card is from the Believe set, which includes a lovely Christmas tree and a Santa, both unusual for PaperTrey images in that you get to color them! (Don't worry; if you aren't a colorer, there are three other sets.) I stamped this tree in Black Brilliance ink and colored it with Copic markers: YG03, YG63, G99, R29, and R59. I used just a dot of Ranger's Glossy Accents on the berries. The small tag is a Cuttlebug die cut, and the sentiment is from the PaperTrey Holiday Treats set. (CB Tiny Tags set is available here and here.) Paper is PaperTrey Stamper's Select white, Bazzill Chili, and Basic Gray Fruitcake collection. Gold brads and eyelets are SU, as well as the ticket corner punch.
My next project was fun! (And don't ask me how many of the Hershey's Toffee and Almond Milk Chocolate Nuggets are left, because I really couldn't say. . .) I had some fabulous Cosmo Cricket Be Good paper that I wanted to use with this treat box, but my Avery 8165 labels were all white. Furthermore I didn't have a perfect shade of pale sage-y green ink to use on the snowflakes. Copic Airbrush system to the rescue! I used a Clearsnap Colorbox Fluid Chalk in Ice Blue to stamp my labels, along with SU's retired Cranberry Crisp and Sage Shadow on the tree labels, and then I airbrushed a pale yellow-red over the stamped labels, giving them an aged appearance to go with the Cosmo Cricket paper! I airbrushed the tin as well since the candies were wrapped in gold. Honestly, it would be simpler to use silver Nuggets and leave the container silver if you were mass-producing, but I really needed an excuse--ahem, reason-- to buy the Toffee Almond Nuggets. (I got this Be Good paper from Jacksonbelle's e-Bay store, and I believe that Eclectic Paperie carries it as well.)
Holiday Treats is a seriously useful stamp set for any of you who bake and give away Christmas treats, as well as for any of you who just want a classy way to package simple, inexpensive gifts like a tin of chocolates. Nichole has several label stamps, as well as smaller icon stamps that are all interchangeable to fit inside the labels. I can see myself using this set for many years to come.
Take a Bough is another new release; I'm showing you one of my out-of -the-box cards with it here. When I saw the small branches in Take a Bough, I kept thinking of snowman arms. Since there were some solid circles for ornaments, I used those, then pulled my smallest circle from the PaperTrey Butterfly Kisses set. I drew the face on with Gelly Roll markers and a Pumpkin marker. Background card stock is stamped with one of the circle ornaments as well. I used a Cloud White Versamagic chalk ink for the snowman, Gingerbread Versamagic for the branches, and Always Artichoke (SU) for the tree leaves. I used my Spellbinders Nestability Classic Square die to cut the snowman out, the a Cuttlebug tiny tag for the Sending Joy sentiment (from the Holiday Treats set). I used my SU slit punch to make way for the May Arts ribbon. Mat layer is Bazzill Ivy, stamped with one of the ornaments in the Take a Bough set. I used a light blue prismacolor pencil to add a hint of sky in the background, and red ornament is a dot of Christmas Red Stickles.
For my second Take a Bough, I used the set in a more traditional way. These ornaments are just great! I coated mine with Ranger's Glossy Accents--very similar to Crystal Effects, but with a smaller applicator tip. I embossed the ornament top and hanger in gold, then used my x-acto knife to scrape off where the hook would go behind the branch--much simpler that trying to mask it!
I used the word set, Holiday Wishes, for a couple of cards, one of which I'm showing you here. Yes, that's more of the Cosmo Cricket Be Good Collection that you're seeing! This card would go well with the box of chocolates. I used SU's retired Cranberry Crisp ink, as well as a stamped-off version of Sage Shadow for the snowflakes. This is a tall card--3-1/4" x 6-1/2", closed. I used a Page Pebbles that Nichole is selling to pop on top of the ornament and save all of that time waiting for CE or Glossy Accents to dry!
Finally, I'll share my Santa from the Believe set. Isn't he a cutie? I love that Nichole designed so many things to go in his hands! I used the greenery and berry spray. Copic markers that I colored with are: E00, E21, C1, R29, R59, YG93, YR21. I also used my Spellbinders Nestability Classic and Scalloped oval dies, as well as white Liquid Applique and SU's Mellow Moss Taffeta ribbon. I added a dot of glossy accents to the berries and popped up the gifts and sprig of greenery at his feet. Card stock is PaperTrey Stamper's Select White and Bazzill Chili. Ink is Black Brilliance and SU's retired Cranberry Crisp.
I hope you had as much fun seeing these samples as I had making them. Please be sure to check out the PaperTrey Gallery for many other samples made with these four sets; I just peeked--it's fabulous!
