A Christmas in July Fun Fold

 Happy Christmas in July week! Although I am no where near ready to think about Christmas (or even the first day of school) yet, each summer I like to take a week and celebrate Christmas in July in honour of the launch of the July-December Mini Catalogue. So, last Saturday I held my annual Christmas in July Virtual Stamp Camp featuring the beautiful Boughs of Holly Suite. I've been sharing some of the projects we made over on my Instagram and Facebook accounts and I featured three fun projects in this week's Facebook Live. One of the projects I demonstrated was this fabulous Arrow Fold card...

Now, I'll admit, the first time I ever saw this fun fold I thought it was WAY too involved for me to try. But then I saw so many beautiful designs with it I decided to give it a go. That was a couple of years ago and I have been hooked ever since. It really isn't nearly as hard as it looks! And it is SO worth the effort.

On this design I really wanted to highlight the gorgeous Boughs of Holly Designer Paper. It truly does ALL of the work on this card. The poinsettia images are all fussy-cut from the DSP. The only thing I stamped is the sentiment label!

I used the Handmade Wishes bundle to stamp and punch my label. It is a bit of a hidden gem in the mini catalogue, but is fantastic! I love the shape of this label and all of the various sentiments and images included in the stamp set make it super-versatile. I'll definitely be using this one A LOT this season!

As I mentioned above, I demonstrated this card in this week's Facebook live video. The replay is posted below and all of the measurements are included in the video description:

Enjoy trying this fun fold...it really isn't too hard! 

Thanks for stopping by today...have a great week!

Product List

Handmade Wishes Bundle (English) [159691] $50.25	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276] $14.00	Boughs Of Holly 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [159600] $16.50	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad [147084] $11.00
Evening Evergreen Classic Stampin' Pad [155576] $11.00	Paper Trimmer [152392] $34.00	Paper Snips [103579] $15.00	Festive Pearls [159963] $9.75
Evening Evergreen 3/8" (1 Cm) Open Weave Ribbon [155573] $9.75

It's Christmas in July!

Happy Monday! I hope you had a good weekend. It has been terribly hot and humid here. Saturday was THE WORST, but then the storms came through and Sunday was simply perfect. I took a rare afternoon off, lounging on the deck and reading a novel...it was so nice to have some downtime!

As hot as it has been, it is hard to think about cold weather, snow and Christmas, but it will come sooner than we all might like. This week I am hosting my annual Christmas in July event and I thought I would make the whole week all about holiday cards. My featured product this week is the Lots of Cheer stamp set from the Annual Catalogue...

Lots of Cheer (Item #149503)

This set is new this year and is perfect if you're like me and love to colour!  Check out this simple fun-fold card I made...

For this card I pulled out my Noble Peacock Specialty DSP...it is so beautiful! The focal image is heat embossed in silver and then coloured using the Pretty Peacock Stampin' Blends combo, as well as Light Smokey Slate. I used the Stitched Shapes dies to die-cut the white oval and then the Layering Ovals dies to cut the scalloped silver foil oval mat.

The sentiment is stamped in Pretty Peacock ink. I added some gorgeous reversible ribbon and a couple Noble Peacock Rhinestones for extra shimmer and shine. I also added some clear Wink of Stella to the darker parts of the ornament, making it sooooo pretty!

On the inside I added a Whisper White layer, on which I stamped another sentiment from the Lots of Cheer set in Pretty Peacock ink and added a 1/2" strip of scrap DSP along the bottom edge.

I'll be demonstrating this card and two others using the Lots of Cheer stamp set in tomorrow's Tuesday Live @ Five video. I hope you'll join me, but if you can't, be sure to catch the replay on my YouTube channel or on the Video Tutorials tab above later in the week.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a spectacular week...and merry Christmas (in July!)

Product List

Lots Of Cheer Cling Stamp Set [149503] $27.00	Pretty Peacock Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [149560] $12.00	Smoky Slate Light Stampin' Blends Marker [145054] $6.00	Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad [150083] $10.25
Versamark Pad [102283] $13.00	Embossing Buddy [103083] $8.25	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder [109131] $8.25	Heat Tool (Us And Canada) [129053] $41.00
Pretty Peacock 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [150880] $12.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [100730] $13.25	Silver Foil Sheets [132178] $6.75	Noble Peacock Specialty Designer Series Paper [149493] $20.00
Old Olive/Pretty Peacock 3/8" (1 Cm) Reversible Ribbon [149496] $10.25	Noble Peacock Rhinestones [149494] $7.50	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897] $11.00

Christmas in July Blog Hop

Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a good weekend. I held my quarterly team training event yesterday and it was SO much fun! I absolutely LOVE spending time with my Stamping Symphony family. One of the things we enjoy doing is swapping card ideas. This month our theme was Christmas in July to get us all in the mood as we await the release of the new Holiday Catalogue. There were some AMAZING designs and we decided that this month's blog hop should feature some of them. So, here is our monthly hop...

I have been playing with the Follow Your Dreams bundle recently and decided it would make a beautiful Christmas card...

Now, I actually used several different products on this card. I began by die-cutting the Whisper White background layer using the Chase Your Dreams Framelits. I love that I can cut a peek-through window in my card front with it. After die-cutting I embossed the panel using the Subtle TIEF...that one is fast becoming a favourite! I added a bit of gold foil behind my window and then added a die-cut gold circle using the same die, but this time adding the circle die to cut it out fully from the foil sheet. The result is a kinda cool reverse image of the window. The "poinsettia" is from the Eastern Beauty stamp set. I heat embossed the image in gold on Real Red card stock and then sponged  bit of Real Red ink in the centre of the flower for shadow. I also added some Wink of Stella to make it sparkle.

The sentiment is from the Christmas Pines stamp set and is heat embossing in gold. I used the label die from the Petals & More thinlits to die-cut the sentiment and then layered it on a gold foil filigree label, also cut with the same thinlits. The only embellishments on this card are some gold pearls and gold metallic thread. I love how delicate and subtle that stuff is!

 On the inside of the card I added another sentiment from the Christmas Pines stamp set and some little flourishes from the Eastern Beauty set stamped in Real Red and Soft Suede inks respectively.

I love thinking outside the box and coming up with uses for stamps and products beyond the obvious. It makes my products so much more versatile and helps me see them in a whole new light. For more Christmas in July inspiration, check out the projects on these blogs below. There are some super-talented stampers in the Stamping Symphony!

1. Leena (You are here)

2. Sandy

3. Barb

4. Jennifer

5. Steph

Product List

Eastern Beauty Photopolymer Stamp Set [143675] $27.00	Christmas Pines Photopolymer Stamp Set [142049] $44.00	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $13.25	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [140272] $10.50
Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [102482] $11.50	Gold Foil Sheets [132622] $5.50	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad [147084] $10.25	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [147115] $10.25
Versamark Pad [102283] $11.25	Embossing Buddy [103083] $8.00	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder [109129] $6.75	Heat Tool [129053] $40.00
Big Shot [143263] $150.00	Subtle Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [143706] $14.00	Chase Your Dreams Framelits Dies [146826] $33.00	Eastern Medallions Thinlits Dies [143725] $45.00
Petals & More Thinlits Dies [145655] $46.00	Gold Metallic Thread [138401] $4.75	Metallic Pearls [146282] $9.50