Christmas in July

Some of you may be aghast at the thought of Christmas in July and others of you may be early-bird planner types...I'm just moved to craft when inspiration strikes, so behold, my first Christmas card of 2015. Linnie Blooms canvas evergreen trees with their distressed edges just seemed the perfect fit for my rustic card. I stamped the clear stamp set of stitched doodles on the tree which was quick & easy and I am so pleased with the result.

A Closer Look:

 

Directions:
1. Use a sponge applicator to lightly apply Pine Needles Distress ink to the canvas tree.
2. Carefully separate your chosen doodle from the stamp cluster with sharp scissors.
3. Cover the trunk with a bit of scrap paper. Ink the stamp with evergreen pigment dye ink and carefully press it to the canvas.
4. Continue stamping rows of doodles until the tree is completely covered.
5. Use a sponge applicator to lightly apply Vintage Photo Distress ink to the tree trunk.

TIP: Before beginning, I traced the canvas tree on paper and cut out a tree so that I could use it to practice. One set of doodle stamps are straight and the other is made on a slight curve. I selected the gently curving doodle so the tree would have a more realistic appearance. It was very useful to test different doodle patterns to see how they would appear on the tree. I tried 3 other patterns before I selected the one in the final project. By taking the time and doing a test tree on paper, this preplanning step can help you avoid frustration and disappointment.

Supplies:
canvas evergreen tree (Linnie Blooms), burlap printed fabric (Linnie Blooms), ColorWays Emerald Leatherbound 12" paper (Paper House), Little Man 8x8 paper pad (Paper House), gold rub on transfers (Paper House), Winter Wonderland Die Cut Sticker Embellishments (Paper House),  Stitched Doodles Stamp Set (Linnie Blooms), Pine Needles & Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Ranger), wood veneer tiny stars & snowflakes (Studio Calico), white gel pen (Sakura), christmas ribbon (Celebrate It), red half pearls

Linnie Blooms SHOP

PreSeNTs

by Kelly Hoernig for Linnie Blooms

I have been collecting Bingo cards for a couple of years now and thought it would make a nice background for a holiday piece. It is not expected but nice and sturdy, both of which I really like. I just purchased some old viewmaster disks and on a closer inspection found one for the “the Night Before Christmas” so knew it would be a perfect addition to the design. I worked with a nice variety of Linnie Blooms canvas shapes and tried to give each one its own personality just to be fun and different.

I used DecoArt Americana acrylics in Light French Blue, Light Avocado, Foliage Green, Terra Coral an

d Spicy Mustard to create this exact look. I pulled out my favorite stencils to add some flair to the background, the stocking and the heart. Some are subtle and some make a statement, you decide on what goes better with the look you want to achieve.

Because I wanted to add depth, I used fabri-tac and paper glued to the backside of the stocking. It makes it stand up just enough giving you the look of things being filled in it. I then used fabri-tac to hold all the elements to the background. For the disk I attached it to the bingo card with a brad.

Can’t wait to see what creative twist you put on this inspiration – hope you will share it when you are finished! Enjoy and Happy Holidays from me to you!!

Time to start your Christmas Cards!

Hi Everyone!  Julie here!!

I know it's not even Halloween yet-

but when I saw one of the newest Linnie Shapes-

I knew exactly what I wanted to make!

I colored the canvas tree with some Copic Markers and blinged it up with Stickles!

Very festive!

It works perfectly with some DCWV Burlap paper and some 

3 Girl JAM Ribbon.

Christmas will be here before you know it,

so time to get started on those cards to mail out!

Thanks for stopping by!