Blog Archives

Christmas Mandala Trees

12/21/2021

Hello and happy Tuesday! Today I'll be sharing my very last holiday themed cards for 2021! I know there are only four days left until Christmas, so by now it's too late to make any more cards and send them out, but, if you're super ambitious, you can always get started on next year's cards!

I just love this new Christmas Mandala Tree stamp and coordinating dies, though for these cards, I only used the two tree dies!

Card details:

*Please note - both cards were made the exact way I just used alternate color combinations for each card to show variety.

These slimline cards measure 8 1/2" x 3 1/2" inches. Slimline cards are designed to fit inside a regular #10 business mailing envelope and require no additional postage. For one card I used a lilac purple cardstock base and the other I used a garden green cardstock base. I lined each cardstock base with an 8 1/4" x 3 1/4" piece of 80 lb. Neenah Solar White smooth cardstock. I then started die cutting trees for each card. For the purple trees, I used some of the glitter cardstock from the 6" x 6" Graceful Garden Glitter pad and some extra purple plaid paper I pulled from my scrap bin. For the green trees, I used glitter cardstock from the 6" x 6" Frosted Glitter pad.

I adhered the first five trees directly to the card base. I adhered the "top" tree (with the mosaic cutouts) to the center of the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. On thin white strips of cardstock, I stamped the sentiment "wishing you peace" in either green or purple ink. This sentiment is also included in the Christmas Mandala stamp set.

Thank you for visiting! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Feliz Navidad & Happy Kwanzaa! Whatever you celebrate may your festivities be filled with peace, love and joy. I'll see you in the New Year!

XO, Crystal

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Noel

12/20/2021

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Can you believe that we are only 5 days away from Christmas!? It's exciting, exhilarating, energizing and yet e-x-h-a-u-s-t-i-n-g all at the same time! Today I am on the Joy Clair Designs blog sharing a fun holiday card using the skating Santa image from the Love Santa digital stamp set.

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card was made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I also cut a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of the same white cardstock for the first mat. I stamped the leaves from the Fall Greetings stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink horizontally along the top and bottom of the white cardstock mat. I colored the leaves with red and green Copic markers to give them more of a festive holiday feel than a fall feel. I placed a 5 1/4" x 1/4" strip of black cardstock as a frame to ground the "NOEL" letters onto. I die cut the letters, "N, E and L" from red glitter cardstock. I adhered the letters to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I printed out the skating Santa from the Love Santa digital stamp set and colored him using Copic markers. I fussy cut the Santa out and used this image in lieu of the letter "O" in "NOEL." Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the Santa image for added sparkle.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! For more inspiration, you can follow me on Instagram, Facebook and on my YouTube channel.

XO, Crystal

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Be Merry

12/14/2021

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Hello readers! I can't believe we are only 11 days away from Christmas! I am proud of myself for getting all 121 of my handmade Christmas cards out (and on time) this year! Although, my friends in Austria and Germany may see their cards around Valentine's Day. . . I tried. Today I am sharing two cards made using the Frosty Snowflake Layering dies from Birch Press Design and while the sentiment on these cards says, "be merry," they could easily be made into winter birthday cards or holiday thank you cards by simply changing out the stamped sentiment.

Card details:

*Note - both of these cards were made the same way, I just changed out the color combinations.

The base of this A2 sized card was made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. Using the Pinpoint Radial Plate die, I cut the background from the same white cardstock. Using Layer A and Layer B of the Frosty Flakes Layering Dies I cut the snowflakes from the 6" x 6" Twinkling Jewel Glitter pad. I adhered the snowflakes directly to the background. Using the Contempo Christmas Greetings stamp set and coordinating die, I stamped the sentiment "be merry" in either blue ink or purple ink and then I used the coordinating circle die to cut the sentiment out. I adhered the sentiment to the center of each card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

Here is the same card made in an alternate color combination:

I hope you have enjoyed these beautiful cards. Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

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It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

12/13/2021

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Hello crafty readers! I know that we have only 12 days left until Christmas, so I hope that your holiday cards are in the mail by now, or at least on the kitchen counter ready to go, stat! But, I'm here to offer a little more Christmas card inspiration should you still need to create a few last minute cards. . .

Card details:

This slimline card measures 8 1/2" x 3 1/2." Slimline cards are designed to fit inside a regular #10 business sized envelope and require no additional postage.

The base of this card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I used a slimline die cut from red cardstock in order to create the frame. Behind the frame I placed a 7 1/2" x 3" piece of black and white music patterned paper. I printed the two envelopes from the Extraordinary digital stamp set. I colored the envelopes with Copic markers in reds and greens. I fussy cut the envelopes and adhered them to each corner of the card using 3M foam adhesive. I die cut the word "Merry" from red glitter paper and created my own shadow die from vellum cardstock. I printed the "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" sentiment from the Love Santa digital stamp set in green ink on white cardstock. I trimmed the sentiment down to a small size and adhered it above and below the word "Merry." Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the flowers in the envelopes for added sparkle.

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! For more inspiration, you can follow me on my website, Instagram, Facebook and on my YouTube channel.

XO, Crystal

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Jolly

12/7/2021

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Hello crafty friends! It is a mad dash to the finish line to create those holiday cards and get them out in time! Today I'm sharing a fun and festive way to use a simple holiday shadow word die as the focal point of your card.

Card details:

The base of this A2 sized card is made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I cut a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of white cardstock for the first layer and matted that with a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of red cardstock. Using Layer B of the Frosty Flake Layering Set, I cut four snowflakes from white cardstock. I adhered these four snowflakes onto the white cardstock to create my background. It's a very subtle look to allow the colorful words to POP! I die cut the word "Jolly" three times using the Jolly Honey Script Word Die. I die cut one word from gold glitter cardstock, one from red glitter cardstock and one from green glitter cardstock. All of the glitter cardstock was from the 6" x 6" Frosted Glitter pad. I cut the thinner shadow portion of the "jolly" from white cardstock. I layered the two "jolly" layers together with a fine-tip liquid adhesive. I then placed the three "jolly" sentiments going down the middle of the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension.

I hope you have joined this fun way to use your shadow word dies to create holiday cards, no stamping required! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

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Mermaid Hair

12/3/2021

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Hello readers and happy Fri-YAY! I thought we'd take a break from the traditional holiday cards this time of year and enjoy this fun mermaid slimline card as we head into the weekend. This sweet image is a new digital release called Mermaid Hair from 88 and Clear. The package deal (seen at the end of this post) offers both the digital stamp and the coordinating digital paper.

Card details:

This slimline card measures 8 1/2" x 3 1/2." Slimline cards are designed to fit inside a regular #10 business sized mailing envelope and require no additional postage. The base of this card was made from 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. I cut a 8" x 3" piece of Mermaid Hair Print #2 and placed it beneath a circular slimline frame. I printed out the mermaid images from the Mermaid Hair digital stamp set and colored the images with Copic markers. I fussy cut the images and adhered them to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I added a couple colored beads to the card for more dimension. Lastly, I add a coat of clear Wink of Stella to the mermaids for added sparkle. You can never have enough sparkle on a mermaid!

Here is the Mermaid Hair digi-NEXT collection from 88 and Clear. This digital package includes both the stamp set and coordinating papers.

What a fun and magical card and it was equally fun to make! Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day!

XO, Crystal

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Joy Clair Designs December Mood Board

12/1/2021

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Hello crafty readers and happy 1st of December! The Design Team at Joy Clair Designs is excited to share the mood board for this month. Mood boards (also commonly called "inspiration" boards) are a combination of colors, images, textures and patterns that can offer guidance or direction. If you feel like you don't know where to begin a project, try looking at a mood board and let the creative juices flow. You might just be surprised by the end result!

Let's take a look at the December 2021 Joy Clair Designs mood board:

This month's mood board was inspired by the magic, warmth and wonder of the holiday season with pops of colors in turquoise, purple, magenta and white. It's cheerful, whimsical and magical! Maybe this will inspire you to create for Christmas, Hannukah, winter or simply let these colors inspire you to create for any occasion.

Here is a card that I created inspired by this month's mood board:

Card details:

*A full list of supplies is located at the end of this post.

The base of this A2 size card was made using 80 lb. Neenah Solar White Smooth cardstock. The first base was created using a Gina Marie Designs Scalloped Rectangle die and cut from white cardstock. In the bottom lower right corner of the card, I stamped the sentiment "warmest wishes" in blue ink. l created a background from Faded Denim and Blueprint Sketch Distress Oxide inks. Next, I printed the images from the Christmas Cocoa digital stamp set and colored in the two mugs using Copic markers. I added the mugs to the card using 3M foam adhesive for added dimension. I also added the white foam cream and marshmallows to the card using 3M foam adhesive. Lastly, I added a coat of clear Wink of Stella to all the images for added sparkle.

We would love to see YOU create using this mood board as inspiration too! Feel free to use similar colors in whatever brand of cardstock you have readily available. We'd love for you to use your Joy Clair Designs stamps if you have them! And if you don't have any yet CLICK HERE TO START SHOPPING TODAY!

Be sure to tag us on social media using the following hashtags so we can see your cards or other papercraft projects:
#joyclairdesignsmoodboard
#joyclairmoodboard

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderfully creative day! For more inspiration, you can follow me on my website, Instagram, Facebook and on my YouTube channel.