{Special Post} Christmas in July with Karola + 25% Off on All Christmas-Themed Products + A Giveaway

Hey, STAMPlorations friends! We have a special post today -- courtesy of STAMPgirl Karola, who created a boatload of projects to help get you in the holiday/Christmas cardmaking mood. Plus we've got a Christmas in July sale starting today until July 31 and a giveaway found at the end of this post. 

    

      

    

Hello, fellow STAMPlorations fans. Karola here to start the countdown to Christmas. We crafters know how quickly and quietly Christmas will creep up on us, so we better be prepared! I have been inspired by the gorgeous STAMPlorations Christmas products and Christmas Typografia stamps to create projects which I hope will inspire you to start your Christmas crafting. I've created projects for each remaining month up to December, and as you will see, my projects go from more intricate ones to quick and easy designs. I hope you will find something that is suitable for you crafting schedule, whenever you decide to start your Christmas crafting projects.

JULY

There is almost half a year until C-day so we have time for intricate projects, like the box card at the top of this post. I created the Northern light skies using watercolours and used no line watercolouring on images from Homespun Christmas and Sketchy Yule Trees. The sentiment is heat embossed in white using the From Across the Miles Typografia stamp, and the snowy hills are die cut using Stitched Snow Hills.

Why not create another panel of Northern Lights while you have your watercolours out? Die cut your panel using the Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle die, add a wintery hillside landscape using the Stitched Winter Landscape die and heat emboss the Joyful Christmas Typografia stamp in white onto the gorgeous night sky.

AUGUST

No sight of tinsel in the shops yet, so there is still time for flashy projects. And while you are at it, use stamps to create matching gift wrap to go with your cards. I inked up stamps from Layered Holly using Distress Inks and sprayed with water before stamping for that watercolour-y look. I stamped various stamps from Mixed Media Grunge around the edges of the card and inked using Vintage Photo Distress ink. Last, I heat embossed Joyful Christmas Typografia in Copper onto vellum and tore and inked the edges for a grungey look.

SEPTEMBER

As we are still enjoying an Indian summer (we will be in September, won't we?) there is no need to panic about Christmas preparations. Now is a great time to create watercoloured cards. Just grab your favourite stamp set, stamp using a light colour and get creative. I used stamps from Jingle Bells and finished this simple card with a heat embossed sentiment from the same set. There is also plenty of time to create your own gift tags. I die cut the tag using Manila Tags dies and heat embossed bells in gold. I stamped Jingle All The Way onto vellum using Distress Oxides, and before the ink dried I sprinkled the sentiment with gold embossing powder which I heat set for a luxurious glittery look. I stamped, coloured and fussy cut the bells for a finishing touch.

OCTOBER

This is the time to use humour as a weapon against the threat of rapidly approaching Christmas. I stamped the hilarious llama from Llama Tell You and added antlers from Yuletide Deer. I used the antler stamps to create the background and stamped a sentiment from Layered Holly. I can't help but smile! For my second card, I stamped the quirky "build-him-yourself" snowman from Layered Snowman and the Build A Snowman Typografia sentiment for another fun card.

NOVEMBER

Shops are full of Christmas decorations - not long to go now. It's time for quick and easy cards to create designs which are easy to mass produce. My first card is inspired by That One Layer Mixed Media Girl, the wonderful Shery herself! I stamped Delight In The Joys Typografia and masked the bottom of the sentiment before stamping Poinsettia Row twice. A few quick brush strokes of watercolour complete this quick and easy card. For my other quick and easy card, I was inspired by the beautiful script used in the sentiments from Layered Holly which I stamped in Distress Oxide and added a layered die cut using Gift Builder 2. This design was so easy to make that I created multiple cards in one sitting.

DECEMBER

There is no need to panic - even if you haven't started your Christmas crafting yet, you can use this quick and easy design to create loads of cards quicker than you can say "Christmas Cleaning". Randomly stamp the cute Christmas trees from Sketchy Yule Trees in grey to create a fun background. Ink up your Merry Little Christmas Typografia stamp (or any one of the wonderful Christmas Typografia stamps) in ombre colours. I know some people don't like to ink up a stamp with multiple ink pads as the colours tend to contaminate the ink pads, but I've never had an issue as I start with the lightest colour and work my way to the darkest. I just use the edge of the ink pad, ensuring the stamp is completely covered before stamping. Then I quickly sprinkled some clear glitter embossing powder before the ink dried, and heat set it, creating a gorgeous shimmery sentiment. 

I'm well on my way with Christmas crafting - now it's your turn!

STAMPlorations products Karola used:

An InLinkz Link-up

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Goodness, Karola sure knows how to do Christmas and rock our stamps and dies, doesn't she? Which among her projects today is your favorite? Share your answer by commenting on this post for a chance to win either a $15 gift certificate to the store OR your choice of any one of the (in-stock) products that Karola used in her projects. Commenting closes on Wednesday, August 1. We'll announce the two winners on August 10 in the July Winners post.

And before you go, we've got a Christmas in July sale from now until the end of the month.

Now's the perfect time to grab a few Christmas-themed stamps, stencils, and dies at 25% off in the CHRISTMAS IN JULY category!

use coupon code CHRISTMAS25

no minimum purchase

current shipping rates apply

get free shipping when your order meets the minimum for your country

code can be used up to 3 times per customer/mailing address
code cannot be combined with other codes

Premium Stamp Club subscribers: use coupon code PREMIUM together with your personal discount code in order to get 40% off (instead of 25%)!

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