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Christmas Countdown | Thanks!

by Sara Sherlock on Dec 24 2022

It's the very last day of our Christmas Countdown - thank you so much for joining us as we shared inspiration with you over the last few weeks! I have one final project to share with you today, and we're skipping ahead just a bit with this card. As a kid, we had one thing we were supposed to accomplish by the day after Christmas - fill out Thank You notes for the family and friends who had sent us gifts. It's a good habit to form, and I probably send as many Thank You notes over the year, as I do Birthday or Christmas Cards. It's always nice to have a seasonal design to send. It's also a good way to use some of those Christmas craft goodies that you could not resist! This card could easily be made in a assembly line, by working through each step at a time. And the fun sparkle from the Paper Glaze Luxe, and splatter of Sparkle Paper Glitz, gives it a little holiday shimmer. Products used for this card are: Falling Snowflakes 6x6 Stencil Tall Christmas Trees 6x6 Stencil Thanks Word Topper Die Paper Glaze Luxe Spanish Moss Paper Glaze Luxe Arctic Fox Mixed Media Spatulas Life Changing Blender Brushes Fan Brush Have a VERY Merry Christmas - may your holidays be filled with love and joy, and may the year to come be filled with blessings and lots of crafting! Much Love, Sara

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Christmas Countdown: 10 Awesome Facts About Christmas!

by Jen Kray on Dec 23 2022

Hi friends and welcome to the penultimate blog post for our Christmas Countdown! With only TWO days left until Christmas Day I hope that all your presents are gift-wrapped, and the feast is about to get lit up! I adore everything about Christmas, and the quality time spent with family is the absolute best! For my post today I have a lovely card but before that, let's share 10 awesome facts about Christmas. 1. 'kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!' or 'Kentucky for Christmas!' KFC has been the ultimate Japanese Christmas food since December 1974, just four years after the first KFC store arrived in Japan. So how did it all begin? Okawara went to a Christmas party dressed as Santa Claus, and when the kids loved it, he was inspired to create the KFC Christmas specials. Today, millions of people in Japan visit KFC on Christmas Day. 2. 'Jingle Bells' was the first song played in space On the 16 December 1965, the song 'Jingle Bells' made history by becoming the first song to be played in space during NASA’s Gemini 6A space flight. 3. The Christmas Tree Tradition started in Germany It is believed Germany began the tradition of the Christmas tree. Additionally, tinsel, which was once made of actual silver, is traced to 1610 in Germany. 4. Thomas Nast is responsible for the modern Santa Clause The Coca-Cola company is often credited with creating the red coated modern image of Santa Claus we know and love today but this isn’t true. Most of his modern image was put together by Thomas Nast in the 1870s. 5. Yule Lads In Iceland, Yule Lads visit children on the 13 lights leading up to Christmas Day. The children will leave shoes under the window for 13 these mischievous trolls. If the child has been good, they’ll find sweets in their shoe but if they’ve been bad, the Yule lads will leave them a rotten potato! 6. The Christmas Wreath The Christmas wreath is representative of the crown of thorns that Jesus wore. Eventually, the colours of Christmas – red, green, and gold were added. Red is said to represent the blood of Jesus, green is supposed to symbolise life, and gold stands for royalty and light. And the evergreen foliage used to make Christmas wreaths symbolises the continuity of life and nature even in the darkest days of winters. 7. The term 'Xmas' simply means Christmas The use of the term ‘Xmas’ dates back to the 16th century. The ‘X’ in the word Xmas comes from the ancient Greek language. In Greek, Christ begins with the letter X. So, Xmas simply means Christmas. 8. Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December), and originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor. 9. Midnight Mass The practice of Midnight Mass has been a tradition followed for a long time by the Roman Catholic Church.Significance of this custom lies in the ‘personal importance of forgiving’. The Midnight Mass is a vigil mass that involves waiting joyfully for the arrival of the Savior, Jesus. Families get together to celebrate this joyous occasion every year. 10. Christmas Stockings Hanging stockings out comes from the Dutch custom of leaving shoes packed with food for St Nicholas’s donkeys. He would leave small gifts in return. Did you enjoy those fun facts? I love books, and acquiring knowledge in general but who doesn't want to learn cool things about one of the biggest holiday of the year. A2 Card - Welcome Winter Today, I have a card, which is a beautifully traditional wreath. The wreath is my favorite Christmas image and I hope that I've done it justice for you today. First, I stamped out the wreath onto an A2 piece of smooth white alcohol friendly card and colored with Copic Markers. Next, I stamped out two Cardinals and colored them with Copic Markers. Either fussy cut or die cut the Cardinals, and set aside. Stamp 'welcome winter' using gold embossing powder. Stamp out the second sentiment onto navy card, and gold heat emboss. Trim to size. Trim the card panel 5.25" x 4" and mount onto a nay card base. Assemble the Cardinals and sentiment, then add sequins to the front of the card to finish. Thank you so much for joining me today on the PFS Blog and I hope to see you soon. Have a wonderful Christmas, and a very happy New Year! Lots of love and hugs, Jen SHOPPING BASKET Some links I use are affiliated. This means that I make a small commission when you shop through them. But don't worry, this doesn't affect the cost to you. Thank you for support me as a small creator and as part of the PFS Design Team.

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Christmas Countdown: Christmas wishes by Laura

by Laura Nistal on Dec 22 2022

Hello and welcome to the Christmas countdown on PFS blog! I'm Laura and I'm very excited to be here again on the Picket Fence Studios blog showing this christmas card that I hope will inspire you! To start I used the "Animal Crackers Christmas Wishes" Stamps set that I stamped with "Black Hybrid ink pad" which is perfect for this type of stamps! Then I painted all the images with alcohol markers and then with a white marker I glossed it to make it stand out. Then i cut out the images using the "Animal Crackers Christmas Wishes" coordinating dies but you can carefully cut them out with scissors if you prefer. Next I prepared the background: for this I used the stamp "My World Revolves Around You" that I also stamped with "Black Hybrid ink pad" and then painted with alcohol markers. Then I used the "A2 She Said Yes Cover Plate" die to make the frame and painted it with distress oxide inks. For the sentiment I used the "Joy Word Die" that I cut out of metallic red cardstock. Finally I prepared the composition, glued all the pieces and this is how the result was! I hope you like it and that it inspires you, I remember that you can find all these products and many others in the Picket Fence Studios store. Don´t forget to come tomorrow for more Christmas inspiration! A huge kiss and until next time! Laura

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Christmas Countdown | A Christmas Poinsettia Star

by Sara Sherlock on Dec 21 2022

We have four days left until Christmas Day! And today I'm here to share a card using a stamp set for the FOURTH year in a row. I absolutely adore the Christmas Poinsettia Star Stamp. I pull it out each Christmas to create something fun - and this year, I did a mass production of this card. It was so easy, and in less than a day's time, I had lots of pretty cards to send out. PFS Products Used on This Card: • Christmas Poinsettia Star Stamp • Cheers Word Die • Winter Has Come to Town Stamp • A Classic Christmas Sequin Mix • Black Hybrid Ink One of the best parts of this card, is that it's seasonal - rather than "Christmas" - it's a perfect card to send to those who observe other holidays this time of year, or to send to celebrate the New Year. I hope you enjoyed today's project. Have a fantastic day! Much Love, Sara

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Seasonal Christmas Flower Shaker Card

by Heejung Hunsberger on Dec 20 2022

Hello Crafty Friends! Welcome to Christmas Countdown on PFS's Blog! Just 5days left, I'm so excited! Today, I'm sharing a shaker card using one of my favorite stamps, "The seasonal Christmas Flower stamp set". This card is 5 x 7 inches. so it has good space for the Christmas Flowers on the corners. I stamped the Christmas Greeting on the Heat Resistance acetate and applies gold heat embossing powder. CARD RECIPE: Shaker's inside background was made with the Falling Snowflakes Stencil in Weathers wood Ink. Die-cut the Lunar Gray Card Stock with the 5 x 7 Double Stitched Rectangle dies. Stamp the To All a Good Night Stamp on the Heat Resistance acetate with the watermark ink, and applied the gold heat embossing powder, and heat set it. Stamp the Seasonal Christmas Flowers stamp on the white card stock, and color them with Copic Markers, die-cut the flowers with the coordinating die. Filled the A Classic Christmas Sequin Mix in the shaker. I hope you like it and give you an idea to make your cards. See you in my next blog post. Happy crafting and Merry Christmas! XOXO, Heejung Supplies List

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Wishing You A Magical Christmas

by Theary Chea on Dec 19 2022

Hello! Welcome to The Picket Fence Studios' Christmas Countdown! Today is the 6th day until Christmas. Woohoo! We're so close! I am super excited about this! I hope you are as well. Today, I am sharing a sweet polar bear scene Christmas card. I love the polar bear set from the past few releases. I had to create a card combining the sets. I used the Scene Building: Brick Wall stamp as ice blocks and paired that with a stamp from the A Window Seat to The World set for the hardwood floors. This scene was super easy to create and fun to mix and match sets. All products used: A Polar Bears Celebration Stamp A Polar Bears Celebration Dies Scene Building: Brick Wall Stamp A Window Seat to The World Stamp A Polar Bears Christmas Stamp A Polar Bears Christmas Dies Here is a complete process video if you missed it. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and I hope to see you here again! Until next time, Theary Chea (@cloudycoraldesigns)

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Christmas Countdown: Playful Christmas Card featuring JOY WORD DIE

by Bonnie Crane on Dec 18 2022

I have a sweet and playful Christmas card perfect for a child or the ‘young at heart’ featuring one of my favourite dies, Joy Word Die.

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Christmas Countdown: Merry and Bright!

by Evgeniya Ishbul’dina on Dec 17 2022

Hello there! Eugy here and welcome back to The Picket Fence Studios Christmas Countdown! Just 8 days left, so exited! Today I would like to share with you this simple card, which is a great idea for a last minute project! I started this project by creating a background, I used Traditional Christmas Green Paper Glitz and green cardstock to create a tone on tone dimensional background. Have you already seen this new versatile polka dot stencil from the new release? I just love the A Whole Lot of Polka Dots 6x6 Stencil! After I stamped and die-cut the wreath and sentiment, I colored my image with Copics. Here I used the Welcome Winter Wreath stamp and coordinating dies. I really appreciate that there are coordinating dies for sentiments, too. All I have left to do is to assemble everything together. For an even greater tridemensional effect, I added vellum layer under the wreath. I hope you liked this card idea! Happy crafting and have a great weekend! Eugy

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Christmas Countdown: Magical Christmas by Laura

by Laura Nistal on Dec 16 2022

Hello and welcome to the Christmas countdown on PFS blog! I'm Laura and I'm very excited to be here again on the Picket Fence Studios blog showing this christmas card that I hope will inspire you! To start I used the "Frolicking Winter Friends" Stamps set that I stamped with "Black Hybrid ink pad" which is perfect for this type of stamps! Then I painted all the images with alcohol markers and then with a white marker I glossed it to make it stand out. Then i cut out the images using the "Frolicking Winter Friends" coordinating dies but you can carefully cut them out with scissors if you prefer. On the other hand, I used the "Jolly Good Rainbow" die and painted each of its parts with Christmas colors. Next I prepared the background: for this I used a white cardboard to which I applied the "Paper Glaze Luxe Artic Fox" along with the "Petals 6x6" stencil. I then glued it onto a black cardstock to create a frame. For the sentiment I used the phrase "Christmas season is magical" on a white cardboard and using black ink. Finally I prepared the composition, glued all the pieces and this is how the result was! I hope you like it and that it inspires you, I remember that you can find all these products and many others in the Picket Fence Studios store. Don´t forget to come tomorrow for more Christmas inspiration! A huge kiss and until next time! Laura

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Christmas Countdown and A Polar Bear

by Claudia Cubas on Dec 15 2022

Hello dear friends of PFS and welcome to our Christmas Countdown where we have a new inspiration every day. Today I want to show you one of my favorite cards this Christmas, I used an adorable stamp set A polar bear Winter Celebration colored with markers. For the background I chose the die set A Evergreens On a Hill Cover Plate Die and I shaded the trees with green ink. For the snow and on fir trees, I used Pape Glaze Lux Lux Artic Fox What do you think of it? I hope you enjoy it. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow for a new inspiration from the Team , don't miss it!!! Claudia

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December 2022 Release

by Sara Sherlock on Dec 14 2022

There are 11 days until Christmas AND it's the 14th of the month! That means that our Newest Monthly Release is now available (last minute gift idea?)! This month, we have a brand new size of stencil available - that are perfect for 5"x7" (A7) cards! There are also some amazing new dies and stamps that are going to make great staples in your craft stash. Watch the video below for a glimpse at the newest goodies. To enter the Release Giveaways, be sure to comment on the video directly on YouTube, and on the Release post on our Instagram. And join us on Instagram beginning at 11AM, Central time, for a Hop to celebrate the new release! Live Release Review with Nicole Petersen: Join us on Facebook, or YouTube for a live review of today's release with Owner and Designer Nicole Petersen. These videos are an opportunity to hear the thought process and stories behind new products, see project samples, as well as to ask questions. The live begins at 6 PM, Central. Happy Shopping!

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Christmas Countdown- Holly Jolly

by Michelle Bala on Dec 13 2022

The Christmas Countdown continues with 12 days to go!!! Michelle here, excited to share a snowflake shaker card today. Here are a list of supplies I used: Snowflake Crystal Die Snowflake Frost Die Swanky Christmas Sentiments Swanky Christmas Sentiments Coordinating Die Slim Line Die Cutting System- Scallop Frames Shaker Sheets Sequin Mix Plus- Plum Pudding This card is pretty simple to create thanks to the shaker pouches. I trimmed white cardstock for the base the same size as the Slim Line Scallop Frame. I die cut the Slim Line Scallop Frame using navy cardstock. I used both the die cut scallop frame and the rectangle panel. I trimmed the shaker pouch slightly larger than the rectangle panel. Place the die cut panel inside the pouch and secure closed one side. Leaving one side open, sprinkle some sequin mix plus. Secure the pouch tight. Adhere the shaker panel to the card base. Adhere the scallop frame with foam tape. Die cut the snowflakes with white cardstock and adhere them to the corners. Trim the over hang. Stamp and die cut the sentiment. Adhere to the center of the card. Scatter some more sequins. Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have been enjoying the countdown! Michelle

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Christmas Countdown - Let It Snow

by Brenda Noelke on Dec 12 2022

Hello, friends and welcome back for another day of Christmas Countdown inspiration!! Brenda here with a winter stenciled and die-cut card!! I absolutely LOVE snowflakes and couldn’t wait to use the Falling Snowflakes Stencil with some Paper Glaze!! I usually start with the focal point when I sit down to create a card, but in this case I started with the background. I spread Turquoise Jewelry Paper Glaze Luxe onto heavyweight white cardstock through the Falling Snowflakes Stencil with a palette knife. I also spread some Pink Tinsel Paper Glaze Velvet onto another panel of heavyweight white cardstock. I set the two panels aside to dry. Once they were dry, I trimmed the snowflake panel slightly and adhered it to an A2 white card base. I die-cut the Let It Snow Word Die from the pink panel and cut it two more times from heavyweight white cardstock. I stacked and adhered the white layers together, adhered them behind the pink one, slightly offset, then added them to the center of the card. A snowflake was die-cut from white glitter cardstock using a die from the Jolly Good Rainbow Die Set. I adhered it in the center of the “o”, then stacked an iridescent and clay snowflake from the Candied Snow Sequin Mix Plus on top. I love this color combo!! I wish you could see all of the sparkle and texture!! Thank you so much for hanging out with me for a bit!! Have a wonderful day!!

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Christmas Countdown: A Holly Jolly Christmas

by Nancy Thomas on Dec 11 2022

We are counting down the days to Christmas here at Picket Fence Studios by sharing a festive project each day leading up to the 25th. Nancy here with a holly filled card. After stamping the gorgeous image from the Holly Jolly Christmas set onto Copic friendly cardstock, I cut out with the matching die and colored with Copic markers. For the background panel, I repeated the image by stamping onto a cherry kisses stitched edge cardstock piece using Versamark ink along with the sentiment and white heat embossed both. The stamped die cut was attached to the panel using a combo of glue and foam dimensionals. A few sequins from the Dancing Reindeer set added a bit of tone on tone sparkle. Make sure to drop in each day for more holiday inspiration.

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Christmas Countdown - Holiday Traditions

by Sara Sherlock on Dec 10 2022

Hey! Welcome back to the Picket Fence Studios Countdown for Christmas. I'm Emelie and today I'm going to give you some inspiration on how you can use Seamless Stamps. I heat embossed the Holiday Traditions Collage stamp. Then I used watercolor over the image. I then cut out the panel with the Double Stitched Layering Rectangle. For my sentiment I gold embossed the To All A Good Night on top of vellum. I cut out the sentiment and placed it on top of my card. I hope you enjoyed it and were inspired to make some simple Christmas cards 🙂

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Christmas Countdown: Seasonal Christmas Flowers

by Jen Kray on Dec 09 2022

Hi friends and welcome to another Christmas Countdown post from me, Jen Kray! With just 16 days left until Christmas Day, I'm starting to feel a little frazzled! Cardmakers are creative and many of us use it as a tool to combat the stresses of everyday life. However, that is not always an option, especially the lead up to any big holiday event - like Christmas! When time is limited and I can't unwind with stamps, dies or coloring, I will reach for some skincare lovin'. I refreshing mask or a quick hand massage is really relaxing and doesn't take a ton of time. I'm super pale so it's important I look after my skin, otherwise I'd resemble a raisin by the time I'm 50! lol When I do have a little more time, I LOVE making Christmas cards, especially using anything Poinsettia related! This year, PFS has an amazing slimline poinsettia stamp and coordinating die set, a MUST have for a flower lovers. Card 1 - Holly Jolly Shaker Card Use some generic A2 nesting dies to create a frame (x2) with white card. Die cut the A2 lines of interest and then swipe green ink over it. Once dry, sprinkle with water for a fun, textured look. Stamp out, color, and then die cut the poinsettias. Stamp and die cut the holly jolly sentiment in red ink. Adhere the lines of interest die cut to the top of one of the frames. Next, adhere the other frame over top and add acetate to the back with double sided tape. Add shaker foam at the back and set aside. Take an A2 card panel and use the christmas tree lot stencil with arctic white paper glaze. Allow to dry. Add traditional Christmas candy mix onto your stencilled panel, and then adhere your card front with the shaker tape over top. Trim a piece of vellum the same height as the sentiment, and assemble all the card pieces. Isn't it a beautiful card? By adding a little interest with shaker elements and stencilled texture, it really lights up the design of your card. Card 2 - Bold Poinsettia I also made a simple poinsettia card with the leftover stamps, but this time created a dark and bold background. Do you have a favorite card? I love them both and they've already been sent to friends, whom I hope enjoy them. Thanks for taking the time to visit me today, and don't forget to come back each day for more holiday inspiration! Lots of crafty hugs, Jen SHOPPING BASKET

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Christmas countdown: Joyeux Noel

by Silvana Chambon Scarenzio on Dec 08 2022

Hello and welcome to the Christmas countdown on PFS blog! It´s Silvana here and today I´m sharing with you one of my favorites cards made with some lovely products. The gorgeous flowers are from the Seasonal Christmas flowers stamp set which I stamped on vellum with heat embossed with gold embossing powder. I cut the flowers with the coordinating die. The Joyeux Noel sentiment is from the Swanky Christmas Sentiments stamp set and cut with the coordinated die. I love the sentiments with dies, it makes it so easy to use! The background was made with the Slimline Winter Rings stencil used as embossing folder. To finish, I put some gems from the Gem mix Sands of time. I hope you like this idea and don´t forget to come tomorrow for more Christmas inspiration! Happy Holidays! Silvana

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Christmas Countdown - Jolly Christmas Gnome Scene

by Brenda Noelke on Dec 07 2022

Hello, Picket Fence friends!! Welcome back to the Countdown to Christmas!! Brenda here with a festive, frosty scene card to share with you today featuring the Jolly Christmas Gnome Stamp Set. I began by stamping the amazing Jolly Christmas Gnome Stamp Set onto white cardstock with PFS Black Hybrid Ink. I colored him with Copic markers, then used the Coordinating Die to cut him out. For the background, I die-cut the Slimline Rectangle Tree Cover Plate Die from dark brown cardstock. I trimmed a panel of white cardstock for the snow, added some shading with Copics, then adhered it to an A2 panel of light blue cardstock. The tree was adhered to the background and the excess was trimmed from the edges. I added some Winter Snowfall Paper Glaze Velvet with a paintbrush and sprinkled on some clear glitter while it was still wet. I splattered some diluted white gouache onto the background for the snowfall in my winter scene. The sentiment is also from the Jolly Christmas Gnome Stamp Set. It was white heat embossed onto black cardstock, then cut out with the Coordinating Die. The gnome and sentiment were both popped up with foam adhesive. I added some snow to the gnome with a white gel pen and my scene was finished!! This Jolly Christmas Gnome has sooooo much character!! I just LOVE him!! Thanks so much for dropping in today!! Have a wonderful Wednesday and be sure to check back each day for more inspiration during the Christmas Countdown!!

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Christmas Countdown - Find Your Northern Lights

by Sara Sherlock on Dec 06 2022

Hey! Welcome back to the Picket Fence Studios Countdown for Christmas. I'm Emelie and today I'm going to give you some inspiration to create a slimline Christmas card. I started by mixing colors on two panels. One in blue and green, the other in yellow and pink. On my green blue background, I stamped the Find You Northern Lights in black. I think it turned out amazing against the green blue colors. I also embossed small silver stars.. With the pink and yellow panel, I used the Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Word Topper Die. I cut it out several times and built up the dimensions on the word. This is a card that is easy to mass produce. I hope you enjoyed it and were inspired to make some simple Christmas cards 🙂

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Christmas Countdown: From Our Family

by Nancy Thomas on Dec 05 2022

We are counting down the days to Christmas here at Picket Fence Studios by sharing a very merry project each day leading up to the 25th. Nancy here today with a Christmas card I actually created back in August. I work on Christmas cards all year long yet some how I still manage to be short when it it is time to address and mail. Does that happen to you? I stamped the image from the Christmas Hello set which is part of the Animal Crackers line onto Copic friendly cardstock, cut out with the matching die and colored with Copic Markers. I created a simple card background using patterned paper and a metallic cardstock strip. I placed the image onto a patterned paper square and attached to the background panel using craft foam, then added the sentiment also cut with the matching die. A few pieces from the must have Traditional Christmas Candy Mix finished it up. I hope you enjoy some crafty time as we approach Christmas.