Holiday Snowflake Cards

October is the month of the year where everything starts going frenetic and my anxiety usually kicks in a bit the further along the month gets. So I have absolutely no idea how I both started and finished making not one, not two, but fourteen holiday cards. I was taking an easy pace on these because I was experimenting the entire way. I had to kick it into overdrive though because I also needed to do a birthday card for my teen and an anniversary card for my hubby. And yes, I did finish those up the day before and the day of those events. In any case, here are the holiday cards I made. These won't be all of them, I have more planned. Why - I have no idea. We really don't know all that many people. I'm thinking of taking any extras I have over to an assisted living facility near us. Although I'm not certain if they're letting people in due to any pandemic restrictions they might have.

I started experimenting with snowflakes and backgrounds. I was inspired by a snowflake card done over on Cathy Zielske's channel as part of Simon Says Stamp's Stamptember event. Most, if not all, of the Stamptember products are only produced for this event and when they're out, they're out. Plus they only have them available as they are released a bit at a time, which means that if you want something, you have to order it day-by-day. The shipping costs alone would have killed me. Free shipping please, SSS! 

Anyway, the original snowflake by Gina K Designs was long gone by the time I looked at it a day later. The card design was simple enough that I wanted to try and figure out how I could do something with the products I had on hand. The snowflakes here are the Marie Snowflake die from Simon Says Stamp. I die cut them twice and only popped out the holes in the snowflakes on one of them. The problem is that some of the holes popped out of the snowflake that I intended to keep solid anyway. So I put them back in and put tape on the back to keep them there. This was WAY too much work but I was invested. 

I used distress inks on all of the detail snowflakes and a Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen in Glitter Gloss for the solid snowflakes. Then I glued the detail flakes onto the solid ones. I actually forgot to use the Nuvo pen on some of them and honestly, you really couldn't tell the difference. So I stopped using it altogether on the rest. The snowflakes are just sitting there (below) on top of some experimental card panels. For the panel on the left, I used the Simon Says Stamp Filigree Snowflakes embossing folder and decided it was way too busy to be a background for the snowflake. So I embossed a snowflake stamp from the Snowflake Season stamp set by SSS randomly on a white card panel using clear embossing powder to see if it would look better. I didn't. I mean I liked the embossing, but didn't like it on white.

So I embossed a bunch of white front panels (14 of them) in that manner but used distress inks to colour the panels for the background. I used a few variations and really like them all. There are panels in Tumbled Glass, Speckled Egg, Broken China, Stormy Sky, Wilted Violet, and Cracked Pistachio.

 

The one below has Speckled Egg Distress Ink for the background over a clear emboss over the panel before it was inked. I also thought the snowflakes needed some framing so I used the solid portion of a Spellbinders Sparkling Mandala die to put behind the Marie die snowflake. The snowflake was coloured with a combination of Tumbled Glass Oxide Ink, Broken China Distress Ink, and Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink. I then popped it up using some foam tape. I used a sentiment from the Circle Sayings Holiday stamp set by Simon Says Stamp that says "Happy Christmas." Maybe it was all those years living over in England but I much prefer the "Happy" over the "Merry" for some reason. I also used clear sequins to put on top of the snowflake and some additional Marshmallow sequins to add around it.I also used clear sequins to put on top of the snowflake and some additional Marshmallow sequins to add around it.

 

The one below is the Eliza snowflake from Simon Says Stamp. The background is in Tumbled Glass Oxide Ink. I switched out the clear sequins on top of the snowflake with some Winter Mix sequins from Unity Stamps. The Winter Mix sequins are a bit holographic so they pick up and reflect colour. 

 

 

Below is the Eliza snowflake again but the background is Broken China Distress Ink. Back to the clear sequins. 

 

The next one below is the Marie snowflake with Broken China Distress Ink and clear sequins. My daughter did this one and used a heavier touch with the Broken China over just the snowflake areas on the background. It has a really nice look to it.

 

Below is the Marie snowflake again but with Stormy Sky Oxide Ink for the background and clear sequins. 

 

The last one below is the Marie snowflake again but with a combination of Wilted Violet Oxide Ink and Cracked Pistachio Oxide Ink for the background and the Winter Mix sequins on top of the snowflake. This card panel was actually the first one I did and was one big experiment. I didn't like the warping of the panel so I ran it through my laminator twice to flatten it out before I popped the snowflake on. Only I did this AFTER I embossed the snowflakes and added the distress colour. So what happened is that the laminator picked up the embossed snowflakes and on the second run through, deposited the snowflakes in a different position. So I have both the first embossing and also a secondary and much lighter embossing. You can't really tell from the photo but it's neat looking. I didn't want to ruin my laminator so this card was the first and only one that has the double embossing print.

 

Here's a view from the side to show the dimension.

 

For the inside of all cards, I used a sentiment from the Swell Christmas stamp set by Simon Says Stamp. I stamped it with a Cornflower blue ink cube by My Favorite Things. I also stamped some additional snowflakes around the sentiment from the Snowflake Season stamp set by SSS in Cement Gray by MFT.

 

Supplies:
Snowflake Season stamp set by Simon Says Stamp
Circle Sayings Holiday stamp set by Simon Says Stamp
Swell Christmas stamp set by Simon Says Stamp
Marie Snowflake die by Simon Says Stamp
Eliza Snowflake die by Simon Says Stamp
Sparkling Mandala cutting die by Spellbinders (SSS)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxides: Tumbled Glass, Mermaid Lagoon, Stormy Sky, Wilted Violet, Cracked Pistachio
Tim Holtz Distress Ink: Speckled Egg
My Favorite Things Ink Cubes: Cornflower and Cement Gray
Winter Mix sequins by Unity Stamps
Marshmallow sequins (unsourced)
Sparkling Clear Mix sequins (unsourced)
Nuvo Aqua Shimmer pen in Glitter Gloss
Detail Clear Embossing Powder by Stampendous (SSS)
VersaMark watermark stamp pad (SSS)
Inkadinkado Embossing Magic Powder Bag (SSS)
Embossing Heat Tool (SSS)
Craft Tacky Glue by Simon Says Stamp
miscellaneous cardstock and foam tape

Cards to Finish 2016

Found some cards that while uploading pictures from my phone to my hard drive. I've recently discovered a need to document my cards, cardmaking supplies, and who I send them to - if I actually do and not add to my stockpile. This last is super important because sometimes I make one card for a specific person or specific reason. And other times, I make two or three of the same card. So I may have a few sitting around ready to send and if I don't recall who I've sent them to, I might accidentally send a card off that someone has received before in a previous year. I really want to avoid that if I can. So I'll be going over my old cards to see if I can jog my memory and document them here (might as well). If I can remember my supplies, I'll add them below the picture.

This one was a pretty simple get well card for my father's girlfriend back in 2016 because... well I don't remember. I think she might have hurt her ankle? I have no clue as it was 5 years ago. Yes, I know how much I've been remiss about putting card pictures up. But life gets in the way a LOT.  This was back when I still had very few supplies. I used patterned paper for the front panel and embossed circular cut-outs for interest. This is a flat card so it was easy to mail.

Supplies:
Flower Frenzy embossing folder by Darice (SSS)
Intense Black ink by Simon Says Stamp
Craft Tacky Glue by Simon Says Stamp
miscellaneous sequins, cardstock, and patterned paper

 

This next one was a birthday card for my niece for December 2016. This card is a slider card where I attached a penny to the back of the polar bear and it slides back and forth along the cut out track. I used the coordinating dies with the stamps I used so I didn't need to cut anything out with scissors. Copics were used to colour the trees and the bear's scarf and skates. The trees were from a different stamp set called Prehistoric Fun by MFT. I used Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to colour the front panel and used a die called Snowfall Vertical to make 'snow' so that you can see the white from the card base through the little holes in the front panel. Miscellaneous sequins adhered to the top.

 

Supplies:
Polar Bear Pals stamp set and dies by MFT
Prehistoric Fun stamp set by MFT
Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Tumbled Glass (SSS)
Clouds for Days stencil by Simon Says Stamp
Snowfall Vertical die by MFT
Slider Channel Builder die by MFT
Intense Black ink by Simon Says Stamp
Copic markers
Craft Tacky Glue by Simon Says Stamp
miscellaneous sequins and cardstock

 

Here's a birthday card for my daughter, Teagan. This was done in December 2016 so she was just turning 12. This one I just ink-blended the background using Distress Inks in Tumbled Glass, Picked Raspberry, Grout Gray, and Broken China. I then splattered the panel with Black Soot Distressed Ink combined with water. When the front panel was dry, I stamped a circular Happy Birthday sentiment called Circle Sayings by SSS. I fussy cut the little cat and balloon because I don't think there's a die for these stamps. Copics were used to colour the cat and balloon and then I popped them up on the panel with foam tape.

Supplies:
Purrfect Day stamp set by Penny Black (SSS)
Circle Sayings stamp set by Simon Says Stamp
Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Tumbled Glass, Picked Raspberry, Grout Gray, Broken China, Black Soot (SSS)
Intense Black ink by Simon Says Stamp
Copic markers
Craft Tacky Glue by Simon Says Stamp
miscellaneous cardstock and foam tape

 

Here are some Christmas coffee cards I was fooling around with. I love coffee and love making coffee cards. These were probably two of the first coffee stamping sets I acquired. Since then, my collection has grown exponentially. I used Cement Gray to stamp the cup outlines. For the Coffee Cup Tags stamps, there's a patterned stamp cup - I think I used MFT's Electric Red for that and just let the white of the card base show through. The holly leaves on all three cards are from the Coffee Cup Tags stamp set and I used Pine Needles Distress Ink for the colour on one and Mowed Lawn on the others. I also used a Snow Marker for the whipped cream on one of the cards. That stuff is neat - apply some heat to it and it puffs up!

The one on the right is the Joy to Go set from Unity and I used Copics to colour the design and coffee sleeve. Patterned paper for the three layers on top of the card base and green and white cotton cord for the one in the middle. The layers were cut out with the Stitched Rectangle die set by Simon Says Stamp. I glued all the paper layers down but popped the cups up with foam tape.

 

 

Inside I stamped a sentiment from the Coffee Cup Tags stamp set and used more holly leaves and some washi tape with snowflakes to adorn the bottom.

 

Supplies:
Coffee Cup Tags stamp set and dies by Hero Arts
Joy to Go stamp set by Unity Stamps
Stitched Rectangles by SSS
Ink Cubes by MFT: Cement Gray and Electric Red
Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Pine Needles and Mowed Lawn (SSS)
Snow Marker by Marvy (SSS)
Embossing Heat Tool (SSS)
Craft Tacky Glue by Simon Says Stamp
miscellaneous cardstock, patterned paper, washi tape, foam tape, and cotton cord

 

I thought this little fuzz ball was super cute so I wanted to make a holiday card with him. I stamped the Sending Warm Fuzzies stamp by Unity Stamps in Cement Gray and coloured him in with Copic markers. For the two largest layers for the background, I just used coloured card stock, one in dark red and one in tan, that I stamped with snowflakes and presents from the Merry and Bright stamp set by Simon Says Stamp in green, red, dark gray, and gold. The smaller layer behind the white panel is just some striped patterned paper.

I used Copic Markers to colour the little fuzz ball and used the Snow Marker to put a dot of 'snow' on each snow mark on the stamp pattern. I also used it to make snow at the bottom. The picture below shows how much it puffs up.

 

Inside I stamped the sentiment that came with the Sending Warm Fuzzies stamp onto some scrap papers and cut them out and glued them to the inside. I also included some holly leaves from the Coffee Cup Tags stamp set from Hero Arts as I made a ton of them when I was doing the coffee cup cards above. I just glued some of the left-over striped patterned paper to the bottom for added interest.

Supplies:
Sending Warm Fuzzies stamp by Unity Stamps
Merry and Bright stamp set by Simon Says Stamps
Coffee Cup Tags stamp set and dies by Hero Arts
Ink Cubes by MFT in Cement Gray
Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Mowed Lawn (SSS)
Copic markers
Snow Marker by Marvy (SSS?)
Embossing Heat Tool (SSS)
Craft Tacky Glue by Simon Says Stamp
miscellaneous cardstock, patterned paper, washi tape, foam tape, and cotton cord

I think this was my first New Year card that I made. I really like the idea of sending out cards to celebrate the New Year. By that time, I feel like all the holiday jolliness has died down and most people are dreading going back into work. Christmas decor usually gets taken down just after January 1st and holiday cards are most likely tossed. I take my holiday decorations down some time in January (usually later in the month). The lights are just so pretty and the tree takes forever to put up and I'm pretty much the only one that does it so I keep it up for a while regardless if anyone else likes it or not.

This stamp came from Unity Stamps Kit of the Month subscription for November 2016. I did some very simple colour blending with Distress Ink for the background and I used Copics to colour in the image. There are little specks around the image and over her arm and hand so I dotted them with a VersaMarker and embossed them using WOW Metallic Silver Sparkle. This top image looks like I used the same embossing for her hat and glasses but it's a trick of light.

As you can see from the image below, her hat and glasses are different. For them, I used WOW Black Twinkle embossing powder. This is a very flat card as I did all the stamping and embossing right on the front panel.

 

For the inside, I stamped a sentiment from the same Unity Stamps Kit of the Month in After Midnight. The stars in Grout Gray around the outside are from a different KOM from October 2017.

 

Supplies:
Unity Stamps Kit of the Month 11/2016
Unity Stamps Kit of the Month 10/2017
Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Blueprint Sketch (SSS)
Ink Cubes by MFT: Grout Gray and After Midnight
Intense Black ink by Simon Says Stamp
WOW Metallic Silver Sparkle embossing powder (SSS)
WOW Black Twinkle embossing powder (SSS)
Copic markers
VersaMarker (SSS)
Inkadinkado Embossing Magic Powder Bag (SSS)
Embossing Heat Tool (SSS)
Craft Tacky Glue by Simon Says Stamp
miscellaneous cardstock

 

This card was made for a friend of mine that had a birthday coming up and I know that she loves cooking. This is what I meant about usually making very specific cards for specific people. Anyway, I was trying to reverse engineer what I did for the windowed top. Nearest I can figure, I used the Stitched Strip die and embossed patterns into some cardstock without cutting all the way through. Then I used the Gift Box Cover-up die to actually make the windows. Honestly, that seems way too complicated for it to be intentional so I must have just been playing around with the dies and was happy with what happened. 

I did some very simple colour blending with Distress Ink on the front panel for the background of the windows in Ripe Persimmon and Broken China. I used Copics to colour the little chefs and their cooking equipment. I also embossed a sentiment from the set unto the windowed border with Detail Silver by Stampendous. I placed three of the chefs behind three windows and popped the last chef on top of the remaining window.

Then with all the chefs in place I added some foam tape to the windowed border and plopped it down on the inked background panel. You can see the dimension the foam tape gives the windows below. I then added a little pot and spoon from the set.

 

I wish I could remember where I get the little spoons from (below). I did a cursory check through my supplies and didn't see the dies for them off-hand. If I remember, I'll edit. They were coloured with Copics though. I can see where I used a Copic Colourless Blender to make the little dimples. The Happy Birthday sentiment comes from the It's No Secret stamp set from Simon Says Stamp. I stamped it in After Midnight Ink by MFT.

 

Supplies:
Recipe for Happiness stamp set and dies by MFT
Gift Box Cover-Up die by MFT
Stitched Strip die by MFT
It's No Secret stamps by Simon Says Stamp
Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Ripe Persimmon and Broken China
Ink Cubes by MFT in After Midnight
Intense Black ink by Simon Says Stamp
Copic markers
Detail Silver embossing powder by Stampendous (SSS)
VersaMark watermark stamp pad (SSS)
Inkadinkado Embossing Magic Powder Bag (SSS)
Embossing Heat Tool (SSS)
Craft Tacky Glue by Simon Says Stamp
miscellaneous cardstock and foam tape

 

This was a Christmas card for my mother-in-law. She likes tea. A lot of tea. So I made a tea-themed card using the Teacup Trio stamp by Stampendous. It's a rather large stamp so it took up the entire front panel. This is a flat card where I stamped the image, coloured it with Copics, and then glued it to a front panel of patterned paper, then glued all that onto the card base. Perfect for mailing.

Supplies:
Cling Teacup Trio by Stampendous (SSS)
Intense Black ink by Simon Says Stamp
Copic markers
Craft Tacky Glue by Simon Says Stamp
miscellaneous patterned paper and cardstock

Arrested for being Pro Transgender

Warning: long rant ahead. If you don't know what's going on in the trans world and you care to be more informed, I invite you to read on.

 

In addition to watching the news regarding the many atrocious and horrifying violations of human rights perpetrated on people of colour in this country; I have been following the multitude of events, hearings, and speeches involving more hate-filled people who are trying to block basic rights of trans people. This is the latest asinine example of the far-right, not wanting to hear anything challenging their myopic views, and the equivalent of them sticking their fingers in their ears and chanting, "la la la la," so as not to have to listen to a voice of reason.

 

 

Chris Attig was arrested by the court for going 30 seconds over their allotted two minutes to speak to the Arkansas House, whereas, a representative for an anti-LGBTQ group called Alliance Defending Freedom and Family Research Council was allowed to speak for a full 40 minutes. This group has been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

 

Chris was arrested, held in contempt for several hours, and now faces a disorderly conduct charge - all for basically being pro trans.  Chris is a lawyer, is ex-military, and specializes in veteran affairs. Chris, who goes by they/them pronouns, has three sons - one of whom is 22 years old and has had gender-affirming medical care. So now only does Chris know the law, but also is well-familiar with transgender issues.

 

Chris said, "You know that this bill is unconstitutional and will not survive federal courts. The Supreme Court has already found that transgender Americans are protected from discrimination. Justice Neil Gorsuch, joined by five Supreme Court Justices that still sit on on the court (that's six - that's the majority), wrote that it's impossible to discriminate against a person for being transgender without discriminating based on sex; and discrimination based on sex violates our U.S. Constitution."

 

That right there.

"...it's impossible to discriminate against a person for being transgender without discriminating based on sex; and discrimination based on sex violates our U.S. Constitution."

 

Chris nailed it with that statement. There is no way to avoid or skirt around the logic of that statement. For sane and intelligent people anyway.

 

The need for people to speak out to the Arkansas House is all because of House Bill 1570 - the “Arkansas Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act”. This act bans medical professionals from providing gender-affirming healthcare of any kind to transgender minors. This includes hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and surgery. Read that again. GENDER-AFFIRMING. This kind of medical care is crucial for the mental health of transgender people of all ages. Also note that puberty blockers are completely reversible, and surgery is NOT performed on minors at all. And there is NO EXPERIMENTATION going on with children!

House Bill 1570 was passed by the legislature but was vetoed by Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson who said he believes the government should not be involved in medical decisions and “restraint is better than overbroad actions that interfere with important relationships in our society”.

However, the state legislature overrode the governor's veto and was signed into law in March 2021.

Chris Attig came forward because they worry that bills such as House Bill 1570 sends a message that it is permissible to attack transgender people.

Parents that want the best for their trans kids are now seeking advice as to which state they should move to for gender-affirming treatment for their children.

There are also concerns that parents and others may turn to the black market for hormone treatments that maybe unsafe and because of such anti-trans bills, will not be monitored by medical professionals.  Since the time that House Bill 1570 passed, it has been reported by the Arkansas Children's Hospital that four trans youths have attempted to end their lives.

HB 1570 is one of the most extreme and harmful anti-trans bills in the country and the most extreme piece of anti-trans legislation ever signed into law. 

Denying medical care and support to transgender youths can be life-threatening, contribute to depression, social isolation, self-hatred, risk of self-harm, and suicidal behavior, and much, much more.  With gender-affirming care and treatment, trans youths experience significant decreases in suicidal thoughts, and improvements in overall emotional and behavioral health.

House Bill 1570 undermines parents' rights. The decision about what care is appropriate should be left to the transgender youth, their parents, and their doctor - NOT politicians! This bill, and others like it that are popping up all over the country punishes supportive families and denies medical and gender-affirming care to trans kids - medical care that is a basic right! Parents will have to consider moving out of state, or traveling to a state that allows gender-affirming care on a regular basis so that their child can receive the appropriate medical care for them.

 What transgender means for kids:

• Trans girls are girls and trans boys are boys. Denying kids the right to gender-affirming care is denying them the right to be who they are.
  
• Gender-affirming care is not a process that trans kids, their families, or their healthcare providers take lightly. It comes after years of careful consideration by children and families. No one decides to become the opposite gender to which they were assigned at birth on a whim.
  
  
• Gender transition for children who have not reached puberty is entirely a social process. This might include choosing another name, wearing different clothes, and using pronouns indicative of their actual gender - not the ones associated with the gender they were assigned at birth.
  
  
• Puberty blockers for minors simply delays puberty to give a child and their family more time to make informed medical decisions about their care. Puberty blockers are completely reversible.  Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) does not typically begin until at least the age 16. No gender-affirming surgery AT ALL is performed on people under 18. Again, surgery is not performed until a person is a legal adult and has their own agency to act independently, and to be able to make their own choices.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the Pediatric Endocrinology Society, and the American Medical Association, and many more are opposed to House Bill 1570 and are in opposition to similar laws and policies citing research that demonstrates negative outcomes for trans youths who don’t have access to gender-affirming healthcare, including increased suicide rates. 

Gender-affirming healthcare leads to a number of positive effects, including improvements to body image and overall psychological well-being, and reduced rates of suicide.

Anti-trans legislature is surfacing all over the country, predominately surrounding children because anti-trans politicians are trying to impose their own beliefs on children and undermine a parents' duty to love, protect, and do what is best for their own kids. Anti-trans legislature is bad. Imagine your child being miserable every single day because they were not born in the body that they were meant to have. That they know in their hearts that they are a boy or a girl - the opposite of the gender they were assigned at birth. Imagine that they have to go through life for 18 years being unhappy and potentially being suicidal because of it. Now imagine that because of the laws in place, your child is taken away from you or you are imprisoned because you seek medical care for your transgender child, to try and do what's best for them and their mental health. 

I realize that what we're looking at here is simply a matter of time. It took time to abolish segregation. It took time for womens' suffrage. It took time for LGBT rights, equality, and same-sex marriage. It's going to take time for this. The problem here is though that we are racing AGAINST time. How many transgender kids will attempt to end their lives because they can't get the help they need? How many parents will be grieving because they weren't allowed to help their kids when they needed it most? Trans kids need help when they're still kids. Most likely they'll transition when they become adults. Some might get surgery, some may not. Wouldn't it be better if they were able to get the medical care they need while they were still kids and not have to wait? Won't it make transgender kids happier knowing that help is attainable and their parents aren't risking jail or them going into a shelter in order to be who they are really meant to be? Do we really have to time to wait for politicians and lawmakers to accept that there are scientifically more than two genders and that kids that are born a different gender to the gender they actually are need help now?