OCC Challenge Christmas Cupcake Scene

Hey, I stamped today!

I made one of my rare stamp purchases recently after seeing Taylored Expressions' newest releases just out in time to get those Christmas cards going. I must say that it is not very often that I gasp when I run across stamp sets. But I did when I saw Taylor's adorable Christmas stamps. Those cute cupcakes just did me in. And I LOVE the quality of her stamps. They are easy to use, deeply-etched pink rubber with EZ Mount cling foam that lasts forever. They're die-cut, so no trimming of any kind. They have the coolest pages they sit on when not in use. Very high quality. You would LOVE her stamps. Trust me.

The OCC blog has a challenge going on that fit perfectly with what I wanted to accomplish on this card. It's from this Martha Stewart cupcake design. You can use any of the elements for inspiration. I chose to use the colors, a cupcake theme, and the polka dots in my scene. Btw, I got the main design inspiration from Teresa over at Flickr. Her accordion card scene thrilled me so much that I just had to somehow duplicate it.

I went with a Real Red background. The card is scored every 2" on a 10" X 5.5" piece of cs. Don't ask me how this is supposed to fit in an envelope. I don't know! lol

I cut 3 strips of 2" cs in white and drew wavy lines with a pencil to create the "hills". Then I used an X-Acto knife to cut the lines (scissors would work, as well). I erased the pencil marks and then ran the white pieces through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots embossing folder. Then I adhered them with Sticky Doos (like Dimensionals). I stamped the snowflakes from Taylored Expressions "Home Sweet Home" using white craft ink. I'd recommend doing this before putting the white pieces of cs on. This was an afterthought so mine is a bit different because of it.

I used the paper piercing tool to add a nice pierced line along each hill. Me and my paper piercing, I tell ya! Can't get enough! I did try to use a bit of self-control this time, though. ;)

I colored all the images with SU markers (colors listed below). After they dried I cut them out and used 2-way glue on the cupcakes' faces and sprinkled a nice soft white glitter over them. Then I carefully scraped away the glitter from the eyes, mouths and noses with the point of my X-Acto knife so they would stand out better. I was also able to remove most of the stray glitter with it.

For the trees (from Taylored Expressions "Season's Sweetings") I colored them with markers and then inked them completely in VersaMark. Then I sprinkled Heat & Stick powder over them and heat set. Then I poured the same glitter I used on the cupcakes all over the trees' surfaces and tamped off.

I adhered all the images with Sticky Doos (what a name!). The word stamps were from the Home Sweet Home and Season's Sweetings sets. I stamped them in black ink on white cs, punched them out, mounted them on punched-out colored cs, and paper pierced around the edges.

Edited to add: I took a pic of the card folded up per a friend's request. If you make this card and want to mail it in a standard A2 envelope, I'd recommend making the card only 5" wide rather than 5.5" so it won't buckle in the envelope (that is, if you 3-D yours as much as I did mine! ;).

I really love the colors in this card. Very happy and Christmas-y. Hohoho! Thanks for looking!

Stamps: Taylored Expressions "Season's Sweetings" & "Home Sweet Home"

CS: Real Red, White, Green Galore, Bashful Blue

Inks: Basic Black. Colorbox Frost White (craft), VersaMark

Markers: Gable Green, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Only Orange, Summer Sun, Basic Black

Other: Cuttlebug "Swiss Dots" embossing folder, Paper piercer, Sticky Doos, Large and small oval punches, Snow White Mist glitter, Heat & Stick powder, 2-Way glue, Pencil, X-Acto knife