Fun with 3-2-1 and Jingle Bells

Try It on Tuesday has a fun challenge called 3-2-1.  I searched for a stamp that would have 3 of something, 2 of something else, etc.  and found this one - I've got 3 ornaments, 2 birds, and 1 tree.

Stamped and watercoloured, trimmed, bordered with green, a sentiment on a stitched sentiment banner, and glossy accents on the ornaments.

ABC Christmas Challenge is "D is for Ding Dong Bells" and Jingle Belles Challenge wants music (I went with the title of a Christmas song).

The bells are die cut out of watercolour paper sprinkled with copper-coloured Magicals and spritzed with water.  They are mounted on a starry embossed panel with copper cord "hanging" them on the panel.  The sentiment is heat embossed with copper and die cut with the same stitched banner die as the first card.

    

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black tree and birds, Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Distress Lucky Clover, Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, off white and green cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, Glossy Accents

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - ColorBox copper
Paper - white cs, watercolour paper
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Lil Inker bell dies, star embossing folder, stitched banner die, copper Magicals, copper cord, copper embossing powder

Candle and Ornaments

Peace on Earth's new mood board has lots of green and gold.  The top right hand image inspired me to make this card:

I stamped the candle and ornaments image, and then coloured it with coloured pencils (except for the tiny stars that I coloured with a gold Gelly Roll pen).  I didn't want a bright red poinsettia as it would detract from the green and gold theme, so coloured it in a pale cream with just a bit of red veining.  The image is trimmed with a stitched square die and added to a gold embossed star background to tie in more with the  image.

Please head over to Peace on Earth to see how the rest of the Design Team were inspired by our mood board, and then come and join us with your card.

Supplies:
Stamps - unknown candle stamp, Stampendous sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs, gold shimmer cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, Lil Inker stitched square die, Sizzix stars embossing folder

Faux Cyanotypes

The Group of Cardmakers are trying out Faux Cyanotypes this month.  What on earth are those, you say.  Basically it's an old-fashioned photography technique adapted for card making.

Here are my cards:

 

I made a mask for my focal panel by die cutting an oval out of some scrap paper.  I laid it over my focal panel card stock and sponged with Distress Blueprint Sketch.  Leaving the mask in place, I then stamped my image.  I trimmed the panel, bordered it with blue cs, added a vertical sentiment, and went over a lot of the snowy parts of the image with a Quickie glue pen and added glitter to it.

 

Traditionally cyanotypes are blue but I tried another one using Vintage Photo as it gives a very old fashioned look.

I made a square mask and sponged with Distress Vintage Photo, then stamped the reindeer image with the Vintage Photo.  I love the old-fashioned look of the colour and the tone-on-tone.  I trimmed the panel, leaving a white border, and popped it up on fun foam on the card base.

I have to say I prefer my first card.  The blue is the true colour they use for cyanotypes.  Mine are definitely "faux" cyanotypes as the traditional Cyanotype is white on a more intense blue coloured background.  I tried making one that way but did not get great results.  For examples of that, see what the rest of the Group of Cardmakers made over at the group blog.

 Here are a couple of videos with instructions:

1)  Faux Cyanotype Technique by Tracy Evans (37:16) - just watch the first 9 min.  If you have a platform and can repeat stamp images - then you won't need to paint over top.  She does add different techniques on top and worth watching if you have time.  Or fast forward to almost the end of the video to see the finished card - worth it!

2)  Faux Cyanotypes with Masking by Understand Blue - Lydia Fieldler -  (7:27)

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Stampendous Snowy Postcard, Rosie's Roadshow vertical sentiment
Ink - Distress Blue Sketch
Paper - white and blue cs
Size - A2
Accessories -  Spellbinders oval die and rectangle dies

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Crafty Individuals reindeer
Ink - Distress Vintage Photo
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Spellbinders square die, fun foam

Cocoa and Embossed Tulips

It's been ages since I posted.  Blame it on two things: the Winter Olympics that turned me into a couch potato and my new puppy (see photos at the end of the post).  But I'm back to making cards!  Here's one for Christmas and one for a friend's birthday.

The current Twelve Months of Christmas challenge is "Cozy Cocoa".  It's also Feb 25 so time for the Rudolph Days challenge.

I stamped the image and coloured it with coloured pencils, trimmed it with a stitched circle die, added it to a circle of dp, and bordered with a green thin circle.  I die cut "joy" out of the same green as the thin circle.

Next up a birthday card for a friend who loves tulips.  It's for Allsorts "Embossing",  Colorful Options "Pink and Purple", and The Neglected Stuff Challenge (my Dreamweaver brass stencils are very neglected).  And sneaking in under the wire for Can You Handle the Pressure (I've got lots of dry embossing going on, and a die cut for their optional theme).

I used an old Dreamweaver brass stencil for the focal panel. I rubbed various mini Distress inks on it, then laid it on cs and ran it through my Cuttlebug to transfer the colour and emboss the tulips.

The background is a floral embossing folder with lighter Distress colours rubbed over the debossed side before running it through the Cuttlebug.  I stamped a vertical sentiment in purple and trimmed it with a stitched banner die.

    

I realized I hadn't yet introduced my blog friends to Pippin - my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.  I got him in November and puppy training and puppy love have pretty much occupied my mind and my time since then.  He and 9 year old English Cocker Spaniel, Tessa, are getting along really well together.  Here are a couple of (more like several) photos:

Arrival day - lonely in the dog bed        Tessa makes him welcome

The sweetest face ever!                                       Meeting therapy horse, Leo.

                                 

Squishing together in Tessa's bed.          Growing up really quickly.

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - unknown
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white and green cs, David Walker Imaginations dp
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, Lil Inker stitched circle die, Tattered Lace joy die, SSS thin circle frame die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - vertical sentiment
Ink - various pinks, browns, purples Distress inks
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Dreamweaver tulip stencil, stitched sentiment banner die, floral embossing folder

Reindeer with Trees

The top left image of the new Peace on Earth mood board immediately inspired this card.

I stamped, coloured, and masked the decorated Christmas tree, then stamped some undecorated trees in the background.  I die cut the reindeer twice and glued them together.  Then grounded it on the card with a sentiment die cut on a banner.  I added red liquid pearls to the ornaments and coloured the star with a metallic gold pen.  I used hammered cs for the card base.

Here's the mood board.  The Peace on Earth Design Team have all been inspired by it.  We'd love to see how it inspires you!

Supplies:
Stamps - unknown decorated tree, Deep Red trees, unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Iced Spruce
Paper - white and brown cs, hammered white cs
Size - 5.5" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, Dee's Distinctively reindeer die, banner die, red liquid pearls, gold metallic pen

Valentines

Three Valentine cards today (my best friend always asks me to make some for her each year which gets my fund raiser started well before my Christmas card sale in November!).

We Love Stamping wants hearts and Sweet Stampin' wants love - both require stamped images so this card is for them.  It's also for NBUS as it's a stamp I've had for a while and never used.

I stamped it, coloured the hearts with a red alcohol marker, trimmed the panel, bordered it with black, and added it to my card base.  A great "back to basics" kind of card!     

Color Hues wants red and pink, and Try It On Tuesday wants love.  Time Out wants at least two of sparkle, heart, red, pink, aperture, and twine (I have heart, red, and pink).  It's also going off to Snippets as I used some leftover bits of red cs, a bit of a pink smooshed background, and a couple of strips of white cs for the sentiment and the embossed strip.  

Another quick and easy card but this time using die cuts.  I die cut the three hearts and the sentiment banner, and dry embossed the background strip.

And one more that is less CAS, more mixed media.  It's for Allsorts "Create Your Own Background".

I made a background by first stamping some randomly inked text with Vintage Photo ink. I then laid a heart stencil over the text stamping and used translucent embossing paste through it. It looked kind of bland so I lightly sponged over the panel with the Vintage Photo and that gave more definition to the stencilled hearts.

The large heart is stamped with Versamark on burgundy cs and then gold Pearl Ex was brushed over it (and sealed it with a fixative). I fussy cut the heart, put fun foam on the back, and added it to the background panel.

   
      

  

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Unity heart branch, Impression Obsession sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white and black cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - red alcohol marker, Spellbinders square dies

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Impression Obsession sentiment
Ink - Memento Rosebud
Paper - white and red cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - various heart dies, SU narrow strip heart embossing folder

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - unknown heart stamp, Wendy Vecchi text stamp
Ink - Versamark, Distress Vintage Photo
Paper - white and burgundy cs
Size - A2
Accessories - heart stencil, embossing paste, gold Pearl Ex, fixative, fun foam