Blue Doves

Blue is beyond all colours in being my favourite colour - I love all shades of it.  So for Can You Handle the Pressure "Blue on Blue Monochromatic", I have this card in a pale aqua blue:

I embossed my background panel and then gently swiped ink over the raised part of it.  I die cut the sentiment out of a scrap of cardstock, and then before I removed them from the cardstock, I rubbed the same ink over the embossed words and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder.

Both my best friend and I love peace doves as a theme for Christmas cards and have to make several every year for her to buy at my fund raiser each year so while I was making the above card, I decided to make a second peace dove card.  This one is going to Shopping our Stash "Sparkle" and to the Snippets challenge.

A very quick CAS card!  The dove, the leaf, and the sentiment were die cut out of scraps of different colours of glitter cs and out of scraps of white, glued together for more substance, and added to the card base.

    

Supplies for card 1:
Ink - Mama Elephant Winter Blue
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Couture Creations embossing folder, TH sentiment die, clear embossing powder

Supplies for card 2:
Paper - white shimmer cs, two shades of blue glitter cs, white glitter cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black dove die, Memory Box peace die

Sparkling White Dove and Masculine Gears

The ABC Christmas Challenge wants to see "an image only",  52 Christmas Card Throwdown wants "all white", and Shopping Our Stash wants "sparkle".  I made a card to fit all three.  And I used a little square embossing folder I haven't used since 2014 (I went back and looked at my Splitcoast Stampers gallery) so I'm entering it in The Neglected Stuff Challenge as well.

The above photo is kind of dark - it was hard to photograph it to get the sparkle.  Here's one is different light that doesn't show the sparkle as well but is less dark.

I embossed the little square embossing folder on white cs and then went over the raised parts with a Quickie glue pen and added clear glitter. I trimmed around its edges, backed it with fun foam, and added it to a white shimmer card base.

I needed to make a birthday card for my nephew.  He's a thoughtful kind of guy so I always try to include one of my inspirational sort of sentiments.  And it's in light blue and brown for the Cardz 4 Guyz challenge.

I spritzed various metallic sprays on mixed media cs and when dry, die cut the gears. I glued them to another piece of paper of mixed media cs and stamped the sentiment, then trimmed the panel and sponged blue/grey Distress inks around the edges and blank areas to tone it down. Add it to a light blue card base and stamped a vertical sentiment in the remaining space.

     

   

 

Supplies for card 1:
Paper - white cs, white shimmer cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Cuttlebug dove embossing folder, Quickie glue pen, glitter, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Peddlar's Pack vertical Happy Birthday, TH inspirational stamp
Ink - Archival Jet Black, blue/grey Distress inks
Paper - light blue cs, mixed media cs
Size - A2
Accessories - gears die cut, various sprays

Easter Bunnies and Christmas Train

An Easter card for AAA Card Challenge "E is for....", Inkspirational Challenge "E is for....", and Sweet Stamping "Spring or Easter".

 

I stencilled a swirly leafy background with light shades of Distress green inks. Then stamped the text and mushrooms in light brown and the bunnies and sentiment in dark brown. I popped the panel up on fun foam.

 

I went with a Christmas card for Cut It Up "For Babies or Kids".

I stamped all the images, coloured them with alcohol markers, and die cut them with the matching dies. Added them to my focal panel (die cut with a pierced rectangle die) and drew a black line under the train and added a sentiment below. Added a layer of green cs to border it and show through the pierced dots.

        

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Lavinia, SU sentiment
Ink - various Distress greens and browns
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Lavinia stencil, stitched sentiment banner die, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink -  Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - white and green cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Sunny Studio "Holiday Express" dies, alcohol markers, Sizzix pierced dot rectangle die

Reindeer in the Woods

The top right hand image on the new mood board at Peace on Earth immediately inspired me to create a card with a reindeer backed by woods.

I started by swiping Distress inks over one side of a birch trees embossing folder, spritzing it with some water to get the colours to blend, then running it through my Cuttlebug.  I did a light splattering of white ink for some subtle snowflakes.

I die cut the reindeer out of kraft cs and did some darker sponging on parts of him.  I cut him out again from scrap cs and glued the two together for more substance.

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in gold, and trimmed it with a stitched slope die.  Layered it over the embossed trees, and glued the reindeer on top.

Please check out how the rest of the Peace on Earth Design Team was inspired by the mood board, and then create your own card and link it up.  Here's the mood board:

Supplies:
Stamps - SU sentiment
Ink - Distress Chipped Sapphire and Iced Spruce for the embossing folder, Distress Gathered Twigs and Brushed Corduroy for the reindeer, ColorBox Gold for the sentiment
Paper - kraft and white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Sizzix embossing folder, Penny Black reindeer die, stitched slope die, gold embossing powder

Slimline with Pine Cone, a Tobogganing Bunny, and a Wreath

Three more cards for challenges about to close - all Christmas this time.  First up for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown "Slimline":

I put the stamp in my MISTI and inked it up with Inktense watercolour pencils, spritzed lightly with water, and stamped on watercolour paper.  I stamped the sentiment in red and sponged a bit of Distress Pumice Stone along the bottom edge.  Trimmed the panel and bordered it with red cs.

The Penny Black Saturday Challenge wants to see Four-legged Friends.

Stamped and coloured with coloured pencils, trimmed, added to a red card base, and embellished with small die cut snowflakes.

And lastly for the ABC Christmas Challenge "F is for Foliage" and "G is for Gems":

I made a thin circle out of scrap green cs using two circle dies, then punched many little pine branches out of scraps of dp (mostly pieces that had images of grass or leaves on them). I glued them onto the die cut circle, added it to the background square of dp, and bordered with a square of red cs. Finished with a small die cut sentiment in the middle like the inspiration image has and red gemstones for berries. It's not the quickest card to make but I really like the final results.  

    

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black image, Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Distress Candied Apple and Pumice Stone
Paper - watercolour paper, off white and red cs
Size - 6.25x3.25"
Accessories - Inktense watercolour pencils

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white and red cs
Size - 5.5x4"
Accessories - coloured pencils, small snowflake dies

Supplies for card 3:
Paper - off white and red cs, dps, scraps of green dp
Size - 5" square
Accessories - Martha Stewart pine branch punch, Spellbinders circle and square dies, Spellbinders joy die, red gemstones

 

Three Square Cards

My computer died last Thursday so had to get a new one.  So I'm very last minute getting a bunch of cards posted for challenges that are about to end.  

We Love Stamping wants to see wildlife - I went with a bear.  Addicted to CAS wants stripes - my bear has a lovely striped scarf.  And Time Out Challenge wants a clear element on the card - I used Glossy Accents which dries clear.

I stamped and coloured the bear and the oval of ice. Added the sentiment and trimmed with a square die. Popped it up on fun foam on a blue glitter card base. And then painted Crystal Glaze over the oval of ice.

Sparkles Christmas Challenge wants snowmen.  Christmas Cards All Year Round wants something that starts with E or F.  I went with F - my card has friends having fun together.  And Jingle Belles want something whimsical - I think it's pretty whimsical to have all those critters building a snowman.

Stamped and watercoloured, trimmed with a square die, bordered with a green square, and a sentiment stamped in red and trimmed with a small label die with the red ink rubbed around the edges.

AAA Birthday wants a birthday card with die cuts.

For the background, I used the Watercolor Imprint technique, following the instructions in this tutorial.  I used Distress Oxide inks.

Then die cut the birds on a branch out of off-white cs and tan cs, very slightly offsetting them when I glued them together so that there's a slight tan shadow. Stamped the sentiment (a belated birthday sentiment) in Brushed Corduroy and die cut it with a banner die.

      

    

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - unknown bear, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - blue glitter cs, white cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, fun foam, Nuvo Crystal Glaze, Spellbinders square die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Anita Jeram (Colorado Craft Co), Impression Obsession sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, SU Real Red
Paper - watercolour paper, off white and green cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, small label die

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - Distress Oxide Brushed Corduroy, Blueprint Sketch, Mowed Lawn 
Paper - watercolour paper, off white and tan cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - sentiment banner die, Rubbernecker leaf stencil, unknown bird die