A blog devoted to the cards I make in my tiny upstairs space. When my sister stays there, she calls it an "artist's garret". I'm not an artist, but am an enthusiastic cardmaker - hence the title "Cardmaker's Garret".
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Monday, 20 March 2023

Bird with a Brick Wall, Numbers with Stars

Two Christmas cards today!  First up for the Jingle Belles Challenge "a card using only cardstock" and the Snippets Challenge:


I'm trying to use older tools and supplies (to help me decide whether or not I want to keep them) so got out my old SU bird punch and some snippets of red cs. Because the challenge says absolutely no dp, I used the brick wall embossing folder to create a background. I die cut a holly branch from a snippet of green cs and added stick-on red pearls as holly berries.  And one more snippet - a bit of black for the sentiment banner.

My second card is for the Inkspirational Challenge "numbers":

I stamped and coloured the bauble and star wreath, and then added the December 25 stamp inside the wreath and heat embossed it in gold. I went over the stars in the wreath with a Quickie glue pen and added gold glitter to them. Die cut with a circle and added it to a gold glitter cs circle. Then mounted it on a star dry embossed background.

Challenges:

Jingle Belles - card stock only, no dp

jingle belles  

Snippets

Player's Badge 

Inkspirational Challenge

 

 







Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Make an Impression sentiment
Ink - Versamark
Paper - red, green, black, and cream cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Sizzix brick wall embossing folder, SU bird punch, TH holly die, Papermania Seafoam embossing powder, red stick-on pearls, foam tape

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Jofy wreath, unknown Dec 25 stamp
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne, ColorBox Gold
Paper - white cs, gold glitter cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, Martha Stewart gold glitter, gold embossing powder, Spellbinders circle dies, Sizzix star embossing folder

Saturday, 18 March 2023

A Vintage Santa for Peace on Earth

Goodness the weeks are flying by!  Already time for a new Peace on Earth challenge.  I was inspired by the vintage Santa image in the top right corner of their mood board (see at end of post).


The image on the mood board immediately made me think of this old Stampin' Up Santa - he even has a little Christmas tree like the one on the mood board.

Stamped, coloured with coloured pencils, trimmed with a pierced dot rectangle die, and bordered with green shimmer cs.

We'd love to have you join us at Peace on Earth.  There's lots more inspiration from the Design Team.  You can enter an "anything Christmas goes" card or be inspired by our mood board.










Supplies:
Stamps - SU Santa, unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs, green shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, Spellbinders pierced dot rectangle die

Friday, 17 March 2023

Happy Spring and Another Christmas Card

It's time to make a few spring cards even though I have to keep up with creating my Christmas stash, so today I've got one of each.  First up for Tic Tac Toe's line that says "pastel colours, flowers, spring theme" and the Four Seasons Challenge "anything spring":


The dogwood is British Columbia's provincial flower so we have a lot of dogwood trees and it's quite glorious in the spring when they're all blooming.  Not yet though as we're having colder than normal temperatures and all our spring flowers are delayed.

The image is watercoloured with a bit of pink splattering on the background and then added to a dry embossed background.

My second card is for Color Throwdown "green, cream, and brown".

A simple stamped and watercoloured image, die cut with an oval, bordered with a green deckle oval, and a green pine border die cut for the bottom of the card.  I used cream cs for the card base and there's cream in the breasts of the birds, and brown for the pine cones.

Challenges:

Tic Tac Toe (I used the centre vertical line)

Four Seasons "Spring"

Please Grab Our Badge

Color Throwdown "Green Cream Brown"









Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Technique Junkies dogwood, Stampendous sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, cream cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, Sizzix embossing folder

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Serendipity chickadees, Make an Impression sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, green and cream cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, Memory Box pine border, Spellbinders oval and deckle oval dies

Wednesday, 15 March 2023

Shades of Green and a Nativity Card

Quite a contrast between my two cards today - lovely fresh green leaves making me think of spring and a Nativity scene!

The Sisterhood of Crafters want to see "green". 

I die cut the leaf stem die out of light, medium, and dark green scraps of shimmer cs, embossed the background, stamped the sentiment in green and die cut it with a tag die that I attached with light and dark green twine.

My Twofer for today is for My Time to Craft Christmas and their nativity theme.

The image and sentiment are stamped and heat embossed, trimmed with a circle die cut, bordered with green and red circles, and popped up on the card base with fun foam.  I had some leftover die cut stars that I glued randomly on the card base.

Challenges:

Sisterhood of Crafters  "Green"

Please Grab Our Badge! 

My Time to Craft Christmas "Nativity"

My Time To Craft Christmas!








Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - Memento Cottage Ivy
Paper - white cs, three shades of green shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Cuttlebug embossing folder, Memory Box leaf stem die, Spellbinders tag die, green twine

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SSS sentiment, Lavinia nativity stamp
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white, red, and green cs
Size - 5" square
Accessories - Spellbinders circle die cuts, star die cuts, clear embossing powder, fun foam