Christmas Stockings, Gifts, and Pears in a Pear Tree

A couple of cards I made today for challenges.

First up is one that I've done for a few challenges:

• Less is More "Fruit"
• Merry Monday "Birds"
• Christmas Cards All Year Round "Keep It Simple with Minimal Embellishments and Lots of Open Space" 
• Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge "Favourite Technique".

It was very hard to pick my favourite technique as I enjoy doing so many.  But I went back to what got me hooked on card making in the first place - heat embossing.  I saw the Old Island Stamp Co. people do it at a craft fair years ago and I was hooked.  So in honour of them, I used one of their stamps that is perfect for heat embossing but also works for the fruit challenge and the birds challenge.

It's like a lovely old woodblock print of a partridge in a pear tree and it deserves to have lots of open space around it.  I heat embossed it (and the sentiment) in gold and bordered both with red, mounted them on a stitched rectangle, and popped that up on the card base.


My second card today is for today's SCS Ways to Use It "Put a Sock in It (Christmas Socks!)" and Christmas Stampin' All Year Long "Christmas Gift" challenges.

I used a Penny Black stamp that is perfect for both challenges as it has stockings and gifts.

I stamped it on watercolour paper and coloured it with Zig brush markers. I sponged around the edges with Antique Linen, and did the same to the sentiment label.

I had fun doing bits of the image with different things - red stickles on the ornaments / lights on the garland, a cream pearl pen on the candles, gold stickles on the candles' flames, and Flower Soft on the animals' hats.

Thanks for dropping by!

Supplies Card One:

Stamps: Old Island Stamp Co. partridge, A Muse sentiment

Paper: Gina K ivory cs, red cs

Paper Size: A2

Ink: Colorbox gold

Accessories: gold embossing powder, Lil Inkers stitched rectangle die, SU sentiment dies, foam tape

Supplies Card Two:

Stamps: Penny Black dog and cat, Simon Says Stamp sentiment

Paper: red cs, watercolour paper

Paper Size: A2

Ink: Distress Archival black, ColorBox Evergreen, Distress Antique Linen

Accessories: Zig brush markers, label die, red and gold stickles, cream pearl pen, white flower soft