Q is for Quote

The ABC Christmas Challenge this month is "Q is for Quote".  One of my favourite Christmas quote stamps is by Kay Foley and this seemed the perfect opportunity to use it.

I stamped and heat embossed the quote in gold, then trimmed it down and bordered it in gold.  I popped it up on fun foam on top of a background created by using silver embossing paste and a star stencil.

Here's a close-up of the quote so that you can read it clearly:

I'm also taking it over to The Double D Challenges "The Moon and  / or the Stars".

Thanks for dropping by today!

Supplies:

Stamps - Kay Foley

Ink - ColorBox gold

Paper - white cs, gold shimmer cs

Size - 5" square

Accessories - gold embossing powder, silver embossing paste, star stencil, fun foam

Two Masculine Christmas Cards

We had a chilly drizzly weekend so I got a couple of cards done for challenges that are closing soon.  And by coincidence, both cards turned out to be work well as masculine cards - something I always struggle with.

First up is Less is More's Sketch Challenge.

The sketch immediately made me think of my long-neglected set of Christmas inchie stamps so I got them out and made this card:

I kept it very CAS - just one colour of ink (Distress Vintage Photo) to stamp them on cream cs.  I hand-trimmed them and mounted them on a second set of squares for just a bit of dimension.  The sentiment is stamped in the same ink.  To add a bit more dimension, I layered the panel on fun foam.

Here's a close-up so that you can see the lovely detail in the tiny stamps:

The second card is for the Sparkles Christmas Challenge - use kraft cs.

In my on-going struggle to use up some of my stash of dp, I found a perfect piece of dp to go with kraft cs.  I cut a panel out of it and then cut an oval out of the centre, creating a frame for my holly die cut.

The die cut was cut from a piece of mixed media cs that I'd sprinkled and spritzed with olive green brushos.  Once die cut, I realized it was too pale and sponged over it with Distress Forest Moss ink.  I cut two more and glued them together to give it substance and dimension.  I put some tiny bits of foam tape under some of the holly leaves to give it varied dimension, and set it inside the frame (that I'd popped up on foam tape).

I added red pearls to the holly berries with a Viva Decor pearl pen.  Here's a close-up showing the holly die cut's dimension and berries, and how well they co-ordinate with the dp:

I think this one works as a masculine card, but I also like its vintage look.

Supplies for first card:

Stamps - Darkroom Door Christmas Inchies, A Muse sentiment

Ink - Distress Vintage Photo

Paper - PTI Vintage Cream

Size - A2

Accessories -  foam tape
 

Supplies for second card:

Ink - Distress Forest Moss

Paper - kraft cs, My Minds Eye dp

Size - A2

Accessories - Creative Expressions Holly Spray die, olive green Brushos, Spellbinders rectangle and oval dies, foam tape

Joyful Berries

The new challenge at Addicted to CAS is "Berries".

I need to get busy with Christmas cards so went with Penny Black's Berry Kissed stamp - great for both Christmas and other themes (see this card by Jaydee, one of the ATCAS Design Team members, for an example of using it for non-Christmas, and with a very different technique).

You need a MISTI for the technique I used and you must remember to leave the stamp in the MISTI till the very end!

I used my Memento Dewdrops in various browns, reds, and greens to ink up the image. I kept building up the layers of colours till I was happy.

When it was all dry, I inked up the whole stamp with Versamark, stamped over the image, and heat embossed with clear powder.

I then used Distress Antique Linen and Peeled Paint (tapped on a palette, blended together, and slightly watered to get a colour I liked) to paint a wash background all around it. The embossing powder acts as a resist for the background so you don't have to worry about the colours of the image running.

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment with Versafine Vintage Sepia.

At the end, I splattered with watered down Distress Vintage Photo and Tea Dye. Then bordered the panel with brown cs and mounted on a white card base.

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black Berry Kissed, Rubber Soul Joy

Ink - various Memento Dew Drops, Distress Antique Linen, Peeled Paint, Tea Dye and Vintage Photo, Versamark, Versafine Vintage Sepia

Paper - white, brown, mixed media

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - clear embossing powder

Pop-Up Ornaments

I was thrilled when I won one of the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenges (see this card) and even more thrilled to be invited to be their Guest Designer for this challenge:

Now the problem is that I've never made a pop up or cube card in my life.  My cardmaking style is CAS so I wanted to come up with quite a CAS version of a pop up card. 

Using a simple ornament punch, I punched several ornaments, each out of different decorative papers, all containing images of holly.  I scored each one down the centre and folded them in half.  I then glued them back to back, except for the two that are glued to the card.

It is glued to a panel that is dry embossed with an ornament embossing folder.  I added a sentiment and a length of green hemp twine.

The papers for this ornament on the front of the card are all quite heavyweight papers, giving lots of substance to the ornament.  I was going to repeat it on the inside of the card so that it would pop up when the card is opened but it was too bulky.  Instead I used a lighter weight decorative paper - also holly-themed.  Here's the inside of the card:

And here's a close-up of the ornament on the front of the card:

And a close-up of the inside one:

Here's hoping this will qualify as a pop up card!!  I sure enjoyed making it!  Head on over to 52CCT to see what the Design Team came up with!

Supplies:

Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment (outside), SU sentiment (inside)

Ink - Memento Bamboo Leaves

Paper - white cs, various holly-themed decorative papers

Size - A2

Accessories - SU ornament punch, Crafts Too embossing folder, green hemp twine

Twofer Layered Hexagons

This month's Twofer Challenge is Geometric - any kind of geometric shape.

I recently bought a set of larger hexagon dies - large enough to make card bases from.  I cut two of them for each card and then made "hinges" from scraps of the same cardstock to hold them together.  I then used the smaller hexagon dies for my layers.

The first one is a butterfly-themed thank you card:

I love this scripted swirly butterfly stamp - I've had it for along and haven't used it for ages so high time it saw some ink.  I used the equally old Big and Juicy Hydrangea Rainbow ink pad.  I stamped the butterfly and sentiment directly on the panel, and then stamped the butterfly again on a scrap of cs, fussy cut it, and popped it up with foam tape on top of the one on the panel.  A few simple shimmery flower sequins, a blue border, and a layer of fun foam to give dimension finished it off.

Next up a Christmas one:

Very very CAS and simple to make.  Back to the basics of heat embossing image and sentiment!  For this one, I added a few gold sequins, a gold border, and fun foam under the panel for dimension.

A great opportunity to use my new hexagon dies!

Supplies:

Stamps - SU butterfly, Judith thank you, Inkadinkado cardinal, PTI Joy to the World

Ink - Big and Juicy Hydrangea Rainbow ink, ColorBox gold ink

Paper - white, blue, and gold cs

Size - 5.5" wide, 5" high

Accessories - Surprise Creation hexagon dies, gold embossing powder, gold sequins, blue flower sequins, foam tape, fun foam

Encrusted Jewel Tree

I've had a lot of fun playing with the Encrusted Jewels technique that Loll Thompson taught me.  One of the pieces I made was a Christmas tree - perfect to turn into my reminder card for the CAS Christmas challenge "Tree".

Here's another photo of the card with the light bouncing off of different colours:

I die cut the tree from thin chipboard, then placed it on a warm grill on top of a layer of non-stick craft mat then parchment paper.  I sprinkled it with green embossing powders.  Once they had melted, I added multi-coloured chunky glitter pieces on top.  The melted embossing powders holds the glitter in place.  To finish it off, I melted UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) on top.  I then die cut the tree from fun foam and attached it immediately to the encrusted jewel tree to give it a bit more body so that it wouldn't bend and crack.  Here's a close-up of the tree:

The tree is so stunning in its own right that it really called out for a very CAS card.  I stamped and heat embossed a simple sentiment, added a torn strip of cs to ground the tree, and placed it on a Sizzix label die cut with inverted corners (just to add a bit of interest).  The panel is popped up on fun foam.

There is lots of other inspiration over at CAS Christmas from the Design Team and our August Guest Designer, Barb (Barb's Studio Creations).  You have until August 24th to link up your card so please come and join us!

Supplies:

Stamps - Rosie's Roadshow sentiment

Ink - ColorBox Cranberry

Paper - white cs, thin chipboard

Size - A2

Accessories - Impression Obsession tree die, embossing powders (clear, green, UTEE), chunky coloured glitters, Sizzix label die, fun foam

Sunflowers with Horses

It's reminder time for CAS Watercolour!  This month the challenge is "sunflowers" - perfect for August when sunflowers are starting to bloom.   Check out the inspiration from the rest of the Design Team and our wonderful August Guest Designer, Izzy of Izzy Scrap.  The link up is open until August 24th.

I decided to stick with stamps for this challenge as otherwise I'd be using the same stencil some of the other DT members used.  And I only have two stamps with sunflowers, the one I used for my original card and this one:

I stamped it in brown ink on watercolour paper and then decided to colour in only the sunflowers and butterfly, thinking that would keep quite a busy image more CAS.  I used my Gansai Tambi paints and used this photo of a red sunflower as inspiration for my colours just to make a change from yellow sunflowers. 

I originally did the butterfly in mauve and it didn't show up enough so I restamped just the butterfly section on a scrap and painted it turquoise, then fussy cut it and popped it up with foam tape.  I trimmed the image down to its borders, popped it up on fun foam, and added a simple brown sentiment.

I'm also taking it to the AAA Cards "Friendship" challenge.  I truly believe friendship exists among animals.  I've seen it often amongst the dogs and horses in my life.  These two horses at the barn where I volunteer with therapeutic riding spent their off-time standing by each other, nuzzling and grooming each other, and when one went out for a lesson, the other fussed and whinnied till he came back.  The one on the left, Quincey, was one of our therapy horses and much older than his friend, Trio.  When Quincey passed away a couple of years ago, Trio was visibly bereft for awhile. 

And these two, Teddy and Sprite, are the mainstay of our therapeutic program.  Both are elderly (in their 20s) and as calm as can be with our riders, but they are such good friends and when they are turned out together, they act like two friendly youngsters, romping together, chasing each other, and enjoying their companionship so much.  They only do this with each other - if you turn either of them out with a different horse, they never play with that different horse.

Teddy is also friends with our little Shetland pony, Becca - their paddocks are side by side and they spend a lot of time interacting and grooming each other across the fence.

So, just like people, animals choose certain other animals to be their special friends - we can learn so much from observing the animal world.

Supplies:

Stamps - Impression Obsession horses, A Muse sentiment

Ink - Ranger Archival Potting Soil

Paper - watercolour paper, cream cs

Size - 4.25 x 6"

Accessories - Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, fun foam, foam tape

Dog Feeling Poorly

A card for the Less is More "Pets" challenge.

I need a get well card for a friend who is a dog lover so came up with this:

Simple stamping and watercolouring on mixed media cs, trimmed with a stitched rectangle, popped up on a black border, and then a kraft card base.

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black dog, Tim Holtz sentiment

Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black

Paper - mixed media cs, black and kraft cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Gansai Tambi watercolours, Lil Inker stitched rectangle, fun foam

Wildflower Monoprint with Birds

CAS Mix Up is featuring a technique that I really enjoy but am not always successful with - stencil monoprints.  After a couple of false starts, I came up with a piece I was happy to use and I made this card:

I used this video from SCS for my technique.  I used three colours of Distress mini inks, randomly pressing them onto my TH wildflower stencil.  Then I spritzed with water and flipped the stencil over onto a piece of watercolour paper.  I pressed and blotted with a rag to soak up extra water and press down on the stencil to get the ink to absorb into the watercolour paper.  After removing the stencil, I let it air dry.  Once dry, I put the stencil back in place and randomly inked up a text stamp and pressed it through the stencil.

I had a piece of black cs that I'd sprinkled and spritzed with Magicals.  I die cut two birds from it and again twice more from plain black cs, stacking them up for some substance and dimension.  I added them to the stenciled image, along with a white heat embossed sentiment on a black cs banner.  I popped the panel up on fun foam.

Here's a close-up of the birds showing some of the colour and shimmer from the Magicals:

For CAS Mix Up, I have the required stencil monoprint technique, stamping of both the sentiment and some text, the use of Magicals, die cutting, and heat embossing.

Supplies:

Stamps - Memory Box sentiment, unknown small script stamp

Ink - Distress Bundled Sage, Dusty Concord, and Faded Jeans for the monoprint; Distress Weathered Wood for the text; ColorBox white for the sentiment

Paper - watercolour paper, black and cream cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Tim Holtz wildflowers stencil, Magicals, Papermania Sea Foam White embossing powder

Humourous Pet

I've been inspired by a couple of challenges for this card:

The Paper Players' "Humorous" challenge.

And Less is More "Pets" challenge.

I don't do very many humourous cards but I do have the perfect stamp to combine these two challenges.

I love the sneaky little pup stealing the snowman's hat and scarf. It makes me think of my young dog, Tessa, who loves to steal socks and gloves!  And I love the look on the snowman's face when he sees what the dog has done.

It's a very quick and simple card, and nice and flat for mailing. Stamped, watercoloured, trimmed down and added to a red cardbase, and finished off with Stickles on the snowflakes and the lines of the snow.

Here's Tessa, looking very pleased with herself after stealing a pair of my socks:

And equally pleased to have snagged a pair of snowy gloves after we came in from a walk in the winter:

Note that I coloured the pup on the card in a similar colour to Tessa!  I love Penny Black's stamps that have the spaniel dogs!

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black snowman with dog, Rosie's Roadshow sentiment

Ink - Archival Jet Black

Paper - hot press watercolour paper, red cs

Size - 4.25x6.25"

Accessories - Gansai watercolour paints, Stickles

Copper Leaves

 
Love the Color Throwdown challenge - black, copper, and white:

A while back, Loll Thompson shared her heated copper technique at one of our get togethers.  See her video tutorial here.  I made some wonderful pieces of copper so took one of them and die cut the leaves for this card.  The heating changes the colour of the copper sheeting.  Here's a close up to show it better:

I die cut a white deckled edge rectangle, layered it over a black panel on which I'd stamped and heat embossed the sentiment, and used a white card base.  It makes a great masculine birthday card and I have a couple of male friends with birthdays in September so it's great to have a card ready for one of them.

I'm also linking up to:

Addicted to CAS - Masculine

The Male Room - Birthday

Supplies:

Stamps - Chocolate Baroque sentiment

Ink - ColorBox White

Paper - white and black cs

Size - A2

Accessories - thin copper sheet, Memory Box Fresh Foliage die, Spellbinders deckle edge die, white embossing powder