Holly with a Bird

The CASology Challenge wants a card with holly on it.

And I love Christmas cards with holly as the theme - almost as much as I love birds as the theme, so I especially this image that combines both.  I've had this stamp almost since I first started making cards so I'm happy to be giving it some use!

 

I coloured the image with coloured pencils and Gamsol, trimmed the image to its black outline, bordered it with red, stamped the sentiment in red, and added Glossy Accents to the berries.

 

I also made it for a SCS challenge to make a card in a size other than A2.  The stamp really suits a tall narrow card base.

 

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Supplies:

Stamps - Magenta bird and holly, Impression Obsession sentiment

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Memento Rhubarb Stalk

Paper - white and red cs

Size - 6.5x3.5"

Accessories - coloured pencils, Gamsol, Glossy Accents

Snowman in a Snowstorm

The Double D challenge is Let It Snow, and it's definitely snowing on this card.  The snowman looks like he's raising his arms and saying "it's still snowing and has been snowing forever".

I stamped the snowman and coloured him and the ground beneath him with Tombow Markers. I used the Falling Snow stencil and Snowflake paste to add the snowstorm around him. And put a bit of glitter on the ground.

No snow here in Vancouver where I live.  A decent dry day today after a horrid damp drizzly one yesterday.  Those of you with sunshine and sparkly snow, get outside and enjoy it for me!

Supplies:

Stamps - Old Island Stamp Co. snowman, Northwoods sentiment

Ink - Archival Jet Black

Paper - white and blue cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - SSS Falling Snow stencil, Finnabair Snowflake paste, Tombow markers, glitter

A Bear for 4 Crafty Chicks

4 Crafty Chicks want to see "Bears" for their current challenge.

So I decided to do a Christmas card for it with a stamp I haven't used for ages.

I love these happy children riding the polar bear to deliver their gifts!

Stamped, coloured with markers, bordered with red, and popped up on a green card base. A bit of glitter along the ground line and a bit of fun flock on the bear's hat.

I hope that those of you who celebrate Christmas have enjoyed delicious Christmas dinners!

Supplies:

Stamps - SU Bearing Gifts

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - white, red, and green cs

Size - A2

Accessories - fine point markers, fun flock, glitter, fun foam

Merry Christmas to You All!

The last Christmas card I made before Christmas Day!  It's for a friend I had tea with this morning - she loves owls.

The image is stamped and watercoloured, fun flock is added to the Santa hats, and Glossy Accents added to the tiny holly berries.  I used a stitched rectangle die to trim my focal panel and popped it up on fun foam.

My dear friend, Bonnie Klass, just posted a card using the same stamp - see her lovely variation on it here.  We didn't plan it - just pure coincidence that with the millions of stamps out there, we both made cards with the same one at the same time!

It is my Christmas card to my blog followers.  The sweet owls sitting together make me think of all of us as a group - virtual friendships, support for each other, sharing our hobby together, sharing our skills.   Merry Christmas to you all!

Linking up to a few challenges:

ABC Christmas Challenge - "Y is for Your Favourite Thing".  I have two of my favourite things - birds as a theme on Christmas cards and watercolouring images.

12 Months of Christmas - "Anything Goes". 

Christmas Crafts All Year Round - "Anything Goes".

Supplies:

Stamps - Wild Rose Studio owls, Make An Impression sentimen

Ink - Archival Jet Black

Paper - watercolour paper, red cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Lil Inker stitched rectangle die, fun flock, Glossy Accents, fun foam

Three Snowflakes for Two Challenges

I've been so busy baking, decorating, etc. for Christmas that I haven't had time to do any blog posts.  But I've got time this morning and I have a card for two challenges.

AAA Cards wants Three of Something.

And the Double D Challenge wants anything snow related.

Here are three snowflakes:

I created a background on mixed media cs with Distress Oxide inks and the smooshing technique - stepped out of my comfort zone and used a colour scheme that is not a traditional Christmas one.

I die cut the sentiment frame and three snowflakes, put the panel together, and popped it up on fun foam on the card base.

Love both these challenges so might have to come back again tomorrow!

Supplies:

Ink - various Distress Oxide inks

Paper - white and mixed media cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Simon Says Stamp Holiday Frame die, Impression Obsession snowflake dies, fun foam

Penny Black Challenges

A while back, I tried a new technique with Loll Thompson and Christine Alexander.  This card is my second attempt at it (see the first here).

Here's the technique for the poinsettia:

With the stamp in my MISTI, I inked it up with Versamark.  Then shook out a bit of my Brushos colours onto a palette, slightly moistened a paintbrush, picked up some colour and painted it onto the stamp over the Versamark.  When I'd painted the whole stamp, I lightly spritzed with water and stamped onto watercolour paper.

I got way better coverage with this second attempt.  I went in with coloured pencils and added back some of the definition that was lost, stamped the sentiment, added a bit of black splatter and a black border, and embellished the centre of the poinsettia with tiny sequins.

Since the main focus of the project is a Penny Black image, I'm linking it up to two Penny Black challenges:

Penny Black and More - Traditional Christmas Colours

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Winter or Christmas

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black poinsettia, SU sentiment

Ink - Versamark, Archival Jet Black

Paper - white and black cs, watercolour paper

Size - A2

Accessories - brushos, coloured pencils, tiny sequins

An Older Poinsettia

This month's Flower Challenge is:

I went with a poinsettia I've had for years but haven't inked up in the last couple of years (or more!).

I love white on white Christmas cards. 

I stamped the poinsettia on vellum twice with white ink and heat embossed with sparkly ep. I fussy cut one whole flower and just the inner section of the second flower and layered them.

The branches and circle are die cut out of glittery cs. The sentiment is stamped in pale grey and heat embossed with the sparkly ep.

The centre of the poinsettia is embellished with small sequins.

Supplies:

Stamps - SU Joyful Christmas poinsettia, Rubber Soul Joy

Ink - ColorBox White and Wild Hare

Paper - vellum, white, and glitter cs

Size - A2

Accessories - TH greenery die cuts, Spellbinders inverted scallop and circle dies, sparkly embossing powder, small sequins

Three Wooden Snowflakes

December's AAA Cards challenge is:

And 52 Christmas Card Throwdown wants us to choose one of the 2017 challenges.  I had such a hard time chosing as there were lots of challenges that appealed to me so I chose two.  I posted the first one yesterday and now here's the second one from October 2017:

I went with three wooden snowflakes.

A very simple card with a rectangle of thin cork stuck to my card base, wooden snowflakes on top of it, and then a stamped vertical sentiment.


Has anyone heard how well these wooden snowflakes go through the mail?  They seem kind of fragile to me!

Supplies:

Stamps - Impression Obsession sentiment

Ink - Distress Oxide Vintage Photo

Paper - rustic white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - wooden snowflakes, thin cork

Musical Notation with Bells

The 52 Christmas Card Throwdown wants us to pick one of the challenges from 2017.  I chose April 2017:

Here's my card:

I die cut the bells out of scraps of white cs, rubbed Versamark over them and added the new Emerald Creek Charred Gold embossing powder, and then repeated both steps again to get a lovely thick coating that really looks like metal. I die cut another set of the bells and glued them to the backs of the heat embossed ones to give more substance.

The sentiment (that is words to a carol so appropriate with the musical notation background) is heat embossed with a detail platinum embossing powder and then trimmed with a deckle edge die.

Bells and sentiment are mounted on a music embossed background, and for the cords on the bells, I twisted pieces of both gold and silver SU metallic cord together - blended together they are closer in colour to the bells.

I hope you're all enjoying the Christmas music.  I don't like it to start too early - round about now is when I always start listening.

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black sentiment

Ink - Versamark

Paper - white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Lil Inker Jingle Bells dies, PSX Platinum embossing powder, Emerald Creek Charred Gold embossing powder, Sizzix embossing folder, Spellbinders deckle edge die, SU gold and silver cord

Paper Players Colour Challenge

I love the current Paper Players Colour Challenge as it is traditional Christmas colours plus one other.

Needless to say, I chose blue since it is my favourite colour!

I used a technique I learned from Jill Foster at Penny Black. You need a MISTI for this and must remember to leave the stamp in place till the very end!

I used my mini Distress inks in various browns, reds, and greens to ink up the image, spritzing very lightly before stamping each time. I kept building up the layers of colours till I was happy. I used Distress markers to add the brown tips of the berries and the veins on the leaves.

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

I then used Distress Tumbled Glass (tapped on a palette and slightly watered down) 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 Distress Oxide Vintage Photo - I find the Oxide inks are better for detailed or thinly lined images as they stamp more sharply.

At the end, I splattered with watered down white acrylic paint for snow.

I'm also linking it up over at CAS Mix Up's Emboss Resist challenge.  I have stamping, emboss resist, watercolour wash, and splatter.

Are you a traditional Christmas colour person or non-traditional?

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black branches, Northwoods sentiment

Ink - Distress Oxide Vintage Photo, Versamark, various brown, green and red mini Distress inks, Distress Tumbled Glass

Paper - watercolour paper, white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - green and brown Distress markers, clear embossing powder, white acrylic paint, fun foam

Christmas Challenges

I've been busy since my last post - getting Christmas baking done in advance, making more Christmas cards to write and mail, doing some extra volunteer shifts at the therapeutic riding as our university student volunteers are all busy with exams.

But got inspired by a couple of challenges to get a post done.

First up, the Double D "Run Rudolph Run" Challenge wants to see a deer on our projects:

I took a piece of mixed media cs and spritzed it with water and then rubbed three different Distress stains over it, and spritzed a bit more to get the colours to blend.

I trimmed it with a deckle edge die and added a gold embossed sentiment. I die cut the reindeer out of a gold moire textured cs and again out of white cs - glued them together for more substance. Also die cut a few little gold stars. Glued the pieces on the background and popped up on fun foam.


And for the 4 Craft Chicks "Ribbon and Bows" challenge:

I stamped and heat embossed the image and sentiment in green on a cream cs, trimmed it and cut a slightly longer panel of green cs, mounted the image, and then wrapped the bottom of the green cs with a gingham ribbon and added a bow.

Since the image is from a song, I mounted it on a music-embossed background and used fun foam to popped it up on the card base.

More Christmas cards to come in the next few days!

Supplies:
Card 1:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - ColorBox gold
Paper - white, moire textured gold, mixed media
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black Leap of Joy die, star die, Spellbinders deckle edge rectangle die, Distress Stains (Chipped Sapphire, Shaded Lilac, Dusty Concord), detail gold embossing powder, fun foam


Card 2:

Stamps - Old Island Partridge in a Pear Tree, Rubber Soul sentiment

Ink - ColorBox Evergreen

Paper - PTI Vintage Cream cs, scrap of green cs

Size - A2

Accessories - gingham ribbon, Ranger Evergreen embossing powder, musical score embossing folder, fun foam

Blue Star

The last CAS Christmas challenge of the year!

I combined three of my favourite things - stars, brushos / spray starch backgrounds, and the colour blue:

The background was created by spraying a piece of mixed media paper with spray starch. Then sprinkling with a couple of shades of blue Brushos, scrunching a piece of cling wrap over the top, and leaving it to dry for a few hours.

I then trimmed it down to fit nicely on a white shimmer card base.

The star was cut from a piece of cs on which I'd stamped a Christmas text background, sponged lightly with blue ink, and went over with a tiny snowflake stencil and sparkly embossing paste (unfortunately the openings on the stencil are so tiny that I lost a lot of definition of the snowflake shapes - note to self that this stencil is better for sponging than for using with embossing paste - but I do have a nice bit of sparkly texture.).  The die cut star is popped up on fun foam for dimension.

The December CAS Christmas challenge is shorter than the rest of the months to give us a nice break for the holidays.  So please get your card linked up by December 15th.  For inspiration, head on over to CAS Christmas to see the cards by the rest of the Design Team and the very beautiful one made by our Guest Designer, Cindy of Escape to Stamping.  Please remember to keep your card clean and simple, and to use the theme of stars.

Supplies:

Stamps -

Ink - blue Distress inks

Paper - white shimmer, plain white, mixed media cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - various blue Brushos, spray starch, cling wrap, Spellbinders star die, tiny snowflake stencil, sparkly embossing paste, foam tape

Watery Smooshed Thank You

December's CAS Watercolour challenge is a very useful one!  Bonnie is asking us to use "Thank You" as the theme so it's a great way to get some cards made for sending out after we open our Christmas presents!

One of my favourite watercolour techniques right now is smooshing or splash watercolouring (see Loll's video tutorial here) with Distress Oxide inks.  I tap some colours on my craft sheet, spritz liberally with water, then smoosh my watercolour paper into them, dry with my heat gun, and repeat until I'm happy with the result.  I used Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon, and Wild Honey to get my background:

Having added this photo right after adding the challenge image, I realize my colours are very similar to the CAS Watercolour graphics' colours - must have been channeling my inner Loll!

I die cut the top layer first with the wonky stitching die and then with the flower circle die.  And added the sentiment using Mermaid Lagoon ink.

Because it is December, this is a shorter challenge than normal in order to give us time off over the holidays.  So you only have until December 15th to link up your card.  Please be sure it is clean and simple, and follows the theme of "Thank You".  Head on over to CAS Watercolour for more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team and our fabulous Guest Designer, Michele (I Card Everyone).

Supplies:

Stamps - Emerald Creek sentiment

Ink - Distress Oxide Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon, Wild Honey

Paper - white cs, watercolour paper

Size - A2

Accessories - Simon Says Stamp Twinkle Flower die, MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangle die