Made in Minutes Christmas Card

I hope all of you who celebrate Christmas had a good one, albeit strange and low-key in this Covid year.  We're all missing get togethers with friends and family, but beating back the pandemic is worth the sacrifice.

I've got a Christmas card that came together very quickly - one of those you need to make last-minute when you get a card from someone but you haven't given them one.

I stamped the inchies and punched them out. The are popped up on fun foam, as is the background dp.

I'm linking up with AAA Cards : "Made in Minutes and Optional Twist Christmas".

And also linking up at Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge 393.  I used a snippet of white cs for stamping the inchies and a leftover snippet of decorative paper.

And the Christmas Kickstart Challenge "If It's Christmassy, Link It Up".

Enjoy the quiet peaceful days between Christmas and New Year's - always one of my favourite times of the year.

Supplies:
Stamps - Darkroom Door Christmas Inchies
Ink - Memento Rhubarb Stalk
Paper - Gina K Pure Ivory cs, Graphic 45 dp
Size - A2
Accessories - 1" square punch, fun foam

Vintage Santa

I made a last minute card today for neighbours who brought me a plate of their delicious Christmas baking and a card (never had a card from them before!) so made this to thank them and to reciprocate the card.  Their house is full of vintage things so I pulled out a vintage Santa image.

Simply stamped in black on PTI's Vintage Cream cs, with a dull gold shimmery border and a few matching dull gold gemstones.  Definitely a QCAS - quick clean and simple card.

I'm linking up to the following:

Day of the Month Card Club - "Santa's List Day"

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - "Any Challenge Featured This Year" - I went with Santa. 

     

Supplies:
Stamps - Deep Red Santa, A Muse sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocture
Paper - PTI Vintage Cream, dull gold shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - dull gold gemstones

Poinsettia with Embellishments

I'm still making Christmas cards.  I got so far behind with making them this year because of my heart attack, so for those of you who sent me a card but didn't get one from me, this one is for you!!  I'll do better next year!

 

I placed the poinsettia stamp in my MISTI, tapped it with Versamark, then lightly brushed Magicals over it, spritzed with water, and stamped onto watercolour paper.  I was able to get a couple more prints from it.

I added the heat embossed sentiment strip and popped the panel up on fun foam on a red shimmer card base - it's hard to see the shimmer on both it and the Magicals, but it is quite lovely.  I was going to use sequins to embellish it for The Flower Challenge, but just wasn't happy with the look so went with gemstones instead.

It's getting linked up over at The Flower Challenge "Add Embellishments".

and at The Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Anything Goes".

I'm not sure if I'll get another post done before Christmas - if not, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it.

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black poinsettia, SU sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white
Paper - red shimmer and black cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - Magicals, white embossing powder, fun foam, gold gemstones

Silver Berries

I don't often do colour challenges but I really liked this one at The Paper Players:

Here's my card:

I stamped the image in black on watercolour paper and first tried a silver watercolour paint on the berries but it wasn't silvery enough so went over it with a silver metallic pen.  Heat embossed the sentiment in silver and bordered the panel with silver cs that has a nice sheen to it.  Popped it up on fun foam for some dimension.

And here's a photo taken with different lighting to bring out the shine of the silver.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps - Magenta bird, Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - watercolour paper, white cs, silver cs
Size - A2
Accessories - metallic silver pen, fun foam, silver embossing powder

Sheep in Woolly Sweaters

Back in July, Jane (of Purplejet Loves Crafts) created an adorable card using two sheep in woolly sweaters.  See her card here.  I fell in love with the image and went searching for it but sadly it is discontinued.  Jane kindly stamped a few off for me and mailed them.  Here's the first card I've made from them:

 

I coloured the image with coloured pencils, including a metallic gold pencil for the big star and the stars on the red sweater. I went over the stars with Wink of Stella and over the snowflakes on the blue sweater with a Stardust Glitter gel pen for some shine and used a dark gold shimmer cs for the card base.

52 Christmas Card Throwdown is asking us to choose any challenge from 2020.  I chose "Winter Sweaters".

       

I've also posted it at Splitcoaststampers for two of this week's challenges - the CAS Challenge "Sweater Weather" and the Ways to Use It Challenge "Inspired by a Song".  The sentiment is two lines from the carol "The First Noel".

Supplies:
Stamps - Inky Doodles Christmas Jumpers
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - white cs, dark gold shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, Stardust Glitter gel pen, stitched circle die

Masculine Christmas

The Cardz for Guys Challenge is asking for a traditional masculine Christmas card.  I went with a snowy scene in the woods with a cabin.

My stamp seemed perfect for one of the trendy slimline cards that everyone is making these days but I made a smaller version as I have a bunch of envelopes that are 6 7/8 x 3 5/8".

I stamped the image and watercoloured it., trimmed it and popped it up on fun foam on a cream shimmer base, and added a sentiment banner to one side of it.

Supplies:
Stamps - Old Island Stamp Co. cabin, Rosie's Roadshow sentiment
Ink - Archival Jet Black
Paper - watercolour paper, cream shimmer cs
Size - small slimline - 6.25x3.25"
Accessories - Yasutomo shimmer paints, fun foam, foam tape

Painting with Shimmer Paints

I have some much neglected, but very beautiful, Yasutomo Pearlescent Watercolour Paints and thought they'd be perfect for a Christmas card.

I stamped the Penny Black winter scene and watercoloured it with pearlescent paints. It has a wonderful shimmer but I couldn't capture it very well in the photo.

I've just got time to sneak it into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Anything Goes" before it closes.

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black, Make an Impression sentiment
Ink - Archival Jet Black
Paper - watercolour paper, shimmer copper c
Size - A2
Accessories - Yasutomo Pearlescent Watercolour Paints

Winter Wonderland

There are two challenges this week that are asking for "Winter Wonderland".

52 Christmas Card Throwdown

 

ABC Christmas Challenge

'W'  for Winter Wonderland

and/or

'X' for Xtra Special

 I went with a snowy forest with reindeer.

I put the forest stamp in my MISTI, inked it up with various brown mini Distress inks and markers, and stamped - repeating as needed to get good coverage.

Then I cleaned off the stamp and reinked with Versamark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I took my fine point Molotow Art Masking Liquid marker and went over all the snowflakes that are part of the stamp and the ground at the bottom. This, plus the heat embossing on the trees created a resist that would make it really easy to sponge the sky.

I sponged with a few shades of blue Distress inks, and when dry, rubbed off the masking fluid.

I added two die cut reindeer and a sentiment (the sentiment is on a little tag as it came out crooked when I stamped it on the focal panel so restamped and punched out to layer it over it straight!). I bordered it with the same brown cs I used for the reindeer.

Thanks for coming by today!

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black trees, Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - various brown and blue Distress inks
Paper - white and dark brown cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Impression Obsession reindeer dies, clear embossing powder, Molotow Art Masking Liquid marker, SU small label punch

A Masculine Thank You Card

 

The Cardz 4 Guys challenge wants a masculine thank you or Thanksgiving card.  Since Canadian Thanksgiving has already passed, I went with a thank you card.

 

 

I used a Dreamweaver stencil and started by colouring the horses in different colours of Distress inks. Then I cleaned the stencil and replaced it, going over it this time with translucent embossing paste.

I sponged the ground underneath their hooves, trimmed the panel, and popped it up on some rustic-looking decorative paper, and added a simple sentiment.

 

Supplies:
Stamps - SU sentiment
Ink - various Distress inks, Archival Jet Black
Paper - white cs, unknown dp
Size - A2
Accessories - Stampendous Dreamweaver horse stencil, Dreamweaver translucent embossing paste, fun foam

Off the Edge Poinsettia

I played with Magicals, using a technique that Loll taught me over Zoom.  I overspritzed part of my poinsettia and made a huge blob of colour so it was a perfect piece to trim down so that my image went "off the edge" of the focal panel.

I placed the poinsettia stamp in my MISTI, tapped it with Versamark, then lightly brushed Magicals over it, spritzed with water, and stamped onto watercolour paper. 

A simple heat embossed sentiment, a bit of fun foam behind the focal panel, and a shimmery cream textured card base finished it off.

It's heading off to these challenges:

CAS Mix Up is doing watercolour this month.  And they want an "off the edge" image.

The Paper Players want a CAS holiday card.

 

And 52 Christmas Card Throwdown has a colour challenge.

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black poinsettia, Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Versamark, ColorBox Chianti
Paper - watercolour paper, shimmery cream textured cardstock
Size - 6.25x3.5"
Accessories - red and green Magicals, clear sparkly embossing powder, fun foam

Blue and Silver

Lovely colour choices at the Less is More Challenge - "Blue and Silver or Red and Gold".  Those of you who know I love blue will guess which one I chose!!

 

 

I sprinkled blue Magicals on watercolour paper, spritzed with water, then scrunched up cling wrap on it and let it dry overnight. I then stamped and heat embossed the image in white. To reflect the silver garland, I added some silver gemstones and bordered the panel with silver glitter cs.

Supplies:
Stamps - SU Gifts of Christmas
Ink - ColorBox white
Paper - watercolour paper, white cs, silver glitter c
Size - A2
Accessories - blue Magicals, cling wrap, white embossing powder, silver gemstones

Two Heads, Two Challenges

A card for a couple of challenges:

Cardz for Guyz "Birthday for an Adult Male"

Day of the Month Card Club "Make your Own Head Day"  (this can be interpreted by including one or more heads on your card)

I stamped the image on watercolour paper, painted just the flowers and butterfly as I like the horses the way they are. Popped it up on fun foam on first a white layer with the sentiment, then a blue layer to match the blue butterfly.

Supplies:
Stamps - Impression Obsession horses, A Muse sentiment
Ink - Archival brown
Paper - white and blue cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, fun foam

Poinsettias Framing a Sentiment

I stamped my image in black, watercoloured the flowers and foliage in regular watercolours, and the gold borders with metallic gold paint. I added clear gemstones to the centres of the poinsettias and copper gemstones to the foliage, and heat embossed the sentiment in copper.

I'm linking it up to two challenges:

The Flower Challenge - "Use a Sentiment"
 

 Christmas Kickstart Challenge - "Festive Florals"

Supplies:
Stamps - Gina K Festive Frame, Stamp It Australia sentiment
Ink - ColorBox copper, Ranger Jet Black
Paper - watercolour paper, cream cs
Size - A2
Accessories - gold metallic paint, watercolour paints, clear and copper gemstones, copper embossing powder

Reindeer over Snowflakes

Trying to get some challenges done to inspire my creativity.  Today I'm doing the Jingle Belles "Creatures" challenge.  And the ABC Christmas Challenge "U if for Up in the Air and V is for Vixen (other reindeer okay).

 

 

I created a background by masking off a rectangle, sponging inside it with two shades of blue Distress ink.  Once dry I added the snowflakes with a stencil, embossing paste, and glitter.

 

I stamped and heat embossed the reindeer, then die cut it with the matching die, and glued it onto the background.  Finished with a heat embossed sentiment and popped the panel up on fun foam.

My reindeer really looks like he is leaping up into the air so I think he qualifies for both "U" and "V" in the ABC Christmas Challenge!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black reindeer, A Muse sentiment
Ink - Distress Faded Jeans and Chipped Sappire, Distress Oxide Walnut Stain
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box snowflakes stencil, white embossing paste, glitter, clear embossing powder, fun foam

Foliage in a Star

Less is More challenge is asking for "More Than One Type of Foliage".

 

 And it's the end of the month so it's time for the October Rudolph Days "Anything Goes" Christmas card challenge.

I'm trying to clear off my desk so had a look through my scraps so that I could make a card that would qualify for Pixie's Snippets Playground challenge. 

And I used some never-used foliage and mistletoe dies for the NBUS Never Before Used Schtuff challenge.

 

 

 

I die cut the star by setting a smaller die cut inside a larger one and die cutting from a scrap of shimmery gold cs. I die cut the greenery and mistletoe boughs from scraps of smooshed leftovers.

Assembled the star and bunch of greenery on a cream panel, using gold twine to "hang" the star, added a heat embossed sentiment, and popped the panel up with fun foam. Finished off by adding white liquid pearls to the mistletoe berries.

 

I'm hoping to be more regular with my posts going forwards as I'm getting my energy back and starting to feel more creative.

 

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Stampabilities sentiment
Ink - ColorBox Gold
Paper - cream, gold, and white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Spellbinders star dies, TH greenery dies, white liquid pearls, gold embossing powder, gold twine, fun foam

Christmas Pink

The Christmas Kickstart Challenge is "Pink Christmas".  My snowbaby is very happy to be all decked out in pink.

A pretty basic card - stamped, watercoloured, a bit of splatter, a heat embossed sentiment, and a glitter cs border.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black snowbaby, unknown sentiment
Ink - Archival Jet Black, ColorBox gold
Paper - watercolour paper, pink glitter cs, cream cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, gold embossing powder

Thank You, Everyone!

This is a thank you card to thank all of my cardmaking and blogging friends, fellow CAS challenge team members, etc. who sent me wonderful cards to cheer me up and wish me well after my recent heart attack.  It's also one of the first cards I've made this month as my energy and my creativity were pretty non-existent.  (Darnell, thanks for the kick in the butt to get me going!!)

Here are all the wonderful handmade cards I received:

They took pride of place (though I received many lovely store-bought cards as well!).  It is so heart-warming knowing that people care!!

Quick steps for making my thank you card:

• Stamp petunias with white pigment ink and heat emboss with white embossing powder, then watercolour.
• Stamp sentiment with violet ink and heat emboss with clear ep.
• Stamp random bits of script with pale mauve ink and sponge around edges with it.
• Pop up on fun foam.

 

p.s. I'm recuperating well, though it's taking longer than I thought it would.  But I'm up to a daily 50 minute walk that is fine as long as it's on flat ground - inclines and hills are still really hard.  And I allow myself a nice rest with my feet up, a book, and a cup of tea every afternoon.

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Rubbernecker petunias, Wendy Vecchi script stamp, unknown sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white, Distress Milled Lavender and Wilted Violet
Paper - watercolour paper, PTI Vintage Cream cs
Size - 4.25" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, white and clear embossing powders, fun foam