Christmas Thoughts

Playing around making some Christmas cards and thought about making one for my nephew.  His father (my ex-brother-in-law) passed away from Covid a month or so ago (he was immune-compromised because of the cancer treatment he was going through) so it will be a hard Christmas for my nephew.  I didn't want a card that says "Merry Christmas" as I don't think it will be very merry for him.

I made the blue background by sprinkling a couple of shades of blue Magicals on mixed media cs and spritzing with water.  When dry, I topped it with the die cut of trees and reindeer, added a heat embossed blue sentiment, and popped it up on fun foam.

I'm linking up with these challenges:

The Male Room "Christmas in July"

Christmas Kickstart "Woolly, Fluffy, or Furry" - the reindeer are furry.
 

July Rudolph Days Challenge 

Cardz 4 Guyz "Shades of Blue" 

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Impression Obsession sentiment
Ink - ColorBox Royal Blue
Paper - white and mixed media cs
Size - A2
Accessories - unknown die, blue Magicals, fun foam

Framed Fairy Shaker

A birthday card for a young teenage girl:

I did a bit of stencilling of stars and dots on my background and then stamped the fairy and sentiment. I created a frame with a piece of acrylic on the back of it and added foam tape to the back of the acrylic. I sprinkled sequins, microbeads, and tiny star sprinkles of top of the image and then taped the shaker frame to the top.

Linking up with:

Seize the Birthday "Framed"

Supplies:
Stamps - Lavinia fairy, Memory Box sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne, Distress Scattered Straw and Speckled Egg
Paper - white cs
Size - 5"square
Accessories - Lil Inker stitched square die, Spellbinder square die, Heidi Swapp Confetti stencil, acrylic sheet; foam tape; sequins, tiny stars, and microbeads

One Birthday Card and One Christmas Card

I've got two cards for you today.  First up a birthday one for Just Us Girls who want script on the card:

I haven't used my old SU Elements of Style stamp for far too long. I stamped and heat embossed it and the sentiment, and then added text stamping and sponging around it.  I popped the panel up on fun foam and added pearls to the flower centres.

In hindsight, I wish I'd kept the sponging a bit lighter but was going for a vintage look.

Next on to a Christmas card for Jingle Belles and Paper Players who both want Stars and / or Stripes, and Addicted to CAS where they want Christmas:

 

 

A simple card, stamped and watercoloured. The stars are done with a shimmery dark gold watercolour paint (but the photo doesn't pick up the shimmer). It matches the dark gold of the card base. The sentiment is stamped and heat embossed in clear embossing powder - but I think my copper ink pad has dried out as I didn't get the depth of colour I wanted.

 

Just Us Girls

 

 

 

Jingle Belles - "Stars and / or Stripes"

 

The Paper Players

 

  

 

Addicted to CAS

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - SU Elements of Style, Penny Black script stamp, Chocolate Baroque sentiment
Ink - ColorBox Plum Berry, Distress Antique Linen
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - clear embossing powder, fun foam, stick-on pearls

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black hedgehogs, Paper Smooches sentiment
Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black, ColorBox Copper
Paper - dark gold shimmer cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - clear embossing powder

Poinsettias and Sequins

Time for another CAS Christmas Challenge!  This month our host is Linda and she's chosen Poinsettia as the theme.

I stamped and heat embossed the poinsettias with red glitter embossing powder, and then did the same in gold embossing powder with the sentiment - I debated whether to put it below or in the right angle of the poinsettias but went below to balance the tall side of the card with the shorter top side.

When I die cut it with a stitched rectangle, it looked really unbalanced to me - I truly prefer symmetrical layouts on my cards so having an image up in a corner is a challenge for me.  So I added some gold sequins in the lower white space (as well as in the centre of each poinsettia) and that made me happier!

Looking forward to seeing your CAS cards featuring poinsettias!  For more inspiration, check out the cards by this month's fabulous Guest Designer, Sandra (Sandma's Handmade Cards) and the rest of the Design Team over at CAS Christmas!

 

Also linking up with Addicted to CAS:

 

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Tim Holtz poinsettias, PTI sentiment
Ink - ColorBox red and gold
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - red glitter and gold embossing powders, Lil Inker stitched rectangle die, gold sequins, fun foam

Birthday Flowers

Everything in my garden is ahead of schedule because of the heat wave we've had.  My hydrangea is starting to bloom!  It inspired today's card.

I took a smooshed background (probably Oxide inks) from my UFO box stamped and heat embossed the collage image on top.

I sprinkled and spritzed blue, pink, mauve, and purple Magicals on a piece of mixed media, going for much denser colours than in the background.  When dry, I punched out hydrangea petals with the old Martha Stewart punch I've had for years and glued them onto the stamped flower.

I bordered with white and then with black shimmer cs (to echo the shimmer of the Magicals) and added a heat embossed sentiment below.

It's hard to photograph and capture the shimmer but here's a close-up where you can see some of it:

I'm linking up with the AAA Birthday Card Challenge.

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Inkadinkado hydrangea collage, Memory Box sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - black shimmer, white, and mixed media cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Magicals, Martha Stewart hydrangea punch, clear embossing powder