Poinsettias, Stencilled and Die Cut

A couple of cards today using a poinsettia stencil and a poinsettia die cut (and a poinsettia sentiment).

I created the background with a poinsettia stencil and various red and pink Distress inks, then stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in copper. I set it behind a pierced die cut frame and added two small die cut poinsettias and copper stickles in the centres of the die cut and stencilled poinsettias for embellishment.

The second one uses stencilling inside stencilling.  See this tutorial on SCS for instructions.

I used red and pink Distress inks again through the same poinsettia stencil, dried the ink with my heat tool, then put the poinsettia stencil back in place and laid a star stencil over top of it and used an orange ink through the star stencil.

Trimmed the panel, bordered with a gold panel, then a white panel, and added it to a gold card base.  I added the "joy" die on top of its accompanying shadow die and embellished the centres of the poinsettias with tiny gold stick-on dots. 

Challenges:

Tic Tac Toe - I used the top horizontal row.

Stencil Fun Challenge

 

Rudolph Days November Challenge

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - use a stencil

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black sentiment
Ink - ColorBox copper, various Distress red and pink inks
Paper - red and white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Dee's Distinctively small poinsettia dies, copper embossing powder, poinsettia stencil, copper stickles, pierced frame die

Supplies for card 2:
Ink - various Distress red, pink, and orange inks
Paper - gold and white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - poinsettia and star stencils, joy shadow die set, small gold stick-on embellishments

Hedgehogs and Stars

I would love to use up some of decorative / patterned paper I've had for many years but my card making style has changed a lot so it's no longer the go-to supply it used to be.  I'm challenging myself to try and use it a few times a month even if it's only to border a focal image like I did in today's card:

I stamped and watercoloured the image, using metallic gold paint for the stars.  I bordered with a decorative paper covered in metallic gold stars and embellished with Fun Flock on the brims and pom poms of the hats.

It's being linked up at:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - "Anything Goes - Optional Embellishment" - I'm not sure if Fun Flock counts as an embellishment but it's great to use on Santa hats.

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs, Bazzill dp
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, Fun Flock

Stars and a Tree, and a Dog and a Present

A couple of simple Christmas cards today.

I inked up the tree stamp with green Distress mini inkpads, spritzed lightly with water, and stamped on watercolour paper. When dry, I stamped the stars and sentiment. I popped that panel up on fun foam on gold shimmer cs and added that to a red shimmer card base.

Stamped and watercoloured, matted with red cs, and popped up on fun foam on the card base.

Challenge for card 1:

Christmas Kickstart "Trees, Trees, Trees"

Challenges for card 2:

Addicted to CAS "Present"

Do-All Kreatives "Animals and Christmas"

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Art Impressions tree, PTI sentiment, SU star cluster
Ink - Distress Iced Spruce and Evergreen Bough, Delicata Golden Glitz, Memento Rhubarb Stalk
Paper - watercolour paper, gold and red shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SSS sentiment, ? dog
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - watercolour paper, red and cream cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, fun foam

Cocoa, Candy Cane, and Marshmallows

For the new Peace on Earth challenge, I was inspired by the images of cups of cocoa with candy canes and marshmallows.

I stamped and watercoloured the image, and then laid a stencil over it and lightly stencilled the leaves in green Distress Oxide ink.  I bordered it with a similar green cs and used off white cs for the card base.

Here's the Peace on Earth mood board in case you want to be inspired by it, but if not, feel free to enter an "anything Christmas" card.  And be sure to check out the other cards by the rest of the Design Team.

I'm also adding it to the Stencil Fun Challenge.

And to Double D "Hot Beverages"

Supplies:
Stamps - Stamping Bella
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Oxide Rustic Wilderness
Paper - watercolour paper, green and off-white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, leaf stencil

Trees with Some Doves

Christmas Kickstart Challenge wants "Trees, Trees, Trees".  I pulled out a stamp I've never inked up before.  It has lots of trees!

I pulled out a bit of smooshed background from my UFO box, put it in my Misti and stamped the trees and sentiment on it.  I added some doves die cut from silver glitter cs, used the same silver glitter cs as a border, and popped the panel up on fun foam.

Christmas Kickstart Challenge 

NBUS Challenge - I've never used the trees stamp before.

Supplies:
Stamps - Paper Roses trees, unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - silver glitter cs, white cs, piece of smooshed background
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box dove dies, fun foam

Deer and Music Collage

This post is a follow up from yesterday's post where I used the background created by the first step of Jennifer McGuire's distress monoprint technique.  See this video for detailed instructions.  My first card below uses the second step.  It created another lovely background but unfortunately I shouldn't have stamped on top of it - it would have been far better to put a die cut on top.

Here's yesterday's card to show the results of step one where you heat emboss a background over the sponged Distress inks:

For step two (which creates a second background), I spritzed the first background with water, laid another piece of mixed media cs on top of it and ran it through the die cutting machine just with the pressure plates.  This transfers the colour and the pattern of the background stamp.  If you look closely at today's card, you can see the pattern.  The colours come out paler but still make a very nice background.  Because the second background doesn't have any actual heat embossing on it, I assumed I'd be able to stamp on it with no problem but I think what happened was that the lines of the embossing pressed into the second background and therefore the ink from my stamping doesn't fill in those lines.  So the reindeer and the tree have a design on them!  

I decided to use it anyway.  I trimmed it down, bordered it with white glitter cs, and added a blue gemstone to the centre of the snowflake.

I prefer the results I get from this stamp when when I stamp it on plain cs so I did a second card for this post to show you how nice the stamp is:

 

 

It makes for a great quick card - simple stamping, addition of a sentiment, bordered in red glitter cs, and embellished with a single red gemstone in the centre of the snowflake.

 

I'm linking it up with:

 

Do All Creative challenge "Animals and Christmas"

 

NBUS Challenge - Never Before Used Stuff (I'd never used the reindeer / music collage stamp)

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Woodware Musical Deer, PTI sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne - both cards, various blue Distress inks - card 1
Paper - white and red glitter cs, white cs, mixed media cs
Size - A2
Accessories - gems, clear embossing powder

Blue, Red, and White for Christmas

52 Christmas Card Throwdown has a colour challenge - use blue, red, and white only.  So I made these cards:

 

The background is done using Jennifer McGuire's distress monoprint technique.  See this video for detailed instructions.  On this card I used the background created by the first step of the technique.  I sponged a piece of mixed media cs with various blue Distress ink and then stamped my swirly snowflake background stamp over it with Versamark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  This intensifies the colour underneath it.  For a touch of shimmer, I randomly sprayed some pearlized spray over it.

My resulting piece of background was just enough to make two cards using the same die.  The die cuts out the frame, tree, and birds in one go.  I kept the tree / frame section white, and smooshed the birds in a couple of shades of red Distress inks.  I smooshed a scrap of white cs in the same red inks and die cut the sentiments from that.  I glued everything on the background and then popped the panel up on fun foam on the card base to give some dimension.

52 Christmas Card Throwdown 

 

Supplies:
Stamps - unknown snowflake background stamp
Ink - various blue and red Distress inks, Versamark
Paper - mixed media and white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box frame / tree / birds die, Spellbinders sentiment dies, clear embossing powder, pearlized spray, fun foam

Tic Tac Toe Snowflakes

The latest Tic Tac Toe challenge has a line "snow, free, and blue".  And the Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge has shades of blue with snow.   I made this card:

First I made the background by sprinkling various blue Brushos on a snowflake stencil and spritzing with water, then pressing the stencil onto mixed media cs to create a stencil monoprint.

I trimmed the panel, made a frame for it with a regular rectangle die and a stitched rectangle die, die cut some snowflakes out of various blue glitter cs, and added a white heat embossed sentiment on a strip of navy cs.

Off it goes to Tic Tac Toe for the centre vertical line:

And the Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge:

And Diane and Darlene have a new challenge - Stencil Fun - anything goes as long as you use a stencil.

Supplies:
Stamps - Northwoods sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white
Paper - mixed media, cream cs, scrap of navy cs, scraps of various blue glitter cs
Size - A2
Accessories - snowflake stencil (made by a friend for me from a Cricut), blue Brushos, small snowflake dies, white embossing powder, Spellbinders rectangle die, Lil Inker stitched rectangle die

Sparkly Christmas Tree with a Star

I'm entering this card in the Tic Tac Toe Challenge.  I chose the line that says "Christmas Tree, Sparkle, Star".  And in the Christmas Kickstart "Trees, Trees, Trees" challenge.

I haven't done the encrusted jewels technique for ages so thought this was a good way to use a variety of my glitters to add sparkle.

Here's the technique: I die cut the tree from thin chipboard, then placed it in the Tim Holtz Melting Pot on top of a layer of non-stick craft mat then parchment paper. I sprinkled it with two different shades of green embossing powder. Once it had melted, I added white and multi-coloured chunky glitter on top. The melted embossing powder 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.

I made a background by smooshing with light blue Distress oxide inks. I trimmed a panel for the tree to go on top of, and then a smaller piece with a torn edge for a snow bank to go on top of the tree trunk.

And finished off with a bit more sparkle - a star cut from gold glitter cs.

I couldn't decide where to add a sentiment so will just put it inside.

Here's the Tic Tac Toe Challenge:

Christmas Kickstart Challenge

 

 

Supplies:
Stamps -
Ink - various blue Distess Oxide inks
Paper - white cs, gold glitter cs, lightweight chipboard
Size - 6x4.25"
Accessories - tree and star dies, various types of glitter, two different green embossing powders, UTEE

Inspired Robin and Background

For the new Peace on Earth challenge, I was totally inspired by the mood board (see below, the top right image).  I immediately thought of a stamp I have of a robin sitting on a holly branch.  And I wanted to recreate the snowy grey background.

I started by stamping the image and watercolouring it.  I then stamped it again on masking paper, fussy cut it, and masked the watercoloured image.

My crafty Zoom group did a technique recently where we made backgrounds by using gesso through a stencil to create a resist.  This is one of them.  I made a stencil by using a die of multiple small snowflakes.  I laid the stencil over my panel and went over it with white gesso.  This created a faint resist of small snowflakes.  I sponged with two shades of grey blue ink.  I removed the mask from the bird and holly and splattered with a bit of watered down gesso.

I added a few snowflakes die cut from the same die I used to create the stencil and a die cut sentiment.  And finished off by going over the snow on the branch and holly with a quickie glue pen and some glitter (sorry - it's hard to see the sparkle in the photo).

Here's the Peace on Earth mood board that inspired me:

 

Please come and join us at Peace on Earth.  You can either be inspired by the mood board or enter an "anything Christmas goes" card.

I'm also entering it in Sparkles Christmas Challenge "Festive Things with Wings".

And the Winter Wonderland Challenge "Robin Redbreast".

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Altenew Arctic, Archival Pearlescent Ice Blue
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, masking paper, white gesso, glitter, Spellbinders Noel die, Cheery Lynn snowflakes die

Christmas Twofer - Reindeer and Snow

I made a couple of cards today for challenges that are about to close.  First up, the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown's Tic Tac Toe challenge.  I chose the row that says "glitter, pattern paper, reindeer".

I used some patterned paper for the snowy background, die cut a reindeer out of grey cs, trimmed the panel with stitched circle and rectangle dies, added a grey sentiment, and bordered with dark silver glitter cs.

My second card is for the Winter Wonderland challenge "Let It Snow".

I made the snowflake panel by mixing blue Perfect Pearls with gum arabic (the gum arabic works as a fixative and makes the Perfect Pearls powder wet) and patting it through the snowflake stencil onto black mixed media cs.  I happened to have a piece of blue shimmer cs that matched the Perfect Pearls so bordered with that.  I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment on vellum and wrapped it around the black panel.  I embellished with stick-on pearls in the centres of the snowflakes.

52 Christmas Card Throwdown "Tic Tac Toe"

   

Winter Wonderland Challenge "Let It Snow"

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Archival Hickory Smoke
Paper - white and grey cs, Paper Studio dark silver glitter cs, Echo Park dp
Size - A2
Accessories - Dee's Distinctively reindeer die, Lil Inkers stitched circle and rectangle dies

Supplies:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white
Paper - black mixed media cs, blue shimmer cs, vellum
Size - A2
Accessories - Paper Rose snowflake stencil, blue Perfect Pearls, gum arabic, stick-on pearls, white embossing powder