Rainy Day Christmas

Vancouver is having a chilly rainy spell so what better time to work on Christmas cards?

Christmas Craft Creations wants Non-Traditional Colours so I went with blue and violet for the background for this card.

I sprinkled the blue and violet Magicals on watercolour paper, spritzed with water and let the colours run.  When dry I trimmed the panel with a deckle edged rectangle die, popped it up on fun foam on a white shimmer card base, and added the die cut ornament and sentiment, cut out of the same white shimmer cs.

52 Christmas Card Throwdown wants "Old Fashioned Christmas".  I used a never inked up Tim Holtz stamp so I'm linking up at the NBUS Challenge.

Stamped with a bit of colouring with coloured pencils, bordered in black, and added to a white mini slimline card base.

Then The 12 Months of Christmas wants Christmas Candy.  And it's time for the Rudolph Days Challenge too - any Christmas card made between the 25th and the end of the month.

Stamped and watercoloured, with metallic gold paint used on the ornaments and ribbon.  It was trimmed with a rectangle die, then I used the SSS thin frame die to cut a thin rectangle out of it.  I painted the thin rectangle frame with the same metallic gold paint I'd used on the image, let it dry, and then inserted it back into the gap.  Put it all on fun foam onto the card base.

     

Supplies for card 1:
Paper - watercolour paper, white shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - blue and violet Magicals, Spellbinders deckled edge rectangle die, Memory Box snowflake ornament die, Spellbinders Joy die, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Tim Holtz
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white and black cs
Size - 6x3.25"
Accessories - coloured pencils

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Stampendous candy canes, unknown joy
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - off white cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, gold metallic paint, SSS thin frames die, Spellbinders rectangle die, fun foam

Recycled Bottle, Layered Flowers, and Monochrome Doves

Today is Earth Day so it seems an appropriate day to post this card for both Jingle Belles and Sweet Stampin' challenges to include a recycled element.

The little bottle came off a commercial card I received and the ribbon off a Christmas gift.

I stamped the sentiment on white cs and cut the sections out and layered everything on some festive dp.

I feel that the sentiment is such a major part of the card so I'm also linking it up at Word Power.

Next up is a card for The Flower Challenge "Add Layers".  I've got a watercoloured focal image layer, a pink bordering layering, and a dp layer on the card base.  It's also for Colorful Options "Pastels".

And last for today, Addicted to CAS wants a monochrome card.

 I used a little scrap of cling wrap background made with a couple of different blue Brushos (sprinkled, spritzed with water, then cling wrap scrunched up on it, and left to dry).  I framed it, added the two die cut doves, and added a blue heat embossed sentiment.

                  

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Dylusions sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs, dp
Size - A2
Accessories - recycled little bottle, recycled ribbon

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU Echoes of Kindness flower
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white and pink cs, dp, watercolour paper
Size - 6.25x3.25"
Accessories - watercolour paints

Supplies for card :
Stamps - Stampendous sentiment
Ink - ColorBox Royal Blue
Paper - watercolour paper, white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - clear embossing powder, Memory Box dove dies, Impression Obsession frame die

Greenery in a Jar

Great inspiration from this month's Peace on Earth mood board!  The photos of the greenery in jars prompted me to use a jar die that I've never used before.

I die cut the jar from white cs and sponged a bit of grey around the edges for shading and dimension.  I smooshed scraps of cs with various green Distress inks and then die cut the greenery and holly from it.  Then arrange it in the opening of the jar, added it to a white card base and embellished with red gemstones for the berries.

Here's the Peace on Earth mood board that inspired me.  Head on over to our blog for more inspiration from the design team, and then make a card for our challenge either inspired by the mood board or an "anything Christmas" card!

Supplies:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - various green Distress inks, Memento London Fog, Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Tim Holtz greenery dies, holly die, mason jar die, red gemstones

Colour Challenges

I don't know how you feel about colour challenges but I do very few of them - I really have to like the colours to be inspired to do them.  The new 52 Christmas Card Throwdown is a colour challenge - red, kraft, and white.  That's a combination I really happen to like so I made this card for it.

Kraft card base, die cut kraft tree (cut twice and glued together for more dimension), a white focal panel cut with a stitched rectangle die, and then lovely bits of red for the stamped sentiment and the die cut cardinals.

Then I needed a masculine birthday card and thought the Seize the Birthday challenge of green and one other colour (I chose black to keep it masculine) would work.  And I was on a roll with birds so dug out another bird die.

I smooshed a background with various green Distress inks, then stamped a bit of cross-hatched texture and the sentiment on it.  I die cut the branch and bird out of black cs, glued it on the green panel and popped it up on fun foam for more dimension.

  

I'm curious - if you leave a comment, let me know if you like colour challenges or not.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Hero Arts sentiment
Ink - SU Real Red
Paper - kraft, red, and white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Impression Obsession tree and cardinals, Lil Inker stitched rectangle die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - A Muse sentiment, unknown cross-hatching stamp
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, various green Distress inks
Paper - white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box bird die, Sizzix branch die

Butterflies and Birds

My Time to Craft Challenge wants to see butterflies.  I used this as a chance to make a card for a friend who loves purple.

I created the background by sprinkling purple Brushos on watercolour paper and spritzing with water. When dry, I stamped and heat embossed the butterfly in white, and stamped the sentiment in black and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I trimmed the panel and popped it up on fun foam.

My next card also has a butterfly but it's for Can You Handle the Pressure? - use an embossing folder with a twist of birds.  I used my embossing folder to frame all my little images, including an image of a bird.

 

 

I stamped some of the images in black and some in dark brown, and then coloured them with coloured pencils. I die cut the images with a small square die cut. I stamped and heat embossed tiny sentiments on the two right hand squares. They are popped up on fun foam on a panel that is dry embossed with the border folder.

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Visible Image butterfly, unknown sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white, Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - white and clear embossing powders, various purple Brushos, wonky stitched rectangle die, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU Nature Walk, SSS tiny sentiments
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa, ColorBox gold
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, SU embossing folder, gold embossing powder, Spellbinders square die, fun foam

Reindeer with a Christmas Tree

I love being inspired by a challenge's mood board to make a card!  This one is for Peace on Earth and I was inspired by the upper right image (see mood board below).

I used a piece of dp for my snowy sky and tore a piece of cs to make the snowy ground.  I die cut the reindeer out of white cs and then sponged with a couple of shades of Distress inks.  Then glued it on to two more layers of die cut deer to give it more substance.  I tucked him behind a tree die cut once from green and once from white and glued together to have a thin line of white on the branch tops.

Head over to Peace on Earth and check out how other members of the Design Team were inspired by our mood board.  We'd love to see if it inspires you or if you'd rather post an "anything Christmas" card.

I'm also linking my card up with the Christmas Craft Creations "Designer Paper" Challenge.

Supplies:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Distress Brushed Corduroy and Pumice Stone, Memento London Fog
Paper - white and green cs, Echo Park dp
Size - A2
Accessories - deer die, tree die, SU punch

Spring Bluebells and Two Christmas Cards

Since it's spring, I'll start with a spring card.  Shopping our Stash Challenge is asking for Spring or Easter, and the Four Seasons Challenge wants Spring.  And since the bluebells are a Penny Black stamp, I'm linking it up to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

The Scilla are starting to bloom in my garden so this seemed the perfect stamp.  I stamped  and heat embossed in gold, then coloured with coloured pencils.  With Tea Dye ink to give a vintage feel, I stamped the definition of spring in a couple of places, sponged  around the edges, and stencilled some splatters.  Then stamped the flower name and cut it with a narrow label die and added it to the top.  The panel is popped up on fun foam for some dimension.

Moving on to working on my Christmas card stash.  Double D wants to see Cute Little Animals and Jingle Belles want us to be inspired by one of the cookies in this image:

I saw the cookie on the left near the bottom with the tangle of lights and thought of the stamp I have with a cute little dog all tangle up in Christmas lights.

I watercoloured the image and went over the lights with Glossy Accents. I trimmed with an old Spellbinders label tag, and bordered with green and added to a red card base. And I found the perfect sentiment that refers to lights! 

And finally Christmas Craft Creations wants to see Designer Paper on our cards.  I love colour coordinating DP with the colours I use in my focal image. 

The image is stamped and coloured with coloured pencils and popped up on fun foam for some dimension.

   

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black Scilla, Purple Onion spring definition
Ink - ColorBox gold, Distress Oxide Tea Dye
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - gold embossing powder, coloured pencils, splatter stencil

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black dog, SSS sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, red and green cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, Glossy Accents, Spellbinders label dies

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Penny Black sentiment, unknown owl stamp
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white cs, dp
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, fun foam

Heat Embossed Reindeer Panel and Bleached Iris

For the ABC Christmas Challenge "E is for Embossing", I went with heat embossing.

I created a background by spraying some silver spray on cs.  When dry, I stamped the image panel in black and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  I bordered with silver glitter cs and mounted on a silver shimmer card base.

For the Penny Black Saturday Challenge, I used a lovely Penny Black iris stamp I've had for ages.  It's also for Seize the Birthday "Spring Floral" - the early small irises are starting to bloom in my garden!

 

 

I created a blue background by sprinkling with various blue Brushos and spritzing with water.  I let it air dry.  Then stamped the irises and used a small paint brush and bleach to lift the Brushos colour from inside the iris image.  Then stamped a few bits of random script around the irises and added a sentiment die cut with an oval and lightly sponged with blue ink.  Bordered with black cs.

 

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous reindeer panel
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white cs, silver glitter cs, silver shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - silver spray, clear embossing powder

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black irises, Stampington & Co script, A Muse sentiment
Ink - Distress Tumbled Glass, Versafine Clair Twilight and Nocturne
Paper - black and white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - bleach, blue Brushos, Spellbinders oval die