Snowman for Peace on Earth

When I saw the top right hand image on the Peace on Earth mood board (see below), I immediately thought of my new Tim Holtz snowman stamp and used it to make this card.

I stamped the snowman, pine branches, and sentiment and heat embossed them all.  Then painted the snowman and background with watercolour paints.  I stamped some pale shrubs either side of the snowman.  I used a white Posca paint pen to add snow to the pine branches, and then die cut a little red bird to sit on the branches.  For the falling snow, I sprinkled chunky embossing enamel over the piece and heated it from underneath to prevent it blowing away.

We'd love to have you join us at Peace on Earth.  Here's our mood board in case it inspires you - if not, just enter an "anything Christmas" card instead.

 

                                                                                                             

Supplies:
Stamps - Tim Holtz snowman, various branch stamps, Hero Arts sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, ColorBox Evergreen
Paper - mixed media, chalk cs, scrap of red cs
Size - 6x4.25"
Accessories - watercolour paints, white Posca paint pen, Memory Box bird die, Stampendous Chunky White Embossing Enamel

Textured Backgrounds Using Die Cuts

The Group of Seven is playing with a technique to get more out of our dies - using die cuts to create a textured background similar to an embossed background.  Because it is tone-on-tone, it is basically faux dry embossing.  Unlike an embossing folder, using die cuts allows you to arrange the embossed sections as you wish.

My first example is simply white-on-white.  I followed this video but simplified it a bit.

I die cut a variety of small stars and glued them to my panel for my faux dry embossed background.  Then die cut the large star three times, twice out of scrap cs and once out of white shimmer cs, and glued them together.  I "hung" it on the card with fine silver thread that I also wrapped around the star.  Added a sentiment die cut with a banner die, and put the whole piece on a matching white card base, and I was done.

For my other example, I followed this video that uses the same technique but with a blended ombre background and a matching ombre piece for the die cutting.

With various green Distress inks, I blended two A2 size panels in an ombre of greens.  Then I die cut the holly from one of them and added it to the same colour sections of the other panel.  I left an open section where I wanted to add my sentiment.  I splattered with a bit of gold acrylic paint and die cut a few gold holly leaves to tie in with the gold die cut sentiment (cut twice and glued together for dimension.  It's on a cream shimmer card base.

It's a fun technique so please give it a try and link your card up over at Group of Seven to add to the inspiration.

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs, white shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - various small star dies, MFT large star die, banner die, fine silver thread

Supplies for card 2:
Ink - various green Distress inks
Paper - mixed media cs, cream shimmer cs, gold cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Sizzix holly dies, Penny Black holly jolly sentiment die, gold acrylic paint

Aqua Snowflakes and Tiny Wise Men

Sparkles Christmas Challenge wants to see snowflakes.  Double D's theme is winter and it has a lovely wintery mood board that inspired this card:

Here's the Double D mood board - you can see the colours and snowflakes in the top left and bottom right images.

I placed my snowflake stencil over white cs and sprayed with a Mr. Huey's spray. Trimmed the panel, bordered it with blue glitter cs, die cut three snowflakes from the same glitter cs, and added a sentiment on a stitched banner die.

The Christmas Kickstart Challenge wants "wise men three".  The only stamp I could find in my collection has three very small wise men!

Stamped and heat embossed in gold, bordered with gold cs, and a simple sentiment die cut added on top.

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Distress Broken China
Paper - white cs, blue glitter cs
Size - A2
Accessories - PaperArtsy snowflake stencil, various snowflake dies, Mr. Huey's spray, stitched banner die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black sentiment, unknown wise men / Bethlehem stamp
Ink - ColorBox Gold
Paper - white and gold cs
Size - 6x3.25"
Accessories - gold embossing powder, small rectangle die

CAS Christmas and Shiny Stars with Sheep

AAA Card Challenge wants Anything CAS with an Optional Twist of Christmas and Simply Clean and Simple has an optional theme of Christmas (so of course I went with the optional twist / theme!).

I have the Tim Holtz Nordic Winter die and I like cutting it with different colours and mixing them up for different cards - which means there are always some little leftover pieces. I'm in the process of making some in rustic greens and browns and there are some leftover houses and reindeer so thought I'd turn a few of them into a CAS card.  I'll post the full versions later once I've finished inlaying all the little pieces - for an idea of what using the full die looks like, see this card I made a while ago in a totally different colour scheme.)  

I tore a strip of plain white cs for my snowy ground, stamped the sentiment on it, arranged my die cuts on it, then set it inside a pierced dot frame cut from white shimmer cs, and added it all to a white shimmer cardbase.

 
My other card for today is using the sheep in sweaters stamp that I love.  But this time I used it for the Stencil Fun Challenge's optional theme of "make it sparkle or shine" - I have surrounded the sheep with shiny stencilled stars.

I stamped the sheep and big star and coloured with coloured pencils.  I went over the stars on the sheep's sweater and the big star with a Gelly Roll clear stardust pen.  Then I laid the star stencil over the panel and sponged with Golden Glitz ink - the stars are very shiny in real life.

   

 
Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - PB sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white and navy cs; green, white, and copper shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Tim Holtz Nordic Winter die, MFT pierced rectangle frame die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Inky Doodle sheep, sentiment, and star
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Delicata Golden Glitz
Paper - white cs
Size - 5.5" square
Accessories - star stencil, coloured pencils, Gelly Roll clear star pen

Flowery Thanks and Father Christmas

I needed a change from all the Christmas cards I've been making lately.  For the Flower Challenge and for My Time to Craft - both challenges are looking for thank you cards.

 A friend gave me some very wide washi tape. I wasn't sure what to do with it so stuck some on a piece of cs, went over it with a light gesso wash so that I could stamp on it, then stamped some very pale script and a darker flower. Then I went over the flower with gouache paints to give them some colour. Added two gemstones to the panel and one to the flower, and bordered it with black cs and added a vertical Thank You stamp.

My second card has to be a Christmas one as it's coming up on us very quickly!  Inkspirational wants to see Santa.  I dug out one of my older stamps, SU's Father Christmas - I love this old-fashioned looking Santa.

I stamped the Santa in the centre of an A2 panel of Bristol cs and coloured with coloured pencils.  Then embossed it with the Snowflake Frame embossing folder - it fits perfectly!  I added the panel to a chalk white card base.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Hero Arts sentiment, Lime Citron script stamp, Magenta flowers
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne, Memento London Fog
Paper - white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - wide washi tape, gesso, gouache paints, gemstones

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU Father Christmas, SSS sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - bristol cs, chalk white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, Ultimate Crafts Snowflake Frame embossing folder

Blowing Snow and Candy Canes

I'm playing along with the current Tic Tac Toe challenge.  I chose the top horizontal row that says ink blending, snow, and tree.  A good chance to use one of my favourite stamps of snow blowing off a tree.

I stamped and heat embossed the tree in white, then tore a strip of scrap cs to create a mask for the snowy ground, then blended various blue Distress inks over it.  The heat embossed tree resisted the ink.  When done, I wiped the ink off the trees to make sure they really stood out.   I trimmed it into a square, bordered with kraft cs, added a reindeer die cut from the same kraft cs and with a bit of brown Distress ink blended on the edges, and added a sentiment die cut with a banner die.

My second card for today is for Jingle Belles challenge "Christmas Feast" - any kind of holiday sweets or treats.  I went with one of my favourites - candy canes.

The image is stamped and watercoloured, trimmed with the stitched die, mounted on fun foam on a dark green card base. I went over the ornaments with Glossy Accents, and over the ribbon with Wink of Stella.

   
 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black Snow Dust, unknown sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white, various blue and brown Distress inks
Paper - white and kraft cs 
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - white embossing powder, reindeer die, banner die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Impression Obsession image, Stampendous sentiment
Ink - Archival Jet Black
Paper - watercolour paper, dark green cs
Size - A2
Accessories -

Skates and Cardinals

For the new Peace on Earth challenge, I was inspired by the skates in the top right image, by the wood of the birdhouse in the bottom left image, and the cardinals in three of the images of the mood board (see at the end of this post).

I dry embossed a piece of light brown cs with a wood textured embossing folder.  Die cut the skates and birds.  Glued all the pieces of the skates together and threaded them with thin string that I tied together in a bow.  I shaded the bird pieces a little bit.  Stamped the sentiment in red and die cut it with a stitched banner die.  I used it to hang the skates from by pushing a brad through the bow of the string and through the sentiment banner.

We'd love to have you join us with something inspired by this beautiful mood board, or if you prefer, an "anything Christmas" card.  Head over to Peace on Earth for more inspiration from the Design Team.

Supplies:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Memento Rhubarb Stalk
Paper - white, red, light brown cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Gina Marie skate dies, twine, Dee's Distinctively cardinal dies

Cozy Winter and Santa Horses

Time Out's new challenge is "Cozy" and Shopping our Stash's challenge is "Time for a Hot Drink".

I love that sentiment - as much as I love summer and my garden, I also love being curled up with a blanket, a book, and, in my case, a cup of tea.

Stamped and coloured with coloured pencils, trimmed, popped up on fun foam on a wintery dp background.

And a second card, this one for Color Hues "Red and Black".

The horses are stamped in black and left uncoloured except for using a red Tombow marker to colour their Santa hats.  It's trimmed with a stitched rectangle die and bordered in red cs.  I added Fun Flock to the brims and pompom of the hats, and a thin line of glitter on the snowy top of the fence.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Stamplorations
Ink - Versafine Onyx Clair Nocturne
Paper - white cs, unknown dp
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Impression Obsession Santa horses, Penny Black                                                     Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - red Tombow marker, Lil Inker stitched rectangle die, Fun Flock, clear glitter

Reindeer with Birch Trees and Candles with Poinsettias

Jingle Belles wants to see animals on our Christmas cards, and My Time to Craft Christmas is specifying winter animals.  What better than a reindeer?  Which means I can also link it up with Christmas Cards All Year Round as they want to see reindeer.

I rubbed Distress Speckled Egg over an embossing folder and ran it through with mixed media cs.  I tore a snowy hill out of white cs and stamped my sentiment on it.  Using various brown Distress inks, I smooshed a scrap of cs and die cut a reindeer from it.  I cut it again from scrap cs and glued them together for more strength and dimension.

Next up, ABC Christmas Challenge is "U for Unusual Colours".  I did a candle / poinsettia stamp in shades of blue and mauve - definitely not a typical Christmas card for me!

I stamped the image and sentiment in navy ink, coloured it with Cosmic Shimmer Botanical Stains (lovely muted colours), splattered with some of the leftover colours, and bordered with navy on an off-white card base.

  

Supplies:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Twilight, Distress Speckled Egg, various Distress browns
Paper - mixed media cs, white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Sizzix embossing folder,

Supplies:
Stamps - unknown candle / poinsettia stamp, Make an Impression sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Twilight
Paper - watercolour paper, off-white and navy cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Cosmic Shimmer botanical stains

Candy Canes for Peace on Earth

The new Peace on Earth challenge has a mood board full of Christmas treats like candy canes, gingerbread, etc.  I was especially inspired by the bottom left image with the greenery and the candy canes.  It inspired me to pull out a very old stamp - one of the first I ever bought when I started making Christmas cards.

Stamped and coloured with coloured pencils, including a metallic gold pencil for the ribbon.  I trimmed it with a stitched rectangle die, bordered it with dark green cs, popped it up on fun foam and added it to a candy cane dp background.

Here's the Peace on Earth mood board.  We'd love to have you join us with a card inspired by the mood board, or an "anything Christmas goes" card.

I'm also linking this up to a couple of other challenges - Inkspirational "Layer It" (I have three layers on top of my card base) and 12 Months of Christmas "Stitched" (I used a stitched rectangle die on my focal image).

  

Supplies:
Stamps - either Serendipity or Creative Images candy canes, unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx black
Paper - white and green cs, candy cane dp
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, gold metallic pencil, Lil Inker stitched rectangle die, fun foam