Non-traditional Forest for Peace on Earth

Peace on Earth's new mood board inspired me to step outside my comfort zone and go with very non-traditional colours.  I chose the top right hand picture of the non-traditional coloured Christmas tree decorations.  And the little turquoise reindeer on the right hand side of that image inspired the reindeer in my card.

I smooshed a bunch of scraps of mixed media cs in colours close to the mood board image.  Then die cut the trees from them.  I arranged them on the card base and layered the reindeer circle die cut over them.

There's lots of other inspiration from our Peace on Earth design team.  We'd love to have you join us.

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Art Impression sentiment
Ink - Distress Oxide Pine Needles, Peeled Paint, Picked Raspberry, and Mermaid Lagoon
Paper - white linen cs, mixed media cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Impression Obsession tree dies, Memory Box deer circle die

Joy with Cardinals and Poinsettias

I'm not good at using large dies but having seen so many great cards using the Penny Black Joy die, I broke down and bought it a while ago and am finally getting around to using it.

I  stamped the image of the cardinals and coloured with coloured pencils, then trimmed it to fit behind the "o" of the die cut which I cut out of green cs.  I used a stitched rectangle die to add interest to the edges of the card.

I'm linking it up with Try It on Tuesday ("Things with Wings") and Word Power (the sentiment is the focus of the card).

I had enough of the sheet of green cs left from cutting out "Joy" to make an A2 card base - I don't very often use coloured card bases so it was fun to think of what to add to it.  

I put the poinsettia stamp in my MISTI and inked it up with various mini Distress inks and Memento Dew Drop inks, spritzing, stamping, and reinking until   I was happy with the results.  I trimmed it with a Sizzix die, added it to the green card base, and added a green TH Christmas sentiment sticker and some gemstones.

I'm linking it up to Addicted to CAS ("Florals") and Twelve Months of Christmas ("Only One or Two Layers"),

  

   

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Serendipity cardinals
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white and green cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black Joy die, coloured pencils, Lil Inkers stitched rectangle die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black poinsettia
Ink - various mini Distress inks and Memento Dew Drop inks
Paper - green cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - TH Christmas sentiment sticker, Sizzix die, gemstones

Recycled Dog, Grateful Horse, and Die Cut Swag

The Paper Players challenge is to recycle something on our cards.  As a dog lover, I often receive store-bought cards with dogs on them.  I received one on my last birthday with a beautiful black lab on it.  Good friends of mine have a black lab so I decided to recycle the lab to make a Christmas card for them.  

I have some old double-sided stick-on flourishes.  I arranged them in the corners of the card and added multi-coloured glitter to them.  Finished off with a die cut sentiment "joyful" - exactly how I would describe my friends' lab!

Cardz 4 Guyz wants to see a masculine card in blue.

I sponged a background with various blue Distress inks and layered my die cut over it, popping the body of the horse up a bit with foam tape. The whole panel is popped up on the card base with fun foam.

And a "threefer" today.  52 Christmas Card Throwdown wants us to use dies or punches.  I made a card with lots of greenery die cuts that I cut out of small scraps of various green cs - therefore I'm also entering it at the Snippets challenge.  And linking up with Cut It Up - anything goes with die cuts.

I die cut several different pieces of greenery out of various scraps of green cs.  I splattered them with white acrylic paint and arranged them on white cs dry embossed with a pine sprig embossing folder.  I wrapped bakers twine around my focal panel and made a bow from it.  The sentiment is stamped and die cut with a narrow banner die.

    

  

Supplies for card 1:
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - dog off of a store bought card, double-sided stick-on flourishes, multi-coloured glitter

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Memory Box sentiment
Ink - various Distress blue inks
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - StarLit Studio Horse Country die, fun foam, foam tape

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - white cs, scraps of different green cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Sizzix embossing folder, TH greenery dies, sentiment label die, red/white baker's twine, white acrylic paint

Die Cut Birthday, Die Cut Bird

My youngest sister (I'm the oldest of four) is turning 60 in a couple of months!  Hard to believe.  So when I saw the Shopping our Stash "By the Numbers" challenge and the Inkspirational Challenge "Celebrate", I was inspired to get her card made.  It's also being linked up at Cut It Up (anything goes with die cuts) and Sisterhood of Crafters "Flowers".

Using the old SU Elements of Style floral stamps, I stamped some in white and heat embossed them, then watercoloured them just in shades of blue, colouring the background as well. Then stamped some in black and watercoloured just the flowers and leaves. Using a hexagon die, I cut out sections of each.

I watercoloured a scrap of watercolour paper just with shades of blue and die cut the sentiment and the numbers.

I ran a scrap of plain watercolour paper through a floral embossing folder and die cut a hexagon out of it.

I cut a focal panel very slightly smaller than the card base and cut one hexagon out of, then glued it to the card base. I arranged the floral and embossed hexagons on it and glued the "60th" into the cut out hexagon and the Happy Birthday on the top. I added a few green and blue gemstones.

Sticking with the theme of die cuts from one of the challenges for my first card, I've made this card for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown "Use Die Cuts".  It's also for Time Out Challenges "Your Favourite Winged Thing" - birds are definitely my favourite!  And Try It On Tuesday "Things with Wings".

I die cut the bird twice out of watercolour paper and glued it together for more substance, then painted it with my watercolour paints.  I added it to a dry embossed panel, and topped it with a die cut gold frame and a die cut sentiment banner.
 


           

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - SU Elements of Style
Ink - off white cs, watercolour paper
Paper - off white cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - white embossing powder, watercolour paints, floral embossing folder, hexagon die, Happy Birthday die, number dies, blue and green gemstones

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Rosie's Roadshow sentiment
Ink - Ranger Red Geranium
Paper - gold and white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - unknown bird die, watercolour paints, Darice stars embossing folder, Spellbinders square dies, stitched banner die

Peace on Earth Cat in a Hat

I was searching through my stamps for a cat wearing a Santa hat to go with our Peace on Earth mood board.  The only one I found is this cat wearing a striped hat so I went with that.

The cat is watercoloured.  I made him a ginger cat so that I can send it to my nephew who has a ginger cat and who will enjoy the image of the hat falling over the cat's eyes.  I have a goal this year to make at least two cards a month that use up some of my stash of dp so now I've got one done for this month!!

I've never used the cat stamp before so I'm also linking up with NBUS Challenge.  And also with Jingle Belles "Animal Antics".

We've got lots of inspiration over at Peace on Earth from the rest of the Design Team as well as the four images in our mood board.  Please join us!

   

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Colorado Craft Co. cat, Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Lucky Clover
Paper - watercolour paper, DCWV dp, green cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, Spellbinders rectangle die, SU sentiment punches

Blues and Bunny with a Stocking

Colorful Options has a colour palette to choose from and, needless to say, I chose the blues.  

I sprayed the background with a few different blues and then die cut three hexagons out of it and stamped postage marks, etc. on them. I die cut the hexagons again out of scrap cs, popped the scrap ones back in the holes and layered the stamped ones on top of them.

I did some ink smooshing with various blue Distress inks and die cut the flowers and the sentiment out of that.

Here's the colour palette I chose from.  I tried to capture the various shades of blue from the left third of the colours..

 
And a Christmas card for Sparkles Christmas Challenge "Christmas Stocking" and Jingle Belles "Animal Antics".

One of the fabulous Anita Jeram stamps, simply watercoloured, bordered with black, and on an off-white card base.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - unknown postage mark and text stamps
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, various blue Distress inks
Paper - mixed media cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Alexandra Renke flowers, Happy Birthday die, hexagon die, various blue sprays

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Colorado Craft Co. Anita Jeram
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, off white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints

Batik with Holly

The Group of Seven Cardmakers are trying the batik technique this month.  I did this a few years ago but was not totally happy with the results.  Group of Seven has posted a video with the technique so I watched it, followed it to the letter, but really didn't like the results.  I wondered what I could do to get a better result and decided that what I didn't like was the way the creases came out - and that was my problem when I tried it before.  See the snowflake card on this post to see the way the creases are - I just didn't like them.  I like the creases on this post slightly better but still not that happy.  

Like the video on Group of Seven, both of my earlier cards used regular weight cardstock.  I had the idea to try something lighter that I could just scrunch it up rather than fold and score it, and, hooray, I got results I like much much better.  I used a heavyweight printer paper - 32 lb. weight (as opposed to regular printer paper which is only 20 lb. weight).  After stamping and heat embossing, I literally scrunched up the paper and that created far more random creases than the folding and pressing with a bone folder like the video shows.

Here's the first card I made:

For this one I followed the video's instructions about laying down some light colour first (I think I used Shabby Shutters and Old Paper), then stamped and heat embossed in clear embossing powder, then crumpled the paper, and then sponged over it with darker shades of green.  I trimmed it, used a sheet of double sided tape to stick it to cardstock to give it strength, then layered over a dry embossed background.  Because my panel was 5" wide I had to run half of it through the embossing folder, then the other half, so I ended up with a messy bit in the middle - I covered that with a strip of ribbon.

What I didn't like about that card was how muted the holly looks with the inks behind it, so for the next card, I just stamped and heat embossed with clear embossing powder before crumpling the paper and doing the ink blending.  

Same process after that - trimming and sticking to cardstock.  I cut a slightly larger panel of green cs and set it and the batik panel at angles (something I rarely do!!)

I still wanted more contrast between the image and the ink blending so for my last (and favourite one), I stamped and heat embossed with opaque creamy white embossing powder.

Followed all the same steps after that.  The panel is popped up on fun foam on a cream card base, with two small sentiments stamped and die cut with small square dies.  I really like this one and am very happy with the random creases.

Please let me know in the comments which one you like best!!

We'd love to have you try whatever way you like to get a batik look to your card.  Please post over at Group of Seven.  And check out the other examples by the rest of our group!

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black holly stamp, Rubber Soul Merry Christmas, Stampendous little square sentiments
Ink - Versamark, many various green Distress Oxide inks
Paper - white, cream, and green cs, 32 lb. heavyweight printer paper
Size - A2 and 5.25" square
Accessories - clear embossing powder, Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder, Sizzix holly embossing folder, ribbon, SU sentiment punch, Spellbinder square and rectangle dies

CAS Square with a Bird and a Rectangular Variation

The Paper Players want a clean and simple card with things that fly.  My Time to Craft wants a square card.  And Try It on Tuesday wants to keep it simple - my card is both CAS in design and simple to make.

This is definitely simple to make as the image requires very little colouring after stamping it.  I used alcohol markers to add the colour.  I trimmed the panel with a hemstitch square die and layered it over red cs.

While I had the stamp and the red cs out, I made a regular A2 version of it. 

I coloured this one with Tombow markers to see how they compared to the alcohol markers in the first one, trimmed it with a pierced dot rectangle die, and added to a red A2 card base.
 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Impression Obsession bird, Hero Arts sentiment
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - white and red cs
Size - 4.5" square
Accessories - alcohol markers, Spellbinders hemstitch square die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Impression Obsession bird, Hero Arts sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white and red cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Tombow markers, Sizzix pierced dot rectangle die