Snow Day

Well, Vancouver got one of its rare heavy snowfalls and everything I planned to do today is cancelled.  So a good time to get a blog post done before some of the challenges I like end.

First up, for the ABC Christmas Challenge "B is for Buildings" and My Time to Craft "Make It Male" (I figure buildings and dark colours make for quite a masculine card):

I started with the background - used a circle die to cut a round mask for the moon and a hilly slopes die for the snowy ground (both cut out of masking paper). Then splattered masking fluid on the sky for snow. Then sponged with two shades of blue Distress ink, leaving it lighter around the moon. Once the ink was dry, I removed the paper masks and rubbed off the masking fluid. I die cut the buildings and trees out of black cs and added them to the background. Finished off by using white gouache on a fine paint brush to add snow to the roofs.

Shopping our Stash wants "crafty remnants" - things out on our desks leftover from previous projects.  

For some reason, I'd die cut a lot of deer before Christmas and they were all still sitting there unused.  I also had an odd-sized background made with emboss-resist trees and some blue sponging.  So I thought the deer could prance across in front of the trees.  And I added a sentiment in a similar shade of blue as the sponged sky.

 

 





Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Make an Impression sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Chipped Sapphire and Dusty Concord
Paper - white and black cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - masking fluid, masking paper, SSS Winter Village dies, circle die, hilly slope die, Dr Phil Martin's bleed-proof white gouache

Supplies:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - various blue Distress inks, Versamark
Paper - white and brown cs
Size - A2
Accessories - deer die cuts, clear embossing powder

A Reindeer Framed by Hearts

When I saw our new mood board at Peace on Earth, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.  At first I wanted to do a dove on a red heart but three of my fellow Design Team members had already done that.  So then I thought of a white tree with red ornaments but I wasn't inspired.  Then I had the idea of somehow merging the reindeer in the top left image with the red hearts in the other three images and came up with this card.

I've had this heart frame die for ages but never used it (so am also entering my card at the NBUS challenge).  It fit quite well around my collage-style stamp of the reindeer.  And I have an old SU sentiment that mentions both Christmas and hearts.

I put the reindeer stamp in my MISTI and tapped it with a couple of different brown inks to get a bit of variation in the stamping.  Stamped the sentiment below, trimmed and added to a red card base, and die cut the heart frame out of the same red as the card base.

We'd love to see if our Peace on Earth mood board inspires you.  If not, feel free to link up an "anything Christmas" card.

Supplies:
Stamps - Crafty Individuals reindeer, SU sentiment
Ink - Ranger Archival Potting Soil, Memento Rich Cocoa
Paper - red and white cs
Size - 6x4.75"
Accessories - unknown heart frame die

Fussy Cut Snowman / Sprig of Mistletoe

52 Christmas Card Throwdown wants to see Fussy Cutting.  I fussy cut my favourite new snowman stamp.

I created the background by spritzing a panel of watercolour paper till quite wet, then dropping in various blue watercolour paints and spritzing some more to let them run together. When dry I stamped the pine branches at the top in green and the snowman in black. I stamped the snowman again on white cs, watercoloured him, and fussy cut him (except for his twig arms) and the snowy ground. The sentiment is die cut. I used white watercolour paint to splatter some snow, but it came out very faint so definitely not the best medium for splattered snow.

Christmas Cards All Year Round wants us to be inspired by a phrase or a word in the song The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire).  I was inspired by "some mistletoe helps to make the season bright".

I had great fun playing with a lot of mixed media products (quite out of my comfort zone) to create some backgrounds using some of the techniques in Jennifer McGuire's video "Background Magic".

On a large piece of heavy mixed media cs, I brayered different shades of blue ink and sprayed with some mica spray, stamped with a snowflakes background stamp in darker blue, stamped a few bits of tiny stars in gold, and stencilled some larger stars and snowflakes with grit paste. Then trimmed the panel into a few different pieces and used one of the pieces for this background.

I added a Lavinia word sticker (Mistletoe) and a mistletoe die cut (cut twice and glued together for more dimension. Then used my Liquid Pearls on the berries of the mistletoe.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Tim Holtz Mr. Frostie, unknown pine branch stamps
Ink - various Distress green inks
Paper - watercolour paper, white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, Essentials by Ellen merry die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Mama Elephant sentiment, unknown tiny star stamp, unknown snowflake background stamp
Ink - various green and blue Distress inks, Ranger Archival Cobalt, Delicata gold
Paper - white and mixed media cs
Size - A2
Accessories - mistletoe die, white Liquid Pearls, Lavinia mistletoe sticker

Dry Embossed Highlights

This month the Group of Seven Cardmakers are doing a technique called Dry Embossed Highlights over Ink Blending.  This works best with the newer 3D embossing folders.  First I tried one using the technique in this video.

I placed a border mask over my focal panel and blended three shades of blue Oxide inks inside the mask.  When dry, I dry embossed it with a snowflakes embossing folder.  I patted with a white pigment ink (but my pad was quite dry so didn't have the best results.  I also tried adding a bit more white with an ink blending tool but ended up getting a bit of the blue ink transferring to the snowflakes outside of the masked area.  I added a white die cut sentiment and three die cut snowflakes, and went around the edge of the focal panel with a blue metallic marker.

I'm also adding this card to The Sisterhood of Crafters "snowflakes" challenge.  And to Can You Handle the Pressure? "Snow".

For the second one, I used the same technique with a few shades of red Oxide ink.  But instead of using white to highlight, I used gold.

 

 

This poinsettia embossing folder worked better for the technique than my snowflake one did  - I think because it has higher larger raised areas.

 

Head over to the Group of Seven blog to see more examples by the rest of the Design Team, and feel free to try out the technique and link up your card. 

 

                      

 

Supplies for card 1:
Ink - various blue Distress Oxide inks, Adirondack Snow Cap
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - SSS snowflake embossing folder, blue metallic pen, Stamplorations sentiment die, Cherry Lynn tiny snowflakes die

Supplies for card 2:
Ink - various red Distress Oxide inks, Delicata Golden Glitz
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Sizzix poinsettia embossing folder, gold metallic pen

Cosy Fireplace and Delphinium Thank You

The Jingle Belles challenge has a photo to inspire us.  I was inspired by the fireplace and by the red and blue stockings hanging from the mantelpiece.  My Time to Craft Christmas wants a rectangle-shaped card.  And Sparkles Christmas Challenge wants to see something "Warm and Cosy".  Nothing like being in front of a warm fire at Christmas time!

I stamped the image, coloured it with coloured pencils blended with Gamsol (using only blue and red for the stockings to go with the image), stamped the sentiment in red, and bordered it with a blue polka dot dp.  I added Fun Flock to the pompoms and brims of the cat's and dog's hats, and added Glossy Accents to the berries and to the candle flames.

Today's twofer - a quick thank you card for Sweet Stampin's "Thank You Card" challenge.

I blended a background using three Distress inks. Dried it with my heat tool a bit and then heat embossed the delphiniums in white. I popped it up on fun foam on a black cs layer, added a white embossed sentiment on a black banner, and embellished with some sequins.

 

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black image, unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, SU Real Red
Paper - white cs, blue polka dot dp
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, Gamsol, Fun Flock, Glossy Accents

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Magenta delphiniums, Savvy Stamps sentiment
Ink - Distress Faded Jeans, Dusty Concord, and Seedless Preserves; ColorBox white
Paper - white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - white embossing powder, sequins, fun foam

Glitter Snowflakes and A Dog with Gifts

It's still colder than normal here in Vancouver so I'm inspired to do another snowflake card (though we don't have any snow on the ground).  Snowflakes are perfect for Shopping our Stash "Glitter Me Happy" challenge.  It's also going to the Sisterhood of Crafters challenge "Snowflakes".  And to the Inkspirational Challenge "Word Prompt: Snow".

I made a stencil monoprint for the background by spraying a snowflake stencil and then pressing it down onto my cs.  Then layered it with white cs on which I stamped the sentiment and trimmed with a stitched rectangle.  And topped that with two snowflakes die cut out of glitter cs.

For Stamping Sensations "Hand Coloured Image", Penny Black Saturday Challenge "anything Penny Black", and the NBUS Challenge (I'd never used this stamp before):

A very basic card - the image is coloured with coloured pencils, then it's trimmed and popped up on fun foam on a snowflake embossed panel.

     

   

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Art Impressions sentiment
Ink - Distress Broken China
Paper - white cs, blue glitter cs
Size - A2
Accessories - PaperArtsy snowflake stencil, Mr. Huey's Sky spray, Lil Inkers stitched rectangle die, snowflake dies

Supplies for card:
Stamps - Penny Black
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs
Size - 6x3.25"
Accessories - coloured pencils, snowflake embossing folder, fun foam

Wild Reindeer and Pets Posting a Letter

52 Christmas Card Throwdown is asking for "Wild Animals" - I've gone with a reindeer.

I grabbed a background from my box of unused backgrounds - not sure how I made it - possibly just some smooshed ink on glossy cs, with some mixed media stamps added in pale grey.  I stamped various trees on in black ink,  and trimmed it down.  I topped it with a torn strip of white cs for the snowy ground, a black die cut reindeer (also cut from white cs and glued together to add substance), and a sentiment on a stitched banner die.

Today's second card is for The Paper Players whose theme is "Postman Bring Me a Letter".  It's also for the NBUS Challenge as I'd never used the stamp before.

I used an Anita Jeram stamp of the sweetest animals posting their letters.  It's watercoloured, trimmed with a wonky-stitched square die, and mounted on a contrasting card base.  I finished off by adding glitter to the snow on top of the mailbox.

Supplies for card:
Stamps - Penny Black sentiment, various tree stamps, various mixed media stamps
Ink - blue Distress inks, Archival Jet Black
Paper - coated cs, white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - reindeer die, stitched banner die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Anita Jeram
Ink - Versafine Onyx Clair
Paper - watercolour paper, blue cs
Size - 5" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, glitter

Sparkling Ornaments

Peace on Earth's new mood board (see it at the end of my post) has lovely images of white ornaments.  Here's the card they inspired:

I stamped on a light kraft cs with Versamark and embossed with a white sparkly embossing powder - in real life it's very glittery but so hard to photograph!  Trimmed the panel to leave a kraft border and mounted on a shimmery off white card base.  Stamped the sentiment on the same cs and trimmed with a banner die.

There is lots more fabulous inspiration from our Peace on Earth design team.  We'd love to have you join us - either inspired by our mood board or "anything Christmas".

I'm also linking this card up with Christmas Kickstart "Bring the Baubles".

Supplies:
Stamps - Indigo Blu ornaments, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Versamark, Archival Potting Soil
Paper - light kraft cs, off white shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Judikins White Diamond embossing powder, stitched banner die

Two Winter Cards

It actually feels wintery here in Vancouver today - frost on all the roofs, chilly temperatures (going down to -7C tonight which is cold for us).  So what better day to do some winter-themed challenges?

For the Four Seasons Challenge "Winter", I was inspired by the top left image of their mood board with the blue sky and white tree.

I made a smooshed background with blue Distress inks, tore a strip of white cs for the snowy ground, die cut a tree and a deer out of white cs and put my scene together.

The Stencil Fun Challenge has an optional theme of winter.  And The Sisterhood of Crafters want snowflakes.

I stencilled the background with light blue inks, added a die cut snowflake and a round sentiment cut from blue shimmer cs.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - various blue Distress inks
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - TH tree die, reindeer die, sentiment banner die

Supplies for card 2:
Ink - light blue Distress inks
Paper - white cs, blue shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - TCW Winter Wonderland stencil, TH snow die and snowflake die