More Pink for Jingle Belles and a Hanukkah Card

I really admire Stef and Lauren of Jingle Belles for running their Pink Christmas challenge every year to raise money for breast cancer research.  It's a challenge for me for sure as I struggle with using non-traditional colours on my Christmas cards.  But I persevered and this year I made two pink Christmas cards (the other was posted in my previous post).  Here's the second:

This one has a real old rose shade of pink.  I used a piece of patterned paper for the background and then chose the closest shade of pink from amongst the several different shades of pink glitter cardstock that I have.  I die cut the poinsettia out of it once, and then cut it twice more out of scrap cs, then glued them together and added them to the patterned paper.  I used a very pale pink/grey shade of cs for the base and for the sentiment square.

My second card today is for Inkspirational - it wants to see a seasonal card (a card for one of the occasions in one of the seasons).  I chose Hanukkah for a change from Christmas cards.

There is a SCS tutorial for making the paper star here.  I used a lovely double-sided decorative paper I've had in my stash for ages.  I topped it with a silver glitter die cut Star of David and added it to a plain white card base with a heat embossed sentiment.

One more thing - few weeks ago, I posted this card:

In my post (see here), I mentioned not being that happy with the card.  A couple of people offered suggestions in the comments so I looked at it again and decided to add a green frame around the stencilling.  I cut a square out of the same green shimmer cs as the border layer and then used the original inverted scallop die to cut out the centre of the green square.  I glued it over the white layer.  Here's the result:

I was pretty happy with the results so I'll put the card in my fundraiser sale and see if it sells!

    

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - small noel
Ink - Distress dark pink
Paper - dp, pink glitter cs, light pink/grey cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black poinsettia die, small square die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU sentiment
Ink - ColorBox silver
Paper - white cs, patterned paper, silver glitter cs
Size - A2
Accessories - silver embossing powder, SSS Star of David die

Pink Snowy Village and Starry Song

Every year the Jingle Belles challenge hosts "Pink Christmas" and they donate $2 to breast cancer research for every card linked up.  Here's my pink Christmas card:

I went through my unused background pieces and found three different pink pieces (one sponged, one sprayed, and one stencilled).  I die cut a house and a couple of snowflakes out of each, and then the sentiment out of two of them.  I used a narrow embossing folder of snowflakes on my focal panel and then glued all my die cuts on to it.  I added it to the card base with some thin dimensional tape.

For a second card today, I used lines from a song to make a card for Sweet Stampin' "Inspired by a Book, Song, or Film".  It's also for the Word Power challenge where the sentiment is the focus of the card.

I have some really old red laser-cut star paper that I haven't used for many years and thought it could go with the words from a Christmas carol.  I layered a piece of it over gold glitter cs and put them on a white cardbase. Then stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in gold on white cs, and die cut it with a fancy label die.

  

 

Supplies for card 1:
Ink - pink ink for some of the die cut colouring
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - pink sprays for some of the die cut colouring, harlequin stencil of some of the die cuts, SSS house dies, Cuttlebug narrow snowflake embossing folder, various tiny snowflake dies, dimensional tape

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - ColorBox gold
Paper - white cs, gold glitter cs, KI Memories red lace star cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Papermania Tinsel Gold embossing powder, Sizzix label die

Leaving the Christmas Tree Lot

Peace on Earth has a mood board full of pickup trucks this time.  I don't have any stamps or dies but luckily my friend, Loll, came to the rescue and lent me her pickup truck die.

I stamped some trees and a sentiment on the focal panel - my thinking was that the trees represent a "cut your own" tree lot, and the truck has just loaded up its tree.  I then assembled the truck from all of the pieces in the die set.  I cut the truck body twice to give it more dimension over the wheels.  I sketched in the road with a grey pencil to ground the truck.

Here's the mood board from Peace on Earth.  Please come and join us with either a card inspired by the mood board or an "anything Christmas" card.

 

I'm also adding it the Allsorts challenge "Traditional Christmas Colours".

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Deep Red trees, Art Impression sentiment
Ink - Distress Pine Needles
Paper - white cs, scraps of red, black, brown, green, and silver cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black Vintage Truck die set

Crowned Robin and CAS Congratulations

I've got a Christmas card and a romantic congratulations card today.

For 52 Christmas Card Throwdown's "Red, Green, and Brown" colour challenge, I chose a fun robin stamp.  It's also for Inkspirational which wants a seasonal card.

Very CAS and quick - stamped, coloured with red, green, and brown coloured pencils (with a metallic gold pencil for the crown and stars, and a silver one for the letters and snowflakes), trimmed with a square die, and bordered with gold shimmer cs.

Friends of mine just got engaged so I needed to make a congratulations card.  I was inspired by the Festive Friday Challenge (Global Champagne Day) - I used white, silver foil, CAS design, heat embossing, and a congratulations sentiment from their list of options.

I glued sparkly silver foil to scrap cs and die cut the heart string and the pierced dot frame from it.  I used some silver speckled vellum for the background and stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in silver.

    

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Crafty Individuals Jolly Robin
Ink - Versafine Onyx black
Paper - off white cs, gold shimmer cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, metallic gold and silver pencils, Spellbinders square dies

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Memory Box sentiment
Ink - ColorBox silver
Paper - white cs, silver holographic foil, silver speckled vellum
Size - A2
Accessories - Poppy Stamp heart string die, MFT pierced rectangle frame, silver embossing powder

Dala Horses and Sheep in Blue Sweaters

Try It On Tuesday wants "Animals - Real or Imaginary" and Cut It Up wants "More than One Die".  I'm using three dies, two of which are Swedish Dala horses -  these are stylized and therefore kind of imaginary horses.  They have been symbols of strength and courage in Sweden for hundreds of years. Little handcrafted wooden versions are sold as gifts, as Christmas decorations, etc. 

I die cut the horses in white twice and glued them together for more substance and added them to a star stencilled background with a silver die cut tree and a silver sentiment.

Sticking with my animal theme and lots of blue, I've got sheep in sweaters for the Addicted to CAS Challenge "Sweaters".

I stamped and coloured the sheep and star, stencilled some snowflakes around them, trimmed the panel, and added it to a blue card base.

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Savvy Stamps sentiment
Ink - Delicata silver, Distress Oxide Faded Jeans
Paper - white cs, blue shimmer cs, silver cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Charlie und Paulchen Skandi-Pferdchen dies, star stencil. Impression Obsession tree die, Ranger silver embossing powder

Supplies for card 2::
Stamps - Inky Doodle
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white and blue cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, Memory Box snowflake stencil, Dreamweaver embossing paste

Nordic Houses and Black and White Horses

Jingle Belles Challenge wants to see houses on our Christmas cards.  I used a stamp I haven't used for many years (2018, in fact - I checked my blog) so I'm taking it to the Neglected Stuff Challenge as well.

Stamped and coloured (with coloured pencils), trimmed with a lacy-edged die, green shimmer cs placed behind it, and popped up on fun foam. Finished off by going over the snowy roofs and ground with a glue pen and adding glitter.

And for the Festive Friday Challenge (I chose horses, black, and white from their list of elements for National Chess Day).

Usually when I use this stamp, I colour the horses in but I left them black and white for the challenge.  I added red to their Santa hats, trimmed with a stitched rectangle die, and bordered with a matching red.  I added a bit of white fun flock to the brims and pom pom of their hats.

   

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Crafters Companion Nordic Christmas, SU sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs, green shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, Reverse Confetti Lacy Scallop Frame die, glitter

Supplies for card :
Stamps - Impression Obsession Santa horses, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white and red cs
Size - A2
Accessories - red marker, white fun flock

Stockings

I chose the bottom right image on the new Peace on Earth mood board (see at end of post).  I had the perfect stamp to go with it, and I used colours that match the mood board image.

The sentiment is part of the stamp so this makes for a very quick card.  Stamped, coloured with coloured pencils in colours to match the image on the mood board, trimmed with a stitched square die, bordered and put on a red card base.

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

I'm also entering the card in the Word Power challenge where the sentiment has to be a focus point on the card and Sweet Stampin' "Feature a Sentiment".

  

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Clarity Stamps
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - red, greeny-yellow, and white cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, Lil Inkers stitched square die

A Birthday Card and a Sympathy Card

Amazingly for me, I don't have a Christmas card today.  But I will have one tomorrow!!

For a friend who is an avid bird watcher.  I will be seeing her on her birthday so I could make something I can hand deliver.  It's for two challenges - Can You Handle the Pressure "Trees / Leaves" and The Sisterhood of Crafters "Birthdays".

I dry embossed the background and had a perfect vertical sentiment that would just fit in a section of the panel that had no embossing on it.  I added a die cut leafy wreath, a die cut bird that I smooshed in various Distress inks, and a piece of moss I found in my garden that was perfectly nest-shaped.

Shopping our Stash wants Sympathy cards - a good challenge to get me to make one for my stash as, at my age, sadly I seem to have need of sympathy cards fairly often.

I masked off a rectangle on my focal panel and sponged from three corners first with the lighter ink, then the darker. I stamped the leaves and text with second generation grey ink, and then stamped the sentiment with full strength grey ink. On top of it all, I stamped the cream leaves with white pigment ink and then heat embossed with cream embossing powder. It's popped up on fun foam on a dry embossed background.

  

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Rosie's Roadshow vertical sentiment
Ink - various green, yellow, orange Distress inks
Paper - white and grey-green cs
Size - A2
Accessories - moss from my garden, leafy wreath die, bird die, leafy branches embossing folder

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU Very Versailles, unknown sentiment
Ink - various aqua / turquoise Distress inks, Archival Watering Can, ColorBox white
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - textured embossing folder, cream embossing powder, fun foam