Unused Botanicals and Using up Patterned Paper

 

Both of these cards would qualify for the ABC Christmas Challenge "U is for Unused Stash".  This first one uses a stamp I bought years ago and never inked up, and some of my largely untouched stash of glitter cs and green cs.  I'm also linking it up at NBUS (Never Before Used Stuff challenge).

I love this array of Christmas botanicals - it's got holly, ivy, a poinsettia, some fancy dried seedheads (probably alliums), and a couple of Christmas ornaments for good measure.  It was so much fun to colour with watercolour paints (after stamping and heat embossing in dark green).  I trimmed it with a stitched square die, layered it on platinum glitter cs, created a square card base, and heat embossed a dark green sentiment on a stitched sentiment tag.

My second card uses up some of my unused and neglected stash of patterned paper (of which I have far too much) and a very old and neglected ornament stamp and die.  So it's going over to the Neglected Stuff Challenge.  And to the Color Hues Red and Green challenge.

 

 

I stamped and watercoloured the ornament in shades of red and green to match the paper, die cut it, "hung it" on the dp with red metallic cord, and added a stamped sentiment die cut with a stitched sentiment banner die.

  

  

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Crafty Individuals
Ink - Versafine Olympia Green
Paper - hot press watercolour paper, American Crafts platinum glitter cs, Bazzill Gumball Green cs
Size - 5.5" square
Accessories - clear embossing powder, watercolour paints, Lil Inker stitched square die, stitched sentiment die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Heartfelt Creations ornament, unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Memento Rhubarb Stalk
Paper - Graphic 45 dp, off white cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, red metallic cord, small clear gems, stitched sentiment banner die, Spellbinders ornament die

Cat and Mouse, and Santa in a Snow Globe

For two Christmas critters challenges - Jingle Belles and We Love Stamping.

Stamped and watercoloured, then bordered with a double stitched cut out die.

A second card for today - for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - a mini scene inside a shaped die.  I put my scene inside a circle and made it into a snow globe.
 

I cut the Santa and village out of black cs, assembled it on a white glitter circle, added the snow globe base, and layered it over a dry embossed snowflake background.

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black, Rosie's Roadshow sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, Memory Box stitched cut out die

Supplies for card 2:
Paper - white and black cs, white glitter cs
Size - A2
Accessories - snowglobe die set (unknown), 3D snowflake embossing folder

Reindeer on Sprayed Background

I'm hosting CAS Christmas this month and my challenge is "Reindeer".  A good opportunity for me to use one of my favourite reindeer stamps!

I created a background using a couple of different blue sprays and a silver spray.  When dry, I put the piece in my MISTI and stamped the reindeer in black - it took a couple of reinkings and restampings to get a good solid image.  I bordered it with silver shimmer cs which happens to perfectly match the silver bits of spray in the background.

There's lots more inspiration from the Design Team over at CAS Christmas.  We'd love to have you join us with your reindeer cards.  

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Studio Light
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - mixed media cs, white cs, silver shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - various blue and silver sprays

Country Mailbox

The new Peace on Earth mood board has a lovely image of a country mailbox.  It inspired me to pull out an older stamp I haven't used for a while.

 

I coloured the image with coloured pencils, trimmed it with a square die, and popped it up on fun foam on an embossed background.

 

Here's our Peace on Earth mood board.  Head over to the challenge to see how the rest of the Design Team interpreted it, and then come and join us!

 

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Heartfelt Creations mailbox, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, Gamsol, SSS 3D Frosty Pines embossing folder, Spellbinders square dies

Glazed Wings and Spaniel with Bells

Another dove card ready for my best friend to buy at my Christmas card fundraiser.  It's for Double D's "wings" challenge and Rudolph Days challenge.

I had my embossing glazes out on my desk and decided to play with them.  I sponged a background with Bundled Sage Distress ink and then stamped the dove and sentiment and coloured the flowers and leaves on the dove with markers.  I then rubbed Versamark over it and added Bundled Sage embossing glaze and heat set, thinking I'd leave it all one colour.  But there was not enough contrast with the dove so I did another sponged background with Speckled Egg, stamped and coloured the dove on it, rubbed Versamark over it, and added Speckled Egg embossing glaze to it.  Then fussy cut the dove and glued it on top of the green one.  I cut the panel with a label die before mounting it on the card base.

Jingle Belles wants Christmas animals.  I used an old stamp of a cocker spaniel wrapped in sleigh bells.

It's coloured with coloured pencils blended with Gamsol to get nice shading on the dog (the bells are coloured with a silver metallic pencil). I trimmed it with a fancy label die and then sponged around the edges with Antique Linen - except it came out grey as the sponge I used was dirty! I popped it up on fun foam.

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Fun Stamper Journey dove and sentiment
Ink - Versamark Onyx Black, Distress Bundled Sage and Speckled Egg
Paper - white cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - Tombow markers, label die, Distress Bundled Sage and Speckled Egg embossing glaze

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Creative Images
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Antique Linen
Paper - off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, Gamsol, silver metallic pencil, Sizzix label die, fun foam

Peaceful Wings and Favourite Things

The Double D challenge wants "Wings".  My best friend always asks me to make some Christmas cards for her with doves on them so thought this was a great opportunity to use a dove die with its wings wide open.

I sponged a blue background, then stamped the branches and sentiment in black.  The dove is die cut twice out of white cs and glued together for more dimension.

Next up is a card for the Word Power challenge where the sentiment has to be the focus of the card.  It is going to a good friend whose favourite things in the world are dogs, books, and coffee so when I found this sentiment stamp, I had to get it just to make a card for her.

I created a background with grey ink through a stencil, stamped the sentiment in Barn Door red ink, and heat embossed it with Fired Brick embossing glaze. Then trimmed it with a rectangle die. It needed more interest so I cut a thin frame out of the rectangle, and then cut another one out of red cs and inserted it into the gap. I popped the panel up on fun foam for more dimension.

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - A Muse sentiment, Penny Black branches
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, various blue Distress inks
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black dove die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Technique Junkies sentiment
Ink - Distress Barn Door, light grey ink
Paper - white and red cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Distress Fired Brick embossing glaze, Spellbinders rectangle dies, SSS thin frame die, grid stencil, fun foam

Snowbaby in Pink and Little Jingle Bells

It's that time of year when the Jingle Belles challenge does its Pink Christmas challenge to raise money for breast cancer research.  I've done a Penny Black snowbaby in pink so I'm also linking it up to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge (a Penny Black stamp in bright colours).

Stamped and watercoloured, with a bit of shimmer paint for the snow (in the photo it came out kind of dirty looking but it isn't in real life), trimmed with a square die and bordered in pink.

I've also got a card for Simply Clean and Simple (something little).  I used a little image of jingle bells.  

I pulled out a very old SU stamp, stamped it, coloured it with metallic coloured pencils, except for the berries that needed a regular red pencil. I embossed a frame around it with a label die, put it on a copper metallic card base, and added sentiment die cut from the same copper metallic cs.

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, off white and pink cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, shimmer paint, Spellbinders square dies

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs, copper metallic cs
Size - A2
Accessories - metallic coloured pencils, red pencil, Tattered Lace sentiment die, Spellbinders label die

Postcard Santa

The new Peace on Earth mood board features four images of Santa - the perfect opportunity for me to use a Santa stamp I've never inked up - Santa with a holly wreath on his hat.  It goes perfectly with the top left image where the Santa has a holly wreath around his neck.

Stamped in black, then a bit of colour added with alcohol markers, trimmed and mounted on dp. 

We'd love to have you join us with a card featuring Santa or an "anything Christmas" card.  Head over to Peace on Earth and see how the rest of the Design Team were inspired by the mood board.

 

I'm also linking the card up with NBUS (Never Before Used Stuff) as it's the first time I've inked up the Santa stamp and to Sparkles Christmas Challenge (Use Red and Green). 

 

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Tim Holtz Santa, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - white cs, green holly dp
Size - A2
Accessories - alcohol markers

Snowflakes and Trees

I'm getting back to my craft room after a 6 day job (working 8:30-6 each day was so tiring at my age that I was fit for nothing but falling asleep on the couch while watching TV in the evening).  First up some snowflakes for the Cut It Up "use more than one die" challenge.

I definitely used more than one die - several different snowflake dies, a square die, a solid circle die, and a thin circle frame die!

The background panel is mixed media cs randomly sprayed with a silver spray.  I trimmed it with a square die.  The snowflakes are die cut from white shimmer cs.  The solid circle and the thin circle frame are die cut out of a dark green cs flecked with silver.  I put it all together on a white shimmer card base.

Paper Players wants to see "Nature's Landscape".  I pulled out an old favourite stamp of trees with snow blowing off them - a scene I love to see in winter.  I'm also linking it up at Christmas Cards All Year Round "something starting with T".

I created a background with blue Brushos sprinkled on glossy cs and spritzed with water.  I let the colour run to create snow banks at the bottom.  Once dry, I trimmed it into a square.  I stamped the trees and heat embossed them with sparkly Stampendous Marcasite embossing powder.  Added a sentiment and a black shimmer border layer.

There are many challenges out there for autumn themed cards so I thought I'd make one for them: Allsorts "Anything Autumn", Sweet Stampin' "Autumn", We Love Stamping "Shades of Autumn", Try It On Tuesday "Autumn's Beauty".  

The tree and sentiment are stamped and embossed in bronze, with Antique Linen sponging around the tree. It's die cut with a label die and layered on bronze shimmer cs cut with the next larger label die.

I love the sentiment, but can't remember who said it or what brand it is. 

  

   

 

   

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white shimmer cs, mixed media cs, dark green with silver flecks cs
Size - 5.75" square
Accessories - various snowflake dies, Spellbinders square and circle dies, SSS thin circle frame die, silver spray

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black trees, Make an Impression sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs, glossy white cs, black shimmer cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - Stampendous Marcasite embossing powder, square dies, sentiment label die

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - SU tree, unknown sentiment
Ink - ColorBox bronze, Distress Antique Linen
Paper - white cs, bronze shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - bronze embossing powder, Spellbinders label dies, SU embossing folder