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

A Swedish Christmas Ornament, a Fussy Cut Dove, and a Blue Hydrangea

Last minute again for a few challenges!

ABC Christmas Challenge "O for Ornament":

I love my Swedish Dala horse dies. These stylized horses have been symbols of strength and courage in Sweden for hundreds of years and little handcrafted wooden versions are sold as gifts, as Christmas decorations, etc.

The background is my new 3D pine embossing folder - it didn't come out with much dimension as I'm having a hard time figuring out the sandwich to use for it in my Cuttlebug.

I added a die cut green pine branch to hang the ornament from. I die cut the ornament three times and glued them together to give some dimension to it.

Next up is 52 Christmas Card Throwdown "Fussy Cutting":

I did the embossing folder stamping technique for the background (see this tutorial on SCS). Then stamped and heat embossed the dove and fussy cut it. I popped it up on foam tape on the background, and bordered with navy cs.

And one non-Christmas card just to prove that I do make some non-Christmas cards!  For the Paper Players Tic-Tac-Toe challenge - I picked flowers, feminine, and blue from the left hand vertical row:

I found a muted background in my box of previously made backgrounds (probably smooshed Distress inks) and stamped the image on it, then watercoloured the leaves and butterfly. For the hydrangea petals, I sprinkled blue brushos on coated cs and spritzed with water. When dry, I punched out many petals with the old Martha Stewart hydrangea punch and glued them on the flower.

   
 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Memento Northern Pine
Paper - white, dark green, and cream cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Charlie und Paulchen Skandi-Pferdchen dies, Sizzix branch die, Sizzix embossing folder, green ribbon

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - unknown dove stamp
Ink - various blue Distress inks
Paper - white and navy cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder, clear embossing powder, foam tape

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Inkadinkado hydrangea collage
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - mixed media, rustic, and coated cs
Size - A2
Accessories - blue Brushos, Martha Stewart hydrangea punch, watercolour paints

Mixed Media Christmas and Cream Coloured Ponies

52 Christmas Card Throwdown wants to see a Mixed Media Christmas Card.  I did a fairly CAS version of mixed media.

My mixed media are corrugated cardboard, gesso, ink, and embossing paste.

I roughly painted some gesso over the cardboard. I stencilled tiny snowflakes on the cardbase with embossing paste.

I used a piece of cs smooshed with green inks for the greenery die cuts and embellished them with tiny red pearls. I added a couple of die cut snowflakes and small sentiment.

My Twofer is a non-Christmas card for AAA Cards "Inspired by a Song or Movie".  One of my favourite movies is The Sound of Music and I love the song "My Favourite Things".  I chose the line "cream coloured ponies" - perfect for me as horses and ponies are among my favourite things.

I love my Swedish Dala horse dies. These stylized horses have been symbols of strength and courage in Sweden for hundreds of years and little handcrafted wooden versions are sold as gifts, as Christmas decorations, etc.

I die cut them out of cream cs and twice more out of scrap cs, stacking them together for more dimension. I created a background by sponging with various green and blue Distress inks and then adding a few water droplets for interest. I trimmed it with a stitched rectangle, heat embossed the sentiment on vellum and wrapped it around the panel (a great way to attach vellum so the glue or tape doesn't show through), and then glued the horses on, using the vellum strip to ground them. The panel is on a matching cream card base.

Challenges:

52 Christmas Card Throwdown

Rudolph Days March Challenge

AAA Card Challenge

Supplies for card 1:
Ink - various green Distress inks
Paper - white cs, corrugated cardboard
Size - 6x3.25"
Accessories - gesso, Tattered Lace Noel die, TH greenery dies, Cheery Lynn snowflake dies, Memory Box tiny snowflakes stencil, Dreamweaver embossing paste, tiny red stick-on pearls

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - various Distress greens and blues
Paper - cream cs, watercolour paper, vellum
Size - A2
Accessories - Charlie und Paulchen Skandi-Pferdchen dies, Lil Inker stitched rectangle die, clear embossing powder