Festive Bear, Red and Kraft Valentine, and Snowy Horses

Three cards again today - I was home all day (that's rare for me) so spent the afternoon making a few cards to enter in challenges before they close.

First up for Festive Friday "National Winnie the Pooh Day".  My card has nothing to do with Winnie the Pooh but it uses five of the elements from Festive Friday's list - brown, yellow, red, bear, and colouring techniques (I used coloured pencils with Gamsol).  It's also for The Twelve Months of Christmas "Polar Bears".

I stamped the image in dark brown then coloured with coloured pencils, using lots of red, yellow, and brown.  I blended the shading on the bear with Gamsol and blending stumps.  I trimmed it with a stitched square, bordered with brown cs, and added it to a square card base.

Next up the first of the Valentines I make every year for my best friend (she orders 10 every year).  She loves seeing text on the background of the cards.  It's for The Color Hues Challenge "Red and Kraft".

The background is a kraft dp printed with old fashioned script.  I topped it with a die cut heart duo and die cut sentiment, and added it to a matching red card base.

And back to Christmas cards, for Jingle Belles "Something Old, Something New" and Simply Clean and Simple "Something New".  I used a new horse stamp I hadn't yet used (so I'm also linking it up with the NBUS Challenge) and a snowflake background stamp I've had for many years.

I stamped snowflake background in pale blue, then stamped the horses below it. Added a sentiment, trimmed the panel with a square die, bordered with black cs, and used a quickie glue pen and glitter along all the snowy lines on the fence.

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - SU Bearing Gifts
Ink - Versafine Clair Fallen Leaves
Paper - white and brown cs
Size - 4.5" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, Gamsol, Lil Inkers stitched square die

Supplies for card 2:
Paper - red cs, kraft script dp
Size - 6.25x3.25"
Accessories - Tim Holtz love die, Poppy Stamps Heart String die

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Cardio horses, Penny Black sentiment, Impression Obsession snowflake background
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Broken China
Paper - white and black cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - square dies, glitter

 

Christmas Shopping Bear

The Winter Wonderland Challenge Blog wants "Christmas Animals".  Here's mine:

A simple watercoloured image with a black border and a red card base.

I really must get going with making more Christmas cards - it's almost the end of September!

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black bear, Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, black cs, red pre-made notecard
Size - 4x5.5"
Accessories - watercolour paints

Inspired by TV and a Silhouette

Catching up with some challenges!

AAA Cards wants one image and something inspired by TV.
 

I recently watched a great TV series, His Dark Materials, based on one of my favourite young adult fantasy novels.  In the book, there is a bear who helps Lyra, the main character.  Here's a photo from the TV show:



I got out my old SU stamp of the bear with the children riding on his back:


I coloured the stamped image with coloured pencils, trimmed with a stitched rectangle die, popped up on fun foam, and added glitter to the snow line and the brims of the hats.


And then Addicted to CAS wants a "Silhouette".



I needed a sympathy card and I prefer them to be very simple so a silhouette is ideal.

I masked a rectangle on some coated cs and brayered with Frayed Burlap ink. I flicked some water on it with my fingers and got one very big wet droplet that lifted all the colour where it landed and a few other nicer splats.

Then I stamped a silhouette of wildflowers and grass with Staz-On ink. I trimmed the panel down, leaving a narrow white border, and popped it up on the card base with fun foam.

I hope everyone is staying well and happy.

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - SU Bearing Gifts
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - white and red cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, Lil Inker stitched rectangle, glitter, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU Just Believe, Great Impressions sentiment
Ink - StazOn Black, Distress Frayed Burlap
Paper - white cs, coated cs
Size - A2
Accessories - fun foam

A Bear Bearing Gifts

June's CAS Christmas challenge is "Gifts".

I used a never-before-used stamp in a Penny Black set that I bought for one of the other stamps.  Not sure why I never inked up this adorable bear!

A very easy CAS card!  I watercoloured the image and went over the ribbons, bows, and polka dots with a silver metallic paint pen.  I bordered the image with silver mirri card, die cut the sentiment from the same silver card, and popped it up on fun foam.

Please head over to the CAS Christmas blog to see the lovely cards by the rest of the Design Team members and this month's Guest Designer, Leslie (Running with Scissors).  And then link up your clean and simple Christmas card featuring gifts!

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black

Ink - Archival Jet Black

Paper - watercolour paper, silver mirri card, ivory cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - watercolour paints, silver metallic paint pen, fun foam

Twofer Balloons and Ghosted Snowflakes

I've been lying low with a nasty cold but finally today I felt more energetic and got three cards made so that I can squeak in under the wire for a couple of challenges!

First up, Darnell's Twofer Challenge - one that truly is a challenge for me!

I could only think of two stamps I have with a balloon and one of them only works for Christmas, so had to go with the other.  Here's the Twofer:

The one on the left is the full stamp - the girl and the balloon are a famous Banksy image, and are one single stamp.  I used a simple "love you" sentiment - it will be a Valentine card.

For the second card, I stamped the bear, then used just the balloon part of the Banksy image, stamping it multiple times in different colours, having all the strings converge at the bear's hand.  I coloured the bear with coloured pencils and trimmed the image with a stitched circle and used a contrasting colour for the card base.

For both cards, I popped up the focal panels on fun foam and went over the balloons with Glossy Accents.


Next up is this card:

 

Right back to my comfort zone of blue and white, and Christmas cards!!

I smooshed a piece of mixed media cs with a couple of blue Distress inks, and then laid a snowflake stencil over it and removed some of the colour with a baby wipe - the "ghosting" technique.  I added a reindeer die cut from white glitter cs and a sentiment using a Tim Holtz rub-on.  I popped the panel up on fun foam and added a few small die cut white glitter snowflakes around the card base.

It's going over to the following challenges:

CAS Christmas - Deer

CAS Stencil - Ghosting

Christmas Kickstart - Moves on Hooves

 

Thanks for hanging in for such a long post!!

Supplies for 1st card:

Stamps - Viva Las Vegas "Banksy Girl with a Balloon", PTI sentiment

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black and Rhubarb Stalk

Paper - white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Lil Inker stitched rectangle die, Glossy Accents, fun foam

Supplies for 2nd card:

Stamps - Viva Las Vegas "Banksy Girl with a Balloon", AE bear, Lawn Fawn sentiment

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Rich Cocoa, and various colours for the balloons

Paper - white and mottled brown/beige cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - coloured pencils, Lil Inker stitched circle die, Glossy Accents, fun foam

Supplies for 3rd card:

Ink - blue Distress inks

Paper - mixed media and white cs, SU white glitter cs

Size - A2

Accessories - PaperArtsy snowflake stencil, Cheery Lynn snowflake dies, unknown reindeer die, fun foam

A Bear for 4 Crafty Chicks

4 Crafty Chicks want to see "Bears" for their current challenge.

So I decided to do a Christmas card for it with a stamp I haven't used for ages.

I love these happy children riding the polar bear to deliver their gifts!

Stamped, coloured with markers, bordered with red, and popped up on a green card base. A bit of glitter along the ground line and a bit of fun flock on the bear's hat.

I hope that those of you who celebrate Christmas have enjoyed delicious Christmas dinners!

Supplies:

Stamps - SU Bearing Gifts

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - white, red, and green cs

Size - A2

Accessories - fine point markers, fun flock, glitter, fun foam

A Merry Bear

Merry Monday's challenge is "Outdoor Activities":

I used a new stamp showing a bear skating, and CASEd my friend, Christine's card that she showed me recently but hasn't posted yet.  Here's Christine's card:

And here's my card:

To represent the ice, I used a leftover scrap from a background of brushos sprinkled and spritzed on coated cs and then left to dry with a piece of scrunched plastic wrap on top of it.  I trimmed it with a diamond-shaped die cut as that was all that would fit it!

The bear is coloured and lightly shaded with copics, except for his skate blades that are coloured with a silver gel pen.  Then fussy cut and popped up on foam tape.

I sprinkled some blue Frantage embossing enamel above the bear for a sense of falling snow and a bit of sparkle.

Supplies:

Stamps - Ali Express bear, Old Island Stamp Co. sentiment

Ink - Archival Jet Black

Paper - white cs, coated cs

Size - 4.25" square

Accessories - blue brushos, plastic wrap, Spellbinders diamond die cut, copics, silver gel pen, Frantage Shabby Blue Embossing Enamel, foam tape

Smiling Bear

The latest Addicted to CAS challenge is "smile":

I struggled with this for awhile and then thought of this cute Penny Black bear who has a big smile on his face - perhaps because he succeeded in finding all the gifts he needed!

I stamped him, watercoloured him, bordered with a bit of festive dp, and added to my cardbase!  A fun and quick card that is nice and flat for mailing!

Love getting Christmas cards done well ahead!  And challenges inspire me even if they're not specifically Christmas ones.

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black bear, Old Island Stamp Co. sentiment

Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black

Paper - watercolour paper, white cs, Colorbok dp

Size - A2

Accessories - watercolour paints

A Horse Inspired by Mary Poppins and Other Animals

I'm building up my Christmas stash thanks to various challenges.  Here are three from SCS challenges.

First up:

For SCS Ways to Use It (use stripes in honour of Dr. Seuss Day) and SCS Free for All (be inspired by something in Mary Poppins).

One of my favourite scenes in Mary Poppins is when they ride the carousel and Mary works some magic so that the carousel horses come off the carousel and they go riding about the countryside.

The only carousel stamp I have is this one so it was a good chance to get another Christmas card done for my stash.

I used scraps of a striped dp for the Free for All challenge, bordering both sides of my image with it.

On the fur trim of the horse's blanket, I used a tinsel glitter, and on the snowflakes and flourishes around the pole, I used regular glitter.

Next up:

For SCS Clean and Simple ("Luck of the Irish " - a card that uses green for St Patrick's Day but celebrates any occasion).

The teddy bear looks pretty pleased with himself so he probably had a very successful shopping trip - maybe because he wore his lucky green scarf!

Pretty basic - watercoloured, trimmed down, bordered with a stitched green panel, and popped up on fun foam.

And last up:

For SCS Christmas Card Challenge (a theme of sledding, snowboarding, etc.).

A quick simple card to make - stamped image and sentiment, coloured with coloured pencils and Gamsol, a bit of Stickles added to the snow, bordered in black, and popped up on fun foam.

I just love making Christmas cards and, given all the snow Vancouver keeps getting, it's been easy to be in the mood for it!

Supplies for Card 1:

Stamps - Whimsy Christmas carousel horse, Old Island Stamp Co. sentiment

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - white cs, striped dp

Size - A2

Accessories - markers, Martha Stewart tinsel glitter and regular glitter, Quickie glue pen
Supplies for Card 2:

Stamps - Penny Black

Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black

Paper - watercolour paper, green and white cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - watercolour paints, Lil Inkers stitched square, fun foam

Supplies for Card 3:

Stamps - Penny Black

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - white and black cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - coloured pencils, Gamsol, Stickles, Nesties square dies, fun foam

Spreading Glitter Through the World

This week's 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge is "glitter".

Who doesn't love glitter on a Christmas card?  Here's what I came up with:

I love the little bear with his starry wand spreading sparkle or glitter through the snowy landscape.

I watercoloured the image, bordered with gold glitter cs, and added gold glitter with a Quickie glue pen to the stars and sparkle of the wand.

May your world sparkle today!

Supplies:

Stamps - Crafters' Companion

Ink - Archival Jet Black

Paper - watercolour paper, gold glitter and cream cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Peerless watercolours, Quickie glue pen, gold glitter

Magical Bears

It's time for another Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge.  This month it is watercolouring.

I have a set of Gansai Tambi watercolour paints and I love to colour images with them so this was a perfect challenge for me.  I chose a new stamp set I recently bought from Crafters' Companion and made this card:

After watercolouring the image, I laid some paper over the bears and ground area, and splattered with a bit of the gold watercolour paint.

I die cut with a Nesties square as I like the embossed edge it gives to the panel.  I popped it up on fun foam on my card base.

I went over the stars in the image with a glue pen and added very fine gold glitter.  Some of it clung around the stars where I hadn't added glue - I'm sure it will eventually fall off but for now it looks like stardust.

Happy Little Stampers is offering a prize for the best card, so be sure to join in!

You have until the end of the month so get a Christmas card made using watercolour!

Supplies:

Stamps - Crafters Companion

Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black

Paper - white cs, watercolour paper

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, gold glitter, Quickie glue pen, Nesties square die, fun foam