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

 

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

People in the Snow

The SCS Christmas Card Challenge proposes an optional theme each month. I try to use it for at least a couple of my quota of 10 Christmas cards a month. I got a bit behind and never finished my February quota so just made two using the February theme of "people". So I have just done a couple for that (and to finish off my quota).

This first one makes me think of Vancouver's recent weather.  I was out for a walk with the dogs the other day in what can only be called a "slush blizzard" - it was sort of snowing but really it was slush falling out of the sky.  We came home totally soaked.  I really should have carried a huge umbrella like the children on this card:

Stamped, watercoloured with Zigs, added a bit of glitter, and popped the image up on fun foam.

While I had all those supplies out, I went on and used them with a different stamp, but also one with quite a vintage look:

Same basic technique as the first card - stamped, watercoloured with my Zigs, and finished off with a bit of glitter.

The sun has come out this morning and we're all hoping we've seen the last of the snow!

Supplies:

Stamps - Crafty Individuals image and Penny Black sentiment (card 1);
Inkadinkado (card 2)

Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black

Paper - PTI cream cs, watercolour paper, black cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Zig watercolour markers, glitter, fun foam

Bearing Gifts Three Ways

One of the challenges I often enjoy doing is SCS's Inspiration Challenge.  This week we had to be inspired by an image on designspiration.net.  I chose this image:

It immediately made me think of my SU Bearing Gifts stamp that I haven't used for awhile.  I'm taking part in the SCS Christmas Card Challenge (set yourself a monthly quota and get them done each month so as not to be in a mad rush come November).  I have gotten behind with my quota and am still working on my 10 for August.  Bearing Gifts is the perfect stamp for the August optional theme of Arctic Animals. 

In the interests of getting my August quota finished, I decided to make three cards with the same stamp.  To make it less boring, I used different layouts and different colouring methods.

Up first is one coloured with Copics, with the image die cut and mounted on an embossed background:

The next one uses coloured pencils.  I stenciled some snowflakes around the bear with Glitter Snow Paste, die cut it into a square, bordered it with dark green, and popped it up on fun foam on a cardbase). 

And finally a very simple one, watercoloured, bordered with red and black, and on a cream cardbase.  I find that PTI's Vintage Cream cs is the closest colour to most watercolour paper so often use it as the cardbase for watercoloured images.

All of them have a bit of glitter on the trim on the bear's hat and along the "ground" to add a touch of sparkle.

Let me know which one is your favourite!

Supplies:

Stamps - SU Bearing Gifts

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black with the Copics, Hero Arts black with the coloured pencils, Versafine Onyx Black with the watercolours

Paper - white, cream, black, red, and dark green cs; watercolour paper

Size - A2; 4.75" square

Accessories - coloured pencils, watercolour paints, Copic markers, CB embossing folder, Sizzix die cut, Memory Box snowflakes stencil, Aleene's Glitter Snow paste, Quicke glue pen, glitter, fun foam

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

It's already September and Christmas is fast approaching!  So why not join in the Christmas challenge at Happy Little Stampers?  This month the challenge is to be inspired by or base your card on a Christmas song.

I decided it was the perfect opportunity to ink up a brand new stamp that has not only an image to fit the words, but even has the song title as part of the stamp.

I stamped with archival ink on watercolour paper, then painted with Distress inks.  I kept the colours of the children's clothing quite muted as I wanted to stick to the vintage look of the stamp.

I popped it up on a piece of fun foam for dimension, then took my Quickie glue pen and glitter and went over the snowflake dots and splotches.

It's quite sparkly in real life, but hard to capture in a photo.

Come over to Happy Little Stampers and check out the other songs that inspired the Design Team, and then link up your card!  You have until the end of the month and you might win a discount for the Happy Little Stampers' shop.

Supplies:

Stamps - Crafty Individuals image, Make an Impression sentiment

Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black; various Distress inks for colouring the image

Paper - watercolour paper, white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Quickie glue pen, SU Dazzling Diamonds glitter, fun foam

Three Unrelated Christmas Cards

I'm a big fan of Splitcoaststampers' challenges.  Two of my favourites are on a Monday - the CAS challenge and the Technique challenge.

This week's Technique challenge is "White Silhouettes".

 

I created a starry sky with a stencil, embossing paste, and a light sprinkle of glitter, then stamped and  heat embossed my image in white at the bottom.  I grounded the image with a scribbled line of white paint and added a simple die cut sentiment.

Next up is a card for the Inspiration Challenge.  We were to be inspired by an image at a Pinterest site of free printables.  I chose this image as it inspired me to ink up a stamp I've never used before.

Stamped it and then coloured bits of it with Distress inks and a water brush. Then I sponged the edges, bordered with black, and used a glue pen a mixture of gold and clear glitter (I wanted the glitter to look a bit tarnished and vintage).

And now a very basic card, also using a stamp I hadn't inked up before.  This one is for the CAS Challenge "Time to Hibernate" - use a critter that hibernates.   I made the card and then realized I see the bear as a polar bear and polar bears don't hibernate!  But I'll just think of him as a generic bear who will head off to hibernate after he's given the children a ride.

I coloured with Copics, added a smidge of glitter to the bear's hat and the ground below the bear, and die cut with a stitched square.

I love making Christmas cards so I hope you enjoy looking at them!

Supplies:

Sleigh Ride: 

Stamps -  Tim Holtz sleigh, Wordsworth sentiment 

Paper - white and black cs

Ink - ColorBox Frost White

Accessories - Simon Says Stamp star stencil, embossing paste, gold glitter, white embossing powder, Sharpie white paint pen, Spellbinders die, foam tape 

Vintage Winter:

Stamps - Inkadinkado

Paper - white, black, and kraft cs

Ink - Ranger Archival Black, various Distress inks

Accessories - glue pen, gold and clear glitter

Bear:

Stamps - SU Bearing Gifts

Paper - white and ride cs

Ink - Ranger Archival Black

Accessories - glue pen, clear glitter, Lil Inkers Stitched Square dies, Copic markers