Northern Lights Christmas Cards

I've seen various people make northern lights backgrounds for card and wanted to give it a go.  I tried the ones where they create swirls of colour but I ended up with a horrid mess and tossed them.  Then I tried the technique in this video where the colour is in more vertical bands.  I ended up with three backgrounds I was happy with and turned them into three Christmas cards.

My favourite is this one as I got a bit of quite vibrant colour.

I stamped the image in black using my MISTI so that I go quite an intense image.  I then sponged a lot of Distress Black Soot ink along the bottom of the panel.  I heat embossed the little Noel sentiment in white on black cs and cut it out with a tiny square die and covered up a bit of smudged ink.

My second favourite is this one:

I die cut the village scene out of black cs. layered it over the northern lights background, and added a very small sentiment.

My least favourite is this one:

My northern lights turned out a bit too muted and I wasn't happy with my white splattering as I got some blobs that are way too big.  Black stamping or a black die cut didn't look right - not enough contrast.  So I went with a white die cut sleigh and horse and added two coordinating sentiments.

I found it easier to sponge the sky on a very slightly glossy cs - not as glossy as photo paper but with a definite bit of gloss.  I didn't find much difference between regular Distress inks and Distress Oxide inks (the first one was done with Oxide, the second and third with Distress).

My friend, Loll, also did some northern lights cards and we decided to post them on the same day.  Please go to this post on her blog to see hers - quite different to mine but beautiful!

Supplies:
Stamps - Stampendous "noel", Katzelkraft deer and trees, SSS tiny Merry Christmas, SSS Jingle Bells and Dashing All the Way sentiments
Ink - various Distress and Distress Oxide inks, SSS Intense Black, Versamark, Versafine Clair Twilight
Paper - white and black cs, slightly glossy cs
Size - A2 (the first two) and 6x4.25" (the third card)
Accessories - white acrylic paint, white embossing powder, tiny Spellbinders square die, Memory Box Country Landscape die, tiny sentiment die, SU sleigh and horse die

Christmas Horse and Snowy Dove

Two Christmas cards today.

For 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, the theme is "Critters".  I chose a horse.

The image is stamped and then coloured with coloured pencils.  To add some background colour, I used a simple bordering panel of red cs, and die cut the focal panel with a dotted rectangle that lets bits of the red show through.  And then stamped the sentiment in red.

And for Can You Handle the Pressure, the challenge is "In the Sky" (anything you can find in the sky), I chose a dove and placed it against a snowflake embossed background.

I ran the focal panel through the embossing folder and then lightly rubbed a blue ink pad over the raised sections.  I cut the dove and the sentiment out of a scrap of background I'd made using blue Inka Gold.  

   

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Serendipity Clyde, Make an Impression sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, ColorBox Chianti
Paper - white and red cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, Sizzix dotted rectangle die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps -
Ink - Distress Broken Glass
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - snowflake embossing folder, dove die, peace sentiment die, fun foam

A Sympathy Card with a Horse and a Dog Sympathy Card

The Cut It Up challenge wants to see die cuts of critters.  I still had this horse die out on my desk as I made a card from it a few weeks ago but this time I gave it a very different treatment.

My sister asked me to make a sympathy card for her riding coach whose father suddenly passed away. She wanted a horse on it. So I thought I could make a night sky to go with the sentiment I used as it talks about stars. I created the sky by smooshing with dark blue Distress inks. Then stamped the sentiment over it in black. I layered the die cut over it, popped it up on fun foam, and added some die cut gold stars.

My other card today is for Try It On Tuesday "Add Some Text". 

I stamped and fussy cut the dog. The sentiment is stamped and cut with a narrow rectangle die, and then sponged around the edge. I created a background with a mixture of stencilling, text stamping, watercolouring, and sponging.

   

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Stampotique sentiment
Ink - various dark blue Distress inks, Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white and gold cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - small star dies, Starlit Studio horse die, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Technique Junkies dog, SU sentiment, Kaiser Craft script
Ink - Distress Tea Dye, Memento Rich Cocoa
Paper - cream cs
Size - A2
Accessories - TCW stencil, watercolours, sentiment rectangle die, dimensionals

Recycled Dog, Grateful Horse, and Die Cut Swag

The Paper Players challenge is to recycle something on our cards.  As a dog lover, I often receive store-bought cards with dogs on them.  I received one on my last birthday with a beautiful black lab on it.  Good friends of mine have a black lab so I decided to recycle the lab to make a Christmas card for them.  

I have some old double-sided stick-on flourishes.  I arranged them in the corners of the card and added multi-coloured glitter to them.  Finished off with a die cut sentiment "joyful" - exactly how I would describe my friends' lab!

Cardz 4 Guyz wants to see a masculine card in blue.

I sponged a background with various blue Distress inks and layered my die cut over it, popping the body of the horse up a bit with foam tape. The whole panel is popped up on the card base with fun foam.

And a "threefer" today.  52 Christmas Card Throwdown wants us to use dies or punches.  I made a card with lots of greenery die cuts that I cut out of small scraps of various green cs - therefore I'm also entering it at the Snippets challenge.  And linking up with Cut It Up - anything goes with die cuts.

I die cut several different pieces of greenery out of various scraps of green cs.  I splattered them with white acrylic paint and arranged them on white cs dry embossed with a pine sprig embossing folder.  I wrapped bakers twine around my focal panel and made a bow from it.  The sentiment is stamped and die cut with a narrow banner die.

    

  

Supplies for card 1:
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - dog off of a store bought card, double-sided stick-on flourishes, multi-coloured glitter

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Memory Box sentiment
Ink - various Distress blue inks
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - StarLit Studio Horse Country die, fun foam, foam tape

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - white cs, scraps of different green cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Sizzix embossing folder, TH greenery dies, sentiment label die, red/white baker's twine, white acrylic paint

Flowery Birthday and Two Notecards

For AAA Birthday "Fabulous Flowers" and My Time to Craft "Summer Florals":

I created the background by sponging with various brown Distress inks, stamping some grid lines and sentiment, and splattering a bit.  The I stamped the floral branch on top and used Posca paint pens to colour it - they have enough pigment to colour over the background colour.  I trimmed it with a square die and sponged a bit more of the darker brown around the edges.

Color Hues wants white and aqua.  I made a simple notecard that I can add a sentiment to the inside of when I need it.

A simple smooshed background in shades of aqua, a stamped text / tree image, than a thin black border, a white border with some faux stitching, and then another thin black border.

Addicted to CAS wants to see Critters and I needed a notecard to send to one of my fellow horse-loving friends.

 

 

A simple stamped image, trimmed with a wonky stitched rectangle die, and added to a very thin border of pink glitter cs (my friend loves pink and loves sparkle!).

 

    

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black First Blush, Visible Image grid lines, PTI sentiment
Ink - various brown Distress inks, Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - Posca paint pens

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Viva Decor
Ink - various aqua blue oxide inks, Archival Jet Black
Paper - white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - piercing tool, fine point black marker, fun foam

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Serendipity mustang
Ink - Distress Walnut Stain
Paper - white cs, pink glitter cs
Size - A2
Accessories - MFT wonky stitched rectangle die

Frame with a Cat and Pink with a Horse

A non-Christmas twofer today!

Festive Friday is celebrating World Mental Health Day.  Though the card doesn't have to relate to mental health, it does have to have three things from their inspiration list.  I chose blue, green, and a frame.

I stamped various wildflower stamps in two shades of Distress green, the sentiment and the cat in black, then sponged some blue sky and a bit of green ground (the ground is mostly hidden by the frame). The frame is a pierced square frame die that I cut twice and glued together.

Double D's challenge is "Pink October" for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

I would never in a million years opt to use pink as the background for this dramatic horse image, but I will need a card in a couple of weeks for one of the therapeutic riding instructors I volunteer with. She's moving back to New Zealand for a whole new phase in her life. Her favourite colour is pink and she also loves sparkle and glitter so I used some pink glitter cs as a border.

I made the background first by smooshing with 3 shades of pink Oxide inks on mixed media cs. Then stamped and heat embossed the horse image. I fussy cut the sections of the sentiment and added them to the image, and then bordered first with black, then with pink glitter cs.

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Lavinia cat, variours wildflowers, unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne, various blue and green Distress inks
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - MFT Pierced Square Frame die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Visible Image horse, unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne, Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry, Tattered Rose, and Spun Sugar
Paper - pink glitter, black, white, and mixed media cs
Size - 5.75" square
Accessories - clear embossing powder

Winter Recreation for Animal Friends

Christmas Cards All Year Round wants to see Winter Sports / Recreation.  I love this stamp I chose depicting animal friends having fun with their sled.  At the barn where I ride, we have a couple of horses who are quite willing to tow a sled in the winter - one person rides the horse, another sits on the sled - it's a lot of fun!

I stamped and watercoloured the image, trimmed it with a hemstitch die, added it to a shimmery copper card base, added a few small glittery die cut snowflakes, and went over the snow lines on the ground with a glue pen and glitter.

Christmas Cards All Year Round often uses the image of a fantastic cake for inspiration for its theme.  This month's is no exception:

Supplies:
Stamps - Craft Emotions sledding, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, shimmery copper cs, white glitter cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, tiny snowflake dies, Spellbinder hemstitch rectangle, glitter

Winter Fun and Flowery Thanks

The Jingle Belles want to see "Winter Fun" this time.  I went with some animals have fun sledding in the snow:

Stamped on watercolour paper, watercoloured, trimmed with wonky stitched die, bordered in copper, and a bit of glue and glitter along the snowline.

The Penny Black Saturday Challenge is "Anything Goes".  I made a thank you card:

Using my MISTI, I inked the agapanthus up with various Distress markers, one colour at a time, spritzing after each colour and stamping, then going back to do the next colour.

I bordered it with a dark green, heat embossed the sentiment in white on the same dark green, and added a few iridescent gemstones that have the same dark blue and purple in them.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Craft Emotions, Make an Impression sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, cream cs, copper shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - MFT Wonky Stitched rectangle die, watercolour paints, glitter

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black flowers, Memory Box sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white, Distress markers
Paper - watercolour paper, cream and dark green cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Distress markers, white embossing paste, label die, iridescent gemstones

A Horse for Peace on Earth

It's already time for the new Peace on Earth challenge.  Diane and Darlene have a wonderful mood board to inspire you (and those of us on the Design Team).  Many of you know that I love horses so no surprise as to which image on the mood board inspired me to make this card:

And here's the mood board:

I had the perfect stamp for it, didn't I?  And I matched the colours as best I could.  I coloured it with coloured pencils and bordered with red and green shimmer cs.  I smudged the sentiment when I stamped it directly on the image panel so restamped it and die cut it with a little oval tag die that I attached with a green brad.

Please come and join us at Peace on Earth.  You don't have to be inspired by the mood board - it's an anything Christmas goes challenge.

Supplies:
Stamps - Serendipity "Clyde", SSS sentiment
Ink - Archival Jet Black, Memento Rhubarb Stalk
Paper - white cs, red and green shimmer cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, green brad, Sizzix tag die

A Horse, a Rabbit, and Some Chicks

An animal twofer today.

For The Male Room "Animals" challenge:

A simple stamped and heat embossed image, trimmed and set on an embossed rustic wood background.

And next up, for the Day of the Month Card Challenge "Poultry Day", some sweet chicks modelling the little sweaters the bunny is knitting for them:

I loved watercolouring this image - such fun to give all the little chicks different coloured sweaters.  I popped the panel up on some fun foam and added a Happy Easter sentiment.

The Male Room

Day of the Month Card Club

 

I'll be back with more of my endless Christmas cards next post!

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Serendipity Mustang, PTI sentiment
Ink - Versafine Vintage Sepia
Paper - white and brown cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Cuttlebug embossing folder, clear embossing powder

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - House Mouse "Will Knit for Friends", unknown sentiment
Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black
Paper - white cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, fun foam