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

Birthday Flowers

Everything in my garden is ahead of schedule because of the heat wave we've had.  My hydrangea is starting to bloom!  It inspired today's card.

I took a smooshed background (probably Oxide inks) from my UFO box stamped and heat embossed the collage image on top.

I sprinkled and spritzed blue, pink, mauve, and purple Magicals on a piece of mixed media, going for much denser colours than in the background.  When dry, I punched out hydrangea petals with the old Martha Stewart punch I've had for years and glued them onto the stamped flower.

I bordered with white and then with black shimmer cs (to echo the shimmer of the Magicals) and added a heat embossed sentiment below.

It's hard to photograph and capture the shimmer but here's a close-up where you can see some of it:

I'm linking up with the AAA Birthday Card Challenge.

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Inkadinkado hydrangea collage, Memory Box sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - black shimmer, white, and mixed media cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Magicals, Martha Stewart hydrangea punch, clear embossing powder

Congratulations X 2

A friend asked me to make him two "congratulations" cards for his coworkers who recently got promotions.  He wanted them larger than the usual A2 so that there is room for all his staff to sign.

First up is one using some lovely die cut dogwoods (I borrowed the die from my friend Christine).

 

I sponged a blossom stencil - the flowers are sponged in two shades of pink distress ink and the leaves in one shade of green. After cleaning the stencil, I replaced it over the sponging and added clear embossing paste.

I die cut the dogwood flowers and leaves in white cs and sponged them with the same colours of distress ink as on the stencil. I shaped them a bit with a stylus, stuck them together with crystal effects and added them to a die cut branch over the stencil. I finished off with yellow liquid pearls in the centres of the flowers and mounted them on a brown branch die cut.

The sentiment is cut into a banner and lightly sponged in the same colours.  Pink ribbon down the edge holds extra pages on the inside for signatures.

The second card uses my favourite technique for making hydrangeas:

I made a background on coated cs with two shades of blue brushos then stamped the hydrangea collage stamp. I brayered a piece of the same coated cs with the Hydrangea ink pad that gives a nice variety of blues and mauves inks, and punched out lots of tiny hydrangea blossoms which I layered over the image. I added white gel pen dots to the centres.

I framed it with a stitched rectangle frame (using 3 layers to give substance) and added one tiny blossom to the bottom corner.

I'm entering it in the Less is More challenge "Congratulations".

 Supplies for Card 1:

Stamps: unknown sentiment

Paper: white and brown cs

Paper Size: 7x5"

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Distress Shabby Shutters, Spun Sugar, and Tattered Rose

Accessories: Tim Holtz blossom stencil, Dreamweaver clear embossing paste, Susan's Garden dogwood die, Memory Box branch die, Liquid Pearls Buttercup, dimensionals

Supplies for Card 2:

Stamps: Rubber Stampede sentiment, Inkadinkado hydrangea

Paper: white cs, coated cs

Paper Size: 7x5"

Ink: Big and Juicy Hydrangea, Archival Jet Black

Accessories: Martha Stewart hydrangea punch, Lil Inkers stitched rectangles, Ultra Marine and Oster Blue Brushos, Signo white gel pen