Wild Reindeer and Pets Posting a Letter

52 Christmas Card Throwdown is asking for "Wild Animals" - I've gone with a reindeer.

I grabbed a background from my box of unused backgrounds - not sure how I made it - possibly just some smooshed ink on glossy cs, with some mixed media stamps added in pale grey.  I stamped various trees on in black ink,  and trimmed it down.  I topped it with a torn strip of white cs for the snowy ground, a black die cut reindeer (also cut from white cs and glued together to add substance), and a sentiment on a stitched banner die.

Today's second card is for The Paper Players whose theme is "Postman Bring Me a Letter".  It's also for the NBUS Challenge as I'd never used the stamp before.

I used an Anita Jeram stamp of the sweetest animals posting their letters.  It's watercoloured, trimmed with a wonky-stitched square die, and mounted on a contrasting card base.  I finished off by adding glitter to the snow on top of the mailbox.

Supplies for card:
Stamps - Penny Black sentiment, various tree stamps, various mixed media stamps
Ink - blue Distress inks, Archival Jet Black
Paper - coated cs, white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - reindeer die, stitched banner die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Anita Jeram
Ink - Versafine Onyx Clair
Paper - watercolour paper, blue cs
Size - 5" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, glitter

One Christmas, Two Valentines

It seems appropriate since it's almost Valentine's Day to post a Christmas card for Jingle Belles' "Red" challenge.  It's also for My Time to Craft Christmas "Winter Birds".  What better than the gorgeous red cardinal!?

Stamped and watercoloured the image, added the sentiment, and used a Quickie glue pen and glitter on the snow on the branches.

My next card is for Double D "Heartfelt", Just Us Girls "Love", and Stencil Fun "Love / Hearts".

I took a stencil that has a random smattering of hearts and pressed my Versamark pad through it, and then heat embossed the hearts in silver. The sentiment is stamped in red to match the card base.  I wanted a bordering silver layer but none of my cs was the right shade of silver, so I took a piece of white cs the size I wanted, then rubbed Versamark on the edges and heat embossed with the same silver as the hearts.  The panel is popped up on fun foam and embellished with red and silver sequins.

My second Valentine is for Stamping Sensations "Animals, Birds, Creatures", Cardz 4 Guyz "Love", and Sweet Stamping "Valentine's or Galentine's Day".

Stamped, watercoloured, trimmed with a stitched square die, and popped up on fun foam.

      

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Stampendous cardinals, unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - watercolour paper, cream cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, glitter

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - PTI sentiment
Ink - Versamark, SU Real Red
Paper - white and red cs
Size - A2
Accessories - silver embossing powder, Heidi Swapp Confetti stencil, red and silver sequins, fun foam

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Penny Black image, SU sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - watercolour paper, red cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, Lil Inker stitched square die, fun foam

 

Decorating the Tree / Happy New Year

I'm a big fan of the original Penny Black Christmas stamps with the adorable animals in them.  So chose one of them for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Christmas".  I'm also adding it to ABC Christmas Challenge "Y is for Your Choice" and Sweet Stampin' "Christmas".

Stamped, watercoloured, trimmed with a stitched square die, bordered with gold cs, and added to an off-white card base.

My Time to Craft Christmas wants a Happy New Year card.  Here's mine:

I started with my top layer.  I die cut the large star and stamped and heat embossed the sentiment, then trimmed with a stitched square die, and then dry embossed with a little narrow star embossing folder.  I taped a small square of starry holographic paper on the card base and then popped up the top panel on foam tape over top of it.

It's also going to the NBUS challenge as I've never used the narrow star embossing folder or the holographic star dp before. 

    

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black, unknown "joy"
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - off white cs, watercolour paper, gold cs
Size - 5.75" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, Glossy Accents, Lil Inker stitched square die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU sentiment
Ink - ColorBox gold
Paper - white cs, Hot off the Press holographic star paper
Size - 5" square
Accessories - gold embossing powder, MFT star die, Kokorosa narrow star embossing folder

Mouse on a Gatefold

Christmas is over but creating Christmas cards is never over for me!  Here's my first one for this year.

Simple stamped and coloured image, bordered with red glitter cs, on a gatefold card base with dp added to the two panels.

For these challenges:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Christmas"

SCS Ways to Use It Challenge "Open the Gate" - create a gatefold card

Sweet Stamping "Christmas Creations"

Winter Wonderland Challenge "Anything Christmas"

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black image, SSS sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - red glitter and white cs, ColorBok dp
Size - 6x4.25"
Accessories - coloured pencils

Rainy Day Christmas Cards

It's supposed to be gardening season but it's a horrible wet day - the forecast says 100% chance of rain all day.  So what better to do than make Christmas cards!

For 52 Christmas Card Throwdown "Children's Xmas", I thought these sweet friends watching out the window for Santa were perfect:

A very simple stamped, watercoloured, bordered with navy, and popped up on fun foam on the card base. I added some snowflakes with a white gel pen.

I love these Colorado Craft Co. images by the artist Anita Jeram!  I've treated myself to a few of them recently.

 

Next up for Just Us Girls "Red, Black, White" and for We Love Stamping "Favourite Stamp", I chose my all-time favourite Christmas stamp.  Most of you know I love horses so of courseI love this stamp - so much so, I bought an extra one in case this one wears out!

 

 

Stamped in black, the hats coloured with a red marker, trimmed with a stitched rectangle die, popped up on fun foam, and Fun Flock added to the brims and pompoms on the hats, and added glitter to the fence line.

 

And finally for Jingle Belles "Earth Day" (recycle, re-use, up-cycle something), I took a tree off of the Christmas card I received from Julia of createwithjulia and used it on this card:

I found a piece of smooshed green background in my UFO box, stamped the Christmas text stamp on it, mounted it on a white card base, added Julia's Christmas tree to the centre and framed it with a white double-stacked frame die cut.

52 Christmas Card Throwdown

We Love Stamping "Favourite Stamp"

Just Us Girls 

 

 Jingle Belles

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Colorado Craft Co. "On the Lookout"
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - watercolour paper, cream and navy cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, TH merry die, Sakura Gelly Roll white gel pen

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Impression Obsession horses, unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - red marker, Fun Flock, Lil Inker stitched rectangle die, fun foam, glitter

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - unknown text stamp
Ink - various green Distress inks for background, Distress Vintage Photo for text
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Impression Obsession frame die, up-cycled tree

CAS Christmas Critters

It's already time for the last CAS Christmas challenge of the year (we don't run a December challenge)!  Barb is our host and she wants to see cards featuring Christmas Critters.

A good chance for me to use a die and stamp I've never used before!  Love the sweet little mouse with his pile of gifts!

Stamped, watercoloured, bordered with gold shimmer cs that matches the gold paint I used on parts of the image, and a matching gold shimmer die cut sentiment.

Please come and join us at CAS Christmas!  There's lots more inspiration from our wonderful Guest Designer, Valerie (Le Scrap de Vava), and the rest of the Design Team.

I'm also adding my card to:

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - "Anything Goes"

NBUS Challenge - "Never Before Used Schtuff"

Sparkles Christmas Challenge - "Christmas Presents"

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, gold and white shimmer cs
Size - mini slimline - 6.25x3.25"
Accessories - watercolour paints, Penny Black "Be Merry" die

No Dogs, No Horses, Just Cats - and Knitting!

Those who know me well know that I am passionate about dogs and horses but very lukewarm about cats.  I wouldn't say I dislike cats themselves, but I do hate the fact that they kill birds, and because I have bird feeders in my garden, I could never justify having a cat that went outside and I don't fancy the thought of trying to keep one indoors all the time.  So no cats for me.

But today I'm blogging two cards featuring cats!  And knitting (which is one of my other main hobbies).

First up for the ABC Christmas Challenge "C = Cat, D = Dog", (I chose "C = Cat") and for the Penny Black and More Challenge "Animals, Birds, or Butterflies", I created this card:

The Penny Black image is stamped and watercoloured with some Glossy Accents on the little light bulbs and a bit of Fun Flock on the cat's hat brim and pompom. It's trimmed with a stitched square die and popped up on fun foam.

Now that I look at the finished card, the cat came out a bit too yellow - she was meant to be more of a ginger/marmalade cat!


And for the Day of the Month Card Club "Send a Card to a Friend Day" challenge, I again went with a cat and knitting: 

Doesn't it look like the cat was about to play with the knitting and is looking up in surprise at being caught in the act?

A very CAS card - stamped, watercoloured, bordered in a matching blue, and popped up on fun foam.

It is for one of my friends who knits a lot and has a ginger cat.  We're in a knitting group together and she's a faithful attendee at the Christmas card fundraising sale I have every November, so I will send it to her to tell her how much I appreciate that support.

Phew, having survived two cards featuring cats, I definitely need to head off to my craft room and get out some dog and horse stamps!!!

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black
Ink - Archival Jet Black
Paper - red cs, watercolour paper
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, Lil Inker stitched square die, fun foam, Glossy Accents, Fun Flock

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Rubbernecker cat, Rosie's Roadshow sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, blue and white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, fun foam

A Card for a Child

Two Christmas challenges right now are asking for cards you would give to a child: 

Christmas Kickstart Challenge - "Christmas Kids"

ABC Christmas Card Challenge - "K for Kids"

Here's what I made:

Stamped my image, coloured with coloured pencils, trimmed it with a deckled rectangle die, bordered with candy cane dp and a thin black border. Finished off with fun foam on the Santa hat.

I can't imagine drinking cocoa and wrapping up in a sweater and scarf today - it is so hot and sunny!

Supplies:

Stamps - Simon Says Stamp

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - white and black cs, Paper Studio dp

Size - A2

Accessories - coloured pencils, fun foam, Spellbinders Deckled Rectangle die

Dogs and a Mouse

I haven't done a post for a couple of days so am including three cards here: a couple of dog cards, one sad and one happy, and a card with a mouse!

The sad one was made for a friend whose elderly dog passed away.

 

I did the dog by inking up the stamp once, stamped it full strength, and then stamped it off twice without reinking as it goes off the page to give the idea of her wagging her tail right to the end as her life fades away.

On a happier note, I recently came across a stamp that reminded me so much of my puppy, Tessa, and her litter mates when I went down to see them a couple of weeks before I got Tessa.  They were weaned off of their mother and just starting to eat mushy food - and they all shared it from the same bowl.  They would step in the food sometimes and then track it all over their pen.  There is a lot of clean-up and laundry involved if you breed dogs!  Whoever designed this stamp's image sure knew what they were doing!

I turned it into a thank you card to send to Tessa's breeder.

I stamped the image in Distress Tea Dye ink as it is close to Tessa's colour, then watercoloured it with various Distress inks.  I added the pawprints on the bottom right to balance with the sentiment.

Tessa no longer steps in her food and is growing up into a well-mannered (most of the time) and very sweet young dog (most of the time) - she's now five and a half months old.  Here's a recent photo:

And finally a card I made with a sweet mouse - I sent it to a 10 year old great-niece who loves to read.

I used an ancient stamp I have of a mouse on a stack of books - simply stamped and watercoloured.

The sentiment below the mouse makes me think of my childhood - whenever my mother asked me to do something when I was reading, I'd always reply "as soon as I finish this chapter".

I cut it out with a tag die, made a background with a text stamp, and popped it up on fun foam.

Thanks for dropping by!

Supplies:

Stamps -
1st card: SU D is for Dog
2nd card: PB puppies, Bouji paw prints, Savvy Stamps sentiment 
3rd card: Kidstamps mouse, Wendy Vecchi text stamp, PTI sentiment 

Ink -
1st card: Memento Tuxedo Black
2nd card: Distress Tea Dye and various others, Memento Tuxedo Black
3rd card: Versafine Onyx Black, Adirondack Lake Mist 

Paper -
1st card: PTI Vintage Cream, Deja Vu dp, black cs
2nd card: watercolour paper, cream cs
3rd card: green and white cs, watercolour paper 
 

Size - all are A2

Accessories -
1st card: dimensionals, twine, Spellbinders tag
2nd card: Lil Inkers stitched rectangle die, fun foam 
3rd card: watercolour paints, Die-namics tag die, brad, fun foam

Christmas Dog, Cats, and a Mouse in Ovals

Yesterday I said I'd be back with some more dog-themed cards.  I've only got one dog one to show you, but to please those who prefer cats, I've included one where a cat takes centre stage.

First up is one I made last night for Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge "colouring".  Any medium could be used for the colouring.  I'm eagerly anticipating the arrival of my Zig brush markers (I broke down and ordered them after using them at Loll Thompson's house) as they will be ideal for these kind of images.  But meanwhile I've resorted to my Distress markers and a water brush.

I've made it with a specific friend in mind.  She has a black dog, Sadie, and just recently adopted a little ginger kitten.  Sadie loves the kitten and my friend refers to it as "Sadie's early Christmas present" - this image seemed just perfect for her!

I love Penny Black's dog and cat stamps.  Here is another of her cute Christmas ones:

I love knitting and am in a knitting group with several friends - we meet, chat, eat treats and drink tea, show our latest projects, and maybe get a bit of actual knitting done!  So I had to buy this stamp as it will make perfect Christmas cards for my knitting friends.  I used the "out-of-the-box" technique to die cut it with just the mouse outside of the oval.

In case you missed these earlier posts using more Penny Black Christmas dog stamps, here are the links:

Penny Black Pup with a Snowman
Penny Black Pups

Supplies:
Dog and Kitten

Stamps: Penny Black, SU sentiment

Paper: PTI rustic cs, mixed media, red and green cs

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black

Accessories: Distress markers, water brush, Nesties ovals

Cat and Mouse

Stamps: Penny Black "Gift for You", Rubber Soul "Joy"

Paper: cream and green cs

Paper Size: 4.25" square

Ink: Archival Jet Black, Memento Lady Bug

Accessories: Nesties ovals, Distress markers, foam tape, gold and clear Stickles