Blue Doves

Blue is beyond all colours in being my favourite colour - I love all shades of it.  So for Can You Handle the Pressure "Blue on Blue Monochromatic", I have this card in a pale aqua blue:

I embossed my background panel and then gently swiped ink over the raised part of it.  I die cut the sentiment out of a scrap of cardstock, and then before I removed them from the cardstock, I rubbed the same ink over the embossed words and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder.

Both my best friend and I love peace doves as a theme for Christmas cards and have to make several every year for her to buy at my fund raiser each year so while I was making the above card, I decided to make a second peace dove card.  This one is going to Shopping our Stash "Sparkle" and to the Snippets challenge.

A very quick CAS card!  The dove, the leaf, and the sentiment were die cut out of scraps of different colours of glitter cs and out of scraps of white, glued together for more substance, and added to the card base.

    

Supplies for card 1:
Ink - Mama Elephant Winter Blue
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Couture Creations embossing folder, TH sentiment die, clear embossing powder

Supplies for card 2:
Paper - white shimmer cs, two shades of blue glitter cs, white glitter cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black dove die, Memory Box peace die

Blue and White Christmas and Belated Flowers

A couple of cards just in time for some challenges!

52 Christmas Card Throwdown wants blue and white cards - my favourite colour combination!

I made a background by sprinkling blue Brushos on watercolour paper and spritzing with water.  When dry, I trimmed it with a pierced dot rectangle die.  I die cut the dove and sentiment from the same white cs as the card base.

The Paper Players want a clean and simple card featuring florals. 

Stamped, coloured with coloured pencils and blended with a bit of Gamsol, trimmed and mounted on a red card base.

  

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps -
Ink -
Paper -
Size -
Accessories -

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps -
Ink -
Paper -
Size -
Accessories -

Dove's Wings, Masked Snowflakes, and a Horsey Thanks

52 Christmas Card Throwdown's Stash challenge wants us to use our stamps.  The ABC Christmas Challenge is "w for wings".  I went with a beautiful dove stamp where the dove has his wings spread wide.

I stamped the bird and sentiment on watercolour paper in dark blue and heat embossed. I watercoloured the bird with light blue paint. Trimmed the panel with a square die, and cut the next size up of square dies out of blue glitter cs. I die cut three small snowflakes out of the centre of the blue glitter cs, then layered the dove panel onto the blue glitter cs, and glued the three little snowflakes on the dove panel. I used an off white cs for the card base as it matches the watercolour paper better than white cs.

Try It on Tuesday wants to see snowflakes.  

I used a mask to create the snowflakes.  I laid it on watercolour paper, then sprinkled blue Brushos over it, spritzed with water, patted dry to prevent colour seeping under the mask, and lifted the mask.  I let the panel air dry and then trimmed it, added it to the card base, and framed it with a die cut frame, cut twice and glued together.  I had a burgundy glitter die cut sentiment sitting in my UFO box and like the contrast it added.

A third card for today as I needed to make a thank you card for a friend who took me out for my birthday.  It's going to Sisterhood of Crafters who want to see Thanks.

 My friend has a horse so a card depicting a horse is perfect for her.   I sponged a background with various blue Distress inks, then cut the die cut out of a square of white cs, layered it over the background, and added a simple sentiment.

    

  

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Technique Junkies
Ink - Versafine Clair Twilight
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs, blue glitter cs
Size - 5.5" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, clear embossing powder, tiny snowflake dies, Spellbinders square dies

Supplies for card 2:
Paper - off white cs, watercolour paper, burgundy glitter cs
Size - A2
Accessories - TCW Winter Wonderland snowflake mask, blue Brushos, Impression Obsession frame die, Penny Black sentiment die

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Memory Box sentiment
Ink - Distress Stormy Sky, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire
Paper - white cs
Size - 5.25"square
Accessories - Starlit Studio die, Spellbinders square die

Favourite Things Dove and Leftover Dove

Shopping our Stash new challenge is "A Few of My Favourite Things".  They want us to use two or more of our favourite crafty things.  I love blue and white as a colour scheme, peace (and peace doves) as a favourite theme on Christmas cards, die cuts, a CAS design, and interesting ways to border or frame a focal image (I especially love stitched effects in die cuts for framing).

I die cut a stitched border opening in the card base and added a piece of decorative paper behind it.  I die cut a dove out of the leftover bit of cs and attached it to the decorative paper, popping up the wings with dimensional tape.  I stamped and trimmed a small sentiment in blue.

Jingle Belles wants to see "Holiday Leftovers" - bits and pieces that were too nice to toss, leftover die cuts, etc.  I made another dove / peace themed card.

I had this lovely white feather, the die cut dove, the stamped sentiment, and the inverted scallop circle sitting on my desk leftover from projects that never used them.  I put them all together for this card.  The cardstocks don't match - the dove and the background for the sentiment are white shimmer cs and the rest is plain white cs. The sentiment is heat embossed.

  

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Simon Says Stamp sentiment
Ink - Distress Stormy Sky
Paper - white cs, Echo Park dp
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Memory Box dove die, MFT square stitched frame die, dimensional tape

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Art Impressions sentiment
Ink - Versamark
Paper - white cs, white shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - feather, Spellbinders inverted scallop die, Impression Obsession dove die, platinum embossing powder

Gifts with Vertical Sentiment and a Starry Tag

The ABC Christmas Challenge is U for Uncluttered (i.e. CAS) and / or V for Vertical.  I've made a CAS card that has a vertical sentiment..  

Stamped, coloured with coloured pencils (including a silver, red, and green metallic pencils for the ribbon and bow, with a small vertical sentiment, and framed with a pierced dot frame die, cut twice and glued together for more dimension.

Another Christmas card for Inkspirational "Seeing Stars":

I sponged a tag with three Distress inks, then flicked some water droplets on it. When dry, I stamped "joy" and "peace" in gold and I took my Memory Box Stardust stencil and sponged over it with Golden Glitz ink. I stamped the "star light, star bright" sentiment with dark blue ink on gold shimmer cs and heat embossed with clear ep. I cut it out with a star die and popped it up with dimensionals.

I added baker's twine to the top of the tag and attached the tag to a white card base.

It's hard to read in the photo, but the sentiment says "Star light, star bright, a wish for peace on earth tonight".

  

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Power Poppy Cozy Cupfuls, Rosie's Roadshow sentimen
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, metallic pencils, MFT pierced rectangle frame die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Hero Arts Joy and Noel, Great Impressions "Star light..."
Ink - Delicata Golden Glitz; Distress Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, and Dusty Concord; Versafine Majestic Blue
Paper - white cs, gold shimmer cs, manila tag
Size - 6x4.25"
Accessories - Spellbinders star die, baker's twine, dimensionals, Stampendous Detail Gold embossing powder, Memory Box Stardust stencil

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

Thank You Flowers and the World is a Circle

Stamping Sensations wants to see Summer Flowers and ATCAS wants a thank you card, so I combined the two for this card.

 

 

I put the wildflowers stamp in my MISTI and inked it up with Tombow markers, spritzing with water, repeating as necessary. Added the sentiment, trimmed the panel, and popped it up on fun foam on the card base. 

 

The Paper Players' challenge is called "Round We Go" (feature circles - I've got an image of a globe and I die cut it with a circle die) and Time Out wants something to do with travel, and what better than an image of the world and all the places one could go.

  

I stamped and heat embossed the globe / dove image on a scrap of background that I'd made using watercolour paper and alcohol inks (using the technique in this video) and die cut it with a circle die. I die cut a leafy flourish from another scrap and entwined it around part of the circle. The sentiment is a TH metallic sticker, stuck on another scrap. Mounted it all on black cs and then on a white card base.

  

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Indigo Blu wildflowers, unknown sentiment
Ink - Memento Cottage Ivy
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Tombow markers, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Deep Red World Peace
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Spellbinders circle die and leaf flourish die, TH metallic sentiment sticker, clear embossing powder, alcohol inks

Double Stencilled Butterfly and a CAS Dove

Inkspirational wants us to use stencils.  I used both a butterfly stencil and a text stencil.  Try It On Tuesday wants us to add some text.  And Seize the Birthday wants to see silhouettes.

I sponged through the butterfly stencil with various blues and mauves, then laid the script stencil over it, and went over the script with embossing paste. Because the butterfly stencil was still in place, I only got text embossing within the butterfly.

I then stamped the two small butterflies on my main panel and trimmed it with a square die. Then stamped the larger butterfly and sentiment in purple on scraps of cs and heat embossed them, then die cut them with oval dies. I rubbed the edge of the ink pad around the ovals to give a bit of definition to them and then assembled the card.

I was going to add it to the Paper Players tic-tac-toe challenge (the top horizontal row - CAS, something that flies, square card) but realized it wasn't actually CAS once it was done.  So I made a quick Christmas card for the same tic-tac-toe row (and I really do need to plough on with Christmas cards).  I'm also adding it to Christmas All Year (blue Christmas).

A very easy card with a stamped and heat embossed peace dove, die cut with an oval, and mounted on white glitter cs cut with a fancy die, and on a blue shimmer card base.

   

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Visible Image butterflies, A Muse sentiment
Ink - Distress Faded Jeans and Dusty Concord
Paper - white and mixed media cs
Size - 5.75" square
Accessories - Visible Image butterfly stencil, Stamperia text stencil, Dreamweaver embossing paste, clear embossing powder, Spellbinders oval and square dies

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - unknown small dove stamp
Ink - ColorBox True Blue
Paper - white cs, blue shimmer cs, white glitter cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Spellbinders Fleur de Lis square die and small oval die, clear embossing powder

Two Birds with a Fence, and a Dove Framed with Snowflakes

My Time to Craft has a fun challenge.  It's called "1-2-3".  You have to use 1 of something, 2 of something else, and 3 of something else.  I have one fence, two birds, and three words.

I created a background with some blue watercolour paint to make a sky and some Distress Snowfall Grit Paste to make the snowy ground.  Added the die cut fence.  Then die cut two of the Time Holtz birds and did a bit of sponging on them with Distress Aged Mahogany.  Added them to the fence and ground, and finished with a three word sentiment on a banner die cut and some white splattering.

Try It on Tuesday wants to see embossing of some sort.  I went with both dry and heat embossing.  And I used a stamp I haven't used since I started my blog in 2015.  The last time I used it was in 2013 on a card I posted on SCS.  So I'm adding it to The Neglected Stuff Challenge.

I stamped my image / sentiment in dark blue in the centre of a layer of cs and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I coloured in the bird and the stars with a bit of lighter blue watercolour paint.  Then placed it in the snowflake embossing folder and ran it through my Cuttlebug.  

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - Archival Cobalt ink, Distress Aged Mahogany
Paper - white and red cs
Size - 6x3.25"
Accessories - TH bird dies, unknown fence die, sentiment banner die, blue watercolour paint, Distress Snowfall Grit Paste, bleed proof white ink

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Stampendous Classic Peace
Ink - ColorBox royal blue
Paper - chalk cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Ultimate Crafts snowflake frame embossing folder, clear embossing powder, blue watercolour paint