The Word "Christmas" and Autumn Colours

A couple of cards for today - a dreary pouring-with-rain day here in Vancouver.  So a perfect day to spend in my craft room before I go out for Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's house.

For Sparkles Christmas Challenge ("use the word Christmas on your project") and Word Power (the sentiment is the focus of the card):

I die cut the SSS Holiday Frame out of dark gold cs and layered it over a background created by sprinkling Shabby Blue embossing enamel over a piece of cs and heating it from underneath so that it didn't blow off.  It's a nice mix of fine blue sparkly particles and larger white and gold particles.  I added a gold star and put the whole panel on fun foam on the card base to create some dimension.

Next up, using autumn colours of orange and brown for The Paper Players' colour challenge:

I smooshed a piece of watercolour paper in some Distress orange and brown inks. I got a really nasty section on one area so decided to tear the panel down one edge and get rid of the nasty section.

I die cut a poppy out of off white shimmer cs and out of some scrap cs, glued them together for more dimension, glued it on the smooshed panel, and wrapped with twine.

I debated adding a vertical sentiment but it would have been squished so left it blank - I can add a sentiment inside if I need to.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Paper - white cs, dark gold shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - SSS Holiday Frame, star die, Stampendous Shabby Blue embossing enamel

Supplies for card 2:
Ink - Distress oranges and browns
Paper - off white cs, off white shimmer cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box poppy die, twine

Pink Poppies, Pink Christmas

It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month so I need to be sure to get some pink in my card making.

My Time to Craft's challenge is "In the Garden" and I grow a lot of varieties of poppies (Oriental, Welsh, California, Icelandic) in my garden so I've done a card with pink poppies:

A very CAS card - just stamped and watercoloured, trimmed with a stitched die, bordered in black.  I'm trying to work on my shading when I watercolour and for once, was happy with the results in the flowers.

And one of my favourite Christmas card challenges, Jingle Belles, always does a "Pink Christmas" challenge.  The wonderful Stephanie and Lauren who run the challenge each donate $2 to breast cancer research for every card linked up.  Here's my pink poinsettia:

The poinsettia is another one of my attempts at colouring embossed images.  I started by using a 3D embossing folder with watercolour paper.  Then I tried the watercolouring technique in this video using a couple of shades of pink.  My results are not nearly as good as the person in the video's results, but once I trimmed it, bordered it with lovely pink glitter cs, added a matching die cut sentiment, and embellished with a bit of Stickles in the centre.

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Clearly Besotted Poppu
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - watercolour paper, black and off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, Lil Inker stitched rectangle die

Supplies for card 2:
Paper - watercolour paper, pink glitter cs, off white cs
Size - 4.5" square
Accessories - Nellie's Choice slimline poinsettia embossing folder, watercolour paints

Gemstone Ornaments and Elegant Writer Poppy

A Twofer today.  First for My Time to Craft Christmas "Ornaments", I did something a bit different and used a deciduous tree die cut with gemstones for ornaments.

I die cut the tree three times and glued them together for dimension.  I sprayed my focal panel with enough blue spray to provide contrast to the white tree.  Stamped a sentiment on it and popped it up on fun foam on the card base.

And then had lots of fun finding various shades and sizes of blue and silver stick-on gems for the ornaments on the tree.

My second card is for Cardz4Guyz "Poppies or Remembrance".  I did a muted colour scheme (seems more guy-like to me) by using my Elegant Writer pen to colour the poppy.

 

I haven't done this technique for a long time so my Elegant Writer pen was a bit dry and I didn't get as much colour variation as I've gotten in the past, but I still like the effect.

I stamped the image in Vintage Photo, added small lines with the Elegant Writer on the poppy, seed heads, and butterfly, and then with water and a paint brush, pulled out some of the Elegant Writer and Vintage Photo ink.

For the leaves, I scribbled a bit of Elegant Writer on a palette, spritzed with water, and then picked up some colour for the leaves.

I pulled out a bit of Vintage Photo to ground the image and sponged Antique Linen around the edges.

The panel is popped up on fun foam on a cream card base.

Here's a close-up to show the colour variation from the Elegant Writer pen:

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Stampendous sentiment
Ink - Archival Hickory Smoke
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black ornament tree die, blue spray, blue and silver gemstones

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Carabelle
Ink - Distress Vintage Photo and Antique Linen
Paper - mixed media cs, cream cs
Size - 6x4.25"
Accessories - Elegant Writer pen, fun foam

Poppies on Music

A birthday card for a friend who  and loves the colour red, made for Seize the Birthday "Make It Musical" and Can You Handle the Pressure "Embossing Folder with a Twist of Poppies".

A musical embossing folder for the background since my friend plays the ukulele and is in a choir.  And red poppies were a perfect choice as red is her favourite colour and she's a keen gardener.  I die cut the poppies out of watercolour paper and then wet just the flowers and sprinkled red brushos on them, and then watercoloured the stems in dark green.  I cut them twice more out of scrap cs and glued them together for substance.  I sprinkled the same red brushos on a scrap of watercolour paper and die cut the sentiment from that.

I'm also linking it to My Time to Craft Challenge "Using Die Cuts", to AAA Birthday "Anything Birthday Goes", and to Beautiful Blossoms "Anything Goes Flowers".

   

Supplies:
Paper - watercolour paper, white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black Bodacious die, Gummipan Happy Birthday die, red and green Brushos, Darice music embossing folder

Group of Seven Cardmakers - Debossed Inky Resist

This month our crafty zoom group (the Group of Seven Cardmakers) tried out a technique called Debossed Inky Resist.  It was based on a video Julia found on Splitcoaststampers:

Video:  Debossed Inky Resist (Anna-Karin Evaldsson via SplitcoastStampers)

 

Here's my card:

 

Following the instructions in the video, I lightly rubbed Versamark over the raised design side of the embossing folder.  Then placed watercolour paper inside the embossing folder and ran it through my Cuttlebug.  I sprinkled with white embossing powder and heat set.  The Versamark and embossing powder created a resist for the next step of smooshing with Distress inks.  I used Picked Raspberry, Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet, and a little bit of Bundled Sage, tapped onto my craft mat and spritzed with water.  I then smooshed the embossed panel into it until I was happy with the results.  I then repeated with the same colours in Distress Oxide inks to get a little bit of additional texture.

I finished the card with a die cut poppy (a layer of scrap cs and a top layer of cream shimmer cs) and a sentiment banner.  Added the panel to a cream card base.

 

It was a fun technique that gave nice artsy results.  I went on to make a few more backgrounds with different embossing folders and experimenting with using both the raised pattern side as in this card and with using the opposite side of the embossing folder which gives a raised ink smooshed pattern.  I'll be posting them once I've turned them into cards. 

Head on over to Group of Seven Cardmakers to see what the rest of our group made using this technique.

Supplies:
Stamps - Savvy Stamps sentiment
Ink - Distress and Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry, Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet, Bundled Sage
Paper - watercolour paper, cream shimmer cs, cream cs
Size - A2
Accessories - stitched banner die, Penny Black poppies die

California Poppies Outside and Inside

Day of the Month Card Club is celebrating California Poppy Day.  I have a friend who loves them and her birthday is coming up this weekend so made this card:

I inked up the poppies with mini Distress inks. I used just one green for the stems but three colours for the flowers letting them overlap to get a nice blend of colours, then spritzed with water, and stamped on watercolour paper. The colours didn't run as much as I'd intended but the stamp slipped out of place (even though it was in my MISTI) so I couldn't spritz again and restamp. So I don't have as much of a watercoloured look as I'd wanted.

The sentiment (a belated birthday one as the postal system won't get the card there by this weekend!) is stamped and heat embossed on vellum and wrapped around the panel. I added a thin green border.

I added a sentiment I really like to the inside of the card and then fitted the poppies around it at the bottom, inking them up with mini Distress inks, but not spritzing them like I did on the outside as they're being stamped here on cs, not watercolour paper. They didn't stamp very well over the centre crease of the card, but I think it's good enough.

 

Day of the Month Card Club "California Poppy Day"
   

 

Supplies:
Stamps - SU Pleasant Poppies, SU sentiment on the outside, TH sentiment on the inside
Ink - mini Distress Bundled Sage, Fossilized Amer, Spiced Marmalade, and Carved Pumpkin, Versafine Olympic Green, Memento Bamboo Leaves
Paper - PTI Vintage Cream cs, green cs, watercolour paper, vellum
Size - A2
Accessories - clear embossing powder

Struggling with Loose Watercolouring

CAS Mix Up wants "loose watercolouring" this month.  It's not something I'm very good at but I've given it a whirl.  Here are a couple of my attempts (and an extra card that is not loose).

I stamped and heat embossed the wildflowers in platinum - that normally keeps the watercolour painting inside the lines but in this case I started by putting down a lot of water - enough that it went outside of the embossed lines.  I added dabs of orange and yellow watercolour paints and let some of it overflow outside of the flowers.

While I had the stamp and supplies out, I did a second one but did my normal "inside the lines" watercolouring - so much easier for me to do.  I think it's a holdover from my childhood when I worked so hard at learning to paint inside the lines in my colouring books!

I made it into a very plain simple card and am feeling so-so about it.  Maybe it's just too much the "old style" of card I used to make and not interesting enough for what I like to do now!!!

My other attempt at loose watercolouring is this one:

 

I put the poppies stamp in my MISTI and inked up the flowers with an orange Tombow marker and the stems in green, spritzed the stamp and stamped on watercolour paper.  With a wet brush I pulled the orange out of the stamped lines and went in with a couple of other shades of orange markers and a wet brush.  By the time I was done, I'd lost all the lines and definition of the flowers so put the paper back in the MISTI and restamped the flowers with a dark brown ink.  Not sure how I feel about this but I finished it off as a birthday card for a friend who loves orange.

Will I do much loose watercolouring in future?  Maybe, but maybe not.  I love watercolouring images for my cards but I think I'm too rigid or particular to really go with the looser style!  But I loved having the CAS Mix Up challenge to make me try a couple of techniques I wouldn't otherwise have tried!

So an interesting day of making three cards, none of which thrill me.  I'll be back to Christmas cards with my next post and hopefully feeling more confident!

CAS Mix-Up

 

 

Supplies for card 1 and 2:
Stamps - Indigo Blue wildflowers, SU sentiment on card 2
Ink - ColorBox Gold
Paper - watercolour paper, cream cs, dull gold shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, platinum embossing powder, fun foam, SU label punch on card 2

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Penny Black poppies, SU sentiment
Ink - Archival Potting Soil
Paper - watercolour paper, cream and dark brown cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Tombow markers, MFT wonky stitched rectangle die, Spellbinders tag die, twine, fun foam, gems

One Christmas Card and One Birthday Card

I'm sorry to have been so missing in action.  I was crazy busy getting ready for my fundraiser where I sell cards and shortbread to make money to donate to the therapeutic riding where I volunteer - I made many many batches of shortbread (and even so, sold out!).  And most of the Christmas cards made by myself (and those donated by Loll, Christine, and Trina - so grateful for their generosity) also sold.  I needed a week off after that!

But now I want to get a post done for a couple of challenges that are ending soon.

First up a Christmas card for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown's Technique Challenge "Watercolour":

 

I stamped the image in brown archival ink and watercoloured it. I did a blue wash around it and added glitter to the snow on the berries and branch. I used shimmery copper cs for the base and die cut sentiment. The panel is popped up on fun foam for dimension. 

On to the birthday card, for Seize the Birthday "A Touch of Red":

 

I inked up the raised parts of an embossing folder with Versamark and used it to emboss watercolour paper.  I then added a clear sparkly embossing powder.  Using red watercolour paints, I watercoloured the flowers and buds.  I then bordered with red cs and popped it up on the card base.  I added two little flower embellishments on each side of the sentiment.

Be back soon with more Christmas cards!

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Stampendous bird
Ink - Archival Potting Soil
Paper - watercolour paper, copper shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, glitter, small noel die, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Memory Box sentiment
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark
Paper - watercolour paper, red and cream cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Darice embossing folder, sparkly embossing powder, watercolour paints, small flower embellishments, fun foam

Two Cards for Challenges

First up today is a card for the Color Challenge:

There's something kind of muted about those colours that really appeals to me.  Here's my card:

I applied various Distress inks with my Clarity brushes. I'm really happy with the blend of colours. I flicked some water on it to add texture and interest, and when dry, stamped two of the three sentiments. The third sentiment I stamped on a scrap of white cs, die cut it, and threaded ribbon through the die. The panel is bordered with black and popped up on fun foam.

Next up, The Flower Challenge "Use Your Favourite Flower":

Being a keen gardener, I have many favourite flowers so this is my second entry for the challenge (could do many more if I had time!!).  This time I went with poppies:

I love all kinds of poppies.  This image makes me think of the bright orange California poppies that grow in a patch of leftover soil out in my back lane - every year they reseed themselves and look so lovely and cheerful.

I stamped and heat embossed the flowers and sentiment, then watercoloured and splattered with a bit of the orange.  I trimmed the panel and went around the edges with Distress Antique Linen.  For a background panel, I stenciled dots with Antique Linen on white cs, then used a cream cs for the base.  The focal image is popped up on fun foam.  A few stick-on pearls are in the centres of the flowers and scattered among the dots.

Thanks for coming by today!

Supplies for card 1:

Stamps - Chocolate Baroque sentiments

Ink - Archival Jet Black, various Distress inks

Paper - white and black cs

Size - A2

Accessories -  Rebecca Baer stencil, purple ribbon, label die, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:

Stamps - Penny Black poppies, Rosie's Roadshow sentiment

Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Antique Linen

Paper - watercolour paper, white and cream cs

Size - A2

Accessories - detail clear embossing powder, Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, dot stencil, fun foam

Flower Garden Twofer

Sneaking in under the wire for this month's Twofer Challenge "Garden".

 

I used a stamp that looks like one of my flower beds - a bit overgrown and chaotic!

 

Here's the first card, a thank you card:

I stamped and heat embossed the image in white on kraft cs and then coloured the poppies with a white coloured pencil.  I cut the image into three even sections and carefully spaced them on a linen card base.  Finished off by adding a sentiment die cut from a snippet of kraft cs.

The second one is a birthday card:

This time I stamped the image in black archival ink on watercolour paper and watercoloured the poppies in red.  I trimmed the panel and added strips of red cs to the two ends so that it would be perfectly centred on the cream card base.  I popped it up on fun foam for some dimension and added a drop of black enamel to the centre of each poppy.

Thanks, Darnell, for a great theme - perfect for me as I'm a passionate gardener!

Supplies for card one:

Stamps - IndigoBlu flowers

Ink - ColorBox white

Paper - cream linen cs, kraft cs

Size - 6x4.25"

Accessories - white embossing powder, Tattered Lace sentiment die

Supplies for card two:

Stamps - IndigoBlu flowers, PTI sentiment

Ink - Archival Jet Black

Paper - watercolour paper, cream and red cs

Size - 6.25x3.5"

Accessories - watercolour paints, fun foam, black enamel liquid dots