Christmas Card for a Child

Christmas Cards All Year Round wants a card for a child.  I thought this image of a dog and a cat having fun sledding was perfect.

The image is watercoloured with a little bit of very pale blue splatter, and bordered in red cs.

I'm also adding it to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge "anything Penny Black goes" and Rudolph Days Christmas Card Challenge.

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black image, SSS sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, red and cream cs
Size - 6x3.25"
Accessories - watercolour paints

Winter Fun and Spring Flowers

First up a card for the Shopping Our Stash challenge "Winter Fun":

I chose a stamp I've had for ages of old-fashioned winter sports with women having to skate in skirts and a child on an old-fashioned wooden sled. It's coloured with coloured pencils on kraft and bordered with red and mounted on a teal card base - to my eye, they are kind of old-fashioned colours that suit the image.

My second card is for a friend's birthday.  She loves blue and she loves flowers.  It's for AAA Birthday challenge "anything birthday goes":

The image is coloured with coloured pencils. I stamped the text around it in a blue / grey ink but unfortunately there was some leftover red ink on the text stamp that changed the colour in a couple of spot. I then added blue / grey sponging around the edges.

I used the thin frame die to cut into my panel and then cut the thin frame out of blue cs and put it into the gap I'd made.

I stamped and heat embossed a white sentiment on dark grey cs and trimmed it into a banner.

Shopping Our Stash challenge "Winter Fun"

 

AAA Birthday "anything birthday goes"

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Inkadinkado
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - kraft, red, and teal blue cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black bluebells, Wendy Vecchi text, Memory Box sentiment
Ink - Archival Jet Black, SSS Barely Blue, Hero Arts Soft Sky, ColorBox white
Paper - white, blue, dark grey cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, white embossing powder, SSS thin frame die

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

Pony Pulling Puppy (and Reading Books)

Sneaking in under the wire for a couple of challenges.

First up for Christmas Cards All Year Round - something starting with O or P.  My card is "P" for a pony pulling a puppy.  It's also for Cardz 4 Guyz "Things with Tails".

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

And for Day of the Month Challenge "Book Lovers' Day":

This is a very quick CAS card - an old PTI image stamped in navy, the sentiment in beige, and then the panel bordered in matching cs colours.

Thanks for dropping by today!

 

Vintage Winter Sledding

A very quick CAS card today for a couple of challenges.

 
I added drops of blue metallic ink to coated cs, spritzed with water and let it spread around, and then patted off the excess with paper towel.

Once it was dry, I stamped and heat embossed in black, trimmed the panel, and popped it up on fun foam on a linen card base.

I'm linking up with these challenges:

Christmas Kickstart Challenge - "You Sleigh Me" - sledges, sleds, and sleighs

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - "Winter Sledges"

Supplies:
Stamps - Inkadinkado
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - coated cs, off white linen cs
Size - A2
Accessories - blue metallic liquid ink, clear embossing powder, fun foam

A Cat and a Dog

Time to remind you to enter the CAS Christmas February challenge "Dogs and / or Cats".

I started by stamping my image on hot press watercolour paper.  I left it uncoloured as I wanted to try following this video by Nina Marie for the sky, though I used snowflakes instead of her circles, and I didn't keep my colours as distinct as she did.  And no point going to the trouble of colouring the image if the sky didn't work out!

I sponged a few shades of blue Distress Oxide inks across the top and down close to the image, then stencilled some snowflakes using the same inks.  I liked the end result except for where my stencil moved a bit and I ended up with blobby snowflakes but they were easily disguised by putting a die cut sentiment on top of them!   I went ahead and watercoloured the image, after deciding to keep it in tones of blues and greys.  

Because it's for our CAS challenge, I needed to have more white space than using an A2 card base would allow so used a larger size card base.  Popped it up on fun foam, and die cut the sentiment out of a dull silver cs and glued a white die cut behind the silver to give it more dimension.

I liked the technique so much that I redid it using the same image and taking more care not to let the stencil shift.  This time I used different shades of blue for the sky and a different colour scheme for the image.

 

 

I didn't need to have the white space for this card so put it on a smaller card base (but a smidge wider than an A2 - to fit a UK envelope) with a simple stamped sentiment and fun foam behind the image for dimension.

 

Which colour scheme do you prefer?

 

If you want to join us at CAS Christmas, be sure to link up by February 24th.  

 

 

 

And because the stamp is a new one that I haven't inked up before, I'm linking one of the cards up with Darnell's NBUS challenge.

And it's a Penny Black stamp, so off it goes to the Penny Black February Saturday Challenge "Anything Goes".

And the Christmas Cards All Year Round "Something that starts with C and / or D" - in my case, "cat and dog".

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black "Christmas Joy", Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne, various blue Distress Oxide inks
Paper - hot press watercolour paper, white cs, scrap of dull silver cs
Size - 7.25x5" for first card, 6.25x4.25" for second card
Accessories - Carta Bella "Falling Snowflakes" stencil, Tim Holtz "be merry" die, watercolour paints, fun foam

A Couple of Christmas Cards

Christmas Cards All Year Round is asking for "Snow Buddies".

I went with some animal friends playing 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.


And then for 12 Months of Christmas "Blooming Botanicals":

I created a background panel by stamping a flourish in grey and then sponging around the edges with the same grey ink.

The poinsettia is watercoloured with Inktense pencils and fussy cut.


Might get more posted tomorrow as it's supposed to rain so it won't be a gardening day.

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

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU Joyful Christmas, Tim Holtz sentiment, unknown flourish stamps
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Memento London Fog
Paper - white cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - Inktense watercolour pencils, gold gemstones, sparkly embossing powder

Vintage Winter Sports

The new Christmas Card Throwdown challenge is "Winter Sports".  And the SCS Inspiration Challenge is to find inspiration at the Victorian Trading Company website.  It's a great website. I went through their Christmas section and found this image of skaters and this one of kids sledding and thought about a great stamp I have of old-fashioned winter sports.

I stamped it on the smooth side of watercolour paper, watercoloured parts of it, bordered it with black cs, popped it up on fun foam, and added a bit of fun flock to the pom pom and brim of the girl's hat.

Supplies:

Stamps - Inkadinkado

Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black

Paper - watercolour paper, white and black cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, fun foam, fun flock

People in the Snow

The SCS Christmas Card Challenge proposes an optional theme each month. I try to use it for at least a couple of my quota of 10 Christmas cards a month. I got a bit behind and never finished my February quota so just made two using the February theme of "people". So I have just done a couple for that (and to finish off my quota).

This first one makes me think of Vancouver's recent weather.  I was out for a walk with the dogs the other day in what can only be called a "slush blizzard" - it was sort of snowing but really it was slush falling out of the sky.  We came home totally soaked.  I really should have carried a huge umbrella like the children on this card:

Stamped, watercoloured with Zigs, added a bit of glitter, and popped the image up on fun foam.

While I had all those supplies out, I went on and used them with a different stamp, but also one with quite a vintage look:

Same basic technique as the first card - stamped, watercoloured with my Zigs, and finished off with a bit of glitter.

The sun has come out this morning and we're all hoping we've seen the last of the snow!

Supplies:

Stamps - Crafty Individuals image and Penny Black sentiment (card 1);
Inkadinkado (card 2)

Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black

Paper - PTI cream cs, watercolour paper, black cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Zig watercolour markers, glitter, fun foam

A Horse Inspired by Mary Poppins and Other Animals

I'm building up my Christmas stash thanks to various challenges.  Here are three from SCS challenges.

First up:

For SCS Ways to Use It (use stripes in honour of Dr. Seuss Day) and SCS Free for All (be inspired by something in Mary Poppins).

One of my favourite scenes in Mary Poppins is when they ride the carousel and Mary works some magic so that the carousel horses come off the carousel and they go riding about the countryside.

The only carousel stamp I have is this one so it was a good chance to get another Christmas card done for my stash.

I used scraps of a striped dp for the Free for All challenge, bordering both sides of my image with it.

On the fur trim of the horse's blanket, I used a tinsel glitter, and on the snowflakes and flourishes around the pole, I used regular glitter.

Next up:

For SCS Clean and Simple ("Luck of the Irish " - a card that uses green for St Patrick's Day but celebrates any occasion).

The teddy bear looks pretty pleased with himself so he probably had a very successful shopping trip - maybe because he wore his lucky green scarf!

Pretty basic - watercoloured, trimmed down, bordered with a stitched green panel, and popped up on fun foam.

And last up:

For SCS Christmas Card Challenge (a theme of sledding, snowboarding, etc.).

A quick simple card to make - stamped image and sentiment, coloured with coloured pencils and Gamsol, a bit of Stickles added to the snow, bordered in black, and popped up on fun foam.

I just love making Christmas cards and, given all the snow Vancouver keeps getting, it's been easy to be in the mood for it!

Supplies for Card 1:

Stamps - Whimsy Christmas carousel horse, Old Island Stamp Co. sentiment

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - white cs, striped dp

Size - A2

Accessories - markers, Martha Stewart tinsel glitter and regular glitter, Quickie glue pen
Supplies for Card 2:

Stamps - Penny Black

Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black

Paper - watercolour paper, green and white cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - watercolour paints, Lil Inkers stitched square, fun foam

Supplies for Card 3:

Stamps - Penny Black

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - white and black cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - coloured pencils, Gamsol, Stickles, Nesties square dies, fun foam

"Jump Start" Backgrounds

Today over at Splitcoasstampers, Dini posted an interesting Mix-Ability challenge to start out a crafting session by making a bunch of backgrounds.  Then, if you like them, turn them into something shareable.  The challenge is called "Jump Start, Share Art".

I put some blue and silver Inka Gold on my craft sheet and spritzed it with some water and some homemade silver spray.   I smooshed pieces of watercolour paper and mixed media cs into it, spritzing in between each piece as needed.  I used way too much Inka Gold as I had enough on my craft sheet to make many background pieces.

 

But since I sold all of my Christmas cards at my fundraiser sale last weekend, I need to make a bunch more Christmas cards to send out myself!  So I decided these backgrounds would be perfect with simple black images stamped on them - a quick way to make lots of cards.  

Because the backgrounds were quite warped from the wet smooshing process and also a bit textured with lumpy bits of Inka Gold, I used the MISTI to stamp the images in Versafine Onyx Black - it's wonderful to have to option of restamping for a better image. I heat embossed with detail black powder.

 

Then I trimmed and mounted the images in various ways.  Here are some finished cards:

And a close-up of the owl one:

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps - Inkadinkado, Deep Red

Ink - Versfine Onyx Black

Accessories - silver and blue Inka Gold, homemade silver spray, Ranger detail black embossing powder, Bo Bunny silver glitter paste, Tim Holtz stencil, foam tape,  silver star sequins, MFT pierced frame die, SU sentiment punch

Three Unrelated Christmas Cards

I'm a big fan of Splitcoaststampers' challenges.  Two of my favourites are on a Monday - the CAS challenge and the Technique challenge.

This week's Technique challenge is "White Silhouettes".

 

I created a starry sky with a stencil, embossing paste, and a light sprinkle of glitter, then stamped and  heat embossed my image in white at the bottom.  I grounded the image with a scribbled line of white paint and added a simple die cut sentiment.

Next up is a card for the Inspiration Challenge.  We were to be inspired by an image at a Pinterest site of free printables.  I chose this image as it inspired me to ink up a stamp I've never used before.

Stamped it and then coloured bits of it with Distress inks and a water brush. Then I sponged the edges, bordered with black, and used a glue pen a mixture of gold and clear glitter (I wanted the glitter to look a bit tarnished and vintage).

And now a very basic card, also using a stamp I hadn't inked up before.  This one is for the CAS Challenge "Time to Hibernate" - use a critter that hibernates.   I made the card and then realized I see the bear as a polar bear and polar bears don't hibernate!  But I'll just think of him as a generic bear who will head off to hibernate after he's given the children a ride.

I coloured with Copics, added a smidge of glitter to the bear's hat and the ground below the bear, and die cut with a stitched square.

I love making Christmas cards so I hope you enjoy looking at them!

Supplies:

Sleigh Ride: 

Stamps -  Tim Holtz sleigh, Wordsworth sentiment 

Paper - white and black cs

Ink - ColorBox Frost White

Accessories - Simon Says Stamp star stencil, embossing paste, gold glitter, white embossing powder, Sharpie white paint pen, Spellbinders die, foam tape 

Vintage Winter:

Stamps - Inkadinkado

Paper - white, black, and kraft cs

Ink - Ranger Archival Black, various Distress inks

Accessories - glue pen, gold and clear glitter

Bear:

Stamps - SU Bearing Gifts

Paper - white and ride cs

Ink - Ranger Archival Black

Accessories - glue pen, clear glitter, Lil Inkers Stitched Square dies, Copic markers