Snow Day

Well, Vancouver got one of its rare heavy snowfalls and everything I planned to do today is cancelled.  So a good time to get a blog post done before some of the challenges I like end.

First up, for the ABC Christmas Challenge "B is for Buildings" and My Time to Craft "Make It Male" (I figure buildings and dark colours make for quite a masculine card):

I started with the background - used a circle die to cut a round mask for the moon and a hilly slopes die for the snowy ground (both cut out of masking paper). Then splattered masking fluid on the sky for snow. Then sponged with two shades of blue Distress ink, leaving it lighter around the moon. Once the ink was dry, I removed the paper masks and rubbed off the masking fluid. I die cut the buildings and trees out of black cs and added them to the background. Finished off by using white gouache on a fine paint brush to add snow to the roofs.

Shopping our Stash wants "crafty remnants" - things out on our desks leftover from previous projects.  

For some reason, I'd die cut a lot of deer before Christmas and they were all still sitting there unused.  I also had an odd-sized background made with emboss-resist trees and some blue sponging.  So I thought the deer could prance across in front of the trees.  And I added a sentiment in a similar shade of blue as the sponged sky.

 

 





Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Make an Impression sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Chipped Sapphire and Dusty Concord
Paper - white and black cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - masking fluid, masking paper, SSS Winter Village dies, circle die, hilly slope die, Dr Phil Martin's bleed-proof white gouache

Supplies:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - various blue Distress inks, Versamark
Paper - white and brown cs
Size - A2
Accessories - deer die cuts, clear embossing powder

Festive Bear, Red and Kraft Valentine, and Snowy Horses

Three cards again today - I was home all day (that's rare for me) so spent the afternoon making a few cards to enter in challenges before they close.

First up for Festive Friday "National Winnie the Pooh Day".  My card has nothing to do with Winnie the Pooh but it uses five of the elements from Festive Friday's list - brown, yellow, red, bear, and colouring techniques (I used coloured pencils with Gamsol).  It's also for The Twelve Months of Christmas "Polar Bears".

I stamped the image in dark brown then coloured with coloured pencils, using lots of red, yellow, and brown.  I blended the shading on the bear with Gamsol and blending stumps.  I trimmed it with a stitched square, bordered with brown cs, and added it to a square card base.

Next up the first of the Valentines I make every year for my best friend (she orders 10 every year).  She loves seeing text on the background of the cards.  It's for The Color Hues Challenge "Red and Kraft".

The background is a kraft dp printed with old fashioned script.  I topped it with a die cut heart duo and die cut sentiment, and added it to a matching red card base.

And back to Christmas cards, for Jingle Belles "Something Old, Something New" and Simply Clean and Simple "Something New".  I used a new horse stamp I hadn't yet used (so I'm also linking it up with the NBUS Challenge) and a snowflake background stamp I've had for many years.

I stamped snowflake background in pale blue, then stamped the horses below it. Added a sentiment, trimmed the panel with a square die, bordered with black cs, and used a quickie glue pen and glitter along all the snowy lines on the fence.

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - SU Bearing Gifts
Ink - Versafine Clair Fallen Leaves
Paper - white and brown cs
Size - 4.5" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, Gamsol, Lil Inkers stitched square die

Supplies for card 2:
Paper - red cs, kraft script dp
Size - 6.25x3.25"
Accessories - Tim Holtz love die, Poppy Stamps Heart String die

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Cardio horses, Penny Black sentiment, Impression Obsession snowflake background
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Broken China
Paper - white and black cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - square dies, glitter

 

Christmas Birds and Snow Dust

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

I treated myself to a Penny Black stamp I'd been eyeing for a while (even though I have more than enough Christmas bird stamps - but I just can't resist them!).

I bought it not realizing how big it is - hard to use on a regular A2 card so this is quite a bit larger.  I kept it simple - stamped and watercoloured, trimmed with my Tim Holtz deckle edge trimmer, and added to a red card base.  I added Glossy Accents to all the berries.

It's for a few challenges - Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Christmas", NBUS, Christmas Cards All Year Round "Anything Christmas", Shopping Our Stash "Winter Holidays", and Triple B "Birds, Butterflies, and Blooms".

A second card today is for two challenges - Double D "Winter / Snow Scene".  I was inspired by the beautiful blue and white of the snowy scenes in their mood board (see below).  And for Stamping Sensations "Favourite Colours" - my absolute favourite colour is blue, and I love blue and white together.

I stamped the trees with Versamark and heat embossed with a glitter white embossing powder. Then added a mask to create a snow bank and sponged two shades of blue Distress ink over the panel. The sentiment is die cut from white shimmer cs and stacked twice for dimension. The panel is popped up on fun foam on a white shimmer card base.

     

 

       

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black birds, SU sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, dark red cs
Size - 5.5x4.75"
Accessories - watercolour paints, Tim Holtz deckle edge trimmer, Glossy Accents

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black Snow Dust
Ink - Versamark, Distress Stormy Sky and Chipped Sapphire
Paper - white cs, white shimmer cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Penny Black winter die, Judikins White Diamond embossing powder, fun foam

Embossed and Stencilled Snow

I live in Vancouver, Canada and we normally have mild rainy winters but we've already had two periods of extra cold snowy weather.  So this card is perfect for what I see when I look out my windows.

The background for the focal panel was done with blue acrylic paint and a dotted stencil on a gelli plate. I die cut the house / trees and stuck a small piece of gold cs behind the windows of the house, then stamped and heat embossed my sentiment on it, and bordered it with the same gold cs. I ran the card base through a dotted embossing folder.

Tic Tac Toe Challenge - I chose the top horizontal row of snow, stencil, tree.

Time Out Challenge - winter / holiday

 

 

Supplies:
Stamps - PB sentiment
Ink - ColorBox gold
Paper - white and gold cs
Size - A2
Accessories - gold embossing powder, Cuttlebug dotted embossing folder, blue acrylic paint, dotted stencil, house / tree die

Frosty Thank You

A card for the Addicted to CAS Challenge "Frosty":

 

Here's my card:

 
I started by splattering masking fluid with a toothbrush onto watercolour paper. Then I stamped and heat embossed the tree line in white. I thoroughly wet the piece and dropped in various blue Distress inks, helping them move into the little spaces between the trees with a wet paintbrush. When dry, I rubbed off the masking fluid, revealing the snowstorm.

A simple heat embossed sentiment stamped on a scrap of cs and die cut with a label die (because when I originally stamped it directly onto the card base, I stamped it crooked). And a bit of fun foam behind the panel for some dimension.

A very appropriate card for this past week in Vancouver - lots of snow and colder than normal temperatures!

Supplies:
Stamps - Tim Holtz tree line, Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - ColorBox Colonial Blue and Frost White, various blue Distress inks
Paper - watercolour paper, white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - clear and white embossing powder, masking fluid, label die, fun foam

Wild Horse and Snowy Woods

I'm on a horse theme these days.  Here's another:

I splattered a piece of watercolour paper with Liquid Frisket to create snowflakes drifting down in the sky.

I stamped and heat embossed the horse, then took some brown watercolour paint and filled in the open areas of its body.

I created a mask for the snowy hill and stamped and heat embossed the trees so that they were not in the foreground. Leaving the mask in place, I sponged the sky.

I removed the liquid frisket, added a sentiment, and put white glitter on some of the tree branches, the upper line of the snow and behind each hoof as if the horse was kicking up snow as he galloped.

It's being linked up with the following challenges:

The Paper Players "Into the Woods" - I like to think the horse is galloping into the woods to shelter from the snow.

Christmas Kickstart "Snow"

Krafty Chicks Challenge "Winter"

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Local King Rubber Stamp mustang, Tim Holtz trees, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Versafine Vintage Sepia and Olympic Green, Distress Stormy Sky
Paper - white cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - liquid frisket, clear embossing powder, white glitter, brown watercolour paint

A Silhouette, an Animal, and Velocity

Combining a few challenges with this card!

ABC Christmas Challenge "V is for Velocity"

Double D Challenge "Silhouettes"

Jingle Belles "Rudolph and Friends"  (any animal)

Double D Challenge has a mood board to inspire us:



I was inspired by the sleigh but went with a horse drawn sleigh silhouette instead.  And I think horses could be friends with Rudolph for the Jingle Belles challenge!

The background is made with the embossing folder stamping technique - inking up one side of the embossing folder, spritzing a little, and then stamping it onto either watercolour paper or mixed media cs. I used various shades of blue mini Distress inks - it's easier to get more colour variation with the mini inks.

Then stamped and heat embossed the image and sentiment. To add snow to the ground, I rubbed my Versamark pad along the bottom edge and heat embossed with a sparkly white embossing powder. Some of the powder got onto the horses and sleigh but I left it there when heating as it gives a sense of powdery snow blowing up from the ground onto them as the horses move through it - the "velocity" for the ABC Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:

Stamps - TH sleigh, Stampabilities sentiment

Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, various blue mini Distress inks, Versamark

Paper - watercolour paper, PTI Vintage Cream cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder, clear embossing powder, Judikins White Diamond embossing powder, fun foam

A Small Amount of Embossing

Less is More is asking for less than one third of the card to be either heat or dry embossed:

I went with a narrow strip of dry embossing under my image.

I thought that the dry embossed wavy line of snowflakes echoed the slopes and piles of snow, the plumes of smoke, and the snowflakes drifting down among the houses.  I chose a sentiment with a font with some wavy lines to complement everything.

The image is coloured with coloured pencils and Gamsol. I bordered it in black and popped it up on fun foam. 

Supplies:

Stamps - Serendipity village, Stampabilities sentiment

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - white and black cs

Size - A2

Accessories - coloured pencils, Gamsol, snowflake embossing folder border, fun foam

Snowman in a Snowstorm

The Double D challenge is Let It Snow, and it's definitely snowing on this card.  The snowman looks like he's raising his arms and saying "it's still snowing and has been snowing forever".

I stamped the snowman and coloured him and the ground beneath him with Tombow Markers. I used the Falling Snow stencil and Snowflake paste to add the snowstorm around him. And put a bit of glitter on the ground.

No snow here in Vancouver where I live.  A decent dry day today after a horrid damp drizzly one yesterday.  Those of you with sunshine and sparkly snow, get outside and enjoy it for me!

Supplies:

Stamps - Old Island Stamp Co. snowman, Northwoods sentiment

Ink - Archival Jet Black

Paper - white and blue cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - SSS Falling Snow stencil, Finnabair Snowflake paste, Tombow markers, glitter

Horses and Sleigh on the Move

It's pouring with rain today so got a card done for the AAA Cards challenge:

I love the Tim Holtz stamp of horses pulling a sleigh - it has a great sense of movement:

The background is made with the embossing folder stamping technique - inking up one side of the embossing folder, spritzing a little, and then stamping it onto either watercolour paper or mixed media cs.  I used various shades of blue mini Distress inks - it's easier to get more colour variation with the mini inks.

Then stamped and heat embossed the image and sentiment.  To add snow to the ground, I rubbed my Versamark pad along the bottom edge and heat embossed with a sparkly white embossing powder.  Some of the powder got onto the horses and sleigh but I left it there when heating as it gives a sense of powdery snow blowing up from the ground onto them as the horses move through it.

It would be lovely to be out on a snowy day in a horse-drawn sleigh - sounds much more inviting than going out in today's heavy rain!!

Supplies:

Stamps - Tim Holtz sleigh, Stampabilities sentiment

Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Versamark, various blue Distress inks

Paper - white cs, Mixed Media cs

Size - 6x4.25"

Accessories - Cuttlebug embossing folder, Judikins White Diamond embossing powder

White Snow, White Trees

The April challenge at Christmas Cards All Year Round is to use all white.

And SCS's Inspiration Challenge sent us to the Carlyle Avenue website.  I found these white trees for inspiration:

I had the perfect set of evergreen tree dies in various sizes to use to create this card:

I die cut 5 trees, stacking some of them 3 layers high and some just 2 layers. I added them to a dry embossed background with a small sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black sentiment

Ink - Distress Oxide Hickory Smoke

Paper - white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Memory Box Evergreen Trees dies, SU embossing folder

Turquoise Sky, Robin Redbreast

This week's Merry Monday challenge is "Red and Turquoise":

I chose to use one of my favourite new bird stamps, and set him against a turquoise sky:

I started by stamping the bird.  I put the stamp in my MISTI and inked it up with various browns and reds, going over it several times until happy with the colours. I then stamped with Versarmark and heat embossed the robin to create a resist for my background sponging.

I tore a couple of paper masks for snowbanks, sponged my background and the snow shadow, and then splattered with water and white acrylic paint.

Finished off by adding the sentiment and bordering with red cs.


I made a second version, very similar, but with a die cut sentiment and no border.

I had some tiny die cut letters that spell "merry" left from something else so glued them above the robin and popped the panel up on fun foam.

Thanks for dropping by today!

Supplies:

Stamps - Darkroom Door robin,

Ink - various red and brown Memento Dew Drops for robin; Distress Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon, Broken China, and Faded Jeans; Versamark

Paper - mixed media cs, PTI Vintage Cream cs, red cs

Size - A2

Accessories - clear embossing powder, white acrylic paint, leftover die cut letters, fun foam