Colour Challenges

I don't know how you feel about colour challenges but I do very few of them - I really have to like the colours to be inspired to do them.  The new 52 Christmas Card Throwdown is a colour challenge - red, kraft, and white.  That's a combination I really happen to like so I made this card for it.

Kraft card base, die cut kraft tree (cut twice and glued together for more dimension), a white focal panel cut with a stitched rectangle die, and then lovely bits of red for the stamped sentiment and the die cut cardinals.

Then I needed a masculine birthday card and thought the Seize the Birthday challenge of green and one other colour (I chose black to keep it masculine) would work.  And I was on a roll with birds so dug out another bird die.

I smooshed a background with various green Distress inks, then stamped a bit of cross-hatched texture and the sentiment on it.  I die cut the branch and bird out of black cs, glued it on the green panel and popped it up on fun foam for more dimension.

  

I'm curious - if you leave a comment, let me know if you like colour challenges or not.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Hero Arts sentiment
Ink - SU Real Red
Paper - kraft, red, and white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Impression Obsession tree and cardinals, Lil Inker stitched rectangle die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - A Muse sentiment, unknown cross-hatching stamp
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, various green Distress inks
Paper - white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box bird die, Sizzix branch die

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

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

Ornaments in All the Colours of the Rainbow

The new Peace on Earth Challenge has a beautiful mood board full of images in all the colours of the rainbow.  It inspired this card:

My dear friend Loll passed on the ornament tree die to me and I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to use it.  I die cut it three times and glued them together for dimension.  I searched my box of backgrounds for something subtle but with enough colour 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 stick on gems in all the colours of the rainbow for the ornaments on the tree.

Here's the Peace on Earth mood board that inspired me:

There's a wonderful batch of cards by the rest of the Design Team over at Peace on Earth - please check them out and then come and join us in this challenge!

I'm also adding my card to the Jingle Belles Challenge - a card inspired by this image:

Supplies:
Stamps - Stampendous sentiment
Ink - Archival Hickory Smoke
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black ornament tree, blue spray, coloured gemstones

A Masculine Sympathy Card

For The Male Room challenge - "Use Die Cuts":

I used a tree die cut which seems appropriate for a sympathy card for a male friend.

I rustled through my box of backgrounds and found one in muted blues and greens suitable for a masculine card.  It was created with the rolling marble technique (see here for a tutorial).  I didn't have any regular round marbles so used the slightly irregular-shaped florists' marbles. I seemed to end up with more blotches than the results the tutorial shows with regular marbles.

I trimmed it down to the size I wanted and popped it up on fun foam. I die cut the tree out of brown cs and sponged the edges with Gathered Twigs ink to give a bit of definition. I added a white heat embossed sentiment over the trunk.

Supplies:
Stamps - Great Impressions sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white;  Distress Gathered Twigs;  Distress reinkers - Old Paper, Faded Jeans; ColorBox white
Paper - white and brown cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Impression Obsession Bare Tree die, white embossing powder, florists' marbles, fun foam

A Tree for the Sparkles Challenge

I'm behind on my Christmas cards that I need for my November sale so really must get going - and the various Christmas card challenges are a huge help.

Today I'm doing the Sparkles Christmas Challenge "Include a Tree".

I created a background of various green alcohol inks on Yupo.  Trimmed it down to leave a border from the white card base.

I die cut the Tim Holtz tree twice, once from white and once from gold cs.  I glued the outline to the background and then had the fun of getting all the little gold pieces into the right spots - good thing I love jigsaw puzzles.  The sentiment is cut out of the same gold.  The panel is popped up on fun foam for dimension.

Thanks for coming by on a July day to look at a Christmas card!

Supplies:

Ink - various green alcohol inks

Paper - white and gold cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Tim Holtz tree and joy dies, fun foam

White and Gold

I've done some more playing with the "encrusted jewels" technique, and put two pieces together for this card:

To make the tree and star, I die cut them out of thin chipboard, then placed them on a warm grill on top of a layer of non-stick craft mat then parchment paper.  I sprinkled them with gold embossing powders.  Once they had melted, I added multi-coloured chunky glitter pieces on top.  The melted embossing powders hold the glitter in place.  To finish it off, I melted UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) on top.  I then die cut the same two dies from fun foam and attached them immediately to the encrusted star and branch to give them a bit more body so that they wouldn't bend and crack.

I stamped and heat embossed my sentiment, scattered some Frantage Shabby White on the focal panel and heat embossed it from underneath,  then attached my two encrusted jewel pieces, and popped the panel up on fun foam.

Here's a close-up of the encrusted jewels:

The card is going off to the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown challenge - "White and Gold".

Love all the challenges out there that keep me working on my Christmas cards!

Supplies:

Stamps - Old Island Stamping Co. sentiment

Ink - ColorBox Gold

Paper - thin chipboard, white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - star and tree dies, various gold embossing powders, various glitters, UTEE, Stampendous Shabby White embossing powder, fun foam

Black and White with Red

The latest challenge from 4 Crafty Chicks is Black / White and One Other Color.  I made a very CAS Christmas card, adding red to make the black and white more festive.

A simple stamped image, an embossed tree for the background, a black border, and a red card base - I think I will make a few of them for my card sale.

I'm also taking it over to Jingle Belles "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" challenge - they want animals and birds are animals, and besides, I have a whole flock of birds on my card!

Supplies:

Stamps - Viva Decor

Ink - Archival Jet Black

Paper - black, white, and dark red cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Tim Holtz tree embossing folder

Sparkling Tree

Reminder time for CAS Watercolour where the September challenge is "Tree":

For my original Design Team card, I watercoloured the trees.  For this one, I created a watercolour background using Loll Thompson's "splash watercolour" technique (see her video here).

I used three shades of blue Distress Oxide inks to create the background, putting one at a time onto my craft mat and spritzing with water, splashing my mixed media cs into it and then drying with my heat gun.

Once I was happy with the results, I stamped the Penny Black tree and sentiment onto it, trimmed it down, and popped it up on fun foam.  Then I painstakingly added a clear gemstone to every single little circle in the image.  Here's a close-up to show all those gemstones (though the photo doesn't do it justice - the sparkle in real life is quite impressive!) and the lovely blend of splashed blues:

You have until September 24th to join us at CAS Watercolour.  Be sure to follow the theme of "tree" and keep your card clean and simple.  There's lots of inspiration from the Design Team and our wonderful Guest Designer, Ros (Mikey's Mom).

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black "Twinkling", PTI sentiment

Ink - Archival Jet Black; Distress Oxide Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire, and Weathered Wood

Paper - mixed media and white cs

Size - 4.75x6.25"

Accessories - clear gemstones, fun foam

The Last of the Fall Leaves

Time to remind you that you only have until October 24 to enter your card in the CAS Watercolour challenge:

And don't forget, it's our first birthday celebration:

And we have prizes in honour of it:

$25 Gift Certificate to Simon Says Stamp for Challenge Winner

&

$25 Gift Certificate to Simon Says Stamp for one random draw of all entries

 (must follow rules to be eligible for prizes)

Here's my reminder card:

I started by sprinkling a piece of coated cs with yellow and orange brushos and spritzing with water.   I die cut a bare-branched tree out of brown cs and glued it to this background.

Then I used the same brushos and technique on a scrap of watercolour paper.  Out of it, I die cut some little sprigs of leaves and snipped the leaves from their branches.  I glued a few leaves to the tree and glued the rest falling to the ground.

I mounted the panel on fun foam and added a sentiment underneath.  I made the card for my friend who invited me for Thanksgiving dinner.

Please head over to CAS Watercolour to see the mid-month inspiration from our Design Team and the October Guest Designer, Marcia of Marcia's Stampin Pad.

Supplies:

Stamps - Memory Box sentiment

Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa

Paper - white and brown cs, coated cs

Size - A2

Accessories - yellow and orange Brushos, Impression Obsession Bare Tree die, Ali Express tiny leaf sprig die, fun foam

Summer Revisited

The current Addicted to CAS challenge is :

One of my favourite summer memories from childhood involves warm Ontario days spending hours in an Adirondack chair (aka Muskoka chair) under a tree reading a book.  I did a variation on this card a few weeks ago evoked by the fir trees at the cottage we used to go to, but wanted to do one in memory of the Adirondack chairs we had at home under the deciduous trees in our backyard.

I stamped and heat embossed the chair, then watercoloured it and the grass and sky areas with my Gansai Tambi paint.  I stamped the sentiment and tree trunk in darker brown, and the grass and leaves in green.

 

The panel is popped up on fun foam.

 

I'm sending it to my Dad who still loves his Adirondack chair!

Supplies:

Stamps - Local King chair, Rosie's Roadshow sentiment, A Muse grass, SU tree

Ink - Recollections Chestnut pigment ink, Memento Rich Cocoa and Cottage Ivy

Paper - white cs, watercolour paper

Size - A2

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

Summer Memories

The year is flying by and it's already time for the June CAS Watercolour Challenge.  This month the theme is "summer".

I lived in Ontario from age 10 to 14, and we used to go to a summer cottage for a couple of weeks each year.  I have such a strong memory of hot days (so hot the sky seemed to go very pale from the heat), some large fir trees near a patch of lawn with Muskoka chairs (what Canadians in Ontario call Adirondack chairs) on it, and me curled up in one of those chairs reading my book in the shade of a tree.  That memory was the inspiration for this card:

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment and chair, then watercoloured it and the grass and sky areas with my Gansai Tambi paints .  I die cut the tree out of a leftover piece of green smooshed watercolour paper, and went over it with a bit more green and also some brown for the trunk.

The panel is popped up on fun foam with the tree added on top but slightly extending off the panel.

You have until June 24th to bring your summer-inspired watercoloured cards to CAS Watercolour - and please remember to keep them clean and simple!!

Supplies:

Stamps - Local King chair, Rosie's Roadshow sentiment

Ink - Recollections Chestnut pigment ink

Paper - white cs, watercolour paper

Size - 5" square

Accessories - Impression Obsession tree die, Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, clear embossing powder, fun foam