Flowery Thanks and Father Christmas

I needed a change from all the Christmas cards I've been making lately.  For the Flower Challenge and for My Time to Craft - both challenges are looking for thank you cards.

 A friend gave me some very wide washi tape. I wasn't sure what to do with it so stuck some on a piece of cs, went over it with a light gesso wash so that I could stamp on it, then stamped some very pale script and a darker flower. Then I went over the flower with gouache paints to give them some colour. Added two gemstones to the panel and one to the flower, and bordered it with black cs and added a vertical Thank You stamp.

My second card has to be a Christmas one as it's coming up on us very quickly!  Inkspirational wants to see Santa.  I dug out one of my older stamps, SU's Father Christmas - I love this old-fashioned looking Santa.

I stamped the Santa in the centre of an A2 panel of Bristol cs and coloured with coloured pencils.  Then embossed it with the Snowflake Frame embossing folder - it fits perfectly!  I added the panel to a chalk white card base.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Hero Arts sentiment, Lime Citron script stamp, Magenta flowers
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne, Memento London Fog
Paper - white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - wide washi tape, gesso, gouache paints, gemstones

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU Father Christmas, SSS sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - bristol cs, chalk white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, Ultimate Crafts Snowflake Frame embossing folder

Three Variations on a Vintage Rose

I've never used washi tape before (and hardly have any) but I do have some by Tim Holtz so pulled out his rose design tape to use for this week's SCS Ways to Use It challenge "Tape, Tape, and More Tape".

I stamped the image in brown archival ink and then watercoloured it by pressing a bit of various Distress inks on an acrylic block and picking it up with water and a brush. I sponged around the edges of the panel with Distress Frayed Burlap as it is close to the background colour in the washi tape.

Added a sentiment and a few champagne coloured pearls.

As well as using the washi tape, I used a rose stamp I've had for years and never used. And a new sentiment stamp I got recently. So everything on the card (with the exception of the inks and the pearls) are "NBUS" so I'm adding my card to Darnell's NBUS challenge.

And because the rose is watercoloured in pink and green, I'm also adding it to the CAS Watercolour challenge ("pink and green").


The Flower Challenge has a sketch challenge this month.  I don't really like sketch challenges but I had the idea that I could use an earlier stamping and watercolouring of the same rose stamp that had a smudge down at the bottom.  I cut out the flower with a circle die, cut another circle in blue to match the dragonfly, and placed it over some pink dp with a bit of blue in it.  Die cut the sentiment and added a few pearls. 

And one more with the same stamp that I've made for a friend whose birth month flower is the rose and whose favourite colour is yellow.  This time I coloured with copics and sponged the edges with the same archival ink I had stamped with.  I wanted to use my rose embossing folder with it.  It is a British ef so its proportions are different to our North American A2 cards.  I tried to trim it down to fit an A2 card base but it looked wrong so I cut a British size card and it works way better.  The overall card is the same width but taller.  I added a few heart-shaped gemstones to tie the colours in the focal panel to the rest of the card.

Nice to get three cards done for my stash!                                          

Supplies for card 1:

Stamps - Hampton Art rose, Chocolate Baroque sentiment

Ink - Ranger Archival Potted Soil; Distress Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick, Peeled Paint, Pine Needles, and Frayed Burlap

Paper - watercolour paper, cream cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Tim Holtz washi tape, pearls, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:

Stamps - Hampton Arts rose

Ink - Ranger Archival Potting Soil; Distress Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick, Peeled Paint, Pine Needles

Paper - watercolour paper, cream cs, My Mind's Eye dp

Size - A2

Accessories - pearls, blue marker, Spellbinders circle dies, Tattered Lace sentiment die

Supplies for card 3:

Stamps - Hampton Arts rose, Hero Arts sentiment

Ink - Ranger Archival Potting Soil

Paper - cream and white cs

Size - 6x4.25"

Accessories - Copic markers, heart shaped gems, Crafts Too embossing folder