Winter Chill

A very straightforward card made with a few challenges in mind:

SCS CAS Challenge "Take the Chill Off" - a card depicting how you would  take the chill of winter off.

The Paper Players "Sweet Treats".

And Jingle Belles "Bring Us Some Figgy Pudding" - any kind of holiday food or drink.

I stamped my image on watercolour paper, coloured with Inktense watercolour pencils, trimmed it and mounted it on cream cs. Added the sentiment, bordered in black, and used a blue card base.

It's making me want to curl up on the couch with a good book and a pot of tea (can't stand coffee!).

Supplies:

Stamps - Stamplorations

Ink - Archival Jet Black

Paper - watercolour paper, black, cream, and blue cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Inktense watercolour pencils

The Great Outdoors

Today I have a card for a few challenges:

The Male Room - "The Great Outdoors"

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - "Colouring"

Penny Black - "Creative Christmas Challenge"

I used Jill Foster's technique seen in this video.

I put the image in the MISTI and coloured the different parts of the image with various small Distress inks (in the video, Jill Foster uses Distress markers - either are fine). When all was stamped, I restamped it all with Versamark and heat embossed in clear. That way I had a resist for sponging the sky, the sunset, and the snow.

I made a small sentiment banner out of kraft cs and mounted the panel on fun foam on a kraft card base.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black image and sentiment

Ink - various small Distress inks, Versamark

Paper -  kraft and white cs

Size - A6

Accessories - clear embossing powder, fun foam

Cup of Christmas Cheer

Squeaking in at the last minute for Merry Monday's Inspiration Challenge:

I have a great new stamp that seemed perfect for the challenge.

I stamped and watercoloured, trimmed the panel, and popped it up on some Christmas sentiment dp.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps - Stamplorations

Ink - Archival Jet Black

Paper - watercolour paper, linen cs, unknown dp

Size - A2

Accessories - Gansai Tambi paints, fun foam

Tiny Images

CASology has a fun challenge this week:

It gave me the perfect opportunity to use a long neglected little stamp I have had for years - an image of a tiny tree and two very tiny birds.

I stamped the image and then coloured with coloured pencils.  I used a silver coloured pencil for the outer ring, but its shimmer doesn't show up in the photo.  I die cut the image with a stitched circle die.

I die cut a stitched rectangle for a background piece to keep the look of the stitching, and stamped my quite tiny sentiment on it.  The image is popped up on fun foam for a bit more dimension.

I used a Quickie glue pen to go over the snow on the tree, the snowflakes in the sky, and the snow lines on the ground.  It's so darn hard to get glitter to photograph well, even when I tried to capture it with this close-up:

I'm also linking up to November's CAS Mix Up challenge "Glitter".

I have stamping, glitter, coloured pencils, and die cutting.  The challenge is open until November 24 if you want to join in.

Supplies:

Stamps - Northwoods image, A Muse sentiment

Ink - Archival Jet Black

Paper - white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - coloured pencils, Lil Inkers stitched circle and rectangle dies, Quickie glue pen, SU Dazzling Diamonds glitter, fun foam

Perfect Winter Holiday

The new Less is More challenge is:

I once rented a cabin with friends in the winter and we nestled in with our books, some jigsaw puzzles, lots of good food and wine, and spent our days relaxing by the fire after going out for lovely walks in the perfect sparkly snow.  It was heavenly!

Here's my card:

I chose a stamp of a little cabin with very distinct smoke coming out of its chimney so I'm sure there's a lovely warm fire inside.

I did some minimal colouring with Copics, then went over all the snowy bits on the roof, ground, and trees with a Quickie glue pen and added glitter. Because it's a small image, I used a very fine glitter - it doesn't show up very well in the photo, but it's quite sparkly in real life.

The sentiment makes it work for either a Christmas card or a winter notecard.

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black cabin, PTI sentiment

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - white and green cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Copic markers, Spellbinders deckle rectangle die, Quickie glue pen, glitter

A Winter Birthday

I made this card for my niece who lives in Ontario where they have snowier winters than we have here in Vancouver (and in fact, they have been having snowstorms the last few days). 

A simple heat embossing resist, done in white on watercolour paper, then a blue watercolour wash around the trees, a heat embossed sentiment, and some splatters of white acrylic paint. The watercolour paper warped badly from the wash, so I stuck it down on fun foam to help straighten it out.

For those of you in the snowier parts of the world, stay warm!!

Supplies:

Stamps - SU Lovely as a Tree, SU sentiment

Ink - ColorBox Frost White, Versafine Onyx Black

Paper - watercolour paper, white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - white and clear embossing powders, Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, white acrylic paint, fun foam

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

CASEing Loll's Tag

My good friend, Loll Thompson, is the Featured Artist at Tag You're It.  Here's her tag:

The challenge is to CASE her tag.  Here's what I made:

I changed Loll's sponged sky to a sprayed sky, using blue and green Lindy's sprays (quite sparkly IRL).  I used my Tim Holtz tree line die, and stamped and heat embossed the sentiment at the bottom.  I went over the trees and the snow line with a Quickie glue pen and sprinkled with glitter.  It's very CAS and I keep thinking it needs something more but not sure what.

Thanks for looking.

Supplies:

Stamps -  Rubber Soul sentiment

Ink - ColorBox aqua

Paper - mixed media and white cs

Accessories - Die-namics tag die, aqua ribbon, Tim Holtz tree line die, Lindy's blue and green sprays, clear embossing powder

Relaxing and Winter Knitting

I've got three cards today on the theme of relaxing.  I did them for SCS challenges - the Free for All challenge "Relax" and one of the suggested themes for the Christmas Card Challenges "anything that speaks of relaxation such as a cozy fire, a cabin in the woods, a relaxing activity, etc."

I did two variations using the Penny Black winter cottage stamp - it looks like an ideal place to relax in the winter.

Both are stamped and watercoloured, and framed with a pierced frame die.  The first one is  added to a stitched layer. It's popped up on fun foam on the card base.  The second one is flat on the card with a sweet little vertical sentiment.  Lastly I took a Quickie glue pen and went over all the snow areas and added very fine glitter.

One of my favourite ways to relax in the winter is knitting. I find the repetitive motion very soothing.  So my third card is on the theme of knitting.

For this card, I used the Tim Holtz stencil with white embossing paste on a piece of blue cs to create the background. I stamped my image and coloured with coloured pencils to match the colours of the background, then die cut with a stitched circle. The background panel is popped up on fun foam for some dimension.

It's not truly a Christmas card but it represents my ideal Christmas sweater so it's going to be my Christmas card for a friend who knits.

Thanks for stopping by today.  If you have a second, please let me know which layout you prefer for the winter cottage card.

Supplies:

Stamps -  Penny Black Christmas Cottage, Rubber Soul sentiment (first card) and Rosie's Roadshow sentiment (second card), Lockhart Stamp Co. knitting stamp

Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black

Paper - white, brown, and blue cs, watercolour paper

Size - A2

Accessories - MFT pierced frame dies, Peerless watercolour paints, Quickie glue pen, glitter, fun foam, Tim Holtz stencil, Dreamweaver white embossing paste, Lil Inker stitched circle, coloured pencils

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

It's already September and Christmas is fast approaching!  So why not join in the Christmas challenge at Happy Little Stampers?  This month the challenge is to be inspired by or base your card on a Christmas song.

I decided it was the perfect opportunity to ink up a brand new stamp that has not only an image to fit the words, but even has the song title as part of the stamp.

I stamped with archival ink on watercolour paper, then painted with Distress inks.  I kept the colours of the children's clothing quite muted as I wanted to stick to the vintage look of the stamp.

I popped it up on a piece of fun foam for dimension, then took my Quickie glue pen and glitter and went over the snowflake dots and splotches.

It's quite sparkly in real life, but hard to capture in a photo.

Come over to Happy Little Stampers and check out the other songs that inspired the Design Team, and then link up your card!  You have until the end of the month and you might win a discount for the Happy Little Stampers' shop.

Supplies:

Stamps - Crafty Individuals image, Make an Impression sentiment

Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black; various Distress inks for colouring the image

Paper - watercolour paper, white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Quickie glue pen, SU Dazzling Diamonds glitter, fun foam

Wells Cathedral in Winter

This week's Merry Monday challenge, "Take Me to Church", inspired me to use a stamp I borrowed from a friend.  It depicts Wells Cathedral in England on a wintery day.

I stamped it in grey wanting to keep the whole thing wintery and subdued.  Then I coloured using coloured pencils and some gamsol for blending the colours.

I trimmed it and framed it with a pierced frame die cut.  After mounting it on the card base, I went over all the snowy parts with a Quickie glue pen and added glitter.  It's lovely and sparkly in real life - more so than I managed to pick up in the photo.

Another one for my Christmas stash!

Supplies:

Stamps: Art Kure "Winter in Wells", Rubber Soul sentiment

Paper: white cs

Paper Size: A2

Ink: Memento London Fog

Accessories: coloured pencils, Gamsol, MFT pierced frame die

A Beautiful Colour Combination

This week's 52 Christmas Card Countdown is to make a card with blue, cream, and gold - love that colour combination!

 

I had a die cut gold Merry Christmas sitting in my extra pieces box so started with that. It works really well with the Rubbernecker winter trees stamp as the stamp has a flat bottom - perfect to edge with that sentiment die!

I inked up the stamp with two shades of blue ink, stamped on cream cs, added glue and glitter to the trees, and finished off with some die cut gold Christmas stars.

Thanks for dropping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: Rubbernecker

Paper: cream and gold cs

Paper Size: A2

Ink: Distress Faded Jeans and Chipped Sapphire

Accessories: Impression Obsession sentiment die, Memory Box star dies, Quickie glue pen, glitter, foam tape

Mixed Media Winter Colours

It's time for another Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media challenge.  This month it is "stencil".

Vancouver has had a week of chilly sunny frosty weather and the early morning sky has been the loveliest colours of pale blue with some pale pink in it.  I decided to try and capture those colours in my card.

 

I started by stencilling a partial background of snowflakes using a stencil made for me by my great card-making friend, Loll Thompson.  I used Viva Decor's Holographic Iridescent glitter paste.

Then I used a technique I learned from Loll to colour some mixed media cardstock - floating alcohol ink - using a blue and a pink alcohol inks.  When dry I spritzed it with sparkle spray (which I couldn't get to show up in the photo).  I die cut the sentiment and the top border of snowflakes from it and from scrap white cs, and glued them together to give more substance to the die cuts.

I bordered it with glitter cs and kept it flat as I'm mailing it to the UK and didn't want to add to the postage.

You've got until the end of the month to join in so please use a stencil to make a mixed media card and bring it over to Happy Little Stampers for the chance to win a set of Happy Little Stampers stamps.

Supplies:

Viva Decor Holographic Iridescent glitter paste, homemade snowflake stencil, Memory Box Frosted Border die, Penny Black winter wishes die, Adirondack Alcohol Inks Sailboat Blue and Pink Sherbert, glitter cs, white cs, mixed media cs

"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

Happy Little Stampers Christmas Tag

Hello All,

It's time for the November Christmas challenge at Happy Little Stampers.  This month the challenge is "Tag".

I find making tags quite a challenge - it's a smaller canvas and a different shape to a regular A2 card.  But I was happy with how this one turned out (and it's in my favourite colour combination of blue, silver, and white!).

I started with a blank white tag and sponged it with Distress inks.  When dry, I used a tiny snowflake stencil and went over it with Pearlescent embossing paste.

I set that aside to dry while I die cut the trees out of white cs and the word "winter" out of self-adhesive silver paper.  I very lightly rubbed a green coloured pencil over the trees, then added the dies and white layers to the tag.

Finally I added glue to the hilltops and trees, and sprinkled on glitter.  The ribbon is hard to see, but it is blue, with silver threads that match the sentiment.

Thanks for dropping by, and please join us by making Christmas tag for the Happy Little Stampers challenge.  You have until the end of November to enter.

I'm adding this tag to Loll Thompson's Twelve Tags of Christmas event.  This is for mixed media Christmas tags and is open for entries until November 22nd.  Every day from now until November 15th, Loll will be posting one of her tags alongside two tags by guest designers.  I'm honoured to be a guest designer on November 14th.   So watch for another tag from me that day!

Supplies:
Paper - premade white tag, white cs, silver self-adhesive paper
Ink - Distress Broken China and Faded Jeans
Size - 4.75"x2.5"
Accessories - Memory Box stencil, Dreamweavers Pearlescent embossing paste, blue and silver ribbon, Stampendous Crystal Snow glitter, Tim Holtz "winter" die, Memory Box trees die, green coloured pencil