Hedgehog and Heart

Finally getting this posted for two Penny Black challenges:

Penny Black and More "Animals, Birds, or Butterflies"

Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Love is in the Air"


The adorable Penny Black hedgehog is stamped and painted on watercolour paper.  I bordered him with a heart wreath die cut, bordered the panel with the same red, added a sentiment, and popped it up on fun foam.

I think that's it for Valentine posts.  I'll be back to Christmas cards next time!

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black hedgehog, SU sentiment
Ink - Archival Jet Black, SU Real Red
Paper - watercolour paper, white and red cs
Size - A2
Accessories - heart wreath die, watercolour paints, fun foam

No Dogs, No Horses, Just Cats - and Knitting!

Those who know me well know that I am passionate about dogs and horses but very lukewarm about cats.  I wouldn't say I dislike cats themselves, but I do hate the fact that they kill birds, and because I have bird feeders in my garden, I could never justify having a cat that went outside and I don't fancy the thought of trying to keep one indoors all the time.  So no cats for me.

But today I'm blogging two cards featuring cats!  And knitting (which is one of my other main hobbies).

First up for the ABC Christmas Challenge "C = Cat, D = Dog", (I chose "C = Cat") and for the Penny Black and More Challenge "Animals, Birds, or Butterflies", I created this card:

The Penny Black image is stamped and watercoloured with some Glossy Accents on the little light bulbs and a bit of Fun Flock on the cat's hat brim and pompom. It's trimmed with a stitched square die and popped up on fun foam.

Now that I look at the finished card, the cat came out a bit too yellow - she was meant to be more of a ginger/marmalade cat!


And for the Day of the Month Card Club "Send a Card to a Friend Day" challenge, I again went with a cat and knitting: 

Doesn't it look like the cat was about to play with the knitting and is looking up in surprise at being caught in the act?

A very CAS card - stamped, watercoloured, bordered in a matching blue, and popped up on fun foam.

It is for one of my friends who knits a lot and has a ginger cat.  We're in a knitting group together and she's a faithful attendee at the Christmas card fundraising sale I have every November, so I will send it to her to tell her how much I appreciate that support.

Phew, having survived two cards featuring cats, I definitely need to head off to my craft room and get out some dog and horse stamps!!!

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black
Ink - Archival Jet Black
Paper - red cs, watercolour paper
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, Lil Inker stitched square die, fun foam, Glossy Accents, Fun Flock

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Rubbernecker cat, Rosie's Roadshow sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, blue and white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, fun foam

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Flower and Leaf

I love the work by the wonderful Scottish Arts and Crafts designer, Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He was one of the big influences on Frank Lloyd Wright and is well known (more so in the UK) for his early 19th century furniture, decorative arts, interior decorating, etc. designs. I was lucky to get to see a lot of his work when I was in Glasgow a few years ago.

I have a set of stamps from Chocolate Baroque, featuring Mackintosh's designs.

I stamped on watercolour paper, coloured with my Gansai Tambi paints, bordered with black, and popped up on fun foam.

It will be for a friend who also loves Mackintosh - her birthday isn't till November so I hope I don't forget I've got her card made!

It's for The Flower Challenge "Add Leaves".

 

and for Seize the Birthday "Show Me Your White Space".


 

Supplies:
Stamps - Chocolate Baroque
Ink - Archival Jet Black
Paper - watercolour paper, cream and black c
Size - A2
Accessories - Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, fun foam

Black, Gold, and Cream with Hedgehogs

A Christmas card for the Just Us Girls "Black, Gold, and Cream" Color Challenge:

 

How I made it:

- stamped the image and sentiment in black on watercolour paper (which I consider cream in colour as opposed to white)

- watercoloured the image (including the stars - my Gansai Tambi watercolour paints include a metallic gold)

- trimmed the panel and bordered it with thin strips of black cs on a gold shimmer card

I love those cute hedgehogs!

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black hedgehogs, Stampabilities sentiment
Ink - Archival Jet Black
Paper - watercolour paper, gold shimmer and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Gansai Tambi watercolour paints

A Masculine Heart

My friend who buys several Valentine cards from me each year likes at least one of them to be quite masculine - not my favourite thing to create and I find it challenging.  So I went grunge, thinking that would be pretty masculine!

The image and background are all one stamp.  I stamped it on masking paper and cut out the heart so that I two separate masks.  Using my MISTI, I put the heart mask on watercolour paper, inked up the background of the stamp with Distress Black Soot, spritzed with water, and stamped.  Let it dry, then removed the heart mask, and put the background mask down.  Inked up the heart with Distress Candied Apple, spritzed, and stamped.  I got a little bit of red seepage under the masking paper but not too bad.  I used a red marker to define the edges of the heart where needed.

Stamped and heat embossed the sentiment, bordered with black cs, and popped it up on cream cs.

It's for the following challenges:
 
The Male Room Challenge "Love You"
 

Double D Challenge "Hearts"

CAS Watercolour Challenge "Red and Black"
 

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day!

Supplies:
Stamps - SU sentiment, Impression Obsession heart
Ink - Distress Black Soot and Candied Apple
Paper - cream and black cs, watercolour paper
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - clear embossing powder, masking paper, fun foam

Joy of a Little Dog

The CAS Christmas Challenge is asking for "Joy" this month.  One of the great joys in my life is Tessa, my sweet English Cocker Spaniel.

Penny Black makes some lovely stamps that have a very spaniel-like dog that reminds me of Tessa.  One of them is a very tiny stamp, with the dog wearing a collar with a star.  The star, in my mind, makes it suitable for a Christmas card.

I have a great little tag die that has "joy" as part of it.  And the dog fits right on it perfectly.  I stamped the dog, coloured the collar and star with sparkly gel pens, and die cut it with the matching die. 

I die cut the "joy" tag three times and glued them together to give it dimension, stamped a few little stars on the top in gold, and added the die cut dog to it.

I added it to a gold shimmer stitched rectangle die cut and popped that up on fun foam.  I'd meant to put a brad through the tag's hole but forgot so added a red gemstone instead.

I'm also linking it up to the Less is More Less (Tiny and Few) challenge where they want you to see how small you can go with your images.  My dog and the stars are pretty tiny!  And there's only one dog and three stars.

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black dog, Stampendous star stamp
Ink - Delicata Gold Glitz, Archival Vintage Photo
Paper - gold shimmer and white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black matching dog die, Impression Obsession joy tag die, Lil Inkers stitched rectangle die, red and gold glitter pens, fun foam