Deer and Music Collage

This post is a follow up from yesterday's post where I used the background created by the first step of Jennifer McGuire's distress monoprint technique.  See this video for detailed instructions.  My first card below uses the second step.  It created another lovely background but unfortunately I shouldn't have stamped on top of it - it would have been far better to put a die cut on top.

Here's yesterday's card to show the results of step one where you heat emboss a background over the sponged Distress inks:

For step two (which creates a second background), I spritzed the first background with water, laid another piece of mixed media cs on top of it and ran it through the die cutting machine just with the pressure plates.  This transfers the colour and the pattern of the background stamp.  If you look closely at today's card, you can see the pattern.  The colours come out paler but still make a very nice background.  Because the second background doesn't have any actual heat embossing on it, I assumed I'd be able to stamp on it with no problem but I think what happened was that the lines of the embossing pressed into the second background and therefore the ink from my stamping doesn't fill in those lines.  So the reindeer and the tree have a design on them!  

I decided to use it anyway.  I trimmed it down, bordered it with white glitter cs, and added a blue gemstone to the centre of the snowflake.

I prefer the results I get from this stamp when when I stamp it on plain cs so I did a second card for this post to show you how nice the stamp is:

 

 

It makes for a great quick card - simple stamping, addition of a sentiment, bordered in red glitter cs, and embellished with a single red gemstone in the centre of the snowflake.

 

I'm linking it up with:

 

Do All Creative challenge "Animals and Christmas"

 

NBUS Challenge - Never Before Used Stuff (I'd never used the reindeer / music collage stamp)

 

Supplies:
Stamps - Woodware Musical Deer, PTI sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne - both cards, various blue Distress inks - card 1
Paper - white and red glitter cs, white cs, mixed media cs
Size - A2
Accessories - gems, clear embossing powder

Blue, Red, and White for Christmas

52 Christmas Card Throwdown has a colour challenge - use blue, red, and white only.  So I made these cards:

 

The background is done using Jennifer McGuire's distress monoprint technique.  See this video for detailed instructions.  On this card I used the background created by the first step of the technique.  I sponged a piece of mixed media cs with various blue Distress ink and then stamped my swirly snowflake background stamp over it with Versamark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  This intensifies the colour underneath it.  For a touch of shimmer, I randomly sprayed some pearlized spray over it.

My resulting piece of background was just enough to make two cards using the same die.  The die cuts out the frame, tree, and birds in one go.  I kept the tree / frame section white, and smooshed the birds in a couple of shades of red Distress inks.  I smooshed a scrap of white cs in the same red inks and die cut the sentiments from that.  I glued everything on the background and then popped the panel up on fun foam on the card base to give some dimension.

52 Christmas Card Throwdown 

 

Supplies:
Stamps - unknown snowflake background stamp
Ink - various blue and red Distress inks, Versamark
Paper - mixed media and white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box frame / tree / birds die, Spellbinders sentiment dies, clear embossing powder, pearlized spray, fun foam

Tic Tac Toe Snowflakes

The latest Tic Tac Toe challenge has a line "snow, free, and blue".  And the Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge has shades of blue with snow.   I made this card:

First I made the background by sprinkling various blue Brushos on a snowflake stencil and spritzing with water, then pressing the stencil onto mixed media cs to create a stencil monoprint.

I trimmed the panel, made a frame for it with a regular rectangle die and a stitched rectangle die, die cut some snowflakes out of various blue glitter cs, and added a white heat embossed sentiment on a strip of navy cs.

Off it goes to Tic Tac Toe for the centre vertical line:

And the Outlawz Tuesday Color Challenge:

And Diane and Darlene have a new challenge - Stencil Fun - anything goes as long as you use a stencil.

Supplies:
Stamps - Northwoods sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white
Paper - mixed media, cream cs, scrap of navy cs, scraps of various blue glitter cs
Size - A2
Accessories - snowflake stencil (made by a friend for me from a Cricut), blue Brushos, small snowflake dies, white embossing powder, Spellbinders rectangle die, Lil Inker stitched rectangle die

Sparkly Christmas Tree with a Star

I'm entering this card in the Tic Tac Toe Challenge.  I chose the line that says "Christmas Tree, Sparkle, Star".  And in the Christmas Kickstart "Trees, Trees, Trees" challenge.

I haven't done the encrusted jewels technique for ages so thought this was a good way to use a variety of my glitters to add sparkle.

Here's the technique: I die cut the tree from thin chipboard, then placed it in the Tim Holtz Melting Pot on top of a layer of non-stick craft mat then parchment paper. I sprinkled it with two different shades of green embossing powder. Once it had melted, I added white and multi-coloured chunky glitter on top. The melted embossing powder holds the glitter in place. To finish it off, I melted UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) on top.

I then die cut the tree from fun foam and attached it immediately to the encrusted jewel tree to give it a bit more body so that it wouldn't bend and crack.

I made a background by smooshing with light blue Distress oxide inks. I trimmed a panel for the tree to go on top of, and then a smaller piece with a torn edge for a snow bank to go on top of the tree trunk.

And finished off with a bit more sparkle - a star cut from gold glitter cs.

I couldn't decide where to add a sentiment so will just put it inside.

Here's the Tic Tac Toe Challenge:

Christmas Kickstart Challenge

 

 

Supplies:
Stamps -
Ink - various blue Distess Oxide inks
Paper - white cs, gold glitter cs, lightweight chipboard
Size - 6x4.25"
Accessories - tree and star dies, various types of glitter, two different green embossing powders, UTEE

Inspired Robin and Background

For the new Peace on Earth challenge, I was totally inspired by the mood board (see below, the top right image).  I immediately thought of a stamp I have of a robin sitting on a holly branch.  And I wanted to recreate the snowy grey background.

I started by stamping the image and watercolouring it.  I then stamped it again on masking paper, fussy cut it, and masked the watercoloured image.

My crafty Zoom group did a technique recently where we made backgrounds by using gesso through a stencil to create a resist.  This is one of them.  I made a stencil by using a die of multiple small snowflakes.  I laid the stencil over my panel and went over it with white gesso.  This created a faint resist of small snowflakes.  I sponged with two shades of grey blue ink.  I removed the mask from the bird and holly and splattered with a bit of watered down gesso.

I added a few snowflakes die cut from the same die I used to create the stencil and a die cut sentiment.  And finished off by going over the snow on the branch and holly with a quickie glue pen and some glitter (sorry - it's hard to see the sparkle in the photo).

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

 

Please come and join us at Peace on Earth.  You can either be inspired by the mood board or enter an "anything Christmas goes" card.

I'm also entering it in Sparkles Christmas Challenge "Festive Things with Wings".

And the Winter Wonderland Challenge "Robin Redbreast".

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Altenew Arctic, Archival Pearlescent Ice Blue
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, masking paper, white gesso, glitter, Spellbinders Noel die, Cheery Lynn snowflakes die

Christmas Twofer - Reindeer and Snow

I made a couple of cards today for challenges that are about to close.  First up, the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown's Tic Tac Toe challenge.  I chose the row that says "glitter, pattern paper, reindeer".

I used some patterned paper for the snowy background, die cut a reindeer out of grey cs, trimmed the panel with stitched circle and rectangle dies, added a grey sentiment, and bordered with dark silver glitter cs.

My second card is for the Winter Wonderland challenge "Let It Snow".

I made the snowflake panel by mixing blue Perfect Pearls with gum arabic (the gum arabic works as a fixative and makes the Perfect Pearls powder wet) and patting it through the snowflake stencil onto black mixed media cs.  I happened to have a piece of blue shimmer cs that matched the Perfect Pearls so bordered with that.  I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment on vellum and wrapped it around the black panel.  I embellished with stick-on pearls in the centres of the snowflakes.

52 Christmas Card Throwdown "Tic Tac Toe"

   

Winter Wonderland Challenge "Let It Snow"

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Archival Hickory Smoke
Paper - white and grey cs, Paper Studio dark silver glitter cs, Echo Park dp
Size - A2
Accessories - Dee's Distinctively reindeer die, Lil Inkers stitched circle and rectangle dies

Supplies:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white
Paper - black mixed media cs, blue shimmer cs, vellum
Size - A2
Accessories - Paper Rose snowflake stencil, blue Perfect Pearls, gum arabic, stick-on pearls, white embossing powder