Blue Nativity

The current Sparkle Creations Christmas Card Challenge is "nativity".  Here's the inspiration photo:

I like the blue tones in the photo so used that to spark my card's colour scheme:

It's back to my old style of card-making - some simple stamping and heat embossing, some dp, a sentiment label attached with ribbon.  I added a bit of Stardust gel pen on the Christmas star.  Because I sell Christmas cards at my fundraiser, it's good to have a variety of styles!

Supplies:

Stamps - unknown nativity, Paper Smooches sentiment

Ink - ColorBox Blue

Paper - white and navy cs, star dp

Size - A2

Accessories - Stardust gel pen, Spellbinders sentiment label, blue grosgrain ribbon, clear embossing powder

NBUS Ornaments

Here's my second card for Darnell's great challenge that gets me using my unused stuff!

This time I'm using an ornament stamp that I've had for at least two years.  You'd think I'd try it out first with ink, but no, I went with the trickier technique of glue and gilding flakes.  And with guidance from Loll Thompson, it worked!

I sponged (using cut and dry foam) some Cosmic Shimmer glue on my stamp, getting a good even coating, then stamped on mixed media cs.  I immediately cleaned the stamp with some soapy water and a toothbrush.  By the time I'd done that, the glue was tacky enough for the gilding flakes - added them, pushed them into the glue with my fingers, brushed off the excess, and then burnished with a piece of Tim Holtz Rub-It Scrub-It.

I stamped and heat embossed my sentiment in copper, trimmed the panel down, and popped it up on fun foam on a copper cardbase.

Here's a close-up to show you all the lovely colours in the gilding flakes:

Thanks, Darnell, for getting me to use this gorgeous stamp that's been lingering unloved in my craft room!

Supplies:

Stamps - Impression Obsession Ornament Collage, Tim Holtz sentiment

Ink - ColorBox copper (for the sentiment)

Paper - copper shimmer cs, mixed media cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Ranger copper embossing powder (for the sentiment), Cosmic Shimmer Mulled Wine gilding flakes, Cosmic Shimmer glue, fun foam

NBUS Bird

I love Darnell's NBUS challenges as they get me to use stamps or dies that I've bought but not yet used.

For today's card, I used a sweet Stampendous bird on a branch stamp.

I stamped it in brown archival ink on watercolour paper that I'd splattered some liquid Frisket on, then used my Gansai Tambi paints.   I painted the sky very loosely which meant that, when I rubbed off the Frisket, the masked splatter (meant to be snow) didn't show up much (unlike on the bird where it is a little more evident).

A stitched rectangle for more interest, some fun foam to pop the panel up, a red card base, and some Stickles on the snowy bits on the branch and berries finished it off.

Supplies:

Stamps - Stampendous bird, PTI sentiment

Ink - Ranger Archival Potting Soil

Paper - red cs, watercolour paper

Size - A2

Accessories - Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, liquid Frisket, Lil Inkers stitched rectangle die, fun foam, Stickles

Wrinkled and Embossed

Splitcoaststampers used my friend Loll Thompson's great video on "Tissue Paper Watercolouring and Techniques" to demonstrate this week's Technique Lovers' Challenge "Watercoloured Tissue Plus Embossing".  It's such a fun technique and I really enjoyed using it again.  Here's the card I made:

I coloured a piece of tissue paper with various blue Distress inks. When dry, I wrinkled it up and glued it to a piece of white cs, leaving some of the wrinkles in place. When the glue was dry, I rubbed white pigment ink over the wrinkles and sprinkled with a sparkly white embossing powder.

I added a die cut snowflake and sentiment, cut once out of sparkly cs, and twice out of white cs, gluing them together for added dimension. I framed the panel and popped it up on fun foam.

There's no time limit on SCS challenges so do give it a try!

Supplies:

Ink - Distress Broken China, Faded Jeans, Salty Ocean, and Chipped Sapphire; ColorBox Frost White

Paper - white cs, SU white shimmer cs, tissue paper

Size - A2

Accessories - Lil Inker Joy die, unknown snowflake die, Judikins White Diamond embossing powder, Impression Obsession frame die