Hot and Spicy Christmas Card

The new Less is More challenge is to use hot and spicy colours:

I wanted to try and get some nice red backgrounds made for Christmas cards so sprinkled some red and orange brushos on mixed media cs and spritzed with water and then created this card:

I stamped my bird  / holly / text stamp onto a nice bright section of it and heat embossed.  I diluted a bit of red brusho on my palette and painted the bird to intensify its colour.

I trimmed the piece, popped it up on fun foam, bordered with a stitched square, and added gold gemstones to the holly berries.

I've still got a nice piece of background to use for another card.

Supplies:

Stamps - Memory Box Scripted Holly Bird

Ink - Versafine Onyx Black

Paper - white and mixed media cs

Size - 4.25" square

Accessories - red and orange brushos, clear embossing powder, gold gemstones, Lil Inker stitched square die, fun foam

Vintage Winter Sports

The new Christmas Card Throwdown challenge is "Winter Sports".  And the SCS Inspiration Challenge is to find inspiration at the Victorian Trading Company website.  It's a great website. I went through their Christmas section and found this image of skaters and this one of kids sledding and thought about a great stamp I have of old-fashioned winter sports.

I stamped it on the smooth side of watercolour paper, watercoloured parts of it, bordered it with black cs, popped it up on fun foam, and added a bit of fun flock to the pom pom and brim of the girl's hat.

Supplies:

Stamps - Inkadinkado

Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black

Paper - watercolour paper, white and black cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, fun foam, fun flock

Brown for a Christmas Card?

I wasn't sure I'd make a card for the October Christmas Cards All Year Round challenge - "Monochromatic Browns".  But then I pulled out a vintage style stamp I'd never used and thought it could work well in brown.  Here it is:

I stamped it in my Misti using my Oxide ink - when I reinked some of the paler parts of the stamp, I seemed to get some colour variation in the final stamped image, but I think it only adds to the vintage look.

I then sponged around the edge using two shades of brown to make it look aged.

I attached a Tim Holtz Christmas token with a brad and popped the panel up on fun foam.

So what do you think?  Does brown work for a Christmas card?

Supplies:

Stamps - Deep Red Vintage Santa

Ink - Distress Oxide Vintage Photo, Distress Vintage Photo, Ranger Potting Soil

Paper - PTI Vintage Cream cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Tim Holtz Christmas token, metallic brad, fun foam

Heat Embossed Poinsettias

The current Jingle Bells Christmas Card Challenge is "Embossing Around the Christmas Tree" - any kind of embossing.

Here's my card using heat embossing in black for the poinsettias:

I sprayed a background with three different colours of sprays. When dry, I stamped and heat embossed my poinsettia and sentiment in black.

I wanted the black border to really match the stamping so went around the edge of another square of cs with the same ink and then heat embossed it.

It's popped up on fun foam.

Supplies:

Stamps - Tim Holtz poinsettia, Rosie's Roadshow sentiment

Ink - Versafine Onyx Black 

Paper - white cs

Size - 4.75" square

Accessories - clear embossing powder; various red, pink and orange sprays; fun foam