Favourite Blue / A Card for a Child

Sweet Stampin' wants us to use our favourite colour.  Mine is blue.

My best friend also loves blue and she asked me to make an anniversary card for her to give to her partner.  

Stamped in royal blue ink, heat embossed with shimmery embossing powder, trimmed with a stitched square die, and bordered with royal blue cs.

Try It on Tuesday challenge wants to see a card aimed at children or featuring children.  I stayed with my favourite colour and did a variation of a card I've done before, featuring a child and also suitable to give to a child.  It's also for the We Love Stamping "Make It Cute" challenge.

I created a background by inking up an embossing folder and stamping with it.  I then stamped the tree, child and pony, and sentiment (created by combining two different stamps) in black, trimmed it and bordered it in a matching blue.  

 

   

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Visible Image
Ink -  ColorBox Royal Blue
Paper - white shimmer and royal blue cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - SU Irridescent Ice embossing powder, Lil Inker stitched square die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Isobel Craft Collection Thelwell stamps, Penny Black and Simon Says Stamp sentiments
Ink - Archival Jet Black, Distress Broken China                                                                            Paper - white and blue cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder

Neglected Dragonfly, Smooshed Birthday, and a Blue Heart

Diane and Darlene have started another new challenge - The Neglected Stuff Challenge.  A great way for me to dig out something I haven't used for years.  This month I went with a Tim Holtz dragonfly stamp that I've always really liked.  Why, then, did it sit unused for 10 years!!?  I actually did a search on my blog and the last time I used it was in 2015!

I started by smooshing a piece of mixed media cs with two Distress colours. Using the same colours I stamped a bit of subtle harlequin and mesh stamps to add interest and texture. Then I stamped the dragonfly stamp in black on top. And stamped it again on a scrap so that I could watercolour the wings (using the same two ink colours with Glimmer Spray in the place of water). I fussy cut the wings and popped them up with foam tape on top of the original stamping. I stamped a sentiment, die cut it with a banner die, smooshed it in the inks a bit, and popped it up with foam tape.

And a bit more smooshing on this card, for the AAA Birthday Challenge "Ink Smooshing".

I started by smooshing white cs into two shades of blue Distress ink and when dry, stamped some text on it.  Then cut out sections with two sizes of octagon dies and arranged them on an embossed background.  I die cut a leaf out of a green smooshed leftover background scrap and layered it on the octagon.  I spritzed two shades of Distress Mica spray on my craft mat and smooshed another piece of cs and cut the butterfly out of that.  I stamped the sentiment on bit of blue smooshed leftover scrap.

And a third card for today, so that I can enter it into the Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Hearts" before it closes.  A very quick CAS card compared to my first two cards on this post.

The image is stamped in royal blue ink and heat embossed.  Then trimmed with a stitched square die, and mounted on the card base.  It's such a lovely stamp I didn't want anything to detract from it.

 

Supplies for card:
Stamps - Tim Holtz dragonfly, Savvy Stamps sentiment, unknown little harlequin stamp and mesh stamp
Ink - Distress Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters, Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - mixed media cs, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Glimmer Spray, banner die, foam tape

Supplies for card:
Stamps - Inkadinkado text stamp, AMuse sentiment stamp
Ink - Distress Broken China and Tumbled Glass, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Spellbinders octagon dies, Memory Box leaf die, Tim Holtz butterfly die, Altenew embossing folder, Winter Frost and Fresh Balsam Distress Mica spray

Supplies for card:
Stamps - Penny Black
Ink - ColorBox Royal Blue
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - clear embossing powder, Lil Inker stitched square die

A Sleigh Ride and a Bird in a Heart

A card for the Twelve Months of Christmas challenge "Couples" (I've got the man and woman, and a couple of horses), Christmas Cards All Year Round "Inspired by Jingle Bells", and Sweet Stampin' "Masculine Makes":

I stamped the snowflake background in light blue and the sleigh in black, trimmed the panel and dabbed on some Snow-tex paste for the snowy ground.  I bordered with black cs and added a sentiment on a stitched die cut sentiment banner.

For the Tic Tac Toe challenge (heart, die cut, love sentiment), Simply Clean and Simple (love and / or hearts), and Triple B (at least one of birds, blossoms, or butterflies, inspired by an all red mood board:

I die cut a red heart and red sentiment.  Then die cut a circular opening in the heart.  The bird is cut from a scrap of smooshed cs and glued into the circular opening.  

   
 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Tim Holtz sleigh, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Distress Tumbled Glass, Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white and black cs
Size - 6x3.25"
Accessories - Impression Obsession snowflake background stamp, Snow-tex embossing paste, stitched sentiment banner die

Supplies for card 2:
Paper - rustic cs, red cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box heart die, Poppy Stamps sentiment die, TH bird die, Spellbinders circle die, Lil Inker's stitched rectangle die

Valentines 3

You all know that making Christmas cards is my first love, but I have to say I've really enjoyed making a bunch of Valentine cards for my best friend's special order.

This first one is for Penny Black Saturday Challenge "Hearts".

The image is stamped and watercoloured, trimmed with a square die, bordered with red cs, and on a kraft cardbase.

And here's today's Twofer.  My friend who ordered the cards always wants one or two with birds on them.  This is going off to Stamping Sensations "Valentines", My Time to Craft "Hearts", Cardz 4 Guyz "Clean and Simple", and Simply Clean and Simple "Hearts".

The heart is stamped with Versamark on burgundy cs and then brushed gold Pearl Ex over it (and sealed it with a fixative).  I fussy cut the heart, put foam tape on the back, and added it to a rectangle trimmed with a stitched die.  I added a sentiment die cut from gold shimmer cs.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black image, SU sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, red and kraft cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - watercolour paints

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - unknown stamp
Ink - Versamark
Paper - burgundy and white cs, gold shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - gold Pearl Ex, Poppy Stamp sentiment die, Lil Inkers stitched rectangle die

Valentines 2

More Valentines cards today!  My best friend always orders some from me.

First up for Double D's challenge "Hearts", Sweet Stampin' "Love", Stamping Sensations "Valentines", and My Time to Craft "Hearts". 

Double D has this lovely mood board.  I was inspired by the top right image of the swans making a heart with the spray of flowers above them.

 

I stamped and heat embossed the image in platinum embossing powder, watercoloured, trimmed with a square die, and bordered with pink shimmer cs.

The Tic Tac Toe challenge has lots of options for Valentine cards.  I went with the diagonal line that says love sentiment, red and CAS design.

I layered the white hearts die over red cs and stamped and heat embossed my sentiment in white.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - unknown heart, SU sentiment
Ink - ColorBox silver
Paper - watercolour paper, pink shimmer and white cs
Size - 5.25" square
Accessories - platinum embossing powder, watercolour paints, Spellbinders square dies

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Impression Obsession sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white
Paper - white and red cs
Size - A2
Accessories - white embossing powder, hearts die

Valentines

Just in case you're sick of my endless Christmas cards, here's a totally non-Christmas post.  Today I'm going with Valentine cards.

It seems like all the colour challenges I follow are going with red and pink right now.  Colorful Options has a mood board full of red and pink, including an image of red and pink hearts.  Color Hues and Inkspirational are collaborating and they both want pink and red.  Festive Friday's festivity is Valentines Day and you have to pick at least three things from their list (I picked pink, red, hearts, and a love sentiment).  And the Stencil Fun Challenge also wants pinks and / or reds.  So here's my card for all of these:

I attached the hearts stencil to my white cs and sponged with various Distress pink and red inks.  Then washed off the stencil and replaced it over the inking.  I then went over it with a translucent embossing paste.  When dry, I stamped the two sentiments in red ink. 

My second Valentine is for the Time Out Challenge - pick 2 or more out of their list of words.  I picked heart (even the butterfly has hearts on it), love (Valentine's Day), layer (I have a narrow embossed panel, a red border, hearts, a butterfly, and a sentiment all layered on the card base), warm (for warm colours), and stitch (the small red hearts have faux stitched edges). 

The butterfly was in my box of leftover bits and since it has red hearts on it, I decided it was high time it found a home on a card.  I also found the punched red border in there.  I die cut the hearts and sentiment out of the same red, dry embossed the narrow hearts panel, and put everything together.

   

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - SU cherish, Impression Obsession Happy Valentine's Day
Ink - Distress Candied Apple, Festive Berries, and Picked Raspberries
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Craft Emotions stencil, Dreamweaver translucent paste

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - unknown butterfly stamp
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white and red cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Poppy Stamp sentiment die, watercolour paints, SU hearts embossing folder, border punch, small stitched heart die

Festive Bear, Red and Kraft Valentine, and Snowy Horses

Three cards again today - I was home all day (that's rare for me) so spent the afternoon making a few cards to enter in challenges before they close.

First up for Festive Friday "National Winnie the Pooh Day".  My card has nothing to do with Winnie the Pooh but it uses five of the elements from Festive Friday's list - brown, yellow, red, bear, and colouring techniques (I used coloured pencils with Gamsol).  It's also for The Twelve Months of Christmas "Polar Bears".

I stamped the image in dark brown then coloured with coloured pencils, using lots of red, yellow, and brown.  I blended the shading on the bear with Gamsol and blending stumps.  I trimmed it with a stitched square, bordered with brown cs, and added it to a square card base.

Next up the first of the Valentines I make every year for my best friend (she orders 10 every year).  She loves seeing text on the background of the cards.  It's for The Color Hues Challenge "Red and Kraft".

The background is a kraft dp printed with old fashioned script.  I topped it with a die cut heart duo and die cut sentiment, and added it to a matching red card base.

And back to Christmas cards, for Jingle Belles "Something Old, Something New" and Simply Clean and Simple "Something New".  I used a new horse stamp I hadn't yet used (so I'm also linking it up with the NBUS Challenge) and a snowflake background stamp I've had for many years.

I stamped snowflake background in pale blue, then stamped the horses below it. Added a sentiment, trimmed the panel with a square die, bordered with black cs, and used a quickie glue pen and glitter along all the snowy lines on the fence.

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - SU Bearing Gifts
Ink - Versafine Clair Fallen Leaves
Paper - white and brown cs
Size - 4.5" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, Gamsol, Lil Inkers stitched square die

Supplies for card 2:
Paper - red cs, kraft script dp
Size - 6.25x3.25"
Accessories - Tim Holtz love die, Poppy Stamps Heart String die

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Cardio horses, Penny Black sentiment, Impression Obsession snowflake background
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Broken China
Paper - white and black cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - square dies, glitter