Peaceful Winter Scene

When I saw the top right image on the new Peace on Earth mood board (see it at the end of the post), I immediately thought of a Northwoods stamp that I've had for ages.  It has the snowy scene of trees, a stream, and deer.

I stamped it, then coloured with coloured pencils, trimmed it, bordered it with black, leaving enough black on the right hand side to have my little vertical sentiment also bordered with the black.  Finished off by going over the snow lines, roof, evergreen trees, and tops of the fence with a Quickie glue pen and fine clear glitter.

Most of our Peace on Earth Design Team were inspired by the same image as me!  Maybe one of the other images will inspire you?  Or if they don't, you can post an "anything Christmas" card.

Supplies:
Stamps - Northwoods, Rosie's Road Show sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white, black, and kraft cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, Martha Stewart fine clear glitter

Holly, a Winter Cabin, and Ornaments

Sparkles Christmas Challenge wants us to feature a Christmas carol or song.  I chose "Deck the Halls".  Rudolph Days and 12 Months of Christmas are both "anything Christmas".

I put the holly stamp in my Misti and inked it up with various Oxide inks and Memento Dew Drop inks, stamping and reinking until I was happy.  I added some lightly stamped text and postmarks to the background.  Then sponged around the edges.  I finished with a Tim Holtz clippings sticker with the line from Deck the Halls, and added Wink of Stella to the berries.

Christmas Crafts All Year Round wants bows, gifts, or decorations.  I went with decorations.

I created a dry embossed background that creates a three-sided border of ornaments, leaving space in the middle for my die cut ornaments to hang.  I did one each out of red, green, and silver mirror card, and hung them with silver thread.

Stamping Sensations wants to see "Winter".

I love this winter scene.  I stamped it in black and heat embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder (it's very sparkly in real life).  I bordered it with black shimmer cs.

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black holly, unknown Christmas script stamp
Ink - various Oxide and Memento Dew Drops, Adirondack Lake Mist
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Wink of Stella, Tim Holtz clippings sticker

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SSS sentiment
Ink - Delicata Copper Glitz
Paper - white cs; red, green, and silver mirror cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Crafts Too embossing folder, Spellbinders ornament die, silver thread

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Crafty Individuals winter cabin, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - chalk cs, black shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - SU Iridescent Ice embossing powder

Watercoloured Winter, Peaceful Ornament, and Grungy Birthday

Two more Christmas cards and one birthday card today!  

First, for ABC Christmas Challenge "W is for Watercolouring", Stamping Sensations "Winter", and Four Seasons "Winter" (the top left image on their mood board inspired me to pull out an old stamp that has a rustic wooden cabin as part of it).

The image is stamped, watercoloured, and added to a kraft cardbase.  Then I went over the snow lines, the snow on the fences, trees, and roof with a quickie glue pen and added glitter.  I put the sentiment inside as I didn't want to cover up any of the lovely image.

Next up for Addicted to CAS "Ornament":

A friend and I regularly go for tea at a little French bakery / coffee shop and the pastries are served on gold cardboard holders that I carefully clean and recycle to make large ornaments for cards. In this case, I dripped a couple of shades of red alcohol inks on the round part of the pastry holder and spritzed with rubbing alcohol to get it to run and cover the round part. When dry, I added a dove die cut from white glitter cs and a branch cut from green shimmer cs. I embellished with three little stick-on gold glitter circles and some matching gold glitter strips for the ornament's hanger. I let it all take centre stage on a plain white card base with just an added stamped and heat embossed sentiment. 

A male friend has a birthday coming up so I had my usual struggle to make a masculine card.  I'm linking it up with Sweet Stampin' "It's our Birthday" - they are celebrating the 15th year of their challenge.  And also Seize the Birthday "Masculine".

I found the stencilled piece in my unused background box - it was very intensely orange and I didn't like it, so I watered down some gesso and painted over it to lighten it up.  I stamped the Tim Holtz image in black and edged around it with Tea Dye Distress ink.  Then cut a rectangle out of the stencilled piece and layered it over the stamped image as a frame.  Added a birthday sentiment to the top of the frame.

   

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Northwoods
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, kraft cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, quickie glue pen, glitter

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - A Muse sentiment
Ink - ColorBox Gold, red alcohol inks
Paper - white cs, white glitter cs, green shimmer cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Impression Obsession dove die, recycled pastry holder, gold embossing powder, Anita's Glitterations gold strips and dots

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Tim Holtz man, unknown sentiment
Ink - various orange Distress inks, Distress Tea Dye, Versfine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Spellbinders rectangle die, clock stencil, gesso

Cabin in the Woods

The Peace on Earth challenge has a lovely mood board this time with two images of cabins in the woods.  It reminded me of a stamp I've had for many years but haven't used in ages.  So a good time to pull it out.

The image is stamped and coloured with coloured pencils.  Then I sponged the sky in a pearlescent ink and a Distress Oxide ink.  I sprinkled some Frantage Chunky White embossing powder on the sky and heated it from underneath to set it.  I went over the snow on the roof, on the trees, and on the ground with a Quickie glue pen and added fine glitter to it. 

The background is stencilled with a Distress ink through an pine tree stencil.  And then the focal panel is popped up on fun foam.

Here's the Peace on Earth mood board:

There's more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team over at Peace on Earth.  We'd love to have you join us either with your interpretation of the mood board or an "anything Christmas" goes card.

Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black Christmas Cottage, Northwoods sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne, Brilliance Pearlescent Ice Blue, Distress Oxide Chipped Sapphire, Distress Evergreen Bough
Paper - Bristol cs, chalk cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, Artplorations stencil, Frantage Chunky White embossing powder, fine glitter, fun foam

Christmas Mailbox

The new Peace on Earth inspiration board reminded me of one of the very first stamps I ever bought - many many years ago.  It's been languishing unused for such a long time.

It's stamped, coloured with coloured pencils, a small sentiment added, trimmed to fit behind a pierced dot frame (die cut twice and glued together for more dimension), and finished off with a Quickie glue pen and glitter on all the snowy bits.

Here's the inspiration board that inspired me.  You can see the bottom right image is much like my stamp with the greenery around the post and the country-style mailbox:

 

You can either make a card inspired by the board or you can enter an "anything Christmas" card.  That's lots more inspiration over at Peace on Earth.  You have until June 16 to enter.

Supplies:
Stamps - Northwoods mailbox, Simon Says Stamp sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs
Size - 4.76" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, glitter, MFT Pierced Square Frame die

Polar Bears, a Cabin, and a Sentiment

The month is flying by and I've got some challenges I want to enter.

First up, did you know there was such a thing as Polar Bear Day?  Well there is, and part of the reason is to draw attention to the world's largest carnivore and the threat of extinction facing it.  The Day of the Month Card Club Challenge chose it for its February challenge.  And polar bears are perfect for the Paper Players wildlife challenge.

Stamped and watercoloured, then trimmed and put on a gold shimmer panel that has "merry" die cut out of it.

Moving on to Christmas Cards All Year Round where they want to see a cabin or cottage.

I kept it simple to let this lovely detailed image take centre stage.  Stamped in navy, trimmed and bordered with navy cs, and glitter added to all the snowy places.  In real life, it's lovely and sparkly.

And finally, a chance to use up a strange piece of background from my UFO box.  The Christmas Kickstart Challenge wants the sentiment to take centre stage.

I don't know what I was thinking when I made this background - I sprayed some gold spray on navy cs, then scrunched up some cling wrap on top and let it dry.  Then added two types of Frantage embossing powder (one with chunky white bits, one with smaller white and gold bits) and heat embossed from underneath.  I was going to toss it and then decided to try using it for this challenge with just a gold die cut sentiment and a few die cut gold stars.  To add a bit more interest (as if there wasn't enough going on already), I die cut the navy panel with a hemstitch rectangle and layered it over a gold card base to co-ordinate with the sentiment and stars.  So what's the verdict - a hot mess (as Jennifer McGuire likes to say) or a passable attempt at mixed media?  Believe me, you won't hurt my feelings as I'm quite ambivalent about this one!

Challenges:

Day of the Month Card Club Challenge - "Polar Bear Day"

 

The Paper Players - "Wild about Wildlife"

 

Christmas Cards All Year Round - "Cabin / Cottage"

Christmas Kickstart Challenge - "The Sentiment Takes Centre Stage"

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black
Ink - Archival Jet Black
Paper - watercolour paper, gold shimmer and cream cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, TH merry die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Crafty Individuals cabin, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Twilight
Paper - white and navy cs
Size - A2
Accessories - glitter

Supplies for card 3:
Paper - navy and gold cs
Size - A2
Accessories - gold spray, cling wrap, Stampendous Frantage embossing powders, Spellbinders hemstitch rectangle die, Memory Box star dies, Penny Black sentiment die

Masculine Christmas

The Cardz for Guys Challenge is asking for a traditional masculine Christmas card.  I went with a snowy scene in the woods with a cabin.

My stamp seemed perfect for one of the trendy slimline cards that everyone is making these days but I made a smaller version as I have a bunch of envelopes that are 6 7/8 x 3 5/8".

I stamped the image and watercoloured it., trimmed it and popped it up on fun foam on a cream shimmer base, and added a sentiment banner to one side of it.

Supplies:
Stamps - Old Island Stamp Co. cabin, Rosie's Roadshow sentiment
Ink - Archival Jet Black
Paper - watercolour paper, cream shimmer cs
Size - small slimline - 6.25x3.25"
Accessories - Yasutomo shimmer paints, fun foam, foam tape

Winter Cabin

I'm hosting this month's CAS Christmas Card Challenge, and I've chosen "Winter Scene" as the theme.  I live in the Pacific Northwest so more often than not, my typical winter scene is grey and rainy.  To make up for this, I love to make what I call true winter scenes - snowy, sparkly, frosty!

 
I used a stamp I have had almost since I very first started stamping.  It's such a sweet little scene - and ideal for CAS cards.

I started by dry embossing my top layer with an old Cuttlebug embossing folder (I'm really in the mood to get more use out of my older supplies!).  Then I took an exacto knife and a ruler and cut out the centre of the embossed panel.  The stamp fits perfectly into the opening it creates.

I stamped the image on a scrap of white cs and then sponged the sky in a new ink that I wanted to try out - the colour is called Winter so I thought it would be perfect for a winter sky (but once done I decided it's a bit too turquoise so won't use it for skies again).  I coloured the rest of the image with coloured pencils and taped the piece behind the aperture.  I went over the roof and the ground with a Quickie glue pen and added glitter.  Here's a close-up of the lovely sparkle:

Please come and join us at CAS Christmas - you know you really need to get going on your Christmas cards!!  There is lots of inspiration from the rest of the Design Team and October's Guest Designer, Lyn (Lyn's Paper Petunia).

Supplies:

Stamps - Stampendous Snowy Retreat

Ink - Archival Jet Black, Mama Elephant Winter

Paper - white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - coloured pencils, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Quickie glue pen, SU Dazzling Diamonds glitter

Snowy Day

I love the look of sparkly glittery snow, but at the same time, I don't like being cold, so this image gives the best of two worlds - the beauty of the snow combined with a warm cozy cabin with a fire going in the hearth.

I used a great winter scene stamp I've had for years - stamped on watercolour paper and watercoloured the sky, road, and cabin.

I added a double row of score lines around the image to frame it and punched the corners.

Then I went over all of the snowy trees, roof, fence, and ground with glue and added fine glitter - I hope it shows up a bit in the photo!

The panel is popped up on fun foam.

I'm entering it in three challenges:

CAS Watercolour - "Winter" 

Sparkles Christmas Challenge - "Add Some Sparkle"

Paper Players - "Snowy Day"

If you have snow where you live, I hope you're keeping warm!

Supplies:

Stamps - Old Island Stamp Co. cabin, Rosie's Roadshow sentiment

Ink - Archival Jet Black

Paper - PTI cream cs, watercolour paper

Size - A2

Accessories - watercolour paints, Martha Stewart glitter, Scor Buddy, SU corner punch, fun foam

Perfect Winter Holiday

The new Less is More challenge is:

I once rented a cabin with friends in the winter and we nestled in with our books, some jigsaw puzzles, lots of good food and wine, and spent our days relaxing by the fire after going out for lovely walks in the perfect sparkly snow.  It was heavenly!

Here's my card:

I chose a stamp of a little cabin with very distinct smoke coming out of its chimney so I'm sure there's a lovely warm fire inside.

I did some minimal colouring with Copics, then went over all the snowy bits on the roof, ground, and trees with a Quickie glue pen and added glitter. Because it's a small image, I used a very fine glitter - it doesn't show up very well in the photo, but it's quite sparkly in real life.

The sentiment makes it work for either a Christmas card or a winter notecard.

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black cabin, PTI sentiment

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper - white and green cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Copic markers, Spellbinders deckle rectangle die, Quickie glue pen, glitter

Splattered Snow

Time to remind you to come on over to CAS Mix Up for the May challenge of "Splattering"!

I went with a Christmas card this time as splattering is a great technique for creating a snowfall.

 

I stamped the cabin image in archival ink and used coloured pencils to colour it.  I also stamped it on masking paper, fussy cut the upper edge and laid it over the coloured image.  I then sponged the sky with three shades of Distress ink.

I splattered it by loading a paint brush with a white acrylic paint and tapping it against another paint brush.

I used a SU embossing folder for my background piece and, after assembling the card, I went over the roof, parts of the trees, and some of the ground with a Quickie glue pen and added fine glitter.

Head over to CAS Mix Up to see the cards from the rest of the Design Team and our Guest Designer, Elaine of Craft-e-Place.  You have until May 24th to link up your CAS card featuring splattering and at least one other element from our list.

I'm also entering this in the Christmas Cards All Year Round challenge where the theme for May is precipitation - splattering is a great way to create a snowfall on a Christmas card!

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black cottage, Rubber Soul sentiment

Ink - Ranger Archival Jet Black; Distress Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire, and Stormy Sky

Paper - white cs

Size - A2

Accessories - coloured pencils, white acrylic paint, Quickie glue pen, fine glitter