Red Acetate Poinsettia and Pink Watercoloured Sweet Peas

The Jingle Belles Christmas Challenge is asking for see-through elements.  I decided to create a layered acetate poinsettia.

I coloured a piece of acetate with a few different red alcohol inks and a bit of gold mixative.  Then die cut three layers of a poinsettia, and stuck them together with dimensionals in the centre.  To hide the dimensionals I added a gold sparkly rhinestone sticker.

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in gold on my focal panel, die cut with a hemstitch square.  I wanted to have exactly the same gold as the sentiment showing through the hemstitch openings so I took a scrap of cs, ran ink around its edges, and heat embossed the edges.

Here's a close-up of the poinsettia showing how see-through the layers are:

 

 

As a nice contrast to a red poinsettia, I went with shades of pink in my next card.  It's for The Flower Challenge "Feature the Colour Pink".

 

I love sweet peas and grow them every year in my garden.  The image is stamped and watercoloured, with a little bit of black splatter around the image.  Since it's a large image and not really enough room to add a border layer, I took a black marker and went around the edges of the focal panel.  I left it without a sentiment as I'll either use it as a notecard or add a sentiment on the inside. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Northwoods sentiment
Ink - ColorBox gold
Paper - off white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - acetate, red alcohol inks, gold mixative, gold embossing powder, poinsettia die, dimensionals, Recollections gold sparkly rhinestone sticker, Spellbinders square hemstitch die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Stamps Happen Sweet Peas
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, black marker

Alcohol Inks with Gilding Flakes

The Group of Seven cardmakers are combining alcohol inks and gilding flakes this month.  There are a couple of different methods over on the Group of Seven blog.  Here are the two cards I was most happy with at the end.

 

I used the technique at the end of this video (around the 16 minute mark).  I built up alcohol inks on Yupo for the first one and glossy cs for the second, and pressed gilding flakes into the sticky parts of the alcohol ink that hadn't quite dried.  On the first card I used gold gilding flakes and on the second, silver.  I die cut hearts and the "love" sentiment from the best sections and created my cards.

Here are close-ups of the hearts:

I did try the other method, using glue on the lines of the alcohol ink cells or blotches but didn't like the results I got, though some of our other members really did.  You can see their cards over on Group of Seven.

I also tried a quick squirt of spray adhesive to attach gilding flakes but wasn't crazy about the results though did turn it into this card:

If you're interested and end up giving this technique a try, we'd love to have you link up your results over at Group of Seven as inspiration for others!

Supplies:
Stamps - SU cherish, SSS love you
Ink - red and pink ink
Paper - Yupo, glossy cs, white cs
Size - 4.75" square (first and third), 6x3.25" (second)
Accessories - various pink and red alcohol inks, gold gilding flakes (first card), silver gilding flakes (second and third), rubbing alcohol, spray adhesive, various heart dies, heart wreath die, love die, SU narrow hearts embossing folder, small label die, square stitched die

A Notecard and a Hanukkah Card

Starting off with a non-Christmas card - a note card for a set of blank cards that I'm making for a friend.  It's for the Color Throwdown Challenge "cobalt blue, aqua, and gold".

 I dropped alcohol inks in shades of blue onto yupo paper. I rubbed some gold foil onto the sticky bits of the AI.  I die cut the white stems, glued it onto the AI / yupo piece and set it inside a stitched oval opening. 

Next before I get back to Christmas cards, I've got a Hanukkah card for the Tic Tac Toe Challenge.  I chose the diagonal line that says December holiday, ornament, die cut.

I die cut the Star of David ornament out of silver glitter cs and again out of a scrap of white cs, and glued them together for more dimension. The branch is die cut from grey cs. The sentiment is stamped in blue and heat embossed, then die cut with a rectangle die. I glued the branch and ornament to it, adding blue ribbon to hang the ornament from the branch.

I'll be back next time with more Christmas cards. 

  

Supplies for card 1:
Ink - blue alcohol inks
Paper - yupo, white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - gold foil, flower stems die, Lil Inkers stitched oval die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Rubbernecker Hanukkah sentiment
Ink - ColorBox True Blue
Paper - silver glitter, white, and grey cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Paper Rose Star of David ornament die, Sizzix branch die, Spellbinders rectangle die, clear embossing powder, blue ribbon

Cardinals on Greenery and Monochromatic Blues

Can You Handle the Pressure? challenge has a perfect twist to lend itself to a Christmas card - "a twist of greenery". 

I used a snowflake embossing folder on the card base and then chose the beautiful cardinals sitting on snowy greenery to tie it all together.  The image is coloured with coloured pencils, then trimmed with a circle die, and mounted on green glitter cs cut with an inverted scallop circle die.  I went over the snow on the branches with a quickie glue pen and added glitter, and used a small die to cut "merry" out of red cs.

And for Christmas Card Creations "Monochromatic", Tic Tac Toe Challenge (I chose the right vertical line "ribbon, free, blue"), and Snippets (I used a snippet of leftover alcohol ink background, some snippets of white cs for the tree die and the sentiment tag, and a snippet of blue ribbon to attach the sentiment tag):

The focal image is die cut trees layered over alcohol inks on glossy cs.  The background is embossed with a simple texture embossing folder.

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Serendipity
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white and red cs, green glitter cs
Size - 4.5" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, Paper Smooches merry die, glitter, Spellbinders circle and inverted scallops circle dies

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Distress Broken China
Paper - glossy cs, white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box tree die, blue alcohol inks, Spellbinders tag die, SU texture embossing folder, blue ribbon

Foiled Alcohol Ink with a French Sentiment

Sneaking in under the wire with a card for Christmas Cards All Year Round "Three French Hens".  One of the options is to use a French sentiment so I went with that.  I have a few French-speaking friends so it's good to get one done for them.

The background is alcohol inks on glossy cs, with gold foil rubbed onto the sticky bits that were slower to dry. I added a snowflake die cut from glitter cs. The sentiment is heat embossed with irridescent embossing powder so it also has some sparkle.

Depending on how the light hits it, you see more or less gold.  Here's one where the gold doesn't show but the snowflake really stands out:

 

Supplies:
Stamps - PTI sentiment
Ink - ColorBox Royal Blue
Paper - white cs, white glitter cs, glossy cs
Size - A2
Accessories - blue alcohol inks, gold foil, snowflake die, irridescent embossing powder

A Bauble with Snowflakes and a Large Dove

Sneaking in under the wire for some challenges.  Christmas Kickstart Challenge wants Baubles, My Time to Craft Christmas wants Snowflakes, Shopping our Stash wants things starting with the letter "B" (I've got baubles and blue alcohol inks), and NBUS wants never before used stuff (the bauble die and the Snowfall Grit Paste).

I dropped various blue alcohol ink, silver and white mixatives, and rubbing alcohol onto a piece of glossy photo paper and let it move around. Once dry, I die cut the sentiment, the ornament, and the thin frame from the piece.

I created a background panel with Snowfall Grit Paste and a snowflake stencil. Then put it all together.

And to make it into another challenge at the last minute, I've got a second card today.  This one is for Christmas Cards All Year Round "Two of Something or a Dove" (I've got a large dove on this card).  It's also for the ABC Christmas Challenge "D is for Die Cuts" (nothing but die cuts on this card).

Everything is die cut out of shimmer cs for this card - white for the sentiment, dove, and snowflakes, and a scrap of green for the olive branch.  And all added to a blue shimmer card base.

Challenges:

Christmas Kickstart Challenge "Baubles"

Shopping Our Stash "Things Starting with the Letter B"

My Time to Craft Christmas "Snowflakes"

Christmas Cards All Year Round "Two of Something or a Dove"

 

ABC Christmas Challenge "D is for Die Cuts"

Rudolph Days - anything Christmas 

NBUS - never before used stuff

 

Supplies for card 1:
Paper - white cs, photo paper
Size - A2
Accessories - blue alcohol inks, silver and white mixatives, rubbing alcohol, snowflakes stencil, Snowfall Grit Paste, ornament die, sentiment die, thin frame die, ribbon

Supplies for card 2:
Paper - shimmer cs - white, dark blue, green
Size - A2
Accessories - MFT dove and sentiment dies, Gina Marie snowflake dies

Two Cards with Birds - One a Valentine, One a Notecard

Tic Tac Toe challenge has lots of options for Valentine cards - I chose the left vertical column (see below) of heart, red, stitching.  A friend always asks me to make several Valentine cards each year, and one of them always has to have a bird on it.  Here's this year's one:

I stamped the bird and then die cut it with a stitched heart die.  I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in white on red cs and die cut it with a banner die with tiny heart cutouts at each end.  I had some red glitter hearts left from a previous project so glued a few of them on the card.

My second bird card is for the AAA Card Challenge "Teal and Gold".

I used turquoise and teal alcohol inks on yupo and rubbed some gold foil on the sections that remained a bit sticky. Then die cut my birds from the yupo and some scrap cs, and glued them together for more dimension.

I made a background of stencilled branches with white embossing paste, die cut a frame, and mounted it all on the card base.

Challenges:

Tic Tac Toe

 

AAA Cards Challenge

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Impression Obsession sentiment, Carabelle bird
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne, ColorBox white
Paper - white and red cs, red glitter cs
Size - A2
Accessories - white embossing powder, banner die with hearts, Frantic Stamper Inc. stitched heart die, tiny hearts die

Supplies for card 2:
Ink - two tones of turquoise and teal alcohol inks
Paper - white cs, yupo
Size - A2
Accessories - gold foil, TCW branch stencil, embossing paste, Impression Obsession frame die

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all my fellow cardmakers!  So it's only appropriate that I post Valentine cards today.  I've got two variations on using my new Memory Box stitched heart dies to create heart shaped cut outs.

My friend who always buys several Valentine cards from me always wants one from me with a bird on it for her son-in-law who loves birds so this is this year's version.  Perfect to enter in the Cardz 4 Guyz "Love" challenge.

I sprayed a scrap of white cs with Antique Linen Distress spray and stamped the bird on it.

I inked up a script stamp in red and wiped off random sections and stamped on another piece of white cs.  I added the sentiment in black, die cut it with a square die, and die cut a heart out of the centre, just big enough to show most of the bird.  Layered the pieces on a white card base.

And then something more feminine with pink as my extra colour in the AAA Card Challenge "Black, White, and One Color".

I did a crafty zoom get together with friends and we tried Floating Alcohol Inks (see this video for instructions).  I dropped a couple of shades of pink AIs in a pan of water and dragged my white cs through it.  Once dry I stamped the script stamp on it in black.

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in black on another piece of white cs, cut it down with a rectangle die cut, cut out the heart, and layered it over the text-stamped piece.  I popped it up on fun foam for some dimension.

Challenges:

Cardz 4 Guyz "Love"

AAA Card Challenge "Black, White, and One Color"

Hoping you all have some kind of Valentine's Day treats, preferably chocolate if you're like me!

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Impression Obsession sentiment, Darkroom Door robin, Wendy Vecchi script stamp
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white cs
Size - 5" square
Accessories - Distress Antique Linen spray, Memory Box Double Stitch Happy Heart Cut Out die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Impress Cards and Crafts sentiment stamp, SU script stamp
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box Double Stitch Happy Heart Cut Out die, Spellbinders layering rectangle die, clear embossing powder, pink alcohol inks, fun foam

Alcohol Ink Ornaments

I seem to be very last minute for lots of things in my life these days!  Here I am sneaking in under the wire for the Jingle Belles challenge "Holiday Ornaments".

I created the ornaments by dropping various blue and green alcohol inks on Yupo and spritzing with rubbing alcohol.  I then die cut the ornaments from it.  For more substance (because Yupo is quite thin), I also die cut them from scrap white cs and stacked them together.  I used a scrap of silver shimmer cs to cut the fancy ornament trim for the largest ornament.

I die cut a pine branch from green shimmer cs, added the ornaments to it using silver twine, and then stamped a sentiment in a co-ordinating colour.  In hindsight, I wish I'd either pushed the sentiment to the right or used a more square (rather than long) sentiment.  But I am happy with the ornaments.

Jingle Belles "Holiday Ornaments"

Supplies:
Stamps - Stampabilities sentiment
Ink - Versafine Ocean Depth chalk ink
Paper - Yupo, white cs, green shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Spellbinders and Memory Box ornament dies, Impression Obsession pine branch die, blue and green alcohol inks

Hemstitch Border

I've seen people using a hemstitch border with a background colour showing through and really like the look of it so finally broke down and bought the hemstitch dies.  Here's my first card using it:

The design of the card was inspired from some cards I've seen on Pinterest with a bunch of squares of alcohol ink background and heat embossed images.  I used a variety of blue AIs as it's my sister's favourite colour and her birthday is coming up.  I dribbled the AIs on glossy cs, spritzed with blending solution and let the colours run and then dry.

I die cut six squares out of the panel and put each one in my Misti (using a Sizzix Sticky Grid sheet to hold them in place as the little squares were too small to hold down with magnets).  I stamped and heat embossed various bits of wildflower images, half of them in white and half in gold.  

Then I arranged them on white cs with a gold heat embossed sentiment below, and die cut with the hemstitch rectangle.  I didn't have any gold cs that perfectly matched the gold heat embossing, so cut a rectangle of white cs and heat embossed its edges in the same gold embossing powder.  Layered it behind the main panel and then added the whole thing to a white card base.

Seize the Birthday is calling for "Faux or Real Stitching" so I'm linking up there, hoping that faux hemstitching counts for the challenge.

Supplies:
Stamps - SavvyStamps sentiment, various wildflower stamps by Magenta, Rubbernecker, Penny Black, and Lavinia
Ink - ColorBox white and gold pigment ink, various blue alcohol inks
Paper - white and glossy cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Spellbinders small square die, Spellbinders hemstitch rectangle die, white and gold embossing powders

Three Shades of Blue

Those of you who know me well know that blue is definitely my favourite colour.  Here are some gorgeous shades of blue:

I created an alcohol ink background on Yupo and let it dry. I then placed the wildflower stencil over top and using a small sponge dauber, dipped into blending solution, blotted off the excess blending solution, and then pounced the dauber over the stencil to remove colour. Make sure all areas are done before removing stencil. I didn't get a very good impression of the stenciled flowers so replaced the cleaned and dried stencil and went around the openings in the stencil with a fine blue marker to give them definition.

I did a heat embossed sentiment on a scrap of vellum, die cut a wildflower out of a scrap of cs, wrapped the vellum around the panel, and bordered in a leftover bit of navy cs before adding it to a white card base.

Off it goes to these challenges:

Just Us Girls "Three Shades of Blue Colour Challenge"

AAA Birthday "A Stencil Background"
 

Pixie's Snippets Playground Challenge #394 

  

Supplies:
Stamps - SU sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white
Paper - white and navy cs, vellum, Yupo
Size - A2
Accessories - white embossing powder, blue fine line marker, various blue alcohol inks, alcohol ink blending solution, Tim Holtz wildflower stencil and die