A Gilded Reindeer, Red Ornaments, and a Horse and Sleigh

I'm working very hard on Christmas cards as my fundraiser (where I sell my Christmas cards and those kindly donated by Loll and Christine) is this Sunday.  Thank goodness for challenges that spark ideas in me!  I've got three cards today.

Fiirst up for the Christmas Kickstart Challenge "Just Add Antlers", I've got a reindeer with some very impressive antlers.

I sponged Cosmic Shimmer glue through a reindeer stencil, removed the stencil (and washed it immediately), and applied copper flakes to the glue.  Trimmed the panel with a hemstitch square die, layered over copper shimmer cs, and added a die cut sentiment out of the same copper cs. 

Colorful Options wants to see mostly red.

I stamped and heat embossed the ornaments in red sparkly embossing powder, and the sentiment in black embossing powder.  To make the border layer match the sentiment, I ran ink around the edges of the border layer of cs and heat embossed in the same black embossing powder.

The 12 Months of Christmas want to see a sleigh.  

The background is from my UFO box (a stencil monoprint created after making another background where I sprinkled Magicals through a stencil and spritzed with water - the leftover wet Magicals powder on the stencil was then used to create this background print - trees don't really come in this colour but it makes a lovely shimmery background!).  I tore a strip of white shimmer cs for the snowy ground, and added a gold die cut sleigh and horse, and a gold sentiment die cut with a banner die. The card base is white shimmer cs.

   

Supplies for card 1:
Paper - off white cs, copper shimmer cs
Size - 5.5" square
Accessories - reindeer stencil, copper foil flakes, Tim Holtz noel die, Spellbinders hemstitch square die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Indigo Blu ornaments, Paper Smooches sentiment
Ink - ColorBox red, Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - white cs
Size - 5.75" square
Accessories - Old Island Red Dragon embossing powder, black embossing powder, Spellbinders square dies

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - gold
Paper - mixed media cs, white shimmer cs, gold shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - TCW birch trees stencil, Magicals, sentiment banner die, Memory Box horse and sleigh dies

 

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

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

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

White and One Colour

The Double D challenge wants "White with One Other Colour Only".  I went with hot pink as my other colour - quite close to the colour of one of the images in their mood board.

I started with the circle of small hearts - done with pink glimmer foil on a hot foil machine.  I then bordered it with hot pink glitter cs, die cut the small hearts and the sentiment out of the same cs, added them all to a square of white cs, and popped the square up on fun foam on the card base.

Double D Challenges  "White with One Other Colour Only"

Supplies:
Paper - white cs, pink glitter cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - Tim Holtz love die, unknown heart circle and small hearts dies, pink glimmer foil

Slimline Branches and Shiny Trees

The Christmas Kickstart Challenge wants a mini slimline card.  And it's Rudolph Days - anything Christmas goes.  I pulled out a Penny Black stamp I haven't used for a couple of years.

I put the stamp in my MISTI and inked it up with Tombow markers, spritzing lightly, and re-inking as needed.  I pressed some Distress Iced Spruce onto my kraft mat and diluted it with water and carefully painted it around the bottom of the image.  I stamped the image in brown, trimmed the panel, and ran a brown marker around the edge of the panel to give it some definition on the card base.  I added a bit of glue and glitter to the white parts of the pine cone and branches, very lightly splattered some watered down white acrylic paint, and added glossy accents to the berries.

And a second card for today, this one is for Christmas Crafts All Year Round "Tree and / or Gifts", Christmas Craft Creations "Two Colours" (I used blue and green), and Day of the Month Card Club "Love a Tree Day".

I created by trees by covering some scrap cs with double sided tape and green foil and then die cut the two trees from it.  Then I grabbed a piece of leftover smooshed background from my UFO box, tore some scraps of white cs for the snowy hills, stamped the sentiment on the bottom one, assembled everything and popped it up on fun foam.

Christmas Kickstart Challenge "Mini Slimline"

 

Rudolph Days

Christmas Crafts All Year Round "Tree and / or Gifts"

Day of the Month Card Club

 

Christmas Craft Creations

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black branches, Paper Smooches sentiment
Ink - Distress Iced Spruce, Versafine Clair Fallen Leaves
Paper - watercolour paint, cream cs
Size - 7x3.5"
Accessories - Tombow markers, glossy accents, glitter, white acrylic paint

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Rosie's Roadshow sentiment
Ink - Broken China Tumbled Glass
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Impression Obsession tree dies, green foil, fun foam

Handles and Snowflakes

I'm back to Christmas cards with this post.  

Here's a card for the Double D "Something with a Handle" challenge.  Usually their wonderful mood boards inspire my card but this time I had to skip it and search my stamps and dies for a handle.  I found a lovely NBUS stamp so I can also enter it in Darnell's NBUS Challenge, and it's between the 25th and the end of the month so can enter it in Rudolph Days March Challenge.

Stamped, watercoloured, trimmed with a hemstitch die, bordered with dark red cs, and put on a cream card base.

And today's twofer is for Christmas Kickstart "Snowflakes are Winter's Butterflies":

I've been using Jennifer Maguire's technique a lot lately (seen in this video).

I embossed bright aqua blue foil cs with the snowflake embossing folder, then sanded the raised part, exposing the white cs underneath the blue foil layer.

I added two snowflakes die cut from sparkly cs. The sentiment on the top right is a wax seal that I made while at a friend's house.

Double D "Something with a Handle"

NBUS Challenge "Never Before Used Schtuff"

Rudolph Days "Anything Christmas"

Christmas Kickstart "Snowflakes are Winter's Butterflies"

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black basket, unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, dark red and cream cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, Spellbinders hemstitch rectangle die

Supplies for card 2:
Paper - white cs, aqua blue foil cs, sparkly white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - snowflake embossing folder, snowflake die cuts, wax seal

Christmas Music and Christmas Tree

Getting more Christmas cards done on a dreary drizzly day!

First up for Jingle Belles "something musical on your card", I have musical dp, a horn, and a line from a Christmas carol:

Stamped, coloured with coloured pencils (including a metallic gold one for the horn), trimmed with a stitched square die, popped up on fun foam on a musical dp.

For the Cardz 4 Guyz "Slimline Card" challenge, I did a Christmas card that I think would be fine for a guy:

I put some double sided tape on cs and added foil to it, then die cut my tree. I die cut it a second time from scrap cs and glued them together to give the tree more dimension.

I cut a top panel for the card and ran it through an embossing folder - because the embossing folder is meant for A2 cards, it left an unembossed area at the bottom that was perfect for the sentiment.

Jingle Belles

Cardz 4 Guyz

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - SU rocking horse, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Archival Acorn
Paper - white cs, musical dp
Size - 5.75" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, fun foam, Lil Inker stitched square die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Distress Oxide Faded Jeans
Paper - white cs
Size - 6x4.25"
Accessories - Impression Obsession fir tree die, Deco emerald foil, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Dry Embossed Pine Branch

I've got a Christmas card today for a couple of challenges.  Just Us Girls wants to see "Embossing Folders" and the ABC Christmas Challenge has "E for Embossing".

I really like Jennifer McGuire's technique with embossing folders.  See this video for details.

I embossed bright green foil cs with the TH pine branch embossing folder, then sanded the raised part, exposing the white cs underneath the green foil layer.

I stamped and heat embossed my sentiment on vellum and wrapped the strip around the foil panel, then mounted on a white card base. I added a little silver bow to the top of the branch.

Just Us Girls

ABC Christmas Challenge  "E for Embossing"

Supplies:
Stamps - SU sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white cs, vellum, green foil cs
Size - A2
Accessories - TH embossing folder, clear embossing powder, silver ribbon

A Sanded Foil Slimline

When the slimline cards first became popular, I didn't think I'd jump on that particular bandwagon but more and more I'm enjoying making them. 

For this one, I dry embossed a piece of gold foil cs with a 3D embossing folder and then sanded off some of the raised parts.  I bordered it with dark red and then cut a matching sentiment.

It was really hard to photograph.  The gold is not quite that yellow so here are a couple of other photos using different light (the true colour is somewhere in between!).

It's a really easy technique, a great way to use foil cs and to get more use out of our embossing folders.

I'm linking up with these challenges:

Just Us Girls "Mini Slimline Cards"

Krafty Chicks "Christmas Week Challenge"

Supplies:
Paper - gold foil cs, red and cream cs
Size - 6.25x3.25"
Accessories - TH 3D embossing folder, Penny Black sentiment die

Tic Tac Toe Poinsettia

I really enjoy Tic Tac Toe challenges so am happy to be posting a card for The Paper Players.  I chose the row that reads "foil / embossing / embellishments".

I ran a piece of red foil cs through my Cuttlebug using the TH 3D poinsettia embossing folder.  I then sanded off some of the raised area to bring out the design.  I cut a thin diagonal strip out of the panel, put the two sections on fun foam, stamped and heat embossed the sentiment in the recessed section between the two sections of the panel, and added lots of tiny gemstone embellishments to the centres of the poinsettias.

The Paper Players "Tic Tac Toe"

Supplies:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white cs, red foil cs
Size - A2
Accessories - TH 3D poinsettia embossing folder, small clear gemstones, clear embossing powder, fun foam

Foil and Snowflakes

Recently a few of us played with foil over Zoom.  One of the techniques we tried was dry embossing foil cs and then sanding off some of the raised layer to reveal the core colour of the foil cs.  See this video by Jennifer Maguire.

I enjoyed the technique so much that I used it to create a card for a couple of October challenges that call for snowflakes.  Here's my card:

I embossed a piece of blue foil cs with a snowflake swirl embossing folder and then sanded off the raised area.  It revealed a silver colour under the blue so I added it to a silver shimmer card base and die cut a couple of snowflakes and a Tim Holtz sentiment circle out of the same silver shimmer cs.

For these challenges:

Christmas Cards All Year Round "Something that Starts with S or T"

Christmas 24 Challenge "Simply Snowflakes" 

Supplies:
Paper - blue matte foil and silver shimmer cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Cuttlebug embossing folder, TH snow circle die, Impression Obsession snowflake dies