A Bird and a Birthday

For the Christmas Kickstart Challenge "Season's Tweetings", I used an image where it looks like the birds are tweeting at each other!  It's also going to Triple B "Birds, Blooms, or Butterflies" and to Rudolph Days "Anything Christmas".

Stamped and watercoloured with some Distress Antique Linen sponged around the edges and some glitter added to the snow on the branches.

And then a birthday card for my nephew for AAA Birthday "Anything Birthday Goes" and Inkspirational "For the Guys".

I die cut the globe out of a piece of cs sprayed with Lindy's sprays, then rubbed Versamark over it and heat embossed with UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel).  I added it to a background lightly sponged with blue where the globe is and a bit of Antique Linen around the edge.  It's then layred on a script dp and a sentiment added to the top.

   

  

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Nellie Snellen birds and musical score, Hero Arts sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Antique Linen
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, glitter

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - unknown happy birthday
Ink - Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - white cs, script dp
Size - A2
Accessories - Lindy's brown spray, globe die, UTEE

Musical Snow and a Simple Robin

Four challenges inspired this card - Time Out "Music" , Jingle Belles "Snow", Allsorts "Monochromatic", and Colorful Options "Black and White".

I made a background of snowflakes with silver glitter paste, a snowflake stencil, and black cs.  Trimmed it and added it to a white cardbase.  Die cut the snowflake / music score twice out of white cs and glued them together for more substance.  Stamped "let it snow" on a scrap of black cs, heat embossed in white, then rubbed ink around the edges and heat embossed the edges in white.

Christmas Kickstart "Seasons Tweetings", Simply CAS "Things that Fly", Sweet Stampin' "Things with Wings", Try It On Tuesday "Keep It Simple", and ABC Christmas Challenge "J is for Just Enough (Clean and Simple) - all inspired this card.

I stamped and watercoloured the image, and trimmed the panel into a square. Then using the SSS thin circle frame, I cut a thin circle out of my square. With the same die, I cut a thin circle frame out of red cs and inserted it into the gap in the square.

   

    

   

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Art Impressions sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white
Paper - white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - SSS Jingle Snowflakes die, white embossing powder, silver glitter paste, Paper Rose snowflake stencil

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Nellie Snellen bird, Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, red and off white cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, SSS thin circle frame

Textured Tissue Paper with Dry Embossing

This month the Group of Cardmakers is watercolouring tissue paper and dry embossing it for interesting textured backgrounds.  Full instructions are on our website.

I made three Christmas cards using the technique.  For the first two, I made green backgrounds and brayered over the raised sections with gold paint.

For the first card, I trimmed the panel and added a two-die sentiment (which perfectly covered up a blob of gold paint that wasn't on the raised part of the embossing).

For the second card, I die cut an ornament and the sentiment out of the panel and again out of scrap cs, and glued them together for more dimension.  I added gold cord to the top of the ornament, and embellished the card base with gold gemstones.

I then changed background and paint colours for this third card.

I used various blues and turquoises for this one (but I think there was a bit of green left on my craft mat!).  Then used a 3D snowflake folder and silver paint.  I added a snowflake / music die (cut three times for dimension - it needed that to make it really stand out), and a Let It Snow sentiment stamped in one of the ink colours and trimmed with a label die.

More examples over on the Group of Cardmakers' blog, as well as detailed instructions.  Be sure to read the information on different types of tissue paper!

Supplies for card 1:
Ink - various green Distress inks
Paper - white tissue paper, white and gold cs
Size - A2
Accessories - gold paint, SSS 3D greenery embossing folder, SSS Merry Christmas and shadow die 

Supplies for card 2:
Ink - various green Distress inks
Paper - white tissue paper, white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - gold paint, SSS 3D greenery embossing folder, Spellbinders ornament die, Hero Arts noel die
 

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - unknown sentiment
Ink - various blue and turquoise Distress inks
Paper - white tissue paper, white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - silver paint, SSS 3D snowflakes embossing folder, SSS Jingle Snowflakes die, Spellbinders label die

Sleigh Ride on Music

The bottom right image on the new Peace on Earth mood board immediately gave me the idea for this card.

 

I had a perfect piece of patterned paper for the background.  I put it in my MISTI and stamped the silhouette sleigh image a few times directly onto the patterned paper until I got a perfect impression, then heat embossed it.  I went around the edges of the panel with a black marker.  I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment, sponged a bit of Antique Linen ink on it to give it the same slightly aged look as the patterned paper, and also went around the edges of it with a black marker.

 

We'd love to have you join us at Peace on Earth, either inspired by the mood board below, or with an "anything Christmas" card.

 

 

I'm also entering the card at the Jingle Belles' "Vintage" challenge.

 

 

  

Supplies:
Stamps - Tim Holtz
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, Distress Antique Linen
Paper - off-white cs, Paper Studio dp
Size - A2
Accessories - Spellbinders rectangle dies, black marker, clear embossing powder

Designer Paper Christmas and Wildflower Birthday

I'm trying to make sure I make at least two cards a month using up some of my stash of designer paper.  The latest Double D challenge is "Designer Paper" so it prompted me to get this one made.  It's also for the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown "Red and Green".

I used some old Graphic 45 dp that has images for the 12 Days of Christmas. The 12 drummers drumming panel is mostly red and green so I added it to a card base and then to make it more interesting, I die cut the snowflake / music die in dark red (and twice more in scrap cs, so that glued together they have some substance and dimension) and also the Joy sentiment die.

Seize the Birthday wants to see "Flowers", AAA Birthday is anything birthday, and Triple B is always any combination of Birds, Blooms, Butterflies" - I've got blooms and butterflies today.

The image is stamped and watercoloured. The tiny butterflies are die cut from a scrap of smooshed cs.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Paper - cream and red cs, Graphic 45 dp
Size - 6x4.25"
Accessories - SSS Jingle Snowflakes die, Spellbinders Joy die

Supplies:
Stamps - Indigo Blu wildflowers, SU sentiment
Ink - Versafine Smokey Grey
Paper - watercolour paper, off white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - watercolour paints, SU sentiment punch, Poppy Stamps Butterfly Sprinkles dies
 

Carollers for Peace on Earth

The new Peace on Earth challenge's mood board includes an image of a group of carollers (see top left image on the mood board at the end of my post).  It inspired me to get out a stamp I hadn't yet inked up.

I stamped and watercoloured the group of mice, keeping the clothing muted like the image, and then sponged around them with Distress inks similar to the sky and ground in the image.  I splattered with opaque white watercolour for snow.

I had done an earlier version where I made the colours of the mice's clothing brighter than in the mood board image, but wasn't as happy with it so redid it for the one above.  This is the earlier version:

It's fine but it didn't capture the mood board image the way I wanted, hence the redo for the card at the beginning of my post.

We'd love to have you join us, whether you're inspired by the mood board or prefer to link up an "anything Christmas" card.  There's more inspiration from the Design Team over at Peace on Earth.

I'm also linking my card up at NBUS since I'd never used the stamp before.  And to the ABC Christmas Challenge "Q is for Quartet (four of something - my quartet of singers).

     

Supplies:
Stamps - Pink Ink Designs "A Christmas Carol", PTI sentiment
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne, various green, brown, and grey Distress inks
Paper - watercolour paper
Size - 6.25x4.75"
Accessories - watercolour paints, Dr. Ph Martin's bleed proof opaque white watercolour

A Musical Angel and a Hexagonal Card

The ABC Christmas Challenge wants "M for Music" and My Time to Craft Christmas wants "Music for Christmas".  I've gone with an angel playing a trumpet.

I stamped and heat embossed the image in gold, fussy cut it, layered it over some DP, and added a die cut sentiment.

My twofer today is for Jingle Belles "Shaped Card" (anything other than a square or rectangle) and 52 Christmas Card Throwdown "Color an Image".  I went with a hexagonal card and coloured the robin with markers.  This card is a CASE of something I saw elsewhere so cannot take credit for the overall idea.

To create the card base, I used stitched hexagon dies and joined them at the top with a cs hinge.  

I cut a third large hexagon to create my design on.  To create the outer border, I stamped the holly branches with green ink, using first, second, and third generation stamping.  Then added the pine branches with brown ink.  I coloured the holly berries with a red Posca paint pen marker.

I stamped the robin image in the centre and coloured it with markers.  Then with a smaller stitched hexagon die, I die cut the centre out.  Then glued the remaining part of the large hexagon to the front layer of the card base I'd created earlier.  I used the same small die to cut another small hexagon from scrap cs, set that one in the opening, and then added the one with the robin on the top of it.  This gave it a bit of dimension.

I finished by going over all the holly berries with Glossy Accents.

    

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Deep Red
Ink - ColorBox gold
Paper - off white cs, unknown dp
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - gold embossing powder, Penny Black joy die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Lavinia holly branch and pine branch stamps, Nellie Snellen robin
Ink - Versafine Clair Shady Lane and Pine Cone
Paper - white cs
Size - to fit in a 6" envelope
Accessories - hexagonal stitched dies, markers, Glossy Accents

Quick Heat Embossed Cards and a Mixed Media Tag

I made a couple of quick and CAS cards for last minute challenge entries today.

First up for Christmas Craft Creations "Metallics" , Inkspirational "Clean and Simple", and  My Time to Craft Christmas "Joy to the World":

I think gold heat embossing on cream cs is so elegant!  And this was so quick to make - sentiment and image stamped and heat embossed in gold, trimmed into a square, popped up on fun foam on the card base.  I put the sentiment right under the trumpet, thinking that maybe the angel is playing Joy to the World.

Next card, for The Twelve Months of Christmas "Christmas Baubles" and for NBUS as I used a stamp I'd never used before:

It's a large stamp that fills up most of the card and has some solid areas so I stamped it in my MISTI.  I used a beautiful blue metallic ink and heat embossed with a sparkly embossing powder.  Trimmed it, added it to the cardbase, and ran a sentiment strip across at an angle so that I could cover a bit over on the right where the heat embossing didn't cover it very well.

And finally for Sweet Stampin' "Tags":

I had great fun playing with a lot of mixed media products (quite out of my comfort zone) to create some backgrounds using Jennifer McGuire's recent video "Background Magic".

On a large piece of heavy cs, I brayered different shades of blue ink and sprayed with some mica spray, stamped with a snowflakes background stamp in darker blue, stamped a few bits of tiny stars in gold, stamped a few tiny Christmas words in blue and gold, and stenciled some larger stars and snowflakes with grit paste. Then trimmed the panel into a few different pieces.

I cut a tag out of part of it, added a couple of die cut snowflakes, a TH label sticker, and some ribbon printed with snowflakes.

You'll be seeing more cards that use pieces of my background soon.

  

   

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Deep Red angel, PTI sentiment
Ink - ColorBox gold
Paper - cream cs
Size - 4.25" square
Accessories - gold embossing powder, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Local King ornaments, Mama Elephant sentiment
Ink - Encore Metallic Blue, Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - SU Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Mama Elephant sentiment strip die

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - SSS small sentiments, Impression Obsession snowflakes and stars background stamps
Ink - Versafine Clair Twilight, various blue Distress inks, Delicata gold
Paper - mixed media cs
Size -5.25x3"
Accessories - Distress mica stain Frosted Juniper, TH grit paste, TH star stencil, Carta Bella snowflake stencil, tag die, TH snowflake dies, TH label stick-on, blue snowflake ribbon