Christmas Cards

I always love making Christmas cards and that goes for this year, too.  Here are some of my latest cards.

I used my BD discount in February to get Starry Arches from Simply Graphic.  Cecile Ribon always inspires me and I had seen a few cards she made with it.  The first card I made used the negative die cut along with the little birds from Poppystamps Nordic Majestic Bloom.    

I covered the wings with shimmer and used a fine line gray pen for the eyes.  A couple little branches also die cut from white scraps were placed under the birds.  Starry Arches was die cut from the inside of a Mama Elephant frame diecut.  The panel is backed with silver metallic cardstock and the Winnie and Walter sentiment is stamped in Versafine Clair Morning Mist. 

Finished off with white crochet thread tied across the card top, inspired by my friend, Stella.  I'm entering AAA Cards and SSS Wednesday.

Here's the card I made with the positive Starry Arches diecut which I glued to a small red panel.  The trees from CN9 and SSS were die cut from Memory Box green glitter cardstock.  

The sentiment from The Greetery's Peaceful Olive hadn't been used until now, as I got it after last year's cards were done.  The red ink is PTI's Pure Poppy and the green is Versafine Clair Green Oasis.  

I used scraps, except for the card base, so I'm entering The Snippets Playground.  

Apparently, I'm on a red, green and white kick!  Here's my card for Woodblock Wednesday using Penny Black's 2013 Christmas Reds & Greens and an old Impression Obsession sentiment.

I stamped in Versafine Clair Green Oasis and then went over the berries with a red pen followed by Christmas Red Stickles.  The little bow is from an old Pretty Pink Posh die set and the dotted rectangle is from AJVD.  

I love the fresh, classic look and didn't even add splatters this time!  I'm also entering PBSC.

One more card using the same color scheme.  This one is for Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero.  The challenge theme is to make a card to send to a family member.  My card is for my late cousin's wife. 

She likes traditional holiday colors and has several Christmas trees in her house.  I die cut the tree from an older Hero Arts card kit, colored the star with a gold shimmery gel pen and covered the embossed dots with Christmas Red Stickles.  I stacked the tree 3 high and glued it to the SSS Frames diecut.  I cut it from red and from white so I could have a thin white frame around the red. 

Luckily, I had enough of the green cardstock scrap I used for the tree to cut a small rectangle.  The sentiment from an old HA set called Christmas Messages was stamped in PTI Pure Poppy.  I photographed this card on a plate we received years ago filled with homemade Christmas cookies made by my cousin's wife.  

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Altenew and Pinkfresh

I have a couple shimmery cards to share.  One uses Lunar Pastes and the other uses Lindy's Magicals.  First is my entry for Altenew's Inspiration Challenge.  Susan inspired me to use my Lunar Pastes for a custom metallic panel to emboss with Altenew's Perfect Poinsettias folder.  The colors are Game Over, Fake Plant and Slippery When Wet.  You can see the shimmer in my IG video.  

I lightly rubbed over the embossing with a black ink pad and thought I'd ruined it.  Luckily, I was able to smooth out the ink with a cloth and saved it.  Of course, I added some black splatters!😊 Altenew's Mini Christmas was gold embossed on black.  I also gold embossed the edges of the panel and the sentiment.  I used Altenew's Layered Floral Elements to make a poinsettia colored with the same Lunar Pastes.  Altenew matt gold sequins and a Pinkfresh gem finish it off.  I'm also entering DCD.

Here's my card using Lindy's Autumn Leaves Magicals.  I tend to over blend the colors, but I still ended up with a beautiful shimmery panel.  You can see the shimmer in my IG video.  I stamped the wreath from PFS Delicate Wreath in Versafine Clair Pinecone and embossed with Hero Arts Sparkle Powder.

The sentiment from PFS Perfect Sentiments was stamped in Pinecone on brown cardstock, which I also used for the front of my card.  Tried out several embellishments and really liked the look of PFS Ombre Sparkle gems.  I'm entering Pinkfresh Studio November Challenge, SSS Monday and SSS Wednesday.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Time Out Challenge #277

We have a quote for the Inspired by Words challenge at Time Out.  You can use the entire quote or any of the words it contains for your project.  "There truly is not an occasion, that is not improved by wearing something festive."  Emma Straub  We're generously sponsored by Top Flight Stamps.  

Should be no surprise that I focused on the word "festive" and made another Christmas card for my DT project.  This time I began with a background panel that's been waiting a long time to be used.  

Winnie and Walter's The Peppermint Zone cover plate was die cut from white cardstock and layered over a red textured panel.  Luckily, I found more of the red cardstock in my stash and used it to die cut the PTI sentiment.  To make it stand out a bit more, I added a couple more layers, brushed with shimmer and covered with Nuvo glaze.  

The double snowflakes were made with 6 of the Pinkfresh Layered Snowflakes.  I attached them only in the centers and gently lifted the ends.  They're also brushed with shimmer and adorned with sparkly Taylored Expressions gems.  Pretty simple card, but I think it's fun and festive.  There's a lot more inspiration on the blog from our guest designer and my teammates.  Check out all the challenge details and why not play along?  

I'm entering DCD and SSS Wednesday.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

JOY

I love designs with an image replacing a letter.  Poppystamps Seed Snowflake Joy die has it already done for you, but I just had to add a couple shimmery Pinkfresh Layered Snowflakes on top.  

The blue glitter paper is from Memory Box and the embossing folder is SSS Fanciful Flurries.  I used a very small circle die to make the blue glitter dot for the snowflake center.  

Now I need to use the silver metallic J and Y for another card!  I'm entering JUGS Word Week and DCD.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Blue Bird

My friend and fellow Schnauzer mom, Carol, picked Gold, White and Blue for JUGS Color Week Challenge.

It caught my eye because I tend to reach for silver when I'm using blue.  Decided to make a winter birthday card with Memory Box Serene Bird and Branch.  

I found a sheet of double sided blue cardstock in my plastic box of papers from years ago.  The bird body was die cut from the darker side and the wing from the lighter side.  I brushed the edges with slightly darker blue inks.  Originally, I was going to add gold embossing to the edge of the blue wing, but thought it might work to just layer it over a gold edged wing.  Really like how it turned out.  I used a tiny gold pearl for the eye.  I've hardly used my Grit Paste, but maybe now I will think of it more often.  Gives a bit of sparkle and texture and a wintry feel to the branch with the look of glistening snow.  

Last time I had my Gansai Tambi gold watercolors out, I splattered a few panels.  This one with gold splatters on white cardstock made the perfect background.  I tried all three colors for the PTI Skinny Diagonals Frame and gold won, hands down.  My sweet in-person friend, Rosemary, shared some Memory Box chipboard gold foiled sentiments with me and this round one fit perfectly.  Decided against adding any embellishments, which I seem to be doing more often these days.  I'm also entering TTTC 260 with the middle vertical row of Snow/Foliage/Metallic Element.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Friendship and Christmas

I've been wanting to make a card with Alex Syberia's Elegant Peony die set.  Color Hues Red and Black challenge inspired me to get out my box of red scraps and start diecutting.  Here's what I came up with.  I don't understand why the picture looks so much better on my phone than on my laptop.  You can check my IG post.

I attached the layers in the center and gently lifted the petals.  The stem and leaves were die cut from a fairly heavy weight vellum and the tips of the leaves were also gently lifted.  

The sentiment from Altenew's Morning Glory was stamped in black and heat embossed in clear powder on the same red cardstock I used for the card front.  Three black enamel dots embellish the flower center.  I'm also entering WAW.

I wanted to make a Christmas card in traditional colors, so started by embossing a green panel with SSS Forest Border folder.  I lightly rubbed the top edges with a white ink pad and then couldn't decide what else to do.  

After it sat on my table a few days, I came across the red and white Birch Press Design Vintage Merry Christmas I put together awhile ago.  I added Shimmer Pico Embellisher to the letters.  Then I remembered my IO deer which were just the right size.  

I colored them in brown ink mixed with white metallic watercolor left on my surface.  A simple, easy to mail card, but I like it.  I'm entering DCD and WAW.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.

Time Out Challenge #276

The weather has definitely changed in my part of the world.  I do prefer cooler temperatures and we need the rain.  So Time Out Challenge #276: Be Cozy seems very appropriate.  

Hubby loves to wear his plaid flannel shirts when it's chilly, so my first thought was to use plaid in my card.  But I came across the Tutti Designs Winter Cottage die I won several years ago and had never used.  

We love the mountains and cross country skiing was my favorite winter activity.  I would have loved to stay at this cottage!  The white glitter paper is so beautiful in person and makes it stand out from the background.  Speaking of the background, it's simply a white panel embossed with SSS Forest Border folder.  Luckily, I didn't discard the little snowflakes that pop out of the diecut so I could add them across the top.  The little sentiment from Winnie and Walter was stamped in PTI Weathervane and matching cardstock was used for the panel and sentiment strip mats.  Hubby loves the card, so maybe I can come up with something slightly different for his December birthday card.  

You can get a lot more inspiration and all the challenge details on the Time Out Challenge blog.  Our generous sponsor is Newton's Nook and it'd be great to see you in the gallery.

I'm entering DCD and WAW.

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  If your blog address is in your profile or comment, I will visit you.