Christmas and Easter

I graduated from college many years ago.  Apparently I've forgotten more than I realized.  For example, I didn't know that Freedom of Speech means we have the right to say positive things about our government and to say we agree with the leaders.  Something to be proud of, right?!

I love making Christmas cards year round, so took a break from Easter cards to make a couple.  First up is my entry for Woodblock Wednesday.  

One of my favorite companies when I started stamping was Magenta.  Can't remember the last time I used this beautiful candle image and I know I didn't white emboss it on kraft cardstock.  Gotta say, I really love the look for a change.  I fussy cut and colored with markers.  The candles were covered with a sparkle pen.  You can see the sparkle and shine in my IG post.  Love the Pinkfresh Diagonal Stitch squares and rectangles.  The Savvy Stamps sentiment was stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn and I finished with kraft cord tied in a bow.  I'm also entering ABC Christmas.  

The current Christmas Kickstart Challenge is to make a card without using red, green or gold.  I decided to stick with kraft and white, but add pink.  

PFS Layered Wreath was die cut twice and the edges were brushed with Altenew Mocha ink.  Then I layered them offset and added pink cardstock berries.  I used vellum for the Classic Holiday Words shadow and white cardstock for 2 layers of the words.  The berries were covered in WOW Peachy Keen Sparkles and the words were covered in Sparkle Pico Embellisher.  You can see the sparkle and shine in my IG post.  I used a dark brown Zig for the splatters.

I do have another Easter card to share, inspired by Color Hues Lemon and Lime.  Unfortunately, I missed the deadline.  It's been awhile since I used my Brilliance ink pads and I remembered that I have Pearlescent Lime.  I used direct to paper on a white cardstock scrap and used it to die cut Alexandra Renke's egg with foliage.  

I decided to add more foliage, so pulled out another Alexandra Renke die and Memory Box Tall Frilly Leaf Stems.  I brushed the diecuts with the Lime ink using a lighter touch.  PFS Blanket Stitch Elongated Oval was brushed with Altenew Fresh Lemon ink--darker on the edge and fading out to white in the center.  After attaching the egg and extra foliage, I stamped the little butterfly from an old TPC Studio set.  

The IO bunny was die cut from my lightest yellow felt attached to lightweight paper for extra stability.  I brushed the edges with the Fresh Lemon ink and used a pink Copic for the center of the ears.  The eye is a tiny clear jewel colored with a black Copic.  Instead of adding cotton to the tail, I covered it with WOW Ice Pop Sparkles--kinda fun!  The very old woodblock sentiment was stamped in Versafine Clair Nocturne, edged with Fresh Lemon and raised with a couple cardstock layers.  My favorite Hero Arts translucent enamel dots in yellow were the perfect finishing touch.  Hubby is not a fan of yellow, but he gave this card a good review!  I'm also entering SSS Wednesday and TTTC267 using the center vertical row.

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

Greta

A Couple Cards

Here's the card I sent to the UK for the November CCC.  I chose the option of making a white on white wreath card.  This was such fun to make, as I do love wreaths!  

I used branch dies from several different sets.  Each type was die cut from a different white paper and one was clear embossed, another was left plain, another had shimmery watercolor added and another had some glitter.  

The bow is Impression Obsession and the sentiment is from Pinkfresh Studio Folk Snowflake.  I used light molding paste and a Magenta brick stencil for the background.  I'm entering SSS Wednesday 

I actually forgot that I bought The Greetery Peaceful Olive stamp/stencils/dies last year.  So glad I finally used these products to make a card.  Luckily, there is an instruction sheet with the stamp set.

You start with the stencils and then stamp the details using the one piece stamp.  The inks for the leaves are Altenew Fresh Leaf, Grass Field and Shadow Creek.  Couldn't get a picture showing the true color of the lightest green.  Trust me, it's not yellow.  The inks for the olives are PTI Autumn Rose and Scarlet Jewel.  I stamped the branch in Altenew Rocky Shore. 

"Wishing You" was stamped in Versafine Clair Acorn and "Peace" was inked with Scarlet Jewel at the bottom, Autumn Rose at the top and was stacked 3 high.  I added soft gold watercolor splatters and carefully drug my brush around the edges of the panel.  The letters were covered with Shimmer Pico Embellisher.  The mat is SSS Matt Champagne metallic cardstock.  I'm entering JUGS and Christmas Kickstart.

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

Fall Leaves

I had leftover Memory Box Wayfarer Leaves already spritzed with several green Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists.  But I wanted to make a Fall card for Freshly Made Sketches 600th Challenge & Memory Box August Fall challenge.  I simply added dark green, red, bronze & copper mists to turn them into beautiful shimmery Fall leaves.

For a bit of sparkle, I mixed copper & champagne Stickles to apply randomly on the leaves.  The background strip was made with an old wood mounted Magenta splatter stamp using white pigment ink.  

I used direct to paper with Versafine Clair Pinecone on a kraft scrap to use for Poppystamps Scribble Hello which I stacked 3 high.  I love pearls & thought these old brown ones were just what this card needed.  Another one handed card, but less than 3 weeks until the sling comes off.  There will still be restrictions, but I'm hoping life will be a lot easier.  

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by & for all the well wishes.

Three More Easter Cards

I really enjoyed making Easter cards this year.  Here's my entry for TTTC 202 using the diagonal line of Gold, Free, Easter from the board created by my good friend, Betty.  

Some time ago I made several HoneyBee Stamps Lovely Layers Tulips buds from yellow & green scraps.  Couldn't get my idea to work, so they've just been on my table.  Luckily, there was enough cardstock to also die cut the closed tulip.  That gave me a little bouquet which resulted in this card.  I splattered gold watercolor over the tulips & the white panel embossed with SSS Refracted folder.

Poppystamps Happy Easter Curve was stacked several high with the top layer cut from gold metallic cardstock.  I finished off with the beautiful Lucy's Cards gold & clear sequins from my favorite Champagne mix.

Next is a beautiful card, thanks to Stamplorations card fronts.  I thought this one would be great for an Easter card.  

All I did was splatter gold watercolor, attach the IO gold metallic diecut sentiment, add gold sequins & attach the panel to a burgundy mat.

I was running out of time to get cards in the mail, so having the card front was a wonderful option.  In case you haven't heard, Shery Russ, the owner of Stamplorations, recently had a PET scan that showed no signs of her stage 4 breast cancer.  Lots of joy for that family this Easter.

My final card was inspired by the photo inspiration for Time Out Challenge 235.  As many of you probably know, I love wreaths & the color pink.  So no surprise I was immediately drawn to the gorgeous grapevine wreath with pink flowers. 

I actually have a couple wreath dies that would have worked, but my first thought was PTI Rustic Wreath.  It was die cut 3 times from a dark brown scrap & I glued them not lined up in order to make a little fuller wreath.  I knew several of my Spellbinders Small Die of the Month kits had blossoms & branches.  These 3 had just what I needed: March & July 2020 and December 2021.  I pulled out a bunch of my beautiful pink scraps & a sort of mossy green one for the branches.  Only got a shot of the pink scraps--still lots to be used.  

Love the white bricks in the photo & I remembered my old Magenta stencil which I used with Golden Light Molding Paste.  I've had that jar for years & it's still just as good as the day I opened it.  Really love the texture it gives.  This card is completely opposite of the last one--took me forever!  

I'm not good at fiddling with little die cut pieces, but finally got everything attached where I wanted them.  The Poppystamps Serene Rabbit diecut is the last one from a scrap I embossed with Stampendous Sparkle & Puff ep.  I substituted him for the white "Hi" in the photo.  The sentiment from my old TPC Studio set was stamped in Versafine Clair Pinecone on a white scrap.  I added tiny clear gems to the big flowers, used a black Glaze pen for the rabbit's eye & added a piece of white crochet thread around his neck.  The crochet thread was a scrap, too!  

If you want to see the sparkle, there's a short video in my IG feed.  Too late for this year, so I'll put this card on display for now & mail it next year.  I'm also entering The Snippets Playground & SSS Monday.

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

Bunny Hop

You may have noticed the Bunny Hop badge in my sidebar.  Gail, one of the gals leading the Card Chain Challenge, is turning 50.  To celebrate she's having a bunny hop with prizes.  I've never been much of a collector--unless you count cardmaking supplies--haha!  However, I do have a bunny collection of home decor, yard ornaments & music boxes.  We even had a real bunny in our front flower bed this week for the first time.  Because of my love for bunny images, I also have quite a few stamps & some dies.  One of the first companies I was introduced to some 20 years ago was Magenta.  Three or four stores near me at that time carried Magenta stamps & this is one of my favorites. 

It's actually not that easy to use, though, being large & very detailed.  Good thing I still have my old fashioned stamp positioner so I could stamp multiple times with Versafine Vintage Sepia on the smooth side of wc paper.  The panel was die cut with a smaller AJVD rectangle die which cut off the places on the edge where I couldn't get a good inking.  I did a soft watercolor wash of Distress Ink victorian velvet over the entire image.  Then I added more of the ink over the bunny in the foreground.  I very carefully darkened some of the brown to give more definition & thankfully I didn't ruin it!  I spritzed with a gold shimmer mist, mounted it to gold cardstock & then attached it to a card base covered with a brown panel. 

Didn't like any embellishments, so I ended up with a nice, flat note card ready to mail.  I'm also entering Word Art Wednesday.  Beautiful sunny day, so Fritz & I are off on another walk while hubby finishes washing his vehicle.  Thanks so much for stopping by.
Edited to add: Also entering Through the Craft Room Door.

Happy Easter!

He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.  Matthew 28:6

Wishing everyone a blessed Easter.  We're spending the day with hubby's daughter & her family, so I'm not doing any cooking.  Thought I'd share the last of my Easter cards.  

I had the Paper Smooches crosses on my wishlist for a long time.  They're quite inexpensive, so finally put them into my cart.  I actually didn't even realize each one is a solid & an outline until I die cut the first one. They're just the right size & so versatile.  I also "had" to have the Frantic Stamper Arched Labels dies because of a card I received from my blogging friend, Di, using similar ones no longer available. My first card using both new products was very simple with the sentiment inside.  I like the bronze & purple together.   

Next is a card inspired by the beautiful soft watercolor backgrounds my friend Rosemary makes.  

The sentiment from a company no longer in business is stamped in Versafine Smokey Gray.  I might not have used glitter cardstock for the cross, but that's something else I saw Rosemary do.  I'm entering HLS Watercolor  & Anything Goes with Dies.  

My stencils don't get used very much, but I had in mind a long time ago to use this one by TH for an Easter card.  

Here's my first attempt using Distress Ink with a wet brush. You really can't tell it's watercolored, so next time I'll probably just sponge it on. The outline cross is the purple one from the first card & a strip from the same cardstock scrap was added to the card front.  I know my sister & brother-in-law will enjoy this one. 

Thankfully, my friend Darnell made this sweet bunny card, as it reminded me of a very old Magenta stamp I love & never use.

I really didn't know what to do with it, but was happy with the result when I simply stamped it on cream cardstock using Versafine Vintage Sepia.  You can't beat pink & brown in my book.  The sentiment is an old one by Inkadinkadoo.  I'm entering Penny Black & More & SSS Monday. Thanks so much for taking time to stop by.  I'll catch up with you soon.