A late holiday card... which I never blogged! This is Penny Black's "Caroling Trio" which I have done before and love. The "merry" die is from SSS and snowflake embossing folder is from Sizzix. A couple of die cut snowflake to finish it off from my stash. This is for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge, "Winter Wonderland" and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Celebration."The inside sentiment is from Poppy Stamps and the snowflakes are from both MFT and Hero Arts.
I am so READY for 2020 to be over, I decided to make some New Years cards (something I have barely done in the past.) So many of us are looking forward to 2021 and better days .... so I made a few to send out this year. These cards use the shaker Wine Glass from My Favorite Things cut from gold card stock and filled with sequins from my stash. The background stamp is from Impression Obsession "Flourishes" gold embossed. The sentiments are from and old Hero Arts stamp and the clear droplets are from Pretty Pink Posh. Entering one of these in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Celebrations!'
Since I finished and mailed my holiday cards, I am just working on some general cards for my stash. This card project features a stamp from Art Impressions. I used an older embossing folder for the purple panel for some added dimension and interest. Copics were used for the coloring and I was pretty happy how it turned out. Entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Celebration!"
Another quick entry- a masculine birthday card. I have used this My Favorite Things stamp set often for male cards. I used the small stamps to create the background panel and then colored and cute the brief case and the calculator to pop up. Placing this on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Celebrate."
A quick entry for a card I made after playing around with some Nuvo Glitter Paste, Moonstone, over Distress Ink through SSS "Tumbling Leaves" stencil, which I absolutely love! I also used some Tim Holtz Metallic paper, SSS sentiment in gold embossing and a piece of Gina K. Black and gold ribbon. The rectangle die is Candlewick from Spellbinders. Entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Celebrate."
As much as I try not to keep buying new products, it's super hard when there are so many great stamp sets on the market and sales to boot! So, the card below was created with a stamp I just bought from Newton's Nook called "Holiday Post." I left the dog out this time because I wanted the little scene to fit in a circle so I could enter the card into the sketch challenge (see sketch below.)
I added snow using a glue pen and glitter to the areas where there's snow on the mailbox and around the scene. I used copic markers and kept my color scheme blues and grays thinking this would become a masculine birthday card. I found some patterned paper in my stash with white and navy circles so I duplicated the circle theme, too. The speech bubble die is from Spellbinders and the "For You" is from Simon Says Stamp "Talk Bubbles 2" set. To add additional texture and interest on the solid navy background, I used We R Memory Keepers embossing folder with circles. The little die cut envelope is from Sugar Pea Designs. Entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Let It Snow" and of course the Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge #138.
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| The inside panel is ready to stamp when I want to send this card. |
I have one of my favorite Penny Black holiday images, Holly Jolly Critters, which I colored with copic markers and added a wintery scene. Distress Ink was used along with a white gel pen from Signo and red from Nuvo Drops. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp "Inside Holiday Greetings" and the panels were cut with Honey Bee's Deckle Edge Rectangle dies. This card is going on the SSS Monday Challenge and the SSS Wednesday Challenge "Let It Snow" and the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for December, "Winter Wonderland."
This card came together in a funny way. Maybe this happens to you sometimes... I had this copic colored house for a while just sitting in my pile of holiday odds and ends. It's an old Stampin' Up product. I had it on my table, but wasn't sure what to do with it. About the same time, I was playing with the "Filled with Joy" die set which I had purchased a while ago but not used it yet. I cut the letters out of some stamped aqua paper thinking I would use them on a project, but when I looked at the cut out letters on the card stock, I liked how that looked so I started to build this card with those two elements, the house and the cut out "JOY." I knew I wanted snow falling so I used "Snowfall" stamp from MFT with black paper and white embossing powder. The music notes are from Stampers Journey and the sentiment is from SSS "Holiday Cheer." This is going on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Let It Snow" and the My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge #519 (see below>)
The Christmas Plaid paper from Memory Box is stunning. When I looked through all of the plaids, some of them just begged to be used. The plaid below inspired me to stamp a sentiment in each of the open spaces, and I decided to use gold embossing powder so the gold lines would match. The die cut tree is from Poppy Stamps, Distress Ink for color and Nuvo glitter paste on top for sparkle! The sentiments are all from MFT "Gift Tag Greetings." I added gold embossing around the perimeter, too. Inside the sentiment is from SSS "Merry Everything" stamp set. I am placing this on the Tic Tac Toe Challenge #93 (diagonal Green, Winter Holiday, Embossing Paste) and the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.
A busy day - listened to the Delaware River Basin Commission meeting where it was anticipated they would vote on a project I am fighting, along with some friends in South Jersey and just about every environmental group in existence. Well, sure enough the DRBC voted to approve this project, and it was very upsetting and disappointing to over 200 participants who were on the zoom call today. We won't let this decision stand. Delaware Riverkeepers Network, Sierra Club, Food and Water Watch, NJ Clean Water Watch, etc will bring a suit against this decision. The fossil fuel companies think they can plunge forward without a care for our environment, without causing damage to the River and wildlife, and without acknowledging the safety issues of millions of people who live along the routes where LNG will be transported day in and day out from Wyalusing, PA to Gibbstown, NJ. We will fight this.
So I finally had a chance to post this card. It's for the Newton's Nook Inky Paws Challenge #138. Check out the sketch challenge design below. I used a new stamp I bought recently - Christmas Roundabout as the central image. For the background, I used one part of a layering stencil from NN called "Argyle Stencil" with Delicata Gold Glitz ink to create a design on the panel. The snowflake die is from Savvy Stamps, and the circles are cut using Spellbinder's Scalloped Circles. The sentiment is from an older NN set called "Christmas Delivery." I will also post it on the SSS Monday Challenge "Favorite Technique" since I love coloring with copics and die cutting.
I am enjoying the You Tube videos from Jill Foster of Penny Black, especially those which create scenes. I have purchased some new Archival Inks which can be used along with water colored images or ink blending without smudging. Using Penny Black's "Wintry Trail," I made two panels inspired by Jill's videos Wintry Trail and Create a Winter Scene. One became a standard size card, but I also wanted to create a slim line card so I added the ribbon as a bridge between the upper portion of the card and the lower portion where I stamped a holiday message. This way you can't tell that these are two separate pieces of paper.
Also, I experimented with the sky - I used the same Distress Ink colors, but on one panel I blended the colors with a blender bush, and on the other panel, I painted several layers with a paint brush. Generally, they turned out the same ... but the blending is a bit easier than water coloring (and it takes less time!)
In addition to Penny Black's "Wintry Trail," I also used PB's "Nature's Friend" for the deer silhouette, several colors of Archival Ink, & Distress Inks. The sentiment on the outside of the slimline card is from The Ton. The inside of the slimline card has a die cut border from Trinity Stamps and a sentiment from Poppy Stamps. The inside of the A2 card has stamps from Gina K Design and Simon Says Stamp. Thanks for reading this rather long blog entry! Entering this in the Penny Black December Challenge "Winter Wonderland" and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Favorite Technique."
I made a fun tag today. I really enjoy creating scenes with all kinds of craft products! The Large Madison Window from my die stash hadn't been used for a long time so I decided to make a Christmas window scene. I had a left over piece of Altenew Wood Pallet card stock which made a good backdrop. The Bright Holly Tall Curve Border, colored with Distress Inks, on top of the white Madison Window (both from Poppy Stamps) reveal a winter night with stars from MFT stencil "Starry Night," snowy hills, two evergreen trees and a tiny snowman (from Penny Black.) I found the perfect plaid in my stash to make a set of curtains to frame my window. The sentiment is from Penny Black, too. Even though my holly sash isn't the right scale for the window, I still think it's cute! Entering this tag in the Poppy Stamps Challenge #75 "Anything but a Card", the Tic Tac Toe Challenge #92 (ink blending, tag, stencil,) SSS Wednesday Challenge "Fun with Dies," and SSS Monday Challenge "Favorite Technique."
I am starting to move away from Holiday colors and stamps and find myself thinking about flowers again! So this card was inspired by another card I made to cheer up my friend (which had a feminine floral theme.) I found the MFT colors of Limelight and Tropical Teal worked well together so I stuck with those two for this challenge . I also followed the sketch for Wednesday Challenge #518. The images are from "Flower Silhouettes" set and I found some patterned paper to fit. The sentiment is from MFT "Bundles of Balloons" set. This will go into my birthday cards stash. Also entering the SSS Wednesday Challenge "Fun with Dies."Thanks for visiting.
DIES! Yes, most of us love them for what they add to our projects. Here are the gnome related dies from Simon Says Stamp made into two cards because I wanted to experiment with patterned paper for the Gnome House and my little Gnome from last holiday season. Lucky for me, this week's SSS Wednesday Challenge is "Fun with Dies." I blended Distress Ink around the edges of the Mushroom House for a more dimensional look, and I used copic markers on the gnome's beard and nose. I also added a die cut tree and mushroom from Poppy Stamps and some grass from MFT. The panels have stenciled clouds and grass, but it's hard to see in the pic. The inside of the card uses stamps from my stash and from the SSS December kit from 2019.
I am swamped with Holiday images, stamps, dies, etc and having a lot of fun. I bought some new products for this Christmas season ... and have been busy using them. I may not even get to all of them before the end of Dec! But there's always next year, right?
This holiday tag was inspired by the many winter scenes I see other crafters doing. I used the Poppy Stamps "Evergreen Trio" dies to cut out some white trees and colored them with a Spectrum Noir Glitter Marker several times (hard to see in the pic.) The background was created with Distress Oxide Inks in several shades, and since I had the purple color near the bottom, I just used it for my snow banks, too! The sentiment is from Poppy Stamps. My Molotow masking pen did not work so well for the snow, so I added more white-ness using Dr. Ph. Martin's "White Pen" liquid ink by dipping the top of a pin into the white and dabbing it on the sky.
I added a plaid type of look using a stencil to the top of the tag in repeated colors so I could submit this to the current Tic Tac Toe Challenge #92 (left column.) I am also entering this in the Poppy Stamps Challenge #75 "Anything but a Card" and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Fun with Dies."
Here's a slimline Holiday card using Newton's Nook "All Aboard for Christmas" set which I think is so cute with the sentiment "Wishing Choo Choo a Merry Christmas!" It's copic colored and I drew some tracks with a marker to "ground" the train. I decided to use a stripe stencil o n the card base for a little extra holiday fun, from Echo Park. I added some stripes to the envelope, too. The inside of the card uses Simon Says Stamp stamps for the sentiment and some snowflakes in my stash. This is for the Inky Paws Color Challenge - Red, Green, Lime and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Anything Goes."
I am low on masculine cards, so here's one for my stash. This one started with a panel which was done with alcohol inks, inspired by Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this week. I mixed some white texture paste with the new Distress Ink color - rustic wilderness (green) and applied it through a Tim Holtz stencil with large clocks. Once that was dry, I added the die cut letters to spell our "Best of Times." I also used Distress Blue Lagoon on some card stock so I could stamp and cut the extra clock face ( from Hampton Inn) and tie in the tiny blue splatters which were in the alcohol ink panel. I cut a black rectangle using the Deckle Edge die from Honey Bee Stamps and adhered my panel to it and added both to a white card base. The inside has a birthday greeting from My Favorite Things.
Another Holiday card finished. I only made one of these, but I will be playing around with the JOY die cut from MFT "Filled with Joy" some more. I recently bought the Memory Box "Christmas Plaid" patterned paper, and when I saw this plaid, it matched a tree I had ink blended using a stencil from Trinity Stamps. I was inspired by the colors to create this card. In addition to the plaid paper, the JOY die cut, and the stencil image of the tree, I also used some red ribbon from my stash, a small Christmas Tag from Simon Says Stamp, red gems, and a white gel pen from Sakura. I am entering this card in the following challenges - Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Christmas," SSS Monday Challenge "Happy Holidays," and the Tic Tac Toe Challenge #91 (middle column tree, ink blending, green.)
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| This inside sentiment and die cut trees are from Poppy Stamps. |
One more Holiday Card for today. This is a combination of Gina K Design stamps and Concord & 9th Turn-a-bout from a year or two ago. I also used white embossing powder on the sentiment for a little extra something. Entering this in two Simon Says Stamp Challenges - Monday "Happy Holiday" and Wednesday "Christmas!"
More Holiday cards done! This one features My Favorite Things "Santa's Elves" and some colorful patterned paper. Copic markers used for coloring the images which I popped up on the card panel. Entering this in the MFT Sketch Challenge #516 and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge "Christmas" and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "Happy Holidays."
