Hello, Handsome Snowman

The Our Daily Bread Designs challenge at Operation Write Home for October is to make a non-holiday card with snowflakes. I had trouble thinking of something to make, and finally decided to go through my "winter" stamps. I found this one of the snowman with the little birdie on his nose (source unknown), and felt it would be perfect. I also perused my non-holiday greeting stamps, and found the one I used in this Hero Arts set.

I next looked through my binder of OWH sketches, and found this one:

I liked the idea of the oval for the snowman image, since it had that basic shape to start with. I just had to rotate the sketch 90 degrees counter-clockwise, and move the oval up to make the design work.

I saw this video by Gina K. on YouTube today, on doing letterpress with an embossing folder and ink pad. So I decided to try that on this card. I've done this before, but with spotty results. This time, I think it came out quite well! I used the "Snowflake Swirl" embossing folder by Darice, and Memento Summer Sky dye ink. I spread the ink onto one side of the folder, put my white cardstock inside, and ran it through my die cutting machine. While the blue ink did not totally cover the background, I'm still really pleased with the results!

For the focal panel, I stamped the snowman onto a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media paper, with Ranger Archival Jet Black ink. I colored the image with Inktense pencils, and used a damp paintbrush to blend. After it had dried, I die cut & embossed it with one of the Spellbinders "Classic Ovals LG" dies. With the paper still in the die, I sponged around the edges with Summer Sky.

To create the greeting panel, I took some Ranger glossy cardstock and cut it to size. I applied alcohol inks in Stream, Silver, & Pearl to my blending tool, and smeared & daubed that onto the cardstock. I went back in with a little more of the Stream, just to add some contrast. When that dried, I stamped the greeting with Archival Jet Black, and heat set it to speed the drying time.

I rubbed Hero Arts Silver shadow ink onto white cardstock to create the mat layers for both the greeting panel & card front. I glued the greeting panel & embossed piece to their respective mats. Finally I glued down the matted greeting panel to the card front, & added the focal piece on top of that. I adhered the whole thing to a white A2-size card base. I will be sending this card on to Operation Write Home, for a hero to send home to her sweetie.

I'm also entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes" challenge.

Sweet Cocoa Merry Christmas

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is having a special Design Team Christmas blog hop & challenge. The challenge part is to make a Christmas card. I decided to use their "Sweet Cocoa" digital image, paired with a greeting from this Hero Arts set.

After choosing the following Operation Write Home sketch, I sized Cocoa in Photoshop and printed him on a 3.75x3.25" piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper.

OWH Sketch #223

I colored the image with Inktense pencils, using damp paintbrushes to blend the colors out. After that dried (which renders the color permanent), I went over the candy cane & the red doo-dads on the cup with my clear Wink of Stella brush marker, to give them a bit of sparkle.

I stamped the greeting with Versafine Onyx Black ink onto another piece of watercolor paper, so my white paper pieces would match. Much to my delight, I managed to stamp the greeting straight & centered on the first try! :)

After matting the watercolor paper pieces on mint green cardstock, cut 1/16" larger on all sides, I adhered them to a piece of patterned paper from my scrap stash. I thought the retro-style snowflakes in the paper mimicked the ones in the cup. Finally, I adhered the card front to a white A2 card base, which finished off this card. I will be sending this one to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Treats"

Send a Smile 4 Kids' "Celebration Cards 4 Kids"

Merry Christmas Snowflake Card

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge this week is "Get Crafty and Use Kraft." I decided to create a Christmas card. Since most of the card was cool blues, I used kraft cardstock for the banner behind the focal panel, to add a bit of warmth.

My inspiration for my card came from this blog post by Lisa Flemming. I was drawn to the simple composition and the embossed background, & had pinned this card on Pinterest quite some time ago. I finally decided to CASE it for this challenge.

I began by embossing the background panel. I used the "A2 Intricate Swirl" embossing folder by The Paper Studio. I also cut a piece of the same light blue cardstock for the focal panel. Next I die cut the snowflake from silver glitter paper, with one of Spellbinders' "2013 Snowflake Pendant" dies. I stamped the greeting from this Hero Arts set onto the focal panel, using Hero Arts' Navy Mid-tone Shadow ink. After running the snowflake through my Xyron Sticker Maker, I adhered it to the focal panel above the greeting.

For the card base, I first created an A2-size top-folding card from white cardstock. I placed it in the scalloped die from the Mama Elephant "Femme Frames" set, making sure the fold of the card was below the cutting line. Then I ran it through my Spellbinders Grand Calibur machine, basically cutting the 3 sides with the scalloped edge, leaving the folded edge intact. I blended Chipped Sapphire Distress ink around the front to create a dark blue mat for my background panel.

The inspiration card had the focal panel matted. I decided to ink the edges with Chipped Sapphire instead. I felt this not only gave it the necessary definition, but that the soft blending looks almost frosty.

Finally, after cutting the banner from kraft cardstock, it was time to assemble the card. I glued the embossed background panel to the card base, and glued the banner in place on top of that. I adhered the focal panel with foam adhesive. And that finished this card.

I'm also entering this card in Hero Arts' Holiday Challenge: Anything Goes.

Peace Love & Joy

A woman who works with my mom recently saw some cards I'd made for Operation Write Home, and was so impressed that she asked if I could make some Christmas cards for her to give. This is the first of those cards.

My inspiration came from one of the cards in this post that I found on Pinterest. I began by embossing a piece of white cardstock with the "A2 Snowflakes" embossing folder by The Paper Studio. I cut a piece of dot patterned paper from The Paper Studio's "Blanc Boutique" 12x12" paper pad for the lower panel. I also stamped the greeting from this Hero Arts set onto a piece of white cardstock in Versamark and heat embossed it with Ranger Silver embossing powder. I die cut it with one of the Spellbinders' "Labels Four" dies, and inked the edges with Tumbled Glass Distress ink.

I blended more Tumbled Glass on the front of a white A2 card base. After rounding 2 corners of the embossed & patterned paper panels, I adhered them to the card base. I felt there needed to be something over the seam, so I punched some silver shimmer cardstock with Fiskars' "Scallop Sentiment" border punch and cut that into a thin strip. I glued that over the seam, and glued the greeting panel on top.

To finish, I stamped another sentiment from the same Hero Arts set on the inside of the card, using Hero Arts Silver shadow ink. A simple, but elegant card.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Hero Arts Holiday Challenge: "White Out"
a2z Scrapbooking's October Challenge: Use 2 "hard" Hero Arts products (used 2 stamps)

Happy Birthday...

This is the third & final card I made for my mom's birthday. This one is from the cats. She'd seen the image from Jane's Doodles on this card I'd made for Send a Smile 4 Kids, and just fell in love with it. So of course, I figured I had to make a birthday card using it! Thankfully, her birthday is in October, so the pumpkins make sense. And I just changed the witch's hat to a party hat by using blue & orange and adding polka dots.

I began by choosing this sketch from Operation Write Home:

I did increase the size of the panel & greeting strip slightly, just to give me a little more "real estate" to work with.

I printed the image onto a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media paper. I colored it with watercolor pencils, using a damp paintbrush to blend the colors. I added a light wash of Pumice Stone Distress ink under the cat & pumpkins, just to help ground them a little better.

Inside of card

I created the greeting & inside text in Photoshop. I also created the cats' "signatures" with that, and added a little paw print by each cat's name with one of the custom shape tools. I printed the greeting on a scrap of textured green cardstock, and the inside text onto a blank A2 card base.

To finish the card front, I adhered the focal panel to a piece of patterned paper by The Paper Studio from my scrap stash, and glued the greeting below the cat. Finally, I added a few Doodlebug Designs sequins, using Ranger Multi Medium Matte to glue them.

I'm entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Anything Goes" challenge.

Reverse-Iris-Folded Cupcake Card

We celebrated my mom's 78th birthday yesterday, so I spent this past week making cards for my brother & his wife, our cats, & me to give to her. I made this card for my brother & his wife to give. I used a technique called "reverse iris folding," that I learned from this tutorial at Operation Write Home.

I chose my patterned papers mostly from Fancy Pants Designs' "Burlap & Bouquets" & Simple Stories' Sn@p "Color Vibe" 6x6" pads. The floral print & the polka dots are also from my stash, though I don't know who made them. I followed the directions in the tutorial, cutting the centers of each panel and folding those pieces back. I trimmed off the excess, taped the folded pieces to the backs, and layered the panels.

For the bottom-most panel, I stamped the cupcake from Technique Tuesday's "Turn 29" stamp set onto a scrap of white cardstock. I used Colorbox "Putty" Archival Dye ink, sine it's a light color & I wanted to color the cupcake with different colors of Marvy LePlume II water-based markers. After coloring the cupcake, I glued that piece to the back of the panel, centering the cupcake in the opening.

If you follow the pattern from the tutorial, the finished panel is narrower than an A2 card. So I added a couple of scalloped strips that I punched from blue cardstock with Fiskars' "Scalloped Sentiment" border punch to each long side. I also inked around the edges of the folded panel with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink, to give it a little more definition. Finally, I adhered it to my white card base.

I'm entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Anything Goes" challenge.

Critters Happy Birthday Card

My mom's 78th birthday is this month, so I decided to make her a few cards: from me, my brother & his wife, and our cats. (Yes, our cats deserve the opportunity to give cards, too!) I got my inspiration for my card from this card by Darlene Devries.

I began by cutting a piece of dark brown cardstock to 4.25x5.5". I stamped on that with Hero Arts' "Designer Woodgrain" background, using Hero Arts Cup o' Joe mid-tone shadow ink, to create a tone-on-tone effect. I determined how large to make the little windows, and cut the "doors" with my craft knife, scoring the left side of each flap. I used my Basic Grey Notch & Die tool to create the half-circle cut-out in each flap, to make it easier (& more obvious) to open them.

For the critters in the windows, I used Hero Arts' "Woodland Creatures" stamp set, adding in Stampabilities' "Ollie Owl" stamp. I stamped the owl, raccoon, & squirrel onto white cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored them with colored pencils, blending the colors with Gamsol on a paper stump. I cut the cardstock to fit behind the windows, and glued them to the back of the brown cardstock piece.

Inside of card

For the inside of the card, I used the same critters, adding in the skunk & ladybug. I stamped the squirrel, and masked it off so I could stamp the skunk to appear it was behind the squirrel. Finally, I stamped the raccoon and positioned the owl on his head. I stamped the balloon from Technique Tuesday's "Turn 29" stamp set, using Tuxedo Black for the string and Versamark for the balloon. I heat embossed the balloon with Zing! "Blue" embossing powder. I colored everything with colored pencils and Gamsol. Finally, I added some grass with 2 green colored pencils. I matted that with another piece of brown cardstock, and adhered it inside the card base.

To finish the card front, I stamped some of the leaves from Paper Smooches' "Botanicals 2" set in Versamark. I heat embossed them with Zing! "Leaf" embossing powder. I hand wrote the greeting, with one word in each window, and the "you!" inside. Finally, I adhered the brown panel onto the front of the card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Anything Goes"
a2z Scrapbooking's October challenge: Use 2 "hard" Hero Arts products

Merriest Wishes with Chickadee

Our Daily Bread Designs' current challenge at their blog is "Anything Goes with ODBD Stamps." Since I'm in Christmas card mode now, I decided to do a holiday card. I had already stamped this chickadee and cut it with the coordinating die some time ago, and for some reason had never used it. So it's just been sitting on my desk for several weeks. I decided a Christmas card would be the perfect use for it!

I based my design on Operation Write Home's Sketch #200:

Except for adding 2 more buttons (in addition to the round embellishment in the sketch) to create a visual triangle, I basically made no alterations.

I had not colored the chickadee yet, and wasn't sure what colors to use and where. So I googled chickadee images, and came up with a couple. I printed those off, and used them as reference. Basically, all the coloring I did on the bird itself was the beige areas of his feathers and some black on his claws. I also colored the branch and berries. I used watercolor pencils and my water brush to do all the coloring.

I chose 3 patterned papers from the "Rejoice" 6x6" pad by Iron Orchid Designs. I cut them to the sizes indicated in the sketch, and matted all the pieces with green cardstock. I glued the chickadee to the red patterned paper. I liked the tone-on-tone pattern, because it gives it a bit of visual texture without distracting from the focal image.

I stamped the greeting from this Hero Arts set on a piece of cream cardstock with Versafine Onyx Black ink. After letting that dry a little (it's a pigment ink, and takes a few minutes to dry), I glued the greeting panel to another piece of green cardstock. I adhered that in place on the card front.

I chose 3 brown buttons from my stash--a light, medium, & dark shade. I decided where to place them, and poked holes through the card front. I then stitched the buttons on with green embroidery floss. Finally, I adhered the completed card front to a white A2 card base.

I'm also entering this card in the "Anything Goes" category of the Hero Arts Holiday Challenge.

Two Christmas Cards

Operation Write Home sent out a message recently that they were short of holiday cards, and needed more. I managed to make 4 total; these are two of them.

For my first card, I got my inspiration from this card that I found on Scrapbook.com. I felt this would be a great design to use part of a piece of 12x12" paper that I might not use otherwise, by just cutting a portion from one corner. I found the perfect paper (source unknown) in my stash. I cut a piece slightly smaller than an A2 card size, & adhered it in the upper left corner of a piece of red cardstock, cut to 4.25x5.5".

For the greeting, I used one of the stamps from this Hero Arts set. I stamped it in Versamark on the same cardstock I'd used for the mat, and heat embossed it with Ranger Gold embossing powder. I die cut that with one of the Spellbinders "Lacey Ovals" dies, & glued it in place on the card front. Finally, I adhered the completed front to a white A2 card base.

I found inspiration for my second card from this one that I'd come across on Pinterest. I especially liked the curved edge towards the top of the card front.

I began by die cutting the snowflake using one of these dies from a silver shimmer cardstock. I also cut the patterned paper to 4.25" wide, and die cut the upper edge with one of the "Stitched Borders 1" dies by Pretty Pink Posh. I also cut a piece of green cardstock with the same border die to go above the patterned paper. The I adhered those 2 pieces to an A2 card base.

I felt the snowflake got a bit lost on the busy background, so I cut a circle from teal cardstock with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles SM" die. I adhered the snowflake to that, and glued it onto the card front.

I stamped a greeting from this set on a piece of the same teal cardstock, and heat embossed it with Ranger Silver embossing powder. I trimmed the cardstock into a strip, and angled the left end. Then I glued that to the card front.

I didn't have enamel dots like the ones in the inspiration card. I was going to use pearls, but that didn't work out. So I ended up substituting sequins from Doodlebug Design, gluing them down with Ranger Multi Medium in matte. In addition to the ones next to the snowflake panel & on the greeting, I also scattered a few over some of the green dots on the patterned paper. And that finished this card.

I'm entering these cards in Hero Arts Holiday Challenge:

"Mad About Metallics" (snowflake card)
"Anything Goes" (Peace Love and Joy card)

Cuddly Christmas Penguins

This is my second additional Christmas card for Operation Write Home. You can see my first at this post. The inspiration for this card came from this one Emily Leiphart did that I found on Pinterest.

I cut a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media Paper to 4x5.25" for my focal panel. I determined where to stamp the penguins (I think the stamp is by Recollections, but I'm not sure), and stamped them using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink. I used this waterproof ink since I knew I would be watercoloring. I also stamped the image on a sticky note, and cut that out to use as a mask when I did my sky.

I applied the mask to the penguins, and a strip of painter's tape across the bottom of the panel to mask off the snow. I taped the Simon Says Stamp "Falling Snow" stencil over it, and applied Liquitex Gloss Super Heavy Gel medium. I tried to get a thin, smooth coverage with the medium. After I'd scraped off the excess back into the jar, I carefully removed the stencil, and set the card panel aside to dry.

When the medium had dried, I blended Distress inks in Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans, and Chipped Sapphire over the sky. I wiped the ink off the "snowflakes," and removed my masks.

I colored the penguins in with mostly Inktense pencils, adding a grey watercolor pencil for shading on the white portions of their bodies & hats. I also added some shading on the snow with a blue watercolor pencil, using a wet paintbrush to blend & smooth all the colors out.

I stamped the greeting from this Hero Arts set onto a piece of white cardstock with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I felt that particular greeting went wonderfully with these penguin "lovebirds," and would be perfect for a hero overseas to send back to his/her sweetie! I cut the cardstock into a narrow strip, rounded the left corners with my 1/4" Corner Chomper, inked 3 sides with Chipped Sapphire, and then glued it to the panel. Finally I cut a piece of navy cardstock to 4.25x5.5", and matted my focal panel with that, before adhering it onto an A2-size card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Use Watercolors"
Hero Arts Holiday Challenge "Anything Goes"

Merry Christmas Mouse

The other night, I opened an e-mail from Sandy Allnock at Operation Write Home. Apparently, they haven't gotten as many holiday cards as they need. The deadline for getting them there has been extended to October 18 (yes, just a few days away), and she asked if everyone on the list could make & send 5 more cards. Well, I didn't quite get 5 done; I was only able to create 4. But I'm sure there are other card makers who will more than make up the difference. This card is one of the four I made.

Since I didn't have much time to create my cards before mailing them off tomorrow, I went on Pinterest to find examples to CASE. One that stood out to me was this card, pinned from Scrapbook.com's gallery. I was especially drawn to the focal image and the banners hanging from the upper left. I went through my (rather small) collection of digital images, and came upon "Cocoa's Christmas Tree" by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I felt it would be perfect as my focal image. I paired it with the "Merry Christmas" greeting from this Hero Arts digital kit.

After sizing my image & greeting in Photoshop, I printed them on a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media Paper. I colored Cocoa & the tree with Inktense pencils, blending them with a small paintbrush & water. I also used a red gel pen to color the garland on the tree.

I created the banners using instructions by Tasnim Ahmed, as presented in Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Stamps 2" class. I used the Hero Arts "Highline Ironwork" background stamp with Delicata Golden Glitz ink on white cardstock. I colored the elements with red and pink water-based markers, cut them out, and glued them to the panel.

I die cut a piece of green cardstock with the largest die in My Favorite Things' "Blueprints 15" set. It cuts a rectangle slightly smaller than an A2 size card, with a nice stitched detail around the perimeter. I also cut a piece of pink cardstock with one of Avery Elle's "Custom Panels" dies. I layered the pieces, and mounted the completed front onto a white A2 card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Use Watercolors"
Hero Arts Holiday Challenge "Anything Goes"

Jingle all the Way

I have to make a confession here: I'm starting to get frustrated by my holiday card making. I'm not dealing with a lack of supplies, either in quality or quantity. On the contrary, I have so many options, it's almost overwhelming. And I haven't even bought many new holiday-themed products this year! What I have are largely left-overs! This card, in fact, kind of marries the old to the new.

I finally decided this afternoon to make my creating about picking a sketch, picking a few papers that go well together, picking a focal image/greeting, and most importantly, not over-thinking my choices. This is probably as simplified as I can get.

So for my sketch, I chose this oldie-but-goodie from Operation Write Home:

I followed the sketch exactly, not changing even the measurements. (OK, maybe the diameter of the circle--but not by much!)

All 3 patterned papers came from my scrap stash. I found the poinsettia stamp (source unknown) in my Winter/Christmas stamp binder, and figured it fit the bill. The greeting is from Hero Arts' "Merry Christmas Message" stamp set.

I stamped the poinsettia on a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper in Ranger Archival Jet Black ink. I die cut it with one of Spellbinders' "Standard Circles SM" dies, and colored the image with Inktense pencils and water. I cut my patterned paper squares; and stamped and cut the square for my greeting from white cardstock. I edged all those pieces with Delicata Golden Glitz ink, to give them a bit of shimmer. I glued down the squares along the bottom edge of the card front, and glued the focal panel overlapping the 2 left squares. Finally, I adhered the card front to an A2 size white card base. That was it. Simple. I figure, at this rate, I should be finished with all my holiday cards for this year by February. ;)

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Hero Arts Holiday Challenge: "Anything Goes"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Use Watercolors"
a2z Scrapbooking Blog World Card Making Day Challenge #2: "Anything Goes"

Merriest Wishes

In celebration of World Card Making Day, which was on October 4 this year, a2z Scrapbooking has been having 3 week-long challenges on their blog. One of those was an inspiration challenge. They posted a photo collage as basic inspiration, and challenged card makers to create a project using aqua, white, & silver, and anything else in the photo that inspired them. This is another of my cards for that challenge. (You can see the first one I made here.)

I based my design on a sketch provided by My Favorite Things, to go with their "Blueprints 13" die set. The hardest part for me with this card--and what took the most time--was trying to decide what papers to use. I wanted something elegant, but not too over-the-top glittery. I ended up using only one patterned paper, 2 metallic cardstock pieces, and a piece of white cardstock, all from my scrap stash.

I die cut a piece of blue shimmer cardstock, using the largest die in the set, to use as my background. I cut the banners from the patterned paper and white cardstock. After die cutting, I dry embossed the white banner with the "A2 Tiny Polka Dot" embossing folder by The Paper Studio, just to give it some added interest. I also die cut a snowflake from silver mirror cardstock using a die from Spellbinders' "2013 Snowflake Pendant" set. I layered that on a circle that I'd cut from the blue shimmer piece with another of the MFT "Blueprints 13" dies, and finally matted that with yet another silver die cut piece.

I glued the banners onto the background (basically covering the hole left when I die cut the circle piece). I ran the snowflake through my Xyron Sticker Maker, to apply adhesive to the back. I adhered that to the blue circle, and that to the silver circular piece. Then I glued that to the patterned paper banner.

I stamped the greeting from this Hero Arts set onto a piece of white cardstock, using Versamark ink. I heat embossed it with Ranger Silver Embossing Tinsel, and cut the panel to size. I rounded the 4 corners with my 1/4" We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, and inked the edges with a Memento Teal Zeal ink pad.

I wrapped a piece of sheer white ribbon around the card front. I made a "faux bow" using the same ribbon, following instructions in this YouTube video (the most helpful bow-making video for card makers I've found yet). Finally, I glued the greeting panel above the ribbon and adhered the entire panel to a white A2 card base.

Here is a close-up photo of the detail & shine on this card:

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Hero Arts Holiday Challenge: "Mad About Metallics"
Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge: "Falling in Love With..." (I'm finally falling in love with the idea of making this year's holiday cards!)

Christmas is on Its Way!

Send a Smile 4 Kids has a bi-weekly themed card making challenge. The main requirements are that the project is a card that is appropriate for a child, and that it fit the theme. The theme for the current challenge is "Early Holiday Wishes 4 Kids." I found the following sketch on Pinterest, and thought the mittens hung from the line were cute:

I don't have a postage stamp die or punch, so I thought I'd use a pair of decorative edge scissors with a postage stamp-style blade. Unfortunately, the scissor pattern was too big for the itty bitty pieces I wanted to cut, so I ended up using a different, scalloped pair. I cut out 13 small rectangles from cardstock & patterned papers from my scrap stash. (That was actually most of the work involved in making this card!)

For the base of the card front, I really had a hard time coming up with what color I wanted. I knew my focal panel with the greeting would be white, so I didn't want a white background. But nothing else I tried seemed to work with the different colors in the patterned papers, and also wasn't too "heavy" visually. Finally, I thought of kraft, and it worked! I spattered droplets of Dylusions "White Linen" and Heidi Swapp Color Shine "Tinsel" spray inks over it, just to jazz it up a little and hopefully give it at least a little bit of depth and interest.

I stamped the greeting from Inkadinkado's "Warm Holiday Wishes" set on a piece of white cardstock, using Stampabilities Cherry Red pigment ink. I die cut & embossed it with one of the dies from Spellbinders' Ironwork Accents set, which I felt had a "snowflakey" look to it, and enough room for my greeting.

For the mittens, I fussy cut one of the mittens from the sketch I'd resized & printed out, and used it as a pattern. I chose 3 different patterned paper scraps for the pairs of mittens. I adhered my pattern with temporary adhesive to the scraps, flipping it over to create the opposite mitten for each pair, and cut them out. I did end up doing some black faux stitching lines on all the mittens, just to give them a little more dimension.

I glued down all the little rectangles on the card front panel. I also went ahead & glued down the greeting die cut, cutting off the overhanging edge. I poked holes in the background, and stitched with some silver embroidery floss to create the "clothesline." Then I glued the mittens in place, overlapping the stitched line. For the rectangle in the bottom left corner, I white heat embossed a snowflake from the same stamp set as the greeting on the green cardstock, since I felt another mitten (as shown in the sketch) might be a little too much pattern. Finally, I adhered the completed card front to an A2 card base.

Merry Christmas Penguin Card

The past several days, I've been participating in May Flaum's latest class, "Supplies on Hand." The idea is to use what you have to create your projects. Each day's lesson had a different theme. For this card, I was able to use some of my vast button & washi tape collections.

I found the following sketch on Pinterest, and used it as the basis for my card design:

The sketch was, in fact, my main inspiration for using the buttons.

I began by die cutting my focal panel, using one of Spellbinders' "Lacey Circles" dies. I sized and printed the penguin, from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, onto that, and colored him with colored pencils and Gamsol.

I created a 5.5x8.5" card base, by just scoring & folding a piece of letter-size cardstock in half. I cut a piece of a snowflake paper from my scrap stash and adhered it to the upper portion of the card base. I felt the focal panel got lost on the white card, so I die cut a piece of red metallic cardstock from American Crafts with the largest Spellbinders "Standard Circles LG" die. I glued the focal panel onto that. I laid down a piece of washi tape from Recollections below the patterned paper, and adhered my matted focal panel on top of that.

I used red pearl cotton embroidery floss to thread each button. (In retrospect, I probably should have chosen a different color of floss, because the green buttons with the red centers remind me of olives with pimentos now!) I cut the threads, leaving very short tails on the backside of each button. I glued four of the buttons on either side of the focal panel with Ranger Multi Medium Matte. I stamped the greeting (stamp set source unknown) using Hero Arts' Forever Green mid-tone shadow ink. Finally, I glued the remaining three buttons below the greeting.

I'm entering this card in Send a Smile 4 Kids' "Early Holiday Wishes 4 Kids" challenge.

Embossed & Watercolored Tiles Holiday Card

a2z Scrapbooking's current challenge at their blog is to use at least 2 Hero Arts "hard" products, like stamps or stencils. Since I've started creating this year's Christmas cards, I decided to do something based on this challenge--kind of killing 2 birds with one stone! :)

I didn't use a sketch, instead basing my card design on this card I'd created earlier this year. I also utilized a technique that Kristina Werner demonstrated in Online Card Classes' "Stretch Your Stamps 2" a few months ago.

I stamped this Hero Arts background stamp onto a piece of Strathmore Multi Media Paper, and heat embossed it with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. I used Master's Touch watercolors to paint in the different areas of the design, going in a basically rainbow order, so the colors wouldn't get muddy where they blended.

When the watercolor panel dried, I cut it into 1" square tiles. I arranged some of them around the perimeter of a piece of cardstock I'd cut to 4x5.25". (I'd actually ended up with more tiles than I'd needed.) When I got them like I wanted, I glued them down. I stamped my greeting, from Hero Arts' "Merry Christmas Message" set, in the middle with Versamark ink, and white heat embossed it. Then I just adhered the completed panel to a white A2 card base. A simple card, though not one I would use for mass-production, since the watercoloring did take quite some time.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

A Blog Named Hero's Challenge #53: Stretch Your Stamps (cut up background stamped piece)
a2z Scrapbooking's World Card Making Day Challenge #2: Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Use Watercolors"
Hero Arts' Holiday Challenge: "Anything Goes"

Happy Holidays

This is the final holiday card I made for Operation Write Home this year. I based my design on this sketch from OWH:

I've had the stamp I used for the focal panel for eons (so long, in fact, I have no clue where it came from), and have never used it for some reason. But I finally decided to get it inky. I stamped it on a piece of watercolor paper with Ranger Archival Jet Black ink. To get the circle shape, since I didn't have a die exactly the right size, I used the smallest of Spellbinders' "Grand Circles" dies as a template. I positioned it over my image, and traced around the inside. I cut just outside that circle, basically butting the cut line up against the bottoms of the snowmen & trees. Then I erased my pencil line, and colored the images with my Inktense pencils, using a damp paintbrush to blend the colors out. To highlight the greeting in the center of the image, I used Mustard Seed & Festive Berries Distress inks. I picked the colors up with a wet paintbrush and applied them much like watercolors.

Once I finished that, the card came together very quickly. I decided to alter the sketch somewhat, and make this a full A2-size card, rather than have the circle element stick out above the square card base. I cut a piece of patterned paper from my scrap stash to 4.25x5.5", and adhered it to my card base. I popped the focal panel on top of that with foam adhesive tape. I cut a piece of American Crafts' "North Pole" ribbon, backed it with a strip of white cardstock so the patterned paper wouldn't show through from behind, and glued that to the card front. And that finished this festive holiday card for OWH!

Joy of the Season

This is my second of three holiday cards I've made for Operation Write Home. As I mentioned in this post, they do not need as many cards as in the past, but I figure 3 holiday cards from me are not going to put them over the limit.

I loosely based my card design on OWH's Sketch #73:

I recently got some My Favorite Things "Blueprints" die sets, and used 2 of those from this set for the main panels of my card. Because they are slightly smaller than an A2 card, I decided to mat my card front. I also moved the embellishment in the sketch to the left, substituting 3 small snowflakes for the large heart.

I first die cut my card front panels from 2 colors of teal cardstock. To help me place the reindeer stamp (source unknown), I first stamped it using my Stamp-a-ma-jig onto the imaging plate included with it. I taped my panels to my work surface, and positioned the imaging plate. When I had the image where I wanted it, I placed the Stamp-a-ma-jig tool, and stamped my image over the seam on the panels in Versamark ink. I heat embossed it with Ranger Silver embossing powder.

For the greeting, I used one from this Hero Arts set. I stamped it on a strip of white cardstock in Versamark, and silver heat embossed it as well. I did the same for the 3 snowflakes (from a clear stamp set, source unknown). I adhered the greeting strip to the darker teal panel, below the reindeer.

For the mat, I cut a piece of white cardstock to 4.25x5.5", and smooshed Versamark around the outer edges. Then I sprinkled the same silver embossing powder onto that & heat set it. I adhered my card front panels to that, and adhered it to an A2 card base, to finish this card. A simple, but I believe, striking design.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

a2z Scrapbooking's Challenge #1 for World Card Making Day: "Silver, Aqua, & White"
Hero Arts Holiday Challenge: "Mad About Metallics"

Merry Christmas

I had originally not intended to make Christmas cards for Operation Write Home this year. Because of the drawdown in Afghanistan, they need fewer cards in general. The advice from Sandy Allnock, OWH's founder & executive director, was to make about 20-25% of the number of holiday cards we've made in the past. (You can read more about their current requirements on their blog.) I figured, with all the people who make cards for them, they would likely have quite enough Christmas cards. But I saw several comments on their blog from people saying they weren't making any this year, so I decided to put just a few in my next package to them. This card is one of those.

I began with OWH's sketch #239:

Obviously, I altered the sketch somewhat. The reindeer stamp I chose was larger than the focal panel in the sketch, so I enlarged the panel, used narrower mats, and eliminated the layer behind that. I also moved the panel towards the upper left corner of the card front. But that's sometimes the point of sketches--to give a good jumping-off point.

I don't know where the reindeer stamp came from. It's part of a set, but there is no identifying information on the stamp sheet. I stamped it on a piece of 140-lb. watercolor paper and colored it with Inktense pencils and my water brush. I also used a silver gel pen on the bells around his neck. When I finished that, I applied a wash of watered-down Pumice Stone Distress ink to form the ground, and Stormy Sky Distress ink for the sky area.

For the greeting, I used one from this Hero Arts set, stamping it on a piece of white cardstock in Hero Arts Navy Mid-Tone Shadow ink. I die cut & embossed it with a Spellbinders "Classic Ovals" die. With the cardstock still in the die, I lightly blended Stormy Sky over the middle portion.

I double-matted the focal panel with 2 shades of blue cardstock, and adhered it to a piece of "Soft Snowflakes" patterned paper from The Paper Patch. Next I adhered my greeting in place. I inked the front of a white A2 card base with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink, and adhered the completed card front to that.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

 a2z Scrapbooking's Challenge #2 for World Card Making Day: "Anything Goes"
Hero Arts' Holiday Challenge: "Anything Goes"

So Special to Me

The current challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs' blog is an inspiration challenge. They posted this photo collage, and asked crafters to make cards inspired by one or more of the photos:

Since I've finished my fall-themed cards, I was most drawn to the doily in the 2 photos on the right side. I also liked the burgundy flower in the candle ring arrangement. So I decided to take my inspiration from those elements.

I did not use a pre-made sketch for my card's design. Rather, I just laid my stamps out on an A2-size card base and played around with placement. I finally decided to use a layer cut to 4x5.25" for my background, and mount it on a 4.25x5.5" (A2) card base.

I cut a piece of white cardstock to my layer size, and stamped Hero Arts' "Circle Lace" in the upper left corner with Versamark ink. I clear heat embossed it, and set that aside.

For my flower, I stamped all 3 of the "Sweet William Singles" stamps by Our Daily Bread Designs onto cream-colored cardstock, again with Versamark, and clear heat embossed them. I used Distress inks in Aged Mahogany and Fired Brick to ink the flowers. The base layer is Aged Mahogany only; the middle is Fired Brick with a little Aged Mahogany to tone it down a touch; and the top layer is a light coat of both colors. I fussy cut each flower, and wiped any ink left behind off the embossed areas. I glued the layers together, leaving the edges loose for a bit of added dimension, and inserted a silver heart-shaped mini brad through the middle.

For the background layer, I used Bundled Sage & Mowed Lawn Distress inks. I went over the whole layer with Bundled Sage, and then came in with some Mowed Lawn to darken areas. Again, I wiped the ink off the embossed doily.

For the greeting, I used a stamp from this Hero Arts set. I laid the stamp onto the background, and used the flower to help position it, lining it up with my ruler to get it straight. Once I had it where I wanted it, I picked it up with my Fiskars stamp press, and stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black ink. I added a bit of highlighting to the letters with a Sakura White Gelly Roll gel pen. Then I glued the flower to the base layer. Finally, I adhered the front to a white card base.

I'm also entering this card in a2z Scrapbooking's October challenge to use two "hard" (i.e. stamps/stencils) Hero Arts products.

His and Hers Love Cards

Welcome to World Card Making Day! Operation Write Home is having a blog hop to celebrate. Participants are to make a love-themed card, since we LOVE card-making. It also has to meet OWH guidelines. You can read more about their current requirements, in light of the drawdown in Afghanistan, here.

I decided, instead of just one card, why not make two, using the same design and just changing up the color scheme? So I chose this sketch by OWH, and created masculine & feminine love cards based on it:

I used two of Spellbinders' "Fascination" Cut-Fold-Tuck dies for the circle elements on both cards. The main requirement for these dies is to use double-sided paper, since the back shows when you fold the pieces down. For the feminine version, I used papers from My Mind's Eye's "Love Me" and Recollections "Valentine" 6x6" paper pads. In the masculine card, I used a pattern from the "Blue Floral" 6x6" pad by My Mind's Eye for the smaller piece, and another piece from my scrap stash (I believe it's by 7 Gypsies) for the large circle. After cutting & folding the die cuts, I ran them through my Xyron Creative Station to apply adhesive to the backs, and set them aside while I worked on the rest of each card front.

I chose a patterned paper for the main panel on each card from the same pads I'd used for the circle die cuts. I double-matted the one I chose for the masculine card with 2 shades of grey cardstock, and the feminine one with pink and burgundy.

I chose 2 different cream cardstocks for the main panel on each card. After marking where the matted patterned paper panel would go, I stamped the greeting from Hero Arts' "Year Round Sentiments" set on each, using Hero Arts mid-tone shadow inks in Red Royal for the feminine, and Navy for the masculine. On the feminine card, I matted this piece on the same pink & burgundy I'd used for the patterned paper panel. For the masculine, I first matted it on the lighter grey cardstock I'd used. Since I didn't have a big enough piece of the darker grey cardstock, I inked the front of a white A2 card base with Weathered Wood Distress ink to create my outer mat "layer." Finally, I adhered all the pieces together.

Thanks for stopping by! When you're ready to do more hopping, you can just return to the beginning.

You Rock!

Send a Smile 4 Kids' current challenge is "Fall Colors 4 Kids." So I created this relatively simple card for that challenge, and to send on to them.

I based my design on this oldie-but-goodie sketch from Operation Write Home:

I made the background layers slightly smaller so I could mat them, but otherwise stuck to the sketch religiously.

I started by cutting my tags from white cardstock. I stamped two of the leaves (one of them on 2 different tags) from an OLD set I have by Will 'n Way, using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I chose stamps that were larger than the width of the tags, just to add some visual interest. I colored them with colored pencils, blending the color out with Gamsol on a paper stump. I also added some sparkle with my clear Wink of Stella brush marker over the leaves. Then I inked around the edges of the tags with Walnut Stain Distress ink, just to give them a bit more presence. I punched a hole in the top of each tag with my 1/8" hole punch, and threaded brown twine from Hemptique through each. Finally, I added a bit of Ranger Multi Medium Matte to the knots, just to keep the twine from coming loose. Then I set those aside while I worked on the rest of the card.

I cut a piece of burlap patterned paper from The Paper Studio for the smaller panel. I also found the orange paper in my scrap stash for the background. Thankfully, the scrap was exactly the width I needed!

I stamped the "ROCK" part of the sentiment on white cardstock in Tuxedo Black, using Lawn Fawn's "Riley's ABC's." I die cut the "You" from white cardstock with this die from Simon Says Stamp. Then I pounced Walnut Stain with my mini ink blending tool onto it. I die cut the cardstock with the "ROCK" using the banner die from Lawn Fawn's "Stitched Journaling Card" set.

I adhered the tags to the burlap section of the card front with foam tape. After inking the edges of the greeting panel with more Walnut Stain, I adhered it to the card front, and glued the "You" on top, below the tags & overlapping the banner. I inked the front of an A2 card base with Walnut Stain, and glued the card front panel to that. Like I said, a relatively simple card that came together pretty quickly!