Merry Christmas

This past weekend, I participated in the online Card Makers Success Summit. The theme was "Christmas in July," so the focus was on holiday cards. Twenty-five instructors came "together"--virtually, of course--to teach many techniques over the 4-day summit. Preeti Chandran's lesson on easy faux watercolor techniques inspired this card. I used another "trick" I learned during the summit with this card - cut a 9x12" piece of watercolor paper into (6) 3x6" pieces, to make 6 mini slimline cards. With the help of my MISTI stamp positioning tool, I was able to make 6 cards total of this design in just a few hours.

I used Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Christmas Pine" stamp set for the images & greeting. I began by stamping the branches. With the stamp & my Canson Montval watercolor paper panel in my MISTI, I used a green Tombow marker to "ink" up the stamp. I spritzed it a couple of times lightly with water, then stamped onto my paper. I let the stamp sit for a few seconds, to give the ink a chance to absorb into the paper, giving a "faux" watercolor look. I left the stamp in place after opening my MISTI, dried it off, & inked here & there with a darker green color. I spritzed & stamped that, to create some color variation. I repeated this for each branch. If the image stamped too "cleanly" - with too much detail - I just used a damp paintbrush to spread the color out a bit.

For the pinecones, I used a similar technique. I put my panel in the MISTI, positioned my stamp, & inked it up with a light brown marker. I spritzed the stamp lightly, & stamped onto my paper. This time, though, I used a damp paintbrush to spread the ink out on the paper, keeping the shape of the pinecone. I also left a few highlights here & there. I let that dry while I stamped my other 5 panels with the same images. By the time I returned to my first panel, the ink had dried, so I tapped on the same stamp with a darker brown marker. After spritzing, I stamped the image over the original, to provide some detail to the pinecones.

Once my images were all done, I stamped the greeting in Gina K. Designs Charcoal Brown ink. Once I finished, I felt the images & greeting were still a bit too disconnected, though. So I used a pale gold metallic watercolor to splatter over the panel. That seemed to provide the perfect touch. Finally, I matted the panel with brown cardstock, & adhered it to a white card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Christmas Card Throwdown's July Theme Challenge: "Pinecones"

613 Avenue Create's July Challenge: "Anything Goes" (I am playing the watercolor twist)

Merry Christmas Poinsettia

The current Christmas Card Throwdown challenge is to use the colors white, deep purple, & gold. I created this card using a background technique taught by Tiffany Solorio during the online Cardmaker Success Summit event.

I cut a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media paper to letter size, & used Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves, Blueprint Sketch, & Wilted Violet Distress inks with the ink smooshing technique. I smooshed the inks onto my non-stick craft mat, spritzed with water, & pressed my paper into the color. I dried this with my heat tool, & repeated until I'd built up the depth of color I wanted. I also used Crushed Grape & After Midnight Dylusions sprays to add a little more intense color. I spritzed the panel with water droplets, and dried that with my heat tool again for some lighter spots. Finally, I splattered gold metallic watercolors all over the background. Once everything had dried, I cut the sheet into four A2-size panels. I cut 1/8" off 2 sides of the one that I chose for this card, so I would end up with a 1/16" border on all sides when I adhered it to my card base.

I die cut the flower & leaf pieces with the "Blooming Poinsettia" die set from Poppystamps, all from white cardstock. I splattered them with a pale gold metallic watercolor, just for a bit of added interest. I glued the flower pieces together, adding glue just in the middle of each layer, so the petals could fluff up a bit. For the flower center, I used 3 dots I'd made previously with Pale Gold Nuvo Crystal Drops, adding them with glue. I glued the center of the flower to the card panel, & added the leaves underneath, applying glue only to the ends that tucked under the flower.

For the greeting, I die cut Simon Says Stamp's "Merry Christmas" from gold metallic cardstock that I'd backed with Stick It adhesive. To keep the die cut from getting distorted while I applied it to my panel, I left it in the die. I removed the adhesive release paper from the back, placed the die on my panel, & used my craft pick to poke through the holes in the die. This stuck the words on my panel just enough so they stayed put, while still allowing me to adjust them a bit if I needed to. After I removed the die, I used my Teflon bone folder to burnish the greeting in place. Finally, I adhered my card front to a white card base.

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

Dies R Us Challenge #173: "Anything Goes using Any Brand of Die that DRU Sells" (used Poppystamps die set)

613 Avenue Create July Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)

Best Wishes

The oldest daughter of a friend I went to school with just got married. I made this card for her & her new husband. The design came from Sketch Challenge #512 at Try Stampin' on Tuesday's challenge blog, but I missed the deadline to enter their challenge. The overall look was inspired by this card I saw on Pinterest, & the embossed frame on this card by Libby Fens. Challenge #87 at Double Trouble Paper Crafting, which had partnered with the sketch challenge, inspired the design as well. The theme there is "It's Hip to be a Square," so to use square(s) and/or circle(s) on your project. I used one of the "Decorative Labels One" dies from Spellbinders (discontinued) for my square, & a circle die cut over that. I also did both heat & dry embossing, to fulfill the second part of their challenge.

I made my card 5x6-1/2", to accommodate both the greeting, from My Favorite Things' "Cause for Celebration" die set (discontinued), & the embossed "Decorative Labels One" die turned 45 degrees. I cut my card front from navy cardstock to that size, & embossed the die frame into it. I die cut a circle from Strathmore Mixed Media paper, & inked it with Antique Linen Distress ink, to give just a bit of color. For shimmer (because we all know the moon shimmers), I pressed my Versamark ink pad all over the circle, and then heat embossed with Ranger Holographic embossing powder.

I punched the owls from black cardstock with the Stampin' Up "Owl Builder" punch (discontinued). I also die cut the branch from Spellbinders' "Sweet Birds on a Branch" set from black. I glued them to the moon, & added a silver glitter heart that I'd punched. I trimmed off the branch where it overhung the moon edge, and adhered it centered over the embossed frame on the card front.

I die cut the greeting from a cream piece of The Paper Studio's Pearlized cardstock. I felt the color complemented the moon nicely. I glued that to my card front, & finally adhered the card front to a white card base.

Big Birthday Present

The current challenge at Send a Smile 4 Kids challenge blog is "Tween/Teen Cards." I created this card with an old digital image from Kenny K, "Present Surprise" (discontinued). The design inspiration came from Sketch #SC746 at Splitcoaststampers.com.

I sized the image in Photoshop, and printed it on a panel of Strathmore Vellum Bristol paper. I used Prismacolor pencils to color it. For a little detail above the image, I used My Favorite Things' "Wonky Dots" stencil & Kitsch Flamingo Distress ink. The stenciling echoes the pink dots on the present.

The rainbow greeting banner was actually a scrap left over from another card I'd made. I heat embossed "happy birthday," using stamps from Altenew's "Birthday Builder" set & Ranger Navy embossing powder. I cut the end of the strip at an angle for a bit more fun, & adhered it to my panel. I glued on 3 buttons from my stash in coordinating colors. After the glue dried, I stitched through the holes with white crochet twine. Finally, I added my panel to a teal cardstock mat that I'd adhered to a white A2-size card base.

I'm also entering this card in 613 Avenue Create's "Anything Goes" challenge (not playing the twist).