Joy of the Season

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge this week is to create a project inspired by a mood board one of their design team members put together. One of the photos on the board is of a cardinal. I have this stamp (source unknown), and when I saw that photo, immediately thought of it. And yes, I'm still making Christmas cards, so it seemed a perfect fit.

Because of the size of the image, I felt the design was pretty straightforward, so I did not pick a sketch from anywhere. I first stamped it in Ranger Archival Jet Black ink onto Strathmore Mixed Media Paper. I did a technique called "outside the box" die cutting. The basic procedure is to lay your die (that is smaller than the image) over the image. Mark where the inside of the die meets the image, and use scissors to cut into the image at those points. Then just slip the die under those image portions, and die cut the rest around the image.

After die cutting & embossing with a Spellbinders "Labels Eight" die, I colored the image with Inktense pencils and a damp paintbrush. I had done an online search for cardinal photos, to guide me in my coloring. Once I finished that step, I set that aside to dry.

I cut a piece of patterned paper from my scrap stash to 4.5x7", the size of my folded card base. I felt that, even with the subtle pattern, it would compete with the greeting too much if I stamped directly on it. So I stamped the greeting (from this Hero Arts set) onto a strip of vellum instead, using Versafine Onyx Black ink, and heat embossed it with Recollections Detail Clear embossing powder. I used the heart stamp from this Simon Says Stamp set for the hearts on the greeting strip, stamping them in Stampabilities "Cherry Red" pigment ink and clear heat embossing them.

To finish the card, I glued the focal panel to the card front. I ran the vellum strip through my Xyron Sticker Maker to apply adhesive to the back, and adhered that towards the bottom of the front, wrapping the ends around to the back. Finally, I adhered the completed card front to my base.

Christmas Candle

I got this image from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps', thinking it would make a really great Christmas card. I felt the image was enough to stand on its own, so I chose a simple sketch from Operation Write Home to feature it:

I thought an oval would lend itself better to the image, so I substituted that for the rectangle in the sketch.

I printed the image onto a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media Paper, and die cut & embossed it with a Spellbinders "Classic Ovals SM" die. I colored the candle with Inktense pencils and a damp paintbrush. The holly leaves were the hardest element to get the coloring right. I wanted them to be vibrant, but not garish. Thankfully, I finally found the right combination of colors--without going overboard!

For the greeting, I used one from this Hero Arts set. I stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black ink onto another scrap of Mixed Media Paper. I then die cut & embossed it with one of the dies from Spellbinders' "Labels Eight" set. While the paper was still in the die, I sponged Spun Sugar Distress ink over the inner portion. This gives the effect of a matted piece, without adding an extra layer.

I chose a striped patterned paper from my scrap stash for the background. After adhering a piece of mauve cardstock to that, I die cut the panel with one of the dies from My Favorite Things' "Blueprints 13" set. I then glued the focal panel & greeting to that.

Because I couldn't find cardstock in my stash that was the "right" shade of pink for the background mat, I die cut a piece of white cardstock with the A2 die from Avery Elle's "Custom Panels" die set. Then I inked around the edges with Spun Sugar. Finally, I adhered that & the main panel to an A2 card base.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Anything Goes"
a2z Scrapbooking's December Challenge: "Watercolor"

Shepherd Cards

One specific request my mom made for Christmas cards this year was religious-themed cards. So I made these two for her to send (among others.)

For the first card, I chose the following sketch from Operation Write Home:

The image is this one from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I printed it, leaving a slight border, onto a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media paper; and colored it with Inktense pencils & a damp paintbrush.

I die cut a piece of kraft cardstock for the background with a die from My Favorite Things "Blueprints 13" set. For the outermost mat, I used the A2 die from Avery Elle's "Custom Panels" to cut a piece of textured green cardstock. I then adhered the kraft to the green. I chose 2 patterned papers from my ample scrap stash to go behind the focal image, and after determining placement, glued those and the focal panel to the card front.

For the greeting, I stamped one from this set, also by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, onto a piece of white cardstock, with Versafine Onyx Black ink. I die cut and embossed that with a Spellbinders "Classic Ovals SM" die, and inked around the edges with Gathered Twigs Distress ink. I glued it in place, and finally adhered the completed card front to an A2 card base.

I used Operation Write Home's Sketch #223 for the design of my second card:

I really like this sketch for images like this one, because of the large panel on top, with another amply-sized piece for a greeting.

The image also comes from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I printed it on 140 lb. watercolor paper, and colored it with Inktense pencils, adding more stars with a white gel pen.

For the greeting panel, I stamped one from this Hero Arts set in Versafine Onyx Black onto white cardstock, and cut it down to the measurements indicated in the sketch. I matted it on a piece of brown cardstock, and wrapped a piece of sheer blue ribbon around the one end.

After the focal panel dried, I matted it on brown cardstock as well. I die cut the background with Avery Elle's "Custom Panels" A2 die, and adhered the 2 panels to that. I felt the space between the focal & greeting panels needed a little something, so I die cut the holes with one of the dies from My Favorite Things "Blueprints 18" set. (I was quite pleased to discover that particular die goes all the way across the short side of an A2 card!) I inked a strip of white cardstock with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink, and glued it behind the holes. Finally, I adhered the completed front to an A2 card base, and that finished these two cards.

I'm entering these cards in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Anything Goes" (both cards)
a2z Scrapbooking's December Challenge: "Watercolor" (only the second card)

Two Hanukkah Cards

A couple of our friends are celebrating Hanukkah right now, so I decided to make them cards. Hanukkah card ideas seem to be rather hard to find. Thankfully, I was able to locate a few from which to choose.

I got the inspiration for my first card from this blog post. Since blue and white/silver are traditional colors for Hanukkah, I decided to keep that as my color scheme. I chose 2 blue patterned papers & 3 metallic/textured papers, all from Recollections.

I began by creating a blank canvas sized to 4.25x5.5" in Photoshop, and sized & positioned the dreidel pattern on that. Then I typed my greeting underneath, & printed it all onto a piece of light blue cardstock. I used my craft knife and a ruler to cut out the dreidel portion, leaving a window in the card front.

After taping the pattern to the front of the cardstock with low-tack painters tape, I proceeded to cut and fold my paper strips. Finally, I positioned them over the pattern and taped them to the back of the cardstock. Once I'd finished, I removed the pattern. I inked the edges with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink, applied foam tape around the sides of the back of the panel, and adhered it to an A2 card base.

Just the center flame appears

For my second card, I followed directions I found in Kimber McGray's book, 100 Fresh & Fun Handmade Cards. I used dark blue cardstock for the card front. I cut the menorrah base from silver cardstock, and the candles from white. I also used gold cardstock for the flames. I added the wicks with a white gel pen. The "happy" die cut was made using this Simon Says Stamp die, and I stamped the letters to spell "Hanukkah" using Riley's ABC's from Lawn Fawn.

All nine flames are exposed

The card is a basic spinner card. The flames are on a circle sandwiched between the card front & base, attached to the card front with a mini brad through the center candle. It also has a notch punched out to expose part of the circle so it can be turned. In one position, only the center candle flame is lit, but when you turn the "wheel" around, all 9 flames come up over the candles. I think this is a neat effect, and not hard to achieve.

I'm entering both of these cards in Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Anything Goes" challenge.

Merry Christmas Bells

YAY--I MADE IT! I actually finished a card for each of the challenges in Bugaboo's 2nd Annual "Holiday Chaos" series!!!!! The final day's theme is "Clean and Simple," so I broke with "tradition" (mine, at least) and made a true one-layer card. I took the inspiration for my card from this one by Kristina Werner. I liked the repeating bell element and the somewhat haphazard arrangement with the line the bells hang from providing some stability.

To begin, I opened my image, Bugaboo's "Christmas - Mistletoe Bell," in Photoshop, and placed it on a blank (digital) canvas sized to 4.25x5.5". I duplicated it 4 more times, for a total of five bells. I centered one vertically on the canvas, and moved the others so all the bells were about the same distance apart. To add a bit of interest--and because I intended to draw in a wire for them to hang from--I made sure to stagger how high each bell was placed on the canvas. After I got them positioned, I merged all those layers into one, and centered the merged layer on the background. I cropped the greeting from this set by Fred, She Said, and added it to the lower right of the background, lining the "s" up with the right side of the bell above it. Finally, I printed the completed composition onto a letter-size sheet of 110 lb. white cardstock. I cut the sheet in half, and scored the final card base to create a landscape A2 card.

I colored my bells with colored pencils, blending the colors with Gamsol on a paper stump. When that was done, I lightly penciled in my "wire" for the bells to hang from. When I got that how I wanted it, I erased it enough so the line showed only faintly, and then traced over it with a red gel pen. I folded the card in half and creased along the fold line with my bone folder. And there it is--probably the fastest card--and simplest design--I've made since starting our Christmas cards for this year!

Merry Christmas/Snowballs - 25 Cents

Challenge #6 for Bugaboo's 2nd Annual "Holiday Chaos" series is to make a card with one or more Christmas critters on it. I recently got this image from them, and felt it would be perfect for this challenge--and a cute Christmas card to boot!

I began by working up a design in Photoshop. Originally, I had the greeting, from this Doodle Pantry set, below the image, and it worked. But when I was going back to our craft room to cut the focal panel, I thought I'd use the stitched rectangle die from the "Femme Frames" set by Mama Elephant. That decision threw a bit of a monkey wrench into my design, because with the size of the die cut, the greeting no longer fit under the image. And if I shrank the image to make the greeting fit, the whole design just didn't look right. So I ended up moving the greeting above the penguins, and cutting off the lower words on the greeting. But it works! So after these digital acrobatics, I finally printed the image out onto my die cut watercolor paper.

After masking around the edges of the stitched rectangle with painter's tape, I colored in the penguins with Inktense pencils and a damp paintbrush. I also added some light shading to the snowballs, just to make them look a little more 3-dimensional. When my coloring had dried, I applied clear water over the sky area, and washed in a light blue watercolor. I purposely left the wash just a bit blotchy, to add additional interest. Finally, I went over the penguins' eyes and the greeting with a black gel pen, so they would stand out a bit more.

I decided to mat the focal panel in black, so I cut a piece of paper with the scalloped "Femme Frames" die, and glued the watercolor panel to that. I printed a sentiment on the inside of an A2 card base. I accidentally tore a bit of the top layer off on one edge of the cardstock on my base (oops!). It wasn't bad enough that I couldn't cover it up though, so I die cut a piece of pale blue cardstock with the Avery Elle "Custom Panels" A2 die. I adhered my matted focal panel to that, and adhered that to my card base. To add a bit of sparkle, I glued some small silver sequins to the front with Ranger Multi Medium Matte. And that finished this card. Despite my creative twists and turns, I think it turned out quite well!

I'm also entering this card in Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Bling It On" challenge.

Warm & Friendly Greetings

Day 5's theme in the 2nd Annual Holiday Chaos challenge series by Bugaboo Stamps is to make a humorous card. I don't have any Bugaboo images that seemed to fit the bill, but thankfully, they allow you to use other images. I found this one on the Dearie Dolls Digi Stamps blog. Being in East Texas, where we don't get much snow at all--much less at Christmas--it seemed to me like a perfect image for a holiday card. I found the greeting on this blog post, which I thought went perfectly with the image. Kind of an ironic humor!

I chose this sketch from Operation Write Home to base my design on:

I keep all my OWH sketches in a binder. This one is actually rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise on the page, so it really didn't occur to me not to use it in that orientation. Yes, I'm getting a bit dotty with all the card making I've been doing these past few weeks! LOL

After printing my image onto a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media Paper, I colored it with Inktense pencils and a damp paintbrush. I also used Distress inks as watercolors: Tumbled Glass for the sky, and Pumice Stone and Mowed Lawn for the ground. I accidentally got a bit of color onto the white portions of the "snowman" and the little boy's shirt, so I went over those with my Uniball Signo Broad white gel pen. I ended up having to color all the white areas on the cardboard boxes, so the penwork wouldn't stand out so much. I think it ended up giving it a nice, subtle bit of texture--kind of like brushstrokes from the boy's paintbrush.

For the background, I chose two patterned papers from my stash of holiday scraps. I adhered the green snowflake paper to the bottom of the other, and matted them with a dark blue, which I felt played off the blue in the sky and the boy's jeans. Even though it was not indicated in the sketch, I also added a narrow blue mat to the focal panel, to help it stand out from the background, before adhering it to the card front.

I formatted the greeting in Photoshop, and printed it onto a strip of white cardstock. I cut one end into a fishtail, and glued it in place below the focal panel. After adhering the front to my card base, I threaded 3 white buttons from my stash with red embroidery floss, and glued them down with Ranger Multi Medium Matte. Another card done!