March Christmas Challenges

Hi everyone.  Today I'm sharing another card using a recent technique I learned, which I call sponge bleeding.  I used small blender brushes through the Poinsettia stencil (Tim Holtz).  Once finished, I removed the stencil and used the same colour to add a light haze over each element.  It gives a blurry, dreamy effect and also fills in most of the white space. I added a black sentiment border using Christmas sentiments (Penny Black), heat embossed in my NBUS silver pearl embossing powder.  Love it!

Simple and easy techique that gives great results.

Close-up ...

I'm sending this card over to three different Christmas challenges for March.  Playing along helps me to build my Christmas card stash so I'm not pressured in the fall.  Works for me!

Rudolph Days March Challenge

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #32

Christmas Craft Creations Challenge - March - Christmas Flowers

Product Links

Poinsettia Stencil (Tim Holtz)

Christmas Sentiments (Penny Black)

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Jessie sharing ice cream cone with Violeta

This picture was taken yesterday in our back yard.

Jessie and Vi rarely share anything, but neither was going to miss

out on the delicious ice cream cone. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps:  Christmas Sentiments (Penny Black)

Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.); Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:   Disress Inks:  Worn Lipstick, Picked Raspberry, Peeled Paint (Tim Holtz); Versamark
Accessories:   Poinsettia Layering Stencil (Tim Holtz); Oval nestability (Spellbinders), blending brushes, Silver Pearl embossing powder (Ranger), heat tool

Challenges:

Rudolph Days March Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes

Merry Little Christmas Challenge #32 - Anything Christmas Goes

Christmas Craft Creations Challenge - March - Christmas Flowers

Penny Black - Bear-y Wishful

Hi everyone.  Sharing a fun card using one of the new Daydream releases.  This uses a stamp called Bear-y Wishes (30-804) (it also has a matching die, Bear-y Wishful cut out 51-700).

I created a background using the Rolling Clouds Stencil from MFT, blending brush, and Peacock Feathers distress ink.

I created grassy hills in the background using torn paper as my templates.  Stamped the bear over top in black and then stamped again onto mixed media paper and watercoloured.  Cut out the bear and adhered it over top of my stamped image.  This just gives it a little more depth.  I added the middle-sized frame from the new Sewing Stackers frame set (51-651) ... love this sweet embossed design!

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I'm sending this card over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for March - Anything Goes ...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Product Links

Bear-y Wishful (30-804) - Penny Black

Bear-y Wishful cut out (51-700) - Penny Black

Rolling Clouds Stencil - My Favorite Things

Sewing Stackers (51-651)

Trust Me Builder (30-710) - Penny Black

Stamps:  Bear-y Wishful; Trust Me Builder (both Penny Black)

Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card base (Neenah 110 lb.); Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:   Black Ink (Memento); Distress Inks:  Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron, Brushed Corduroy, Gathered Twigs, Worn Lipstick (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   Rolling Clouds stencil (My Favorite Things), blending brushes, Clear embossing powder (Ranger), heat tool, Green marker, White Posca pen, Sewing Stackers frame die (Penny Black)

Challenges:
PBSC March - Anything Goes

Penny Black - Garden Variety

Hi everyone.  Today I have two cards using the beautiful Garden Variety Cling stamp (40-744).  This is so pretty and I've had fun playing with different mediums with this stamp.

The card above is done with Distress Markers direct to stamp.  I did spritz with a tiny bit of water, but mostly it's just ink.  I love the Spring colours of these flowers.  I wanted this to be a bright and happy card so I blended Squeezed Lemonade distress ink in the background, darker around the center of the card, lighter on the outside edges.  I die-cut the centre with one of the frames from Sewing Stackers (51-651) from the new release.

I stamped the sentiment, Faith.Hope.Love (30-800) in black ink and heat embossed in clear so it stands out.  The last step was to pop the centre panel up on foam to add dimension.

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For my second card I used Magicals (Lindy's) powdered shimmer inks ...

I pressed Versamark ink onto my stamp (in the Misti) and used a dry brush to add two colours of Magicals (Drop Dead Gorgeous Green, Ramblin' Rose Pink).  I spritzed with water and stamped onto mixed media paper.  I repeated until I was happy with the colour.  I then used leftover ink to splatter the card in both colours.

To finish, I split the panel and added the sentiment, Faith.Hope.Love in black ink onto my card front.  I popped up the two panels with the flowers to add dimension.

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You can see some of the shimmer from these powdered inks on the close up ... so pretty!

More NBUS stamps and die, so the top card will be heading over to NBUS Challenge #24 - Never-before-used-schtuff.

Also sending the second card over to Penny Black Saturday Challenge - Anything Goes - Optional Flowers.

Thanks for stopping by!

Product Links

Garden Variety Stamp (40-744)

Sewing Stackers (51-651)

Faith.Hope.Love (30-800)

Card #1 - Hope

Stamps:  Garden Variety, Faith.Hope.Love. (both from Penny Black) 

Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.);  White card base (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:   Distress Inks:  Squeezed Lemonade, Carved Pumpkin, Rustic Wilderness (Tim Holtz); Black (Memento)
Accessories:  Blending brushes, water mister, water brush, Sewing Stackers Frames (Penny Black), clear embossing powder, heat tool  

Card #2 - Joy

Stamps:  Garden Variety, Faith.Hope.Love. (both from Penny Black)

Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.);  White card base (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:  Versamark; Magicals - Drop Dead Gorgeous Green, Ramblin Rose Pink (Lindy's); Black (Memento)
Accessories:   Dry brush, water mister, water brush, splatter brush

Challenges:
NBUS #24 Challenge

PBSC - Anything Goes - Optional Flowers

Penny Black - Fresh Fern

Hi everyone.  

Sticking with the theme of the day, the card above is done all in green. :)  It's done with a new stamp from Penny Black's Daydream release, called Fresh Fern (40-722).  I stamped the image several times in Shabby Shutters distress ink to cover the background.  I then stamped the image once more, in Rustic Wildness distress ink to create the focal point.  I sponged a scrap piece of card stock with more Rustic Wildness and then used a new Penny Black die (Thanks & Hello - 51-638) to cut the sentiment.  I coated the sentiment in crackle glaze before adhering to to my card front (hard to see in photo).

Close-up ...

Thanks for topping by for a visit!

Product Links

Fresh Fern (40-722)

Thanks & Hello (51-638)

Stamps:  Fresh Fern (Penny Black)

Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.)
Ink:   Distress Inks:  Shabby Shutters, Rustic Wilderness (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   waterbrush, Thanks & Hello die (Penny Black), Crackle accents (Ranger)

CAS Challenges March Reminder

Welcome to a reminder post for both CAS Mix Up and CAS Christmas. 

First up, CAS Mix Up ... hosted by our wonderfully talented Bonnie (Stamping with Klass).  Bonnie wants us to use die-cuts to make prints on our cards.  Such a fun technique.  Thanks for the great challenge Bonnie!

Bonnie is our host.

I die-cut the Magical Butterfly (Alexadra Renke - retired) twice and watercoloured both the same.  I used one to make the prints in the background, spritzing the watercoloured die-cut, turning it over and pressing it lightly only my main card panel.  I then die-cut a border using the Hemstitch Frames from Spellbinders.  I popped up the panel onto my card base and added the second die-cut butterfly and also stamped the sentiment Many Everyday Messages from Hero Arts.

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I'm hosting this month!

Today's card was inspired by a card I saw a couple of years ago, made by Janet (Swanlady Impressions).  I just loved this beautiful poinsettia image that Janet used and how she added brown sponging ove top of the flowers to tie it into the kraft paper on her card.  I immediately bought that image from Magenta (Berry and Blossom).  Then the stamp got filed away and I forgot about it until this challenge.  I dug it out and used the same brown sponging as Janet, but changed up the design.  I really love how this turned out.  Thanks for the inspiration Janet!!

Poinsettias are stamped multiple times and heat embossed in Princess Gold embossing powder.  Flowers are watercoloured in a mix of distress inks Fired Brick and Festive Berries.  I used Gathered Twigs ink to sponge over the flower before adding a piece of kraft paper at the top, along with an 1/8" thin satin red ribbon.  To finish, I stamped the sentiment (Christmas Sentiments - Penny Black), heat embossing in white and also rounded the top corners.

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I hope you'll check out the challenge blogs to see the amazing cards from our Designers, Guest Designers, and participants.  If you haven't had time to play along, there's over a week left before both challenges close on 24th at midnight PST.  Come join us!

Card #1 - 
Stamps:  Many Everyday Messages (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.);  White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Ripe Persimmon, Picked Raspberry (Tim Holtz)
Accessories & Tools:  Magical Butterfly (Alexandra Renke), water mister, Hemstitch Rectangles (Spellbinders)

Card #2 - Poinsettia Peace
Stamps:  Berry & Blossom (Magenta); Christmas Moments (Penny Black)
Paper:  Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); Kraft
Ink:  Versamark; Distress Inks:  Fired Brick, Festive Berries, Gathered Twigs (Tim Holtz)
Accessories & Tools:  Princess Gold embossing powde (Ranger), heat tool; waterbrush, sponge, white embossing powder (Ranger), 1/8" red satin ribbon, Corner Rounder

Challenges:
CAS Mix Up March Challenge - Print Making with Dies
CAS Christmas March Challenge - Kraft, Red, and White

The Flower Challenge #54 Reminder

Hi everyone.  We are already at the middle of March's The Flower Challenge #54 - shades of purple.  The Designers have come up with more wonderful cards to share with you.

My launch card was more muted tones, so this time I went for very vibrant shades of purple.  I used Wilted Violet re-inker to watercolour my flowers (Bliss - Penny Black).  More shades of purple on this card with some light stripe stenciling (Stripes Stencil - Tim Holtz) on the right hand side done in Milled Lavender distress inks; and the leaves are done in Dusty Concord distress ink. 

I actually had to "save" this card.  The reinker takes longer to dry because of the concentration.  I didn't think about it and started watercolouring the leaves.  I'm a lefty ... so my hand dragged across the smaller flower and I had purple everywhere. :)  I washed out as much as possible and then decided that splatters would be my finishing touch around each of the flowers to hopefully disguise the messy ink.  It worked pretty well.  To finish, I added a soft sponge of wilted violet over the two flower heads to bring focus to them.  The sentiment is Brushed Wishes (Stampendous - retired).

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I hope you'll check out the challenge blog to see the amazing card done by the rest of the Designers.  You will be inspired!!

I'm sending my card over to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge for March.  It's Anything Goes with an option of Flowers ... I do love making flower cards! :)

Products

Bliss (Penny Black)

Stripes Stencil (Tim Holtz)

Stamps:  Bliss (Penny Black); Brushed Wishes (Stampendous)

Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.)
Ink:   Wilted Violet reinker; Distress inks:  Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, Wilted Violet (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   Stripes stencil (Tim Holtz), sponge, water brush, White Posca acrylic paint pen

Challenges:

The Flower Challenge #54 - Shades of Purple

Penny Black Saturday March Challenge - Anything Goes optional Flowers

Sponged Edging through Stencil

Hi everyone.  This is a new-to-me technique that our Zoom group tried out last month.

The card above uses Gerda Steiner's Vrooming By! stamp set, stamped in black ink, clear heat embossed and watercoloured with DOX inks.  This is a technique from Nina-Marie (video tutorial HERE).  Sponged the colours lightly across the top of the page using Distress Oxides (Candied Apple, Wild Honey, Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers).  Used a circle punch (1 1/4") to punch two circles from a piece of acetate and sponged through my homemade stencil to add more depth of colour.  Finished by adding a stitched line to represent a road. :)

Close-up ...

This is a new-to-me stamp and my first time using it, so heading over to add it to the NBUS #24 Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Products

Vrooming By! (Gerda Steiner Stamps)

Stamps:  Vrooming By! (Gerda Steiner)

Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.)
Ink:   Black (Memento); Distress Oxides:  Candied Apple, Wild Honey, Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, Brushed Corduroy, Black Soot (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:   Clear embossing powder (Ranger), water brush, black fine marker, circle stencil (made with circle punches and acetate)

Challenges:

NBUS #24 Challenge - Never-before-used-schtuff

Twofer #36 Challenges

Hi everyone.  It's the start of a new Twofer Challenge.  This month Darnell has added a new type of challenge - Your Choice.  It's the same as Anything Goes ... just make sure to mention what your choice is in your post in case it's not obvious.  I used Ornate Background (Simon Says Stamp) for both cards.

As always, please follow the prompt below ...

For my first card I stamped the image in black and heat embossed in clear.  Then I fussy cut around some of the images to create a large border for my card.  I watercoloured with distress inks and then added the border to my card front.  Finished by stamping the sentiment (Happy Messages - Stampendous) in black and clear heat embossing to match the image.  This is an encouragement card to hopefully brighten a friend's day.

For the second card I used the same background, this time stamping in Smoky Slate ink.  I added the sentiment (Brushed Words - Stampendous - retired) in black and clear heat embossed to make it stand out.  I added a thin black strip of card stock to finish.  This is a sympathy card I'm sending to my brother-in-law who recently lost his uncle.

I hope you'll come play along with this fun challenge.  Make sure to follow the prompts above and include a photo of both cards in your post in order to follow the rules.

Hope to see you in the Twofer gallery!

Products

Ornate Background - Simon Says Stamp

Happy Messages - Stampendous

Card #1 - friend

Stamps:  Ornate Background (Simon Says Stamp); Happy Messages (Stampendous)

Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); White card stock (Neenah 110 lb.)
Ink:   Black (Memento); Distress Inks:  Candied Apple, Picked Raspberry, Ripe Persimmon, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Peacock Feathers, Wilted Violet (Tim Holtz)
Accessories:  Clear embossing powder (Ranger), heat tool, waterbrush

Card #2 - Thinking of You

Stamps:  Ornate Background (Simon Says Stamp); Brushed Words - retired (Stampendous)

Paper:   Mixed Media (Strathmore 140 lb.); Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink:   Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up!); Black (Memento)
Accessories:  Clear embossing Powder (Ranger), heat tool

Challenges:

Twofer Challenge #36 - Your Choice