Rustic Cottage

Hi there and welcome back!  Tonight I'm sharing a card made for the current challenge at The Paper Players.  Joanne has given us this wonderful sketch to play with and I was happy to get my card done in time before tomorrow's noon deadline!

PP 372

And here's my card:

The large oval in the sketch was perfect for the sweet Winter Cottage image, which I stamped in Vintage Photo Distress Oxide Ink and heat set with clear embossing powder.  I used masking fluid to create a horizon of "snow" and when it dried, put a light wash of blue ink in the sky.  Next Clear Wink of Stella was brushed across the snowy landscape and the roof of the cottage, then the entire image was splattered with some White Gouache to create the effect of falling snow and set aside to dry while I worked on the card base.

One of the designs from Wood Textures designer series paper stack was trimmed down, adhered to a panel of Early Espresso card stock and wrapped with Linen Thread.  Before tying on the white die cut branches with a separate piece of Linen Thread, the branches were brushed with Clear Wink of Stella, and the berries colored with the Wink of Stella pen dipped in Festive Berries ink.  The finished panel was then mounted on the white card base with foam tape.

The cottage scene was die cut and mounted on a Crumb Cake oval, popped up and added to the base with foam tape.  I searched around for something to use for the small circle in the sketch and found some long retired SU wood snowflakes, one of which was added with Mini Dimensionals.  I intentionally did not add a sentiment as I wanted the option of either using this as a Christmas card or for a relative's upcoming birthday and will add one in the interior when it's used.


Thanks so much for visiting and commenting, I always appreciate it so much!  Please be sure to use the link to the challenge above and enjoy all the beautiful inspiration!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Winter Cottage (Altenew)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Ranger watercolor paper, Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack
Ink:  Vintage Photo Distress Oxide, Festive Berries and Salty Ocean Distress Ink
Other:  Tim Holtz Mini Holiday Greens, Layered Ovals and Stitched Shapes framelits, Linen Thread, Clear Wink of Stella, White Gouache, Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid, Snowflake Elements

Winter Cottage

Hello friends!  Tonight I'm sharing a quick post with a card made for the current challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  I'm still cranking out Christmas cards and I recently received the Altenew Winter Cottage stamp, a sweet little stamp that I've thought about getting for some time and finally acquired, and it's perfect for this sketch.

FMS 314

The image was stamped in Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink and heat set with clear embossing powder.  I used some masking liquid to create the snowline and cover the scene, letting that dry over night.  The next day I used a water brush and Distress Inks to create the sky, and after that thoroughly dried, removed the masking fluid and added blue highlights to the snow and a touch of yellow in the windows.

The scene and the Berry Burst layer were cut with Layering Circle dies.  I used Tranquil Tide and Lemon Lime Twist card stock for die cutting the greens that were adhered at the bottom of the circle.

Trying to keep the card CAS but add some interest, a panel of white card stock was die cut with a stitched rectangle die, then added to the white card stock base with foam tape.  Next the focal point with adhered to the panel, then the heat embossed sentiment circle was added with Dimensionals.  Clear Wink of Stella added the sparkle to the scene and the greens.

Thanks so much for visiting, I so appreciate it!  Please be sure to use the link above to visit FMS and enjoy all the beautiful inspiration!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Winter Cottage (Altenew), My Monthly Hero October Card Kit sentiment (Hero Arts)
Paper:  Whisper White, Thick Whisper White, Berry Burst, Tranquil Tide, Lemon Lime Twist, Strathmore Bristol
Ink:  Versamark; Vintage Photo Distress Oxide; Distress:  Wilted Violet, Blueprint Sketch, Salty Ocean, Picked Raspberry
Other:  Waterbrush, Clear Wink of Stella, Tim Holtz Mini Holiday Greens, Layered Circles and Stitched Shapes Framelits, A2 Stitched Rectangle Stax (MFT Die-namics)

Iconic Winter Scene

Hello and welcome back!  Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating in the US!  My card today was made for the current challenge at Inspired by All the Little Things.  I found the colors so beautiful that I wanted to use them in creating a winter scene.

Inspired by All the Little Things #73

I started by heat setting the stamped trees from Iconic Christmas with white embossing powder on watercolor paper.  Because of the texture of the paper, the trees ended up with texture as well (they should be a smoother silhouette), which I finally decided looked kind of neat and went with it.  I used some masking fluid to create the delineation between the sky and snow, letting it dry overnight. 

I started with very watery Wilted Violet Distress Ink and used my paint brush to apply the ink next to the mask, then pulled it upward about an inch or so, blending it out so there was not hard line.  Once the ink thoroughly dried I removed the mask, wet the unpainted portion of the sky and added very watered down Picked Raspberry ink, blending it into the violet.  I then used Salty Ocean to add some shape to the "snow" and shadows under the trees.  Next the panel was sprayed with Shimmer Spray, and a bit of White Gouache was flicked on the panel.  When dry, the sentiment from the same stamp set was heat set with silver embossing powder.  

The corners of the panel and the plum card base were rounded with a punch, the panel mounted to the base with foam tape, then a few sequins were added to finish things off.


Thanks so much for visiting and commenting, it's so appreciated!  I've added a link above to the challenge, so please be sure to head over there and enjoy all the amazing inspiration!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Iconic Christmas (WPlus9)
Paper:  Perfect Plum (SU), Canson XL
Ink:  Versamark; Distress:  Wilted Violet, Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean
Other:  Hero Arts Silver and White embossing powders, White Gouache, Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spritz (Imagine Crafts), masking fluid, Sparkling Clear sequins (PPP), Metallic Sequins (SU)

CC662 Kindness Blooms

Hi there!  I'm back with the new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers.  Robin is our host and she has chosen the beautiful combination of Berry Burst, Tranquil Tide, Crumb Cake and Gold, and "dessert" is to color something, to which I say "yes please"!  I'm also joining the CAS challenge at SCS (link here) where the challenge theme is "Grateful".





SCS CC662

For my card I decided to use the lovely large rose image from Birthday Blooms.  When this set first came out I could not stop using it, but it has since languished unused for a long time.  So, when I saw this week's challenge colors, out it came as I thought it would work perfectly.  The floral image was heat set on the panel of watercolor paper with gold embossing powder, then reinkers and a paintbrush were used for watercoloring.

After the watercoloring dried, I had to decide on a sentiment.  I needed something big to fill the space above the flowers, and ended up using lovely sentiments from Kind Flowers.  After heat setting the large part of the sentiment in gold embossing powder, the remainder of the sentiment was heat set on the small strip of Tranquil Tide card stock and adhered with foam tape after gold watercolor paint was splattered on the panel.  I also used the gold watercolor paint to color the stamen in the center of the flower.

 
The final addition were light green and clear sequins.


Thanks so much for visiting and commenting, it's always so appreciated!  I've added a link to the Color Challenge above, I hope you're able to join us this week!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Birthday Blooms (SU), Kind Flowers (SSS)
Paper:  Tranquil Tide, Canson XL watercolor, Very Vanilla (interior panel)
Ink:  Versamark, Berry Burst, Tranquil Tide, Crumb Cake
Other:  Altenew Antique Gold embossing powder, Gansai Tambi Starry Colors Watercolor paints, Vintage Chic (SSS) and Sparkling Clear (PPP) sequins

Iconic Snowflakes

Hello again!  Tonight I have another Christmas card to share with you.  Inspiration for the card comes from the current challenges at Freshly Made Sketches and Color Throwdown.

CTD 469

FMS 313

It was an easy choice to use snowflakes to represent the circles in the sketch and then when I saw the blues and silver of the color challenge, I knew I had the perfect combination.

The snowflakes were heat embossed on Tim Holtz watercolor card stock with silver embossing powder, as was the sentiment.  However, the sentiment did not come out well, so I redid it on a separate piece of watercolor paper and ended up layering it in the center with silver and light blue card stock.  Phew, love a good recovery, and frankly I think it added a nice element of interest.  But before adding those layers in the center, I used a waterbrush and lightly watercolored some Salty Ocean Distress Ink around the snowflakes then die cut the panel with a Stitched Rectangle die.  The panel and the sentiment rectangle were also sprayed with Shimmer spray before completing the panel.

The base was layered with a slightly smaller panel of Island Blue card stock, then the watercolor panel was adhered using Fun Foam to give some dimension.  I also used Fun Foam under the sentiment panel.  A few sequins were added then the card was complete.  While I couldn't capture the sparkle in the pics above (I think I need to give Santa a hint that I need a camera upgrade ;-), I brought the card back to my desk (I try to photograph in natural light) for a shot so you could see how glittery it turned out. 

Thanks so much for visiting and commenting, it's always so appreciated!  I've added links to both challenges above, so be sure to head over there and enjoy all the beautiful inspiration.


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Lots of Snowflakes (Simon Says Stamp), Iconic Christmas (WPlus9)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Island Blue (SSS), Surf Blue (SSS), Silver Foil, Tim Holtz watercolor card stock
Ink:  Salty Ocean, Versamark
Other:  Hero Arts Silver Embossing Powder, Stitched Rectangle die, Sparkling Clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spritz (Imagine Crafts)

"Smooshed" Thanksgiving

Hello again and welcome back!  I needed 2 more Thanksgiving cards to send and I received a new garland die from Altenew that I wanted to play with, so I decided to use the "smooshed ink" technique to color the paper from which the garland and some leaves were cut.  I saw the current color challenge of yellow, rust and dark brown at Stamp Ink Paper and knew it would work perfectly for my cards.

SIP 125

I rolled out my craft mat, "smooshed" distress ink pads in Fossilized Amber, Rusty Hinge and Walnut Stain onto the mat, sprayed with clear water from a mister, then laid a 6 x 6 piece of watercolor paper onto the inks.  I pressed and held the paper onto the ink, then when I felt the paper had absorbed enough ink, I quickly pulled it up out of the ink so the colors wouldn't get too mixed.  After drying with a heat tool, it was die cut with the garland die and one of the leaves. I repeated the process to get enough inked paper for both cards, including leaves.  I did do some additional sponging to enhance the colors on the leaves after using the Vintage Leaves to stamp the images and die cutting them.

To build the card I started with an Early Espresso card base, layered on a smaller panel of Cajun Craze, and finally the die cut Very Vanilla panel.  I had to cut the garland in half then arrange it on the card in order to retain the A2 card size.  Next I tied the two leaves with Linen Thread and adhered them on top of the garland with glue dots at the corner, then a couple of Dimensionals to give the bottom leaf some lift.  I used the sentiment from the handy, dandy Teeny Tiny Wishes, stamped it on a banner, adhered it to the card, then glued on the cute wood acorn. 

Thanks for visiting and commenting, it's always sooo appreciated!  For those visitors in the US celebrating Thanksgiving, I hope you have a wonderful holiday.  I've added a link above to the challenge, so please be sure to head over there and enjoy all the beautiful inspiration!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Vintage Leaves, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Canson XL watercolor
Ink:  Early Espresso, Cajun Craze; Distress Ink:  Fossilized Amber, Rusty Hinge, Walnut Stain
Other:  Wonky Rectangle die (SSS), Leaflets Framelits, Circle Card Element Framelit (banner), Leafy Garland die (Altenew), wood acorn, linen thread

Joyful Christmas

Hi there!  So glad you came by to take a look at my card!  It's one that I've made for three challenges-the White on White color challenge at The Paper Players, the inspiration photo at Inspired By All the Little Things, and the sketch challenge at Fab Friday.

PP 370

Inspired #72

FF 125

Inspired by these challenges, I decided to use a well loved Christmas stamp set that I hadn't used in a few years.  The large poinsettia in the Joyful Christmas set is so lovely and I thought it would work well as the focal point in the sketch.  I stamped and heat embossed three flowers on vellum, which were fussy cut, brushed with Clear Wink of Stella and set aside as I created the base.

A panel of white card stock (previously sprayed with Shimmer spray and dried) was embossed with the Holly embossing folder, wrapped with some lace trim (acquired years ago at Joanne's), then adhered to a white card base with foam tape.  Silver Nuvo drops were added to the embossed "berries" to provide a bit more contrast but still staying neutral.  I let those dry overnight, then layered the fussy cut poinsettia in the center.  I actually had to replace the small center layer because I tried to add Silver Nuvo drops in the middle that decided they wanted to become as one on the slippery vellum ha ha!  So, with the new layer in place I decided to add a few Basic Pearls.

My intention with this card is to use it as a Christmas card but it occurred to me it would also work equally as well as a winter wedding card with the lace trim.  I intentionally did not include a sentiment on the front, instead I will add something on the card interior when it's time to send it.  I think in the close up below you can see some of the shimmer on the poinsettia.  IRL the whole card just sparkles!

Thank you so much for visiting and commenting, it's always so appreciated!  Above I've added links to the challenges, so please be sure to head over to them and enjoy all the amazing inspiration!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Joyful Christmas (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Vellum
Ink:  Versmark
Other:  Hero Arts White Embossing Powder, Tonic Nuvo Silver Lining Crystal Drops, Holly embossing folder (SU), Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spritz (Imagine Crafts), Clear Wink of Stella, Lace Trim, Paper Snips, Basic Pearls

North Pole Greetings

Hi there friends!  It's time for a new Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers.  Mary is hosting this week and she has chosen colors perfect for Christmas - Real Red, Cucumber Crush and Marina Mist.  Dessert is to make it a Christmas card. 

SCS CC 661

For my card, I dove right into Christmas using the October 2017 Hero Arts My Monthly Hero card kit, which has a ton of cute little images to create Christmas scene.  It also included background dies for mountains and trees, which I used with white card stock, ink blended the trees with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink, then sprayed both pieces with Shimmer mist.  You can see the sparkle from the Shimmer sprayy in the photo below.

As those pieces dried, snowflakes were clear embossed on the background panel of Bristol, ink blended with Broken China, then also sprayed with the Shimmer mist.  When all those pieces were dried they were adhered together and cut to an A2 card size.

The snowy hills were also die cut and sprayed then layered on the panel when dry.  To finish the scene, all the other images were stamped with Versafine Onyx Black on Bristol, watercolored with die inks (and a few Zig markers to color skin, shoes and belts) then die cut or fussy cut if no die was available.  The house and sentiment were popped up on foam tape.

So glad you visited, I hope you'll be able to join us in this weeks Color Challenge.  I've added a link above so be sure to head over there and enjoy all the wonderful inspiration!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Hero Arts October 2017 My Monthly Card Kit
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Strathmore Bristol, Lipstick Red (Simon Says Stamp)
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black; Distress Inks:  Mowed Lawn, Festive Berries, Broken China, Vintage Photo, Mustard Seed
Other: Card Kit companion dies, Stitched Hillside Borders (Lawn Fawn), Tim Holtz Ink Blending Tool, #3 round paint brush, Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spritz (Imagine Crafts), Bright Gold Nuvo Crystal Drops, Zig Markers (Black, Flesh, Tea Rose)

Kaleidoscope Leaves Birthday

Hi there and welcome back!  I hope you've had a good weekend!  I've had some fun with the "ink smooshing" technique this weekend, and really loved the results. 

I first heat embossed the Kaleidoscope Leaves background stamp with gold embossing powder on a 6x6 inch panel of watercolor paper.  Next Distress Ink pads in 3 colors were pressed onto a craft mat, sprayed with clear water, then the embossed panel was "smooshed" into the wet inks.  I didn't pull up the panel until I made sure to press then entire panel in the ink, then once I turned it over, used a paper towel to sop up any excess ink around the edges and set it aside to dry.

Once the panel dried, I trimmed it down to an A2 size, then added gold embossing around the edges.  I just LOVE the beautiful blues and greens with the gold.  Once the panel was ready, die cut vellum leaves were layered on top, as well as some gold cord.  The sentiment was also heat set with gold embossing powder on white card stock, die cut with a scallop oval die then added over the leaves and cord with foam tape.

I'm joining the "Birthdays are The Best" Free for All challenge at Splitcoaststampers here, as well as the following challenges:

JAI 385

STB - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for visiting and commenting, it's always so appreciated!  I hope you'll use the links above to visit the challenges and enjoy all the beautiful inspiration!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Kaleidoscope Leaves BG (Simon Says Stamp), Happy Birthday Gorgeous (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Canson XL watercolor, vellum
Ink:  Versamark; Distress:  Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean
Other:  Hero Arts Gold Embossing Powder, Clustered Leaves die (SSS), Layering Ovals Framelit (SU), Gold Cord

Celebrate!

Hello again!  I'm in need of a lot of birthday cards in the next month, so I took the opportunity to use the current sketch challenge at Splitcoaststampers to create a card for my friend.  I'm also entering this in the current "Anything Goes" challenge at Seize the Birthday. 

  SCS SC 670

STB Anything Goes

A few weeks ago I purchased the Kaleidoscope Leaves background stamp from Simon Says Stamp, and in playing around with it recently I heat embossed it with several different embossing powders.  One that I made used the SSS Rose Gold ep, heat set on watercolor paper.  It was a different color than I was expecting (much more red than rose) and at first I wasn't sure if I was going to keep it or put it in the trash because I really didn't like it.  But then I didn't want to give up so I decided to pair it with a die cut sentiment also heat embossed with the Rose Gold ep.  That did not turn out as shiny as I wanted so I layered it with Tonic Nuvo Crystal Glaze and wow, did that make it look fabulous, almost like amber, and it looked great against the embossed background.

When I saw the sketch challenge this week at Splitcoaststampers, I knew how how wanted to sue the background.  I cut it into the 3 panels as shown on the sketch and layer them on a piece of patterned paper that also had rose gold, and I was really happy with how it turned out.

The navy in the patterned paper really gave everything a good base and the rose gold on the paper seemed to tie everything together.  I finished things off with some Sparkling Clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

Thanks so much for visiting and commenting, it's always so appreciated.  Be sure to use the links above to head over to both challenges and enjoy all the beautiful inspiration!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Kaleidoscope Leaves bg (SSS)
Paper:  #100 lb Very Vanilla (Stampin Up) (card base), Canson XL watercolor, My Minds Eye Blush patterned paper
Ink:  Versamark
Other:  Rose Gold ep (SSS), Tonic Nuvo Crystal Glaze, Sparkling Clear sequins (PPP), Celebrate sentiment die (MFT)

Into the Forest

Hello crafty friends!  I've had fun making another Christmas card with the sweet Winter Woodland Wonders stamp set.  I was inspired by a current challenge at Splitcoaststampers, where the weekly CAS challenge "Into the Forest" is to make a card that features either creatures that would live in the forest (birds, raccoons, deer, fox, squirrels, wolves, etc.) or the forest itself (trees, branches).  I'm also joining the current "Snow White" challenge for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, where we can add snow to our card or make it mostly white.  I've added links to both challenges below.

SCS CAS#454 Into the Forest
SSS Wednesday Challenge Snow White

For my card I started with an A2 size panel of watercolor paper and stamped the sentiment, trees and cute little deer with Stazon Timber Brown ink.  I decided to try out a couple of small Daniel Smith Watercolor Palettes to watercolor my panel, although there isn't much serious "watercoloring" because the images are pretty small, but it was fun to try out the watercolors anyway.

After all the watercoloring was complete and dried, including a light blue wash in the background, I used White Gouache to try to create a little snowy mound around the deer, then mixed some of the paint with water and used a paint brush to flick "snow" onto the scene.  When the gouache was dry, I used a bit of highly diluted black watercolor paint to create the shadow under the deer.

After die cutting the panel with a Wonky Stitched Rectangle die, I used Shimmer spray over the entire panel.  I think you can see a bit of the sparkle in the photo below.

Thanks so much for visiting and commenting, it's always so appreciated!  Be sure to use the links above and enjoy all the beautiful inspiration, plus there's still plenty of time to join in if you're able.


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Winter Woodland Wonders (Avery Elle)
Paper:  Canson Montval watercolor, 100# Whisper White (SU)
Ink:  Timber Brown Stazon
Other:  Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolor Debby Hughes and Shari Carroll palettes (Simon Says Stamp), SSS Wonky Stitched Rectangle die, White Gouache, Ranger Glossy Accents, Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spritz (Imagine Crafts)

Christmas Delivery

Hello again and welcome back!  Tonight I'm sharing a Christmas gift tagThe 25 Days of Christmas Tags made for three challenges - Tracey McNeely's The 25 Days of Christmas Tags, the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge to make a Christmas gift tag, and The Paper Players, where LeAnne has a Holiday Pines theme challenge.





The 25 Days of Christmas Tags



SSS Wed Challenge - Christmas Gift Tags

PP 369

For my tag, I was inspired by Shari Carroll's tag from Day 1 of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags that she posted on the SSS blog here.  What inspired me was the color palette, the rustic feel and the pine die cuts used at the bottom of the tag.

I started with a Kraft shipping tag and coated it lightly with white gesso.  After drying overnight, it was ready for ink blending with Distress Inks and Distress Oxide Inks.  I started with Evergreen Bough, covered the majority of the tag, then added some Walnut Stain DO ink around the edges.  The trees and reindeer were then stamped using a Misti, which helped as I moved the tree images around to create a "forest" in the background and also to get a good impression of the deer.  While the inks dried on the tag, I die cut white card stock with the Mini Holiday Greens thinlits and used Pine Needles and Ground Espresso to ink blend the pine branches and Fired Brick for the berry branch.  After all the inks dried, the die cuts were adhered to the bottom of the tag, then White Gouache was flicked over it.  The ribbon and twine were tied onto the top, then one final pine branch added beside it.

Thanks so much for visiting and commenting, it's always so appreciated!  Be sure to use the links above to all the challenges and enjoy all the beautiful inspiration!


Stef




Product details
Stamps:  Tim Holtz 2017 Stamptember Collection (SSS)
Paper:  Neenah Solar White
Ink:  Distress Inks:  Evergreen Bough, Pine Needles, Fired Brick, Ground Espresso; Distress Oxide:  Walnut Stain
Other:  Faber Castell White Gesso, Shipping Tag, Hemp Twine, Riding Hood Red Striped Ribbon (ret. SU), Ranger Glossy Accents, Red Berry Nuvo Crystal Drops, Tim Holtz Mini Holiday Greens thinlits, Ink Blending Tools, Clear Wink of Stella, White Gouache, White Gel Pen