September 2014 Card Group Projects

This afternoon we had our card making group get together and a good time was had by all!   September is when I start introducing Christmas cards - well, I'd happily get the group making them before but they're not keen on starting earlier!  I said I would do two Christmas cards and one non Christmas design from now until November.  At the last meeting the ladies asked if we could do masculine cards - my least fave cards to make.  I know I don't make masculine cards very often for card group, if at all - the ladies have to nag me into it LOL!  Anyway, I decided on one masculine card, one Christmas card and then one card that could be Christmas OR masculine - I let the ladies decide which they wanted to do.

The first card uses my new birdhouse stamp along with the SU! Hardwood stamp.  I stamped the Hardwood in Marina Mist ink onto a white piece of CS, inked the edges with Marina Mist ink and glued the panel to the side of the card.  I stamped the sentiment in Pacific Point ink, stamped the birdhouse onto watercolour paper and used inks and a water brush to colour the image.  Once coloured, I fussy cut the image, layered onto a black CS mat and glued the image to the front of the card. 

Because the watercolouring of the birdhouse card takes a while I made the other cards quick and simple.  I was rummaging in my stamps looking for something suitable for a masculine card when I came across my SU! Season of Friendship set which has a tree and a choice of images to put on the branches - leaves, a flower and a snowflake.  A light bulb went on and I realised I could make one card design but let each member of the group decide which card to make - the Christmas or non Christmas version.  For the first card I stamped the tree in Rich Cocoa ink on a white panel, inked the edges with Cajun Craze ink and stamped the sentiment.  I stamped the leaves image in Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie and Cajun Craze inks, cut them out with a 3/4" circle punch and popped them up.

I stamped another sentiment inside with a leaf image.

Here's the Christmas version - with Island Indigo stamped snowflakes instead of the leaves, a Christmas sentiment and Island Indigo inked edges.

Here's the inside of the Christmas version with another sentiment and a snowflake.

The final card is the Christmas card where I've used the beautiful and oh, so elegant, IndigoBlu Vintage Flourish stamp.  I'm finding it hard to put this stamp down at the moment, I LOVE it!  I stamped the flourish in Mossy Meadow ink onto a piece of Very Vanilla CS, inked the edges with Mossy Meadow ink and stamped the old fashioned style sentiment in Rich Razzleberry ink.  I stamped the ornament in Blackberry Bliss ink, cut it out with the matching die, used the SU! Gold Dazzle Marker to colour the hanger, added a rhinestone and popped the ornament up.   That sentiment is one of the first Christmas stamps I bought, it's been in my stash for a very long time and it has seen a lot of use, just not in recent years.  I thought the font went well with the flourish and ornament - it's fab to rediscover an old stamp from your stash!

I just had to stamp the beautiful flourish again on the inside and on the front of the envelope!

Supplies for birdhouse card:
Stamps: Imagination Crafts 'Birdhouse' clear set, SU! 'Hardwood' background stamp, 'Best Wishes' from SU! 'Sincere Salutations' set
CS: PaperMania square white card blank, SU! Basic Black, watercolour paper
Ink: VersaFine Onyx Black, SU! Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Old Olive, Pacific Point, Soft Suede, So Saffron
Tools: Stamp-a-ma-jig, water brush, sponge dauber

Supplies for tree cards:
Stamps: SU! 'Season of Friendship' set, 'Best Wishes' from Imagination Crafts 'Birdhouse' clear set, 'Enjoy your special day' from Hobby Art 'Sentiments' clear set, 'Merry Christmas' from Elzybells, 'Wishing you a Merry Christmas...' from Hero Arts 'Holiday Cheer' clear set
CS: PaperMania white A6 card blanks, SU! Whisper White
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, SU! Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, Wild Wasabi & Island Indigo
Tools: SU! 3/4" circle punch, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals

Supplies for flourish & ornament card:
Stamps: IndigoBlu 'Vintage Flourish' stamp, SU! 'Ornament Keepsakes' set, Stampendous 'Fancy Christmas', inside sentiment from SU! 'Joyous Christmas' set
CS: PaperMania cream square card blank, SU! Very Vanilla
Ink: SU! Blackberry Bliss, Mossy Meadow & Rich Razzleberry, SU! Gold Dazzle Marker
Tools: SU! 'Holiday Ornaments' Framelits die, Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! rhinestone jewel, Dimensionals