Flourish & Poinsettia Christmas Card

A couple of Saturday's ago Jan and Wendy came to my home to make a card.  On their previous visit they made this birthday card which features the water stamping technique - the blog post for that card is HERE.

 

They both loved the technique and the card and asked if next time they could make the card again but as a Christmas card.   I was happy to oblige, it's fun to redo a card in a different way!  I used a traditional red, green and vanilla combo, added a poinsettia made from stacked punched flowers, tweaked the layout a tad and sprinkled on some snowflakes. I inked the oval with Wild Honey and Fired Brick Distress Inks before water stamping the image over the top.  I edged the image oval and the sentiment oval with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink.  You can't tell from the photo but the gold CS has a glittery, sparkly finish which looks fab when the light catches it!  I placed red nailheads in the snowflake centres to complete the card front.

Here's a close up of the poinsettia.  I punched three flowers from Fired Brick Core'dinations CS, snipped between the petals, used a DEET (Double Ended Etching Tool) with a moulding mat to add shaping and fixed the three layers together with a gold brad.  I don't own a poinsettia die but I knew that Jan does so I told her to bring the die with her so the ladies had the option to use a die cut flower or a punched one.  Both Jan and Wendy opted for the poinsettia die - it did look better I have to say, but I'd fixed my punched poinsettia to the oval mat layers with the brad so it wouldn't have been easy for me to make a substitution!  Jan loaned me the die for a while so I ran it through my Big Shot a good few times so I now have some poinsettias in my stash!

Here's the inside and the envelope flap.

Because I make Christmas cards all through the year, thanks to the challenges and a DT spot at 52 {C}CT,  my Christmas card box gets filled up quickly.  Last year I had more cards than I needed so I still have some cards in the box left over from last year.  Jan and Wendy had a good rummage through the box to select the card they wanted to make next.  Oh dear, they couldn't pick just one and they couldn't wait a month so they came to visit again last Saturday to make this Rudolph on a spring easel card!  Next time they'll be making two vintage snowmen cards, this recently made card and also this card made back in August 2013.  The time after that it will be this chubby robin card.  Saves me having to design new cards for them to make and they get a few Christmas cards made early - happy days all round!

 

Supplies:
Stamps: Penny Black 'Delicate Pattern' background stamp, SU! 'Best Yet' set, Stampendous 'Christmas Cheer'
CS: SU! Old Olive & Very Vanilla, Fired Brick Core'dinations CS, glittered gold CS
Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Wild Honey, Fired Brick & Frayed Burlap Distress Inks, SU! Old Olive
Tools: Petite Oval & circle Nestabilities dies, Cheery Lynn 'Fanciful Flourish' & 'Mini Fanciful Flourish' dies, MFT Die-Namics 'Photo Corners' die, SU! plain & scalloped oval punches, X Cut snowflake punch, DEET & moulding mat, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! 'Sleigh Bells' ribbon, red metallic nailheads, gold brad, SU! Dimensionals

 

Star Spinning In Circles Birthday Card For Hubby

This is the card I made for Owen, my wonderful hubby who is celebrating his birthday today.  I saw this fab spinning in circles card, made by Dawn Griffith, on Pinterest and I just had to give it a go!

My starting point was the patterned paper, I picked it up on my last visit to the local craft shop, the Glitter Pot, because it goes beautifully with the new SU! Lost Lagoon colour.  It's actually from a Christmas collection of papers but this plaid design is perfect for a masculine card I think.  The great thing about being guided by patterned paper is that it gets me to use colour combos that I wouldn't think of using myself!  I made a 5 3/4" square Cajun Craze card base and glued a panel of the plaid paper to the card front.  I cut a 5 1/2" square of Lost Lagoon CS, rounded the corners, cut out a large circle from the panel and added a strip of the plaid paper.  I cut a smaller Lost Lagoon circle and added the sentiment.  Using die cuts and punches I made my star spinner circle element and then I popped up the Lost Lagoon square, positioned the spinner and popped up the sentiment circle.

In the video Dawn uses just one penny to make the spinner but I followed Dawn's new instructions that she added to her blog post to sandwich a foam dot between two pennies to help the spinner move more quickly and smoothly.  To complete the front I added some stars punched from Champagne Glimmer Paper.  When I stood the card up to take the photo the star circle rolled to the bottom - the design looks more pleasing to me with the spinner at the side so I fixed it in place temporarily with some Blu Tak while I snapped the pic!  

Here's the inside and the envelope flap.

As I had some triangular pieces of paper left over from covering the envelope flap I adhered them to the front of the envelope and added a popped up name label.  I am very happy to say Owen loves the card and I've caught him having a spin a few times LOL!

Supplies:
Stamps: 'Wonderful Day' from Hero Arts, inside sentiment from Hero Arts 'Yummy Treats' clear set
CS: SU! Cajun Craze, Lost Lagoon & Whisper White
Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye Mistletoe Magic 'Countdown'
Ink: SU! Cajun Craze
Tools: Circle Nestabilities dies, circle punches, Sizzix 'Stars' Framelits die, Woodware star punch, Spellbinder's 'Grommet Tags' dies
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Cajun Craze Candy Dot, gold brads, 3D foam pads 

 

52 {C}CT Christmas Card In July Blog Hop

Welcome to the 52 {Christmas} Card Christmas in July Blog Hop - ooh, it's exciting!  If you've arrived here from PATRICIA, you are on the right track!  If you haven't and want to participate for a chance to win honours and/or prizes, please go back to the original hop post and follow along with us!  Come and take a peek at the creations I made using our prompts for the month - I've made a card for each of our four prompts for the month so this is a mega post!

SKETCH PROMPT CARD 

 

As you'll see, I went very literal with the sketch!  I used a set of 3 tree dies to make this card.  I die cut three trees from Mossy Meadow CS, transferred some Picket Fence Distress Stain into a Mini Mister bottle and spritzed the trees to give them a snowy look.  I added Star Dust Stickles to the snowy banks and to the tree on the card front.  I pierced holes and used a Real Red marker to add faux stitches.  I added punched snowflakes and a die cut red sparkly bird. 

Inside and envelope of the sketch card.

 
COLOUR COMBO PROMPT CARD

Four different shades of pink from lightest to darkest, grey and light green.

As soon as I saw the colours I knew I wanted to use the poinsettia stamp from the SU! Joyful Christmas set.  I made a 5" x 7" Pink Pirouette card base and added Basic Gray and Pistachio Pudding mat layers.  I inked the flower and leaves with VersaMark ink, stamped onto watercolour paper, heat embossed with white powder and coloured the images with inks and a water brush.  I used Pistachio Pudding ink for the leaves and Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink and Primrose Petals inks to colour the flower.  I found the grey pearly button in my stash and I used that as a flower centre.  I used the SU! Northern Flurry embossing folder to emboss the white panel and I popped up the poinsettia.  Accents include Primrose Petals ribbon, a decorative punched border and a sprinkling of grey rhinestones.

A close up of the poinsettia.

Inside and envelope of the colour combo card.

RECIPE PROMPT CARD

Vintage is not a 'go to' style for me but I enjoy making a vintage card every now and again.  The card base is made from SU! Brushed Gold CS and measures 5 3/4" square.  I cut a square mat layer of Early Espresso CS, used the Sizzix Ivy Flourishes Texturz Plate to emboss it, rubbed on Golden Light gilding wax and used a distressing tool to roughen up the edges of the panel.  I die cut a Brushed Gold Top Note shape and adhered that to the embossed layer.  The Inkadinkado snowman is very retro so I thought he'd be a good choice for a vintage Christmas card.  I cut him out with a ticket die, inked the edges with Soft Suede ink, added an Espresso mat and popped up the panel.  I die cut and punched several snowflakes, rubbed gilding wax on the Espresso snowflakes and added a button centre to the two largest snowflakes.  I completed the card front by sprinkling on some pale gold rhinestones.  

Inside and envelope of the recipe card. 

STASH PROMPT CARD

I didn't have any stickers in my stash but I found a sheet of beautiful Penny Black Christmas stickers at the Glitter Pot, my local craft shop - and they were in the sale for 75p - you gotta love a bargain!  I stamped the sentiment onto a 5 1/4" cream card base, adhered the poinsettia panel sticker to a piece of CS, fussy cut it and popped it up.  I added the holly sticker below the poinsettia panel and placed a small green square sticker under the sentiment.  I added champagne glitter glue to the poinsettia centre and completed the card front with some red glimmer dome stickers.

I trimmed the length of the poinsettia sticker to make it shorter before adhering it inside the card and I stamped the sentiment.  I placed a red bell sticker on the envelope flap.

Finally, I adhered a long holly border sticker to the front of the envelope.

Thank you for coming by to leave a comment!  Don't forget, hop along with us starting at the original 52CCT post for multiple chances to win honours and prizes.  It's a secret where the prizes are hidden so do make sure you leave a comment at each stop along the way (including the blog hop post at 52 {C}CT).  Then make a creation (or two, or three, or four!) based on our four challenge prompts and then link them up here at 52 {C}CT.  Your next stop on the hop will be JUDY V. Merry hopping and good luck!

Supplies for sketch challenge card:
Stamps: Memory Box 'Woodland Christmas', Stampendous 'Merry Wishes' stamp
CS: SU! Real Red, Mossy Meadow & Whisper White, Red Glimmer Paper
Ink: SU! Real Red & Mossy Meadow, white gel pen
Tools: Impression Obsession 'Fir Trees' die set, Cheery Lynn 'Bird Bath' die, Fiskars & X Cut snowflake punches, Tim Holtz ruler (as piercing guide for the faux stitching), piercing tool, 1 3/4" & 2" circle punches
Embellishments & accessories: Tim Holtz Picket Fence Distress Stain, Mini Mister bottle, Star Dust Stickles, SU! rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals

Supplies for colour combo card:
Stamps: SU! 'Joyful Christmas' & 'Greetings of the Season' sets, Stampendous 'Merry Wishes' stamp
CS: SU! Pink Pirouette, Primrose Petals, Pistachio Pudding, Basic Gray & Whisper White
Ink: VersaMark, SU! Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Primrose Petals, Pistachio Pudding & Basic Gray
Tools: SU! 'Northern Flurry' embossing folder, SU! Eyelet Border punch, water brush, heat tool
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Primrose Petals stitched satin ribbon, PaperMania monochromatic adhesive gems, grey pearly button from stash, SU! Dimensionals

Supplies for recipe challenge card:
Stamps: snowman from Inkadinkado 'Holiday Sentiments' clear set, Stampendous 'Snow Brackets' cling stamp
CS: SU! Brushed Gold, Early Espresso & Very Vanilla
Ink: SU! Early Espresso & Soft Suede
Tools: Sizzix 'Ivy Flourishes' Texturz Plate, SU! Top Note Bigz die, Sizzix Ticket die, Sizzix 'Snowflakes #15' medium Sizzlits die, X Cut snowflake punch, Fiskars snowflake punch, 1 1/2", 1 3/4" & 2" circle punches, Tim Holtz paper distresser, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Victoria crochet trim ribbon, gold lurex thread, Creative Expressions Golden Light gilding wax, PaperMania gold adhesive gems, buttons from stash, SU! Dimensionals

Supplies for stash challenge card:
Stamps: 'happy Christmas' from Woodware 'Holly Perch' clear set, inside sentiment from Hero Arts 'Holiday Cheer' clear set
CS: PaperMania cream square card blank, SU! Very Vanilla
Ink: SU! Real Red & Lucky Limeade
Embellishments & accessories: Penny Black Stickeroos 'Christmas Everywhere' sticker sheet, Suze Weinberg Champagne Glitz glitter glue, PaperMania red shimmer dome stickers, SU! Dimensionals

 

July 2014 Card Group Projects

This afternoon we had our July card group get together and I designed three cards for the ladies to make.  Nothing TOO taxing, it's too warm for that!

First up is this card with a popped up negative shape layer - one of my fave techniques and inspired by this lovely card made by Julie Davison.  It's great having new colours to play with - I love the new SU! Lost Lagoon colour - and I was very happy to find some pretty paper that goes beautifully with it.    I don't normally gravitate to orange shades but I really like the pop of Calypso Coral here with the Lost Lagoon and black. I glued a black mat layer to the front of a white A6 card base and punched the flower out from the Lost Lagoon panel using the SU! Pansy punch.  I added the strip of patterned paper, used a Basic Black marker to draw lines on both sides of the paper strip and stamped the sentiment.  I glued a square of white CS to the black panel so that would show through the punched shape and I popped up the Lost Lagoon panel.  I stamped a Petite Petals flower in Calypso Coral ink, punched it out with the matching punch and glued that in the centre of the negative flower shape.  I punched a teeny black flower, adhered that to the centre of the coral flower and added a rhinestone.   I completed the card with an accent of three punched banner shapes. 

Next up is a woodgrain and flowerpot card.  I stamped the SU! Hardwood stamp onto Crumb Cake CS using Soft Suede ink, sponged the edges with Soft Suede ink and emphasised the planks by drawing lines with an Early Espresso marker.  I cut away the top portion of the front of a cream A6 card base and glued the wooden plank layer to the bottom of the card front.   I sponged the inside of the card with Bashful Blue ink, die cut two cloud shapes, sponged the edges with Bashful Blue ink and fixed them to the card, popping up the smaller cloud.

I punched a flowerpot from Very Vanilla CS and added Cajun Craze ink with a sponge.  I then used Mossy Meadow ink and a sponge dauber to add that mossy look you see on terracotta pots.  To give the flowerpot a dimensional rounded shape I rolled the pot around a jar, glued the sides of the pot flat to the wood panel but placed a double layer of Dimensionals in the centre of the pot.  I die cut a Pear Pizzazz flower stem and snipped it in half so that I had two shapes to add flowers to.  I punched several Rose Red flowers using the SU! Boho Blossoms punch, used a marker to add Early Espresso dots to the centres, shaped them and added them to the stems.  I stamped the sentiment on Very Vanilla CS, cut it out with a circle punch, inked the edge with Soft Suede ink and layered onto a larger Pear Pizzazz circle.  The finishing touch was the addition of the sweet die cut ladybird.  

Card three involves watercolouring which we haven't done at card group for some time.  I have recently been practising watercolouring images with the aim of becoming comfortable and more confident with it.  In the past I've tended to avoid colouring images but I have some lovely outline  stamps and they don't deserve to be neglected - plus I know practise will only help me get better!

I stamped the panel and an extra flower onto watercolour paper in VersaFine Spanish Moss ink and I heat embossed with clear powder.  I used inks and a water brush to colour the images, colouring the background of the panel with Pool Party ink, the leaves with Wild Wasabi ink, the flowers with Island Indigo ink and the centres with Pumpkin Pie ink.  Blimey, more orange - the ladies will think I've gone mad LOL!  I wanted to keep the card front mainly white to allow the coloured images to show up nicely so to add just a touch of subtle interest and to balance the layout I scored some lines.  I glued the panel flat to the card but popped up the extra flower.  I stamped the sentiment, cut it out with a label die and glued it to an Island Indigo flag banner.  I made sure the card still fits inside a C6 envelope even though the banner extends beyond the side of the card!  I finished off with two punched butterflies and a tiny gem.  

Supplies for Best Wishes Card :
Stamps: SU! 'Petite Petals' set, sentiment from Hobby Art
CS: PaperMania white A6 card base, SU! Lost Lagoon, Calypso Coral, Basic Black & Whisper White
Patterned paper: Basic Grey Spice Market
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU! Calypso Coral, SU! Basic Black marker
Tools: SU! Pansy, Petite Petals & Banner punches, Woodware flower punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Embellishments & accessories: PaperMania tiny gem, 3D foam tape, SU! Dimensionals

Supplies for Wonderful Day card:
Stamps: SU! Hardwood, sentiment from Hero Arts
CS: PaperMania cream A6 card base, SU! Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz, Rose Red, Early Espresso & Very Vanilla
Ink: SU! Bashful Blue, Soft Suede, Cajun Craze, Mossy Meadow & Early Espresso
Tools: Woodware large flowerpot punch, SU! Boho Blossoms punch, Sizzix Bouquet of Flowers Framelits die set, Poppystamps 'Fancy Clouds' dies, Elizabeth Craft Designs 'Ladybugs' dies, circle punches, X Cut corner rounder punch, sponges, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals

Supplies for thinking of you card:
Stamps: Woodware 'All Occasions Bloom' clear set, SU! 'Sweet Essentials' set
CS: PaperMania white A6 card base, SU! Island Indigo, Pool Party, Pumpkin Pie & Whisper White
Ink: VersaFine Spanish Moss, SU! Pool Party, Wild Wasabi, Island Indigo & Pumpkin Pie
Tools: SU! Simply Scored & stylus, SU! 'Bitty Butterfly' punch, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, MFT Fishtail Flags Stax Die-Namics die, Spellbinder's Labels Trio die, water brush
Embellishments & accessories: PaperMania tiny gem, SU! Dimensionals