Silver and Gold for Double D Challenge

Hello, again!  Welcome to Double D's final challenge for 2016!  We'll surely be right back in 2017, 'cause this has been just too much fun, but for now, let's wrap up the year with Silver and Gold.

This challenge doesn't necessarily call for a Christmas card, but that's what I made, seeing as how I was hurrying and scurrying to get them in the mail.  I've got silver embossed snowflakes and gold die cut snowflakes and "noel".  Another super easy card.

Our inspiration board is so pretty and can give you lots of ideas:

Come visit us at Double D to see awesome team samples and the winners of our previous challenge.  There's a prize you'll want to check out, as well.  Hope you can play along!  See you again soon!

Stamps:  SU! Serene Snowflakes  Paper:  Neenah 110 lb white  Ink:  Versamark  Accessories:  Silver embossing powder, Spellbinders Create-A-Flake Five, SU! Wonderful Wreaths Framelits die

Christmas Stars

Moving right along...  Today's two cards are some of the simplest I made this year and, yet, some of my favorites.  I would have made more, but you know how I am about multiples.

I used Sizzix Primitive Stars dies and a balloon string die to hang them.  The sentiment is old, from Hero Arts.  The card base is that Neenah 110 lb cover card stock I love so much.  These stars have Stickles Stardust glitter on all the white dots.

The second version has more colors, on kraft with a white-embossed sentiment.  No glitter on this one.  I don't know which one I like better.

Very simple and quick!  Happy holidays!

Stenciled Poinsettias

Happy countdown-till-Christmas week!  I hope things are coming together for you.  This week I'll share the last of the Christmas cards.  For the most part I had to set the coloring aside as I'd given myself barely a month to make almost 50 cards.  What was I thinking?

I was hurrying along when I made this card.  Yes, more pink, but just grabbing the closest ink pad, I guess.  We'll imagine these flowers are poinsettias, somewhat stylized, perhaps, but you can see the resemblance.

After I die cut the Stitched Poinsettia Trio from my last card I was left with a negative that looked like it would make a good stencil, so I tried it out.  Sponged pink through the stencil and then defined the petal edges with a mulberry Prismacolor pencil, blended with Gamsol (odorless mineral spirits).  Took a quick shot of my paraphernalia below:

All those cute little snowflakes are from Power Poppy's Action Santa set.  They were stamped in SU!'s Cool Caribbean.  I cut away part of the lower edge and added a die cut sentiment, backed with a scrap of designer paper.  Finished off with silver sequins and silver cord.

I had CAS(E) This Sketch #202 in mind when I made this.  The design team had lots of variations, so I'm hoping I'm close enough to the design .  Here's the sketch:

Also joining the fun at CAS Mix Up -- Stamping + Sponging + Your Choice.  I have stamped snowflakes, sponged flowers, and my extra choice is the pencil coloring on the flower edges.

I'll be back tomorrow.  Supplies are listed below.  Have a happy day!

Stamps:  Power Poppy Action Santa (snowflakes)  Paper:  Neenah 110 lb white, BasicGrey Eskimo Kisses designer paper  Ink:  SU! Pink Pirouette and Cool Caribbean  Coloring:  Mulberry Prismacolor pencil and Gamsol  Accessories:  Silver cord, silver sequins, Impression Obsession Holiday Bottom Word Edgers

Totally Feminine and Totally Masculine Christmas Cards

I'm all done making Christmas cards for this year, and it's funny how my spirits lifted almost immediately.  I do enjoy making them, but the all-consuming last-minute hurrying gets to me.  It's not as if there's nothing else to do during the season.  I had to take most of a day to create our 2017 Golden Retriever calendar and our yearly photo book (Shutterfly), plus I had to select nine 5x7's for a wall unit that's been waiting forever for me to get that done.  Now, most of the (minimal) shopping is done, as well, and I think I can actually start enjoying myself.  Happy dance!

The first card I'm sharing today isn't even going anywhere this year.  It's a jump start on my 2017 Christmas cards, and I sure hope I can keep it up.  It's all pink and feminine with flowers and a bird and soft colors.

Flower centers have Pale Gold Nuvo Crystal drops in them.  I did my best to keep the drops fairly flat.  The flowers look all fluffy and dimensional now, but they'll probably be flat as a pancake by the time it reaches its destination since I'll mail this in an envelope.  They may retain some shape, and they'll still be pretty.  Card size is 5 1/4 x 4 1/4.

The "Joy" and the dark gray area of the bird are covered with Wink of Stella, all softly shimmery.  I colored the snowflake die cut with a B0000 Copic.  Color was added to the poinsettias with ink and a sponge dauber.  Dies are as follows:

• Poppystamps Stitched Poinsettia Trio
• Poppystamps Snowflake Breeze
• Elizabeth Craft Birds
• Die-namics Stitched Rectangle Frames
• Stampin' Up! Wonderful Wreath Framelits

The next card is all guy, made for our son.  Lots of wood grain and very simple.

All on a kraft card base, I used Tutti Designs Scrolly Deer Edge and a Die-namics Stitched Rectangle Frame.  Black embossed a retired Stampin' Up! sentiment.

My first card with the bird is playing along in City Crafter's "Christmas Things that Float or Fly" challenge.

I think that wraps it up.  Have a good day!

Two with Poinsettias

Happy Monday!  Has the weekend gotten you a little more caught up yet?  I'm picking away at my to do list.  Most of my cards are in the mail now, but still a couple more to make.  Next year I'm starting sooner, honestly.

These two cards were made in a quicker jiffy than they may appear.  I cut a frame with a tag die for the card on the right, then used what popped out of the center for the card on the left.  The poinsettias with foliage were done with one die which cuts everything at once -- both right and left.  I die cut two bows.  Die cut a designer paper panel for one card, and entirely covered the other card front.  Supplies are listed below.

After all the cutting was done I colored the poinsettias with a red Copic.  This die cuts enough flowers to double layer each one, but I only layered the largest flower.  For balance I put the extra flowers in the lower corner.  Dotted the flower centers with gold Stickles after assembly.

Dies:

• Poppystamps Stitched Main Street Tags
• Memory Box Seraphine Laurel -- I'd like to thank my bloggie friend, Connie, for inspiring me to rush right out and buy this die set.  Her summer birthday card with the flowers in pink is a must see, but she also mentioned doing them in red for Christmas.  Brilliant!
• Impression Obsession Large Bow -- My favorite bow die.  It has curly tails, but I most always cut them off.
• Taylored Expressions Stitched Rectangle Stacklets

Old timey sentiments from my collection.  Designer paper is American Crafts Kringle and Co. from last year, I think.

I'll be back shortly.  I haven't been photographing every card because sometimes it just gets to be too much.  Who has the time?  Merry, merry!

Action Santa

I feel like I'm racing along like Santa, but it's all starting to come together.  The house is decorated and I've got only a few more cards to make.  They're getting simpler and simpler as I go along.  Even this one is pretty simple, really.  Stamped and colored on a spare-part embossed panel that was laying on my table.  I thought the swirls resembled snow flurries, or maybe Santa's big hurry has created an avalanche.  Uh oh!

Santa is Power Poppy's Action Santa set.  So cute and fun and festive for Christmas!  I love this one, but, you know, I've got a kid in me who just won't be restrained.

The embossing is a large Darice Corner Scroll Background on Neenah 110 lb card stock.  I shaded the swirls with blue to help bring them into the scene.  Ordinarily I use X-Press It Blending Card for Copic coloring, but I like the way the markers blend on Neenah.  I have to be more careful about feathering outside the lines, though.  There are a couple of "oops" on this.  That's the thing about X-Press It -- you don't get the feathering/bleeding.  Doesn't make it "oops" proof, but it helps.

Moving right along... I've got more simple cards to share next week, but I hope to do some coloring, as well.  See you soon!

Christmas Joy

Hello, friends!  Are you busy with this busiest of all seasons?  As I visit blogs and talk with friends I'm learning how some are cleaning and decorating, some baking, some shopping, and some are still working on their Christmas cards like me.  Or how about all of the above?  I got out my musical Christmas mug and a snowman bubble light for the hallway, and that's as far as I've gotten with the Christmas decorations.  However, as I write this Rich is putting up the outside lights, yay!  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

The other day I made six very simple cards, which helped with the progress.  I thought I'd make more of the one I'm sharing today, but by the time I made two I was already wanting to move on to another design.  I just can't seem to stick to assembly line multiples.

The Poppystamps Scribble Snowflake Circle was cut in white glitter paper then layered onto another in pale aqua so it would stand out against the white card base.  I feel like I'm having double vision when I look at it.  The "Joy" is an SU! Wonderful Wreaths Framelits die.  Polka dot paper was glued to a layer of white before I cut it.  That was glued onto another layer of 110 lb white.  It needed some substance so it would lay nicely over the double-layer snowflake circle.

Finished up with some Doodlebug enamel dots for extra color.  The card base is Neenah 110 lb which I absolutely love for these simple cards with few or no layers.  It's very sturdy.  I'll generally line the inside of a card to balance the weight, but it's not necessary with this heavy cardstock.

Happy holidays!

Chickadee in Barberry

We have so many birds in the garden right now it appears as though the whole landscape is in motion.  I love watching them, and it's nice to get up on a December morning and hear the birdsong.  I've grown very fond of my feathered friends, so naturally I had to be sure and color up one of them for Christmas.

This is Chickadee in Barberry, a digital stamp from Power Poppy.  We have barberries and lots of chickadees, but no snow at our house.  Just rain and soggy wet everything.  However, when the sun comes out it sparkles so prettily on the wet foliage.  I glittered the snow in the image and used a white gel pen to add a few falling flakes.  Gee, if I'd cut the border a little lower I could have added some twine or gold cord, but at least it's very flat for easy mailing, and I do need as many of those as possible.

I printed on X-Press It Blending Card and colored with the following Copics:

The shading around the image is a smooshy pointillist kind of thing, fading to lighter colors and wider spaced dots at the outer edges.  Just having fun.  Pictured below are the markers I used in the background:

The lower edge was cut with Spellbinders Bracket Borders One, and wood grain designer paper covers a white card base.

Thanks for dropping in today.  I hope to see you again soon!

Greetings from the Forest, and Santa Visits a Village

Hello!  I have two fun cards to share today.  As coloring goes, these were quick and the designs are easy.  They're not CAS, but they went together lickety split.  Both are digital stamps from Bugaboo.  The first is Autumn Critter Stack 01.

• Printed on X-Press It Blending Card and colored with Copic markers.
• Die cut the lower edge with Impression Obsession Holiday Bottom Word Edgers.
• Matted on dark green and then a chocolate brown card base.
• Added a die cut Cheery Lynn Holly Corner, colored with Copic markers and gave it Holiday Red Stickles berries.
• Finished off with a dusting of snowflakes made with a Signo Uniball white gel pen.  Highlighted each of those with a blue Copic so they'd show up better.

The next is AKV Santa Tree.  It was a Friday Freebie I picked up a while back.  Every Friday there's a freebie at Bugaboo.

• Printed on X-Press It Blending Card and colored with Copic markers, then cut out Santa.
• Covered white card base with BasicGrey Eskimo Kisses designer paper.
• Die cut Memory Box Oval Master Frame, then embossed with Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder.
• Stamped old PSX "Ho Ho Ho" in Cherry Cobbler, then die cut with Poppystamps Mainstreet Stitched Tags.  Positioned tag on frame, then punched 1/8" hole through tag and frame.  Set the knot of twine bow into hole.  Added die cut star (Sizzix Primitive Stars).
• Put lots of Scotch brand foam mounting tape on back of frame and adhered to card, then glued Santa in place.
• Applied lots of Stickles glitter glue -- Goldenrod to stars and center of bow, Burgundy and Stardust to tree ornaments, Frosted Lace to Santa's hat and coat trim.  The bow on the present is actually colored brown and I added Chocolate Spica glitter pen to that.  It doesn't show up in the photo, and it looks black but, trust me, it's brown.

Sheesh, that sounds like a lot of steps for what I'm calling simple cards.  Honestly, they were simple.

Bugaboo is having their annual 50% off sale -- all the way through Dec. 31st.  Can I resist?  Probably not!  Have a happy day!

Watercolored Paperwhites

Hi, friends!  It's a new week and I hope I'll have more than one Christmas card to share.  I took the time to watercolor this one -- Power Poppy's Glistening Paperwhites.  This arrangement of paperwhites with juniper and eucalyptus was the perfect colors and shape for the one leftover part from when I made this set of cards.  My leftover part is the filigree mat which I'd cut in Sage Shadow (retired SU!).  I made it prettier by smooshing it all over with Versamark ink and embossing with iridescent embossing powder.  Now it's all sparkly!

 

 

I stamped the image on 140 lb watercolor paper with Ranger Archival Shadow Grey ink and watercolored with Tombow Markers.  Only seven markers were required, whereas I probably would have used a bazillion Copics.  That always amazes me.  Speaking of Copics, I did use some warm grays to shadow around the image after watercoloring.  Why Copics?  Well... they won't run the water-based ink, so I was able to get into all those small spaces without making a mess of my finished painting.  Ordinarily I'll do the shadowing first and then color the image, but I forgot this time.

 

 

After the watercoloring was complete I added a little shimmer to the blooms with silver Gansai Tambi paint, then splattered the panel with gold.

 

When I was painting my paperwhites I got to thinking I was making them too blue, so I did a Google search of watercolored paperwhites and found quite a variety of interpretations.  So I say don't doubt yourself, just color and enjoy.  Each painting is an individual work.  Heaven forbid they should all look the same, right?

 

More info in the recipe below.  Have a good day!

 

 

Stamps:  Power Poppy Glistening Paperwhites  Paper:  140 lb Arches hot press watercolor paper, retired SU! Sage Shadow, Shimmery White card base  Ink:  Ranger Archival Shadow Grey, Versamark for sentiment, Tombow markers for watercoloring  Other coloring:  Gansai Tambi silver and gold watercolor paints  Accessories:  Embossing Arts Iridescent Peacock embossing powder, Spellbinders Devine Eleoquence and Labels Twenty-Eight

All That's Gold Does Not Glitter

This is the last of my gold, black, and white Christmas cards.  I got a little fixated on the color combo this year, but I'm all better now.  It's very elegant, which I am not, so I don't know who I'm going to fool with these cards.  They look like something a business would send out.  However, I do like them.  They were being a little camera shy, so not such great pictures.



The first card uses a Memory Box Glowing Candles die in mirror gold cardstock.

Both cards use a retired Stampin' Up! sentiment -- Many Merry Messages -- stamped in Versamark and embossed with Ranger Queen's Gold.  I also used some gold peel and stick trim on each card.

The second card uses a Die-Namites Partridge Branch die in a satin gold cardstock.

Simplicity like this helps move things along in the Christmas card production, that's for certain.  I think I have 25 cards done now, which is about half of what I need.  Hmmm...  do I see some purchased cards in my future?

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I do enjoy our visits.  Have a good day!

Bittersweet Wreath

Wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving holiday, if and when you celebrate it!

 

This is my last fall card of the year, using the last of this year's fall stamps.  Actually, this stamp is a digi from Power Poppy, called Bittersweet Wreath.  Printed on X-Press It Blending Card and colored with Copics.

 

 

I know you're probably busy with no time to linger, if you even have time to visit at all, so I won't keep you.  I feel as though I need to slow down or refocus or narrow my activities for the time being.  When I spread myself too thin I'm never satisfied with the outcome of things.  A Type A personality I am not!  Have a happy day!

 

 

Give Thanks

I have just a couple more fall cards for this week and then it's full speed on the Christmas cards.  I was growing, perhaps, a little weary of fall colors -- not that I don't love them; they're still a favorite.  However, I wanted to work a little more color variety into this one, so I went with purples -- SU's Blackberry Bliss ribbon and Rich Razzleberry designer paper to go with the purple coffee mug.

 

 

I started out with the Versamark resist panel -- leaves and wheat stamped in Versamark on glossy cardstock.  I let the Versamark dry for a while, then rubbed with saffron and olive inks.  Wrapped with ribbon through a die cut ribbon slide, then stitched.

 

I mixed up three Power Poppy sets:

• Feeling Fall -- leaves and main image
• Prairie Cheer -- wheat
• Olive & Oak Expanded -- sentiment

Colored with Copic markers and applied some much neglected Rain Dots.

 

And that's it!  I'll come back Wednesday when we'll all be super busy getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I'm the hostess with the mostest this year.  When I was working I'd do my shopping on Tuesday evening and on Wednesday evening I'd bake two pumpkin pies.  It's much easier now that I'm retired, thank goodness.  Hey!  One more thing to be thankful for!  Enjoy your day!

 

 

Stamps:  Power Poppy Feeling Fall, Prairie Cheer, Olive & Oak Expanded  Paper:  X-Press It Blending card, glossy white, Bazzill off-white card base, gold for ribbon slide, SU designer paper  Ink:  So Saffron, Old Olive, Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Blackberry Bliss ribbon, Rain Dots, Memory Box Stitched Circle Layers, Taylored Expressions Basic Buckles, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Jingle and Jiggle All the Way

There's nothing like bright and fun when I feel like a little pick me up, and since I like to have a variety of cards to send to my diverse group of friends and family, I'll gladly sprinkle in a little fun along the way.

 

This card was quicker than it may appear:  A starry background with a landscape background over that, a frame from the scrap drawer, and some easy Copic coloring.

 

 

The reindeer's bottom is on a wobble spring and jiggles for giggles when given a little tap.  The spring compresses nicely for easy mailing.

 

My only embellishment is a fallen star, which is really just there because I stamped the sentiment too far to the left and needed a filler.  The star was cut in mustard card stock, then coated with Stickles Stardust glitter glue and micro-fine glitter sprinkled over that.  I touched it with my finger to lift some of the glitter and allow more color to show through -- as though it's a bit tarnished.  After all, it's a fallen star.

 

 

When viewed straight on, as when holding the card in your hand, the reindeer's jiggly bottom is not offset as it appears in the photo.

 

Well, that's enough fun for one day.  More explanation can be found in the recipe below.  Have a wonderful weekend!

 

 

Stamps:  Art Impressions Jingle Set  Paper:  Neenah 110 lb white for reindeer and die cuts, Neenah Classic White for card base, SU More Mustard for star, SU Night of Navy for starry background  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Real Red, Copics for coloring (YG03 on the frame)  Accessories:  Stickles Stardust glitter glue, Elizabeth Craft Warm Diamonds Micro-Fine glitter, wobble spring, Poppystamps Stitched Landscapes, Taylored Expressions Starry Night cutting plate, Sizzix Primitive Stars, Impression Obsession 6-in-1 Rectangle Frames (used the outer-most negative)

Traditional Christmas Colors

Onward to another Double D Challenge!  This time it's Traditional Christmas Colors -- red, green, white, with optional gold.  I used all of them with my watercolored basket of greenery.

 

 

 

The stamp set I used is Power Poppy's Simple Joys, watercolored with Tombow markers.  I can step right outside my door and gather up the evergreen boughs and cones and holly, so this looks like home to me.  There's lots of greenery in our inspiration board:

 

 

 

 

There are so many ways you can go with this -- poinsettias, candles, that cute little truck.  Oooh, I see some nutcrackers, too, and snowflakes.  Gosh, I'm getting in the mood for Christmas!

 

Hop over to Double D and get inspired by the team samples, see the prize being offered to a random winner, and check out the winners from our last challenge.  Enjoy!

 

 

Stamps:  Power Poppy Simple Joys clear stamp set  Paper:  140 lb hot press watercolor, kraft card base, Graphic 45 Raining Cats and Dogs designer paper  Ink:  Palette Noir, Palette L'Amore Red, Tombow markers for watercoloring  Accessories:  Gold cord, Memory Box Cross Stitched Frame Borders, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Amethyst Snowflake Bird and More

Hello, stamper friends, and happy Friday!  I have three cards to share today, all of which started with my wish to use this pretty Memory Box Snowflake Bird.  I cut it in plain amethyst card stock first, then cut another in patterned amethyst paper to fill in the blanks.  After changing my mind several times I ended up with this design:

Dies:

• Memory Box Snowflake Bird
• Poppystamps Stitched Landscapes
• Die-namics Stitched Rectangle Frames
• Cheery Lynn Holly Corner
• Poppystamps Noel Snowflake (I cut off the dangling snowflake due to lack of space in the design)

The patterned paper is old and not Christmas papers at all, but the colors worked together.

Since I'd cut a second bird from patterned paper, I decided to use that outline on an ultra-clean and simple card:

I added a few sequins and one of my favorite Christmas sentiments from the retired SU! Many Merry Messages set.  The photo makes it appear to be stamped in black, but it's actually artichoke.  All the cards have lots of sparkle.

Finally, the last card is made up of some of the dies I cut when I was trying to make up my mind about the first card.  That's how we wind up with spare parts, isn't it?  Sheesh!  I still have one spare part left over, but I have plans for it.  Hope that works out without ending up with yet more spare parts.

The dies for the last card are as follows:

• Spellbinders A2 Devine Eleoquence (that's how they spell it, folks)
• Spellbinders Labels Twenty-Eight
• Frantic Stamper Tall Pine Trees
• Poppystamps Snowflake Ribbon
• Poppystamps Noel Snowflake (again with the snowflake cut off)

Same non-Christmas patterned paper covering the card base, and lots of sparkle.  I used Stickles Stardust glitter on the trees and Elizabeth Craft Warm Diamonds micro-fine glitter on the Snowflake Ribbon.

I'm going to enter the first card in the Cardz 4 Galz current challenge:  A Contemporary Christmas.  I hope it qualifies because of the non-traditional colors, stitched dies, and so on.

Thanks for visiting today!  Wishing you all a beautiful weekend!