Christmas time

It's time to start making Christmas cards.  I just got the new 'Tis the Season stack from Echo Park and wanted to play with it. This is what I came up with.

The paper is double-sided, so I only had to cut into two sheets to make this patchwork design. (Yes, I hate cutting into brand new paper, a common but terrible quirk for a paper crafter).  After I had everything glued together, I figured out how I could have made a pinwheel design, but then it was too late. The patchwork is mounted on a silver metallic paper layer

The tag features a couple of adorable stamps from Hero Arts. I added red fibers and a metallic silver bow, then popped it up on popdots.

This card is for the following challenges:

Simon Says Monday Challenge, patchwork
Created With Love #65, Christmas Red and Green
Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge, Red and Green with gold or silver
C.R.A.F.T Challenge #232, Christmas
Word Art Wednesday #105, Anything Goes.

Paper pieced mug

I love paper piecing. It's such an easy and fun way to add color and pattern to a design.  And the images from The Alley Way Stamps, like this mug, seem to be designed for paper piecing.

The minute the weather turns cool, everyone in my family turns to their favorite hot drink. My son likes the instant apple cider, my husband goes for hot chocolate, and I go for fruit-flavored tea. What a bunch, huh?

This card is based on the layout for Sketch Saturday. In addition to paper piecing, I used an out-of-the-box cut on the image and paired around the edge of the kraft panel.  The sentiment is from Purple Onion Designs.

The card is for these challenges:

Sketch Saturday #283, sketch
Sister Act #32, Anything goes.

Charlie Brown tree

I saw a bunch of cute little stick tree cards recently and decided to try one on my own. Turns out the ones I've seen on the Internet are actually a die cut, but I made mine with glitter and double-sided tape.  I just cut a strip of brown card stock and adhered it to the paper. Then I added strips of adhesive in a vaguely treelike shape and covered them with glitter. I figure it doesn't matter if the branches aren't straight. This was quick and easy and I think it makes for a fun tree, kind of reminiscent of a Charlie Brown tree. You could also do it with strips of paper or fiber instead of glitter.

To complete my tree, I added a button snowflake on top.  I used Feeling Sketchy #73 for the layout.

The sentiment is black-embossed and comes from Hero Arts.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Feeling Sketchy #73, sketch
Papertake Challenge: Christmas
Totally Papercrafts #191: Button It Up
Sister Act #31, Anything goes
Loves Rubber Stamps #77: Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday # 105  , Anything Goes

Masculine birthday

My husband's birthday is coming up, and I really struggle with coming up with a masculine card for him every year. He loves fishing, so I usually try to focus on some element of fishing, and this is what I came up with for this year.

The background has been sitting around for a while, so I am not exactly sure what it it is. It's glossy cardstock that I think was colored with watered-down reinker then splattered with either salt or some sort of spray cleaner (like Lysol) to create the waterspot pattern. It's very possible I tried with salt, didn't like the results and sprayed with cleaner.  Doesn't matter, I thought would make a pretty sunset.

The silhouette image is stamped with Memento black. Oddly enough, I didn't think that would work, so I first tried it with Versamark and black EP.  I was surprised this came out so much better.

The image is from Victorine Originals.

I am entering this card in the following challengs.

CRAFT Challenge #231, masculine card
Just for Fun, your favorite color (It's the blue on this card)
Simon Says Wednesday, Anything Goes
Sister Act #31 Anything Goes