Splatters away

 This card features a background technique Ardyth has made a couple of videos about. Basically it involves using watercolors to create loose designs, and adding to the work until you like the results. This background features stripes of watercolor, augmented by stripes of a rosy/gold glittery watercolor. I also added splatters of the glittery gold and navy blue watercolors to add more interest. The background is fun, but it's a little much for a whole card front, so I added a fun die-cut to break it up.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- spritz/splatter

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2606 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #739 -- anything goes

A Cut Above -- use a die-cut

Crafts Galore Encore -- Anything goes

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes 

 

Musical ornament

 

I am always amazed to see what old blog posts of mine are currently getting views. Recently I noticed that a card  I made more than a decade ago was getting a lot of views. I decided to make an updateed, musical-themed version of the card, which used ribbon behind a ornament-shaped aperture.

For this card, I die-cut a tag, then die-cut the ornament shape out of it. Cut the ornament again from green cardstock, placed the ribbon over the green ornament, and inlaid it into the tag. The background layers include sheet music and a strip embossed with musical notes for some texture. 

This card is entered in these  challenges:

Christmas Kickstart #107 -- Christmas Singalpng

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- add texture

ABC Christmas -- anything Christmas

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2605 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #738 -- anything goes

CRAFT #773 -- anything goes

Crafts Galore Encore #144 -- anything goes

  

Pink Christmas

 Non-traditional Christmas colors but fun, right?

Stamped, gold-embossed, and die-cut Christmas tree from pink carfd stock. Added gold stickles. Mounted on stitched panel, then on pink panel. Sentiment is gold embossed on card base.

This card is for these challenges:

Christmas Kickstart #106 -- dreaming of a pink Christmas

ABC Christmas A=anything Christmas, B=Bright

CRAFT #772 -- Christmas

A Cut Above -- use a die-cut 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #736 -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2604 -- anything goes

Gem of a Challenge -- anything goes

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes

 

Bird on a branch

 Die-cut bird with color sponged on. To create the "branch," I took a length of thin brown ribbon, doubled it, and tied a series of knots. (I tried this many years ago and totally forgot about the technique until I recently saw a photo the card I made.) Sentiment is gold embossed. 

This card is entered in these challenges: 

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- things with wings

Triple B  -- must use bird, blossom or butterfly

The Paper Funday #83 -- anything goes

Crafts Galore Encore -- anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2603 -- anything goes

Word Art Wednesday #736 -- anything goes

 

Digi Chooseday -- anything goes 

 

 

Wintry Fun

This card features stamps from Stamplorations, which is back in business after the owner took a long break due to health issues. The scene is colored in pencils with accents of Wink of Stella on the snow. It's framed by a Polaroid style frame that I stamped with snowflakes in blue ink. The main image is mounted on a blue-gray embossed card. 

This card is entered in these challenges:

Stamplorations -- anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- emboss it.

Inkspirational Challenge # 359 -- winter blues 

The Paper Shelter #663-- Winter

Word Art Wednesday #734 --anything goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2603 -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations #238 -- use an iamge

Polkadoodles -- anything goes 

Birthday wishes

 How about a birthday card. My card features an adorable set of stamps/dies from Studio Katia, including the punny sentiment of happy bear-thday. The images are colored with pencils and displayed on a die-cut stitched square from I-O.  For even more fun, I added some puzzle-shaped pieces that have other birthday-related words. (I'm not sure where I got these puzzle pieces originally -- possibly at a yard sale -- and I'm not sure of their purpose. They are thin, like strong foil, and have no adhesive, so I don't think they were intended for this kind of use. And I don't think they'll actually fit together as if you're making a jigsaw puzzle, so they're a mystery to me. If you have any ideas, drop a comment, please.) The main square is sponged with blue ink, and a few acrylic dots finish the card off.

This card is entered in these challenges:

Double D -- birthday

Word Art Wednesday #734 -- anything goes

Pammie's INky Pinkies #2601  -- anything goes

The Paper Funday #83 -- anything goes

Creative Inspiration -- anything goes

Gem of a Craft Challenge -- anything goes

 

Kitty Exercise

 

 I played with a new image I got from The Paper Shelter called Kitty Acrobatics. How fun is that. I paired it with several pieces of patterned paper that I've had for ages -- so a bit of new and old. I used the orange/green/blue color scheme from the plaid when choosing colors for the image. The main image is cut with a circle die (using the out of the box technique) and mounted on another die-cut circle. I created and printed out the sentiment on my computer, then die-cut it with a stitched rectangle die.

This card is for these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday -- something new

 Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- something new

Die-cut Divas -- use a new item

Double Trouble #207 -- 3 colors, 2 shapes, 1 sentiment

Word Art Wednesday #734 -- anything goes

The Paper Shelter #662 -- in with the new, in with the old 

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2601 -- anything goes

Polkadoodles Digi ChooseDay -- anything goes

Pattie's Creations #238 -- use an image

 

Happy New Year

 I am in a swap group that does themed swaps. One of the January swaps focuses on symbols of the new year, and the swap organizer listed birches as one of the symbols. Apparently birches are very resilient so they are considered a sign of rebirth and the new year. 

With that new fact in mind, I decided to use my new, never-been-used birch dies to create a care. I die cut the trees from watercolor paper and watercolored the bark to create the traditional dark gray patches. To create the background panel, I watercolored a blue sky and left the bottom third of the paper white to be snow. After placing the trees on the background, I painted two birds and added some shadows with gray paint, then added a sentiment.

This card is entered in these challenges:

NBUS #82 -- NBUS item is the birch tree dies

Crafts Galore Encore #143 -- anything goes

Colorful Options -- blues, whites and grays

Die-cut Divas -- use a new item

Word Art Wednesday #733 -- anything goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- add a sentiment