Colour Challenges

I don't know how you feel about colour challenges but I do very few of them - I really have to like the colours to be inspired to do them.  The new 52 Christmas Card Throwdown is a colour challenge - red, kraft, and white.  That's a combination I really happen to like so I made this card for it.

Kraft card base, die cut kraft tree (cut twice and glued together for more dimension), a white focal panel cut with a stitched rectangle die, and then lovely bits of red for the stamped sentiment and the die cut cardinals.

Then I needed a masculine birthday card and thought the Seize the Birthday challenge of green and one other colour (I chose black to keep it masculine) would work.  And I was on a roll with birds so dug out another bird die.

I smooshed a background with various green Distress inks, then stamped a bit of cross-hatched texture and the sentiment on it.  I die cut the branch and bird out of black cs, glued it on the green panel and popped it up on fun foam for more dimension.

  

I'm curious - if you leave a comment, let me know if you like colour challenges or not.

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Hero Arts sentiment
Ink - SU Real Red
Paper - kraft, red, and white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Impression Obsession tree and cardinals, Lil Inker stitched rectangle die

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - A Muse sentiment, unknown cross-hatching stamp
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black, various green Distress inks
Paper - white and black cs
Size - A2
Accessories - Memory Box bird die, Sizzix branch die

Butterflies and Birds

My Time to Craft Challenge wants to see butterflies.  I used this as a chance to make a card for a friend who loves purple.

I created the background by sprinkling purple Brushos on watercolour paper and spritzing with water. When dry, I stamped and heat embossed the butterfly in white, and stamped the sentiment in black and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I trimmed the panel and popped it up on fun foam.

My next card also has a butterfly but it's for Can You Handle the Pressure? - use an embossing folder with a twist of birds.  I used my embossing folder to frame all my little images, including an image of a bird.

 

 

I stamped some of the images in black and some in dark brown, and then coloured them with coloured pencils. I die cut the images with a small square die cut. I stamped and heat embossed tiny sentiments on the two right hand squares. They are popped up on fun foam on a panel that is dry embossed with the border folder.

 

 

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Visible Image butterfly, unknown sentiment
Ink - ColorBox white, Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - white and clear embossing powders, various purple Brushos, wonky stitched rectangle die, fun foam

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - SU Nature Walk, SSS tiny sentiments
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa, ColorBox gold
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - coloured pencils, SU embossing folder, gold embossing powder, Spellbinders square die, fun foam

Reindeer with a Christmas Tree

I love being inspired by a challenge's mood board to make a card!  This one is for Peace on Earth and I was inspired by the upper right image (see mood board below).

I used a piece of dp for my snowy sky and tore a piece of cs to make the snowy ground.  I die cut the reindeer out of white cs and then sponged with a couple of shades of Distress inks.  Then glued it on to two more layers of die cut deer to give it more substance.  I tucked him behind a tree die cut once from green and once from white and glued together to have a thin line of white on the branch tops.

Head over to Peace on Earth and check out how other members of the Design Team were inspired by our mood board.  We'd love to see if it inspires you or if you'd rather post an "anything Christmas" card.

I'm also linking my card up with the Christmas Craft Creations "Designer Paper" Challenge.

Supplies:
Stamps - Rubber Soul sentiment
Ink - Distress Brushed Corduroy and Pumice Stone, Memento London Fog
Paper - white and green cs, Echo Park dp
Size - A2
Accessories - deer die, tree die, SU punch

Spring Bluebells and Two Christmas Cards

Since it's spring, I'll start with a spring card.  Shopping our Stash Challenge is asking for Spring or Easter, and the Four Seasons Challenge wants Spring.  And since the bluebells are a Penny Black stamp, I'm linking it up to the Penny Black Saturday Challenge.

The Scilla are starting to bloom in my garden so this seemed the perfect stamp.  I stamped  and heat embossed in gold, then coloured with coloured pencils.  With Tea Dye ink to give a vintage feel, I stamped the definition of spring in a couple of places, sponged  around the edges, and stencilled some splatters.  Then stamped the flower name and cut it with a narrow label die and added it to the top.  The panel is popped up on fun foam for some dimension.

Moving on to working on my Christmas card stash.  Double D wants to see Cute Little Animals and Jingle Belles want us to be inspired by one of the cookies in this image:

I saw the cookie on the left near the bottom with the tangle of lights and thought of the stamp I have with a cute little dog all tangle up in Christmas lights.

I watercoloured the image and went over the lights with Glossy Accents. I trimmed with an old Spellbinders label tag, and bordered with green and added to a red card base. And I found the perfect sentiment that refers to lights! 

And finally Christmas Craft Creations wants to see Designer Paper on our cards.  I love colour coordinating DP with the colours I use in my focal image. 

The image is stamped and coloured with coloured pencils and popped up on fun foam for some dimension.

   

Supplies for card 1:
Stamps - Penny Black Scilla, Purple Onion spring definition
Ink - ColorBox gold, Distress Oxide Tea Dye
Paper - white cs
Size - A2
Accessories - gold embossing powder, coloured pencils, splatter stencil

Supplies for card 2:
Stamps - Penny Black dog, SSS sentiment
Ink - Versafine Onyx Black
Paper - watercolour paper, red and green cs
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - watercolour paints, Glossy Accents, Spellbinders label dies

Supplies for card 3:
Stamps - Penny Black sentiment, unknown owl stamp
Ink - Versafine Clair Nocturne
Paper - white cs, dp
Size - 4.75" square
Accessories - coloured pencils, fun foam