…everything is softer and more beautiful

Sharing what could quite possibly be the only individualised Christmas card I make this year featuring the cute Little Reindeer stamp from Gerda Steiner Designs.

For my layout I’ve followed the current sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch, I just made it into a square instead of a rectangle.  I used layers of mats for interest and some messy foiling and embossing (see a great YouTube on this technique by Dawn Woleslagle here) for my background.

Over at The Paper Players they have a colour palette to play with.  I’ve used the Seaside Spray and Crumb Cake as my cardstock layers.  I tried to get a brown that was similar to the Crumb Cake to colour up my cute little reindeer.  I did add a couple of other colours in the lightbulbs and decorations hanging off his antlers and I couldn’t help but do his nose red for the most famous reindeer of all!  Instead of colouring the lightbulbs that were part of the stamp I’ve stuck some Darice mini ones over the stamped ones for my only embellies.

As I’ve featured one of her gorgeous stamps on my card, I am also linking this up at Gerda Steiner Designs where they always play anything goes.

Speaking of anything goes challenges, that’s always our theme at Bizzy Bec’s too.  So why not link up a project and be in the draw to win five digi stamps of your choice.  You can find our December challenge here.

Ingredients:

Chalks & Powders etc

Stampendous! Embossing Powder ~ Detail Silver

Embellishments

Make it Crafty Chipboard Single Layered Word ~ 2" Merry

Inks & Paints etc

Copic Multiliner ~ sepia

Stampin’ Up! Stampin’ Pad ~ Seaside Spray

Tim Holtz Distress Ink ~ Antique Linen, Black Soot, Brushed Corduroy, Candied Apple, Pine Needles & Spun Sugar

Tsukineko Ink ~ VersaMark

Papers

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock ~ Marshmallow

Close To My Heart Cardstock ~ White Daisy

Couture Creations Foil ~ Silver

Lawn Fawn Fawndamentals Sparkle Cardstock Holiday ~ Silver

Stampin’ Up! Cardstock ~ Crumb Cake & Seaside Spray

Uniquely Creative Cardstock ~ Bookingforld Watercolour Paper

Ribbons & Trims

Darice Mini Garland ~ Light Bulbs

Stamps

Gerda Steiner Designs ~ GSD612 Little Reindeer

Stampin’ Up! ~ 150496 So Many Stars

Challenges

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A farewell is necessary…

Sharing a card with the stunning Transformation stamp from The Ton.

This card is going to a colleague who is leaving work for a new role in another organisation.  She’s never really felt like she fit in at work, despite being super awesome at her job so the image and the sentiment, also from the same set, were the perfect fit for her farewell card.

This stamp is my favourite buy from this year, proof of that being I’ve used it twice in the month since I bought it.  That’s quite the record for me whose NBUS pile is probably as big as the Great Pyramid!  I just love the beauty of the stamp, the imagery of change and the fact you can make it look so different just by how you colour it.  As I’ve used my fav stamp I’m linking my card up at Krafty Chicks for their year-end challenge.

I’ve gone with all my rainbow colours so I can also play along at The Rainbow Card where they’re ending the year with a rainbow challenge.  Between my image and designer paper I think I’ve got every colour covered except red, it just seemed a bit too harsh so I stuck to dark pinks instead.

Over at The Flower Challenge they want to see you use a die.  I’ve used mine to frame my butterfly, although I did some judicious fussy cutting around the stamped image to make it fit.  The next size up of the frames was too big, covering too much of the pretty DP for my liking.  But I also think having the image spill over the frame adds a really cool look to the card.

Ingredients:

Chalks & Powders etc

Stampendous! Embossing Powder ~ Detail White

Dies, Stencils & Templates

Paper Rose ~ 16739 Scalloped Square Frames

Inks & Paints etc

Jane Davenport Mermaid Marker ~ Falling Star

Kuretake Gansai Tambi Water Colours ~ No. 20 Black, No. 34 Dark Pink, N0. 44 Light Brown, No. 51 May Green, No. 52 Ocean Green, No. 58 Ever Green & No. 139 Purple

Nuvo Glitter Brush Pen ~ Midas Touch

Tsukineko Ink ~ VersaMark

Papers

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock ~ Marshmallow

Bazzill Monochromatic Cardstock ~ Petal

Bazzill Smoothie Cardstock ~ Blueberry Pie

Bellbird Paperarts Cardstock ~ 210gsm Cotton Blend

Close To My Heart Cardstock ~ White Daisy

Hero Arts Hero Hues Cardstock ~ Pitch Black

Maja Design Vintage Spring Basics ~ 3^rd March

Stamps

The Ton ~ Transformation

Challenges

Krafty Chicks #484 ~ Year End... Your Favorite Stamp

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So bright it makes you colour blind…

Sharing a QCAS card featuring some of the stamps from the Magical Nights Messages set by Hero Arts.

I’ve gone with a basic colour scheme of black and white with a pop of gold so I could play along at CAS on Friday in their black, white and one colour challenge.  To tie the stamped images with the shiny gold of my cardstock, I’ve embossed everything, including a clear coat over my black sentiment and diamond.  The sentiment is also from the same stamp set, I just inked it out differently, it’s actually three tiered if you stamp it as it is straight from the packet.  Doing it this way helped it fit in with my sketch better as well as allowing me to ink up the ‘bright’ in gold.

The layout of my card is from Cécile’s sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  I used the magic dust stamp from the set to make the squiggly line then subbed the stars for one of the diamond stamps and a couple of black gems.  For such a simple sketch it really produced a striking card.

As I’ve gone CAS and layered up with solid mats, I am also entering my card at Crafty Cardmakers where they’re going no patterned paper.

Ingredients:

Chalks & Powders etc

Stampendous! Embossing Powder ~ Detail Clear & Detail Gold

Embellishments

Queen & Co Rhinestones ~ Nightfall

Inks & Paints etc

Gina K Designs Ink ~ Amalgam

Tsukineko Ink ~ VersaMark

Papers

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock ~ Marshmallow

Bazzill Prismatic Cardstock ~ Black

Close To My Heart Cardstock ~ White Daisy

Core’dinations Kraft Core Tim Holtz Metallic Cardstock ~ Gold

Stamps

Hero Arts ~ CM222 Magical Nights Messages

Challenges

CAS on Friday #169 ~ Black, white and one colour

Crafty Cardmakers #246 ~ No Patterned Paper

Thanks for stopping by!