Christmas animals .....

... Hi!  It's time for our new challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.  Louise is hosting the challenge this month and this week she'd like us to make Christmas/Holiday cards featuring animals that are popular at Christmas. 

Now, I have a lot of Christmas animal stamps, so this is an easy challenge - wrong!  It turned out to be harder than I first thought - my first couple of cards are in the bin; didn't like them at all!  However, I found a couple of stamps that I think are just super - oh yes, I made two cards!!  Here's the first:


My card features a well-loved Christmas animal - Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer!  I used some polka dot paper for the backing layer and the debossed side of the white card.

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! - More Merry Messages; Animal stamps free with Simply Cards & Papercrafting; Waltzingmouse - Festive Foliage
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; SU - Real Red
Accessories: Promarkers - Berry Red, Cocoa, Burnt Sienna, Tan; SU 1¾" Scallop Circle Punch ; SU Design Paper - Real Red; Cuttlebug EF - Distressed Snow; Gem from stash; White lustre card

The design paper is double sided with white polka dots on the front (as on the front of the card) and large outline circles on the reverse, which is the side I used for the mat on the inside of the card.  I added a few holly leaves and berries as well.  I'm going to come clean here - I managed to get a couple of ink marks on the white background and rather than start over, I simply covered them with the holly leaves (that's why they're black) and some berries!  I seem to remember that there are no mistakes in crafting, just happy accidents!  I think the inside looks much better with the addition of the leaves and berries.

I did make another card, but I'd completely forgotten that we weren't including birds!!  Here's my other card:

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! - More Merry Messages; Animal stamps free with Simply Cards & Papercrafting
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; SU - Real Red
Accessories: Promarkers - Berry Red, Cocoa, Burnt Sienna, Tan; SU 1¾" Scallop Circle Punch ; SU Card - Real Red; Cuttlebug EF - Distressed Snow; Piccolo Pure Sparkle Gold Glitter; White lustre card

I just love robins - they really remind me of Christmas.  I stamped the image twice onto white card, cut around the circle on one and around the body of the bird on the other.  I coloured the robin with Promarkers and glued the coloured image to the circle.  I used a glue pen to colour the crown and when touch dry poured on some glitter!  I used my scallop circle to punch out a red background.  I stamped the image onto the red mount in order to see the robin's feet!  I cut a couple of panels in red and white.  I attached the red card to the card base and ran the white through my Cuttlebug.  I used my Fiskars stamp press to stamp the sentiment.  For the inside I cut a couple more red and white panels.  I stamped the singing robins along the bottom of the white card and a greeting in the centre.


Now - don't forget to visit the rest of the team and check out their inspiration cards!  We had so many lovely entries last week, and I can't wait to see your cards for this week's challenge!

That's all for now.  See you soon.