52CCT - Pick a Previous .....

.... Colour!!!  Hi, good morning!  We have a fifth Saturday this month, which means that we have a Pick a Previous Colour challenge for you this week at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.  You can check our Colour Archive to see previous colour challenges; simply pick one, make a card and tell us which challenge you've used.  I went right back to the very first colour challenge we had in January 2012 to use black, white and a splash of red.  Here's my card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Sassy Salutations, Many Merry Stars, Bright & Beautiful
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; SU - Real Red
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Real Red; Glamour Dust - Crystal

This card is about as clean and simple as it gets.  It's a one layer card featuring lots of stars, so I'm submitting it to the current challenge at One Layer Christmas Card Challenge - OLXCC#10.  I stamped stars directly on the card in black and then used my stamp-a-ma-jig to position the sentiment which I stamped in red.  To make the card more festive I used a glue pen and some ultra fine glitter - sadly not visible above.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of red card and stamped another star and a Christmas greeting on the white panel.

I took a few ultra close-up photos of the card in order to show the sparkle - it really is beautiful when the sun hits the card!!  I've found that by taking a photo slightly out of focus, you can just about see the shimmer and shine.

So visit our blog to see which colour challenges the rest of the team have picked.  You've got plenty of time to join in the fun - deadline for submission is midnight (UK) Friday 5th Jun, that's 7.00pm EDT for those of us in the States.  Have fun!!

52CCT - Technique ...

Good morning!  Where is this month going?  Time is flying by.  This week our challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown is a technique, Jacqueline would like to see paper piercing on your project.  Here's my card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Many Merry Stars, Bright & Beautiful
Inks: SU - Bashful Blue, Concord Crush; Versafine - Onyx Black
Dies: SU/Sizzix - Stars Framelits #3 and #4
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Concord Crush; SU Eclectic Paper Piercing Pack

As soon as I saw the technique I knew what stamps I'd be using!  The colours are from Colour Throwdown - CTD#317 a couple of weeks ago.  I die cut a backing star from purple card and used the paper piercing pack to put a border of holes around the edge (which you can just about see in the photo above).  I stamped the beautiful star in pale blue (like the purple, this is a discontinued colour) and cut it out.  I adhered it directly to the purple star.  I stamped some snowflakes and stars all over the card base and finished the front with a sentiment.  The die cut stars were attached with dimensional tape.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of purple card, stamped more snowflakes and stars on the white panel and finished with a bold greeting.  I took the photo in bright sunshine so that the paper piercing would show, but it has given quite harsh shadows!!

Check out the blog to see what the team made using the paper piercing technique.  Don't forget, we're still running the DT Call.  That's all for now.

52CCT - Sketch ....

..... Hello!  Do you realise that it's only 12 weeks until Christmas!!  If you've not made a start on your Christmas cards, then now is the time to get cracking.  Here at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown we can help - each week we give you a prompt, a sketch, some colours, stash idea or a theme.  This month our hostess is Jacqueline, but we're using the prompts selected by Mynnette.  This week we have a sketch for you - here's my take:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Curly Cute, Bright & Beautiful, Be the Star
Inks: SU - Lost Lagoon, Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz; Versamark; Archival - Jet Black
Dies: SU/Sizzix - Star Framelits; Spellbinders - Squares Sm (S4-128) #5, Squares Lg (S4-126) #4 & 6
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU DP - All Is Calm; SU Card - Lost Lagoon, Pear Pizzazz; Clear Embossing Powder; Vellum; Gems

My order of Christmas goodies from Stampin' Up! came earlier this week, so this was the perfect opportunity to get them out and play.  I'm playing along with Merry Monday - MM#128 to use polka dots and/or stripes; the new design pack, All is Calm, contains these fab striped and dotty papers - perfect!!  I used my square dies to cut a couple of mat layers and the dotty top layer.  I stamped the stars on to vellum.  I inked up the star images with Versamark then the colour, stamped, embossed  with clear powder and cut out with the matching die.  I adhered the bottom layer directly to the square and used a glue dot to add the smaller star and finished with a grey gem.  I stamped the sentiment directly on the card.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of green card.  On the white panel I stamped a pale blue star and Christmas greeting.  I've also taken a detail shot of the square panel.

Check out the 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown blog to see more inspiration cards from the Design Team - don't forget to leave a comment!!  You've got plenty of time to join in with the challenge - I'm really looking forward to seeing what you make!  Bye for now.