CCT - Sketch ....

.... Good morning! I do hope that you've all recovered from your holiday celebrations. It always seems to me that it takes ages to get all the preparations done and then Christmas is gone in an instance!

The purpose of our challenges at our revamped Christmas Card Throwdown is to help in your preparations. Get a head start on the season by joining us on the first and third Saturday of each month, where we will provide you a variety of challenges including colours, themes, sketches, techniques and stash to help in your creative process.

The first challenge this year is a sketch - CCT01. It's quite a simple sketch - you can flip it, turn it, keep it very CAS or go full shabby chic - the choice is yours. However, we must be able to see the sketch in your finished card. Here's my take on the sketch:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Scandi Doodle Christmas, Flurries; Stampin' Up! - Wonderland; Visible Image - Rays of Light
Inks: SU - Soft Sky, Crushed Curry; Versafine - Onyx Black; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Accessories: White Luste Card; Tim Holtz Watercolour Card; Clear Embossing Powder; Zig Clean Colour Brushes; Spectrum Noir Sparkle - Clear; Copics

This card is not the one I had planned! I was going to create an envelope, but going through my stash of stamps I found this wonderful Christmas tree stamp and decided to use that instead. I stamped the image on watercolour card and heat embossed with clear powder. I used my Zig Clean Colour brushes and an aqua brush to colour the image. I find using watercolour paint a bit difficult, but using these pens gives a similar result and, for me, are much easier to use! I did use my clear Spectrum Noir sparkle brush to move some of the colours so the image has a lovely shimmer - sadly not visible above! Once the image was dry I fussy cut it out. I stamped some pale snowflakes all over the base of the card and added a star burst image behind the star. I ran the tree image through my Xyron to make it self-adhesive and then attached it to the card. On the inside I cut a mat layer of pale blue card. On the white panel I stamped a few more images from the Scandi Doodle set (this set is discontinued) and coloured them with a mixture of Copics and Zig Clean Colour. I finished by adding a simple sentiment.

I took a close-up photo of the tree so you can see the details and, hopefully, a bit of the shimmer:

Do visit our blog, Christmas Card Throwdown, to see our lovely new look and to see more inspiration cards from our newly expanded design team. Don't forget to visit them and leave some comments - we all love to receive them. As we now have challenges twice a month, it means you have longer to play. Deadline for submission to this challenge is midnight Friday 20th January, that's 7.00pm EDT.

I'm submitting this card to Love to Craft Challenge Blog - LTCCB#06 where it's ANYTHING GOES. I like this blog as you can submit any type of crafty project - it's worth a look! That's all for now!

52CCT - Technique ....

... Morning! Can you believe it's the last Saturday in August? Me neither!! This month has simply flown by, but it does mean that it's time for our new challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT34-16. This week we have a technique challenge - we want you to use WATERCOLOURS on your Christmas/Winter cards. I had so much fun that I ended up making two cards:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Wonderland; Clearly Besotted - All Occasion Sentiments
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; Kaleidacolour - Caribbean Sea, Desert Heat; Memento - London Fog; Versamark
Dies: Lil Inkers - Stitched Rectangles #5
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Basic Black; Ranger - Watercolour Card; Brusho; Clear and White Embossing Powders

I've had my Brushos for a while but not actually used them, so this week's challenge was the perfect opportunity to get them out and play. I LOVE them!! I got the idea for this card from this week's MUSE Challenge - MUSE#180 - I think Marilyn's card is so pretty. I die cut a panel of watercolour card, stamped the Christmas trees and sentiment and heat embossed them with clear powder. I sprinkled some yellow and red brusho powder on the panel and lightly spritzed it with water. Then the magic happened - I really like the way the watercolour powder reacts with water and gives pretty bursts of colour. Once the panel was dry I randomly stamped some snowflakes and heat embossed them with white powder. I enjoyed it so much that I made a second card, this time with shades of green, yellow and turquoise Brusho. On this card I stamped the sentiment on some vellum, heat embossed it with clear powder and wrapped it round the finished panel. I adhered both finished panels to black card and attached them to the front of a card blank. On the inside I cut a mat of black card and on the white panel stamped some more trees and a Christmas greeting - using ink to match the front of the cards.

As the Christmas trees are silhouettes, I'm going to enter the current Addicted to CAS - ATCAS#95 challenge. I'm not too sure whether they are CAS enough!! I'm also playing along with this week's Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#208 where the theme is Holiday.

Do visit our blog to see more inspiration projects from the rest of the team. I don't want to worry anyone, but there are only 17 more Saturdays until Christmas day!!! Have fun!

52CCT - Theme ....

.... Hello again! It's another gorgeous day here in Northville, so making a Christmas card is kind of tough! I'm here with my DT card for this week's challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT28-16. Jacqueline has picked a fabulous theme for this week - The 12 Days of Christmas. There's so much inspiration in this carol. I'm sorry that's it's taken me so long to make my card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Partridge and Pears, Wonderland; Clearly Besotted - All Occasion Sentiments
Inks: Memento - Tuxedo Black; SU - Soft Sky
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Soft Sky; Copics; Glossy Accents; Wink of Stella - Clear

This card was really quick and very easy to make. I stamped the main image on white card, coloured with Copic markers and cut it out. I added some Glossy Accents to the pears and a touch of clear Wink of Stella to the berries and blue markings on the partridge. I stamped a background of snowflakes and finished the front with a simple greeting. On the inside I cut a mat layer of pale blue card and added a greeting to the white panel.

Over at Addicted to Stamps and More! - ATSM#203 the theme this week is holiday, and this is certainly a holiday card, so I'm playing along with them.

I'm sure you've already seen the super cards on our blog and there's still time to play along with us this week - deadline for submission is midnight (BST) Friday 22nd July - that's 7.00pm EDT for those of us in the States. That's all for now!

52CCT - Stash/Technique ....

.... Morning! I'm here with a scheduled post for our new challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 52CCT25-16. This week Jacqueline has a combined Stash/Technique challenge for us. She wants us to use the Triple Stamping technique to make the card and add a brad or two! I added lots!!! Here's my card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Wonderland
Inks: Versafine - Onyx Black; SU - Gumball Green
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU Card - Gumball Green; Brads; Sequins

I cut two panels of white cards each smaller than the main card and stamped the pine trees in black. I cut a couple of green mats each slightly larger than the white panels. I decided to have the little brads act as snow, making some larger with the addition of sequins. On the inside I cut a mat layer of green card and stamped a greeting and more trees.

For more inspiration, do visit our blog to see more cards from the rest of the design team. You've got plenty of time to play along, deadline for submission is midnight (BST) Friday 1st July - that's 7.00pm EDT.

When this post goes live, we'll be half way through our visit to the UK. Hopefully, we'll be enjoying a nice English/Welsh summer!  See you soon.

AC - Merry Creepmas - 12DOC ....

.... Morning!  I'm running a bit late with this card, I should have finished it yesterday, but we were out at a photoshoot and by the time we got home and finished watched some TV, I was just too tired.  So I completed it this morning!  It's Day 4 of the 12 Days of Creepmas sponsored by Smeared Ink and I've got a fun, in a creepy sort of way, card to share with you:

Stamps: Rick St Dennis Digi - Creepmas Tree Monster, Stampin# Up! - Wonderland; WMS - Alpine Christmas
Inks: Stampin' Up! - Cucumber Crush, Pistachio Pudding
Dies: Die-namics - Zig-Zag Stitched Rectangles Stax #5
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Kaisercraft DP - Holly Jolly; Copic Markers; Glitter; Glossy Accents; Wink of Stella - Clear

This one is a really quick and simple card.  I stamped this fabulous tree on white card, coloured his with Copic markers and cut it out with a die.  I added sparkle to the baubles using a clear Wink of Stella brush.  I used some glitter on his Santa hat and added glossy accents to his eyes.  I stamped a flurry of pale green snowflakes all round him.  I cut a panel of design paper and adhered that the the card.  I attached the die cut image and finished with a customised sentiment (also from the Kaisercraft paper pack).  On the inside I cut a mat layer of design paper and added a tag greeting on the white panel along with a few more snowflakes.

As I've got a lovely flurry of snowflakes falling on this card, I'm going to submit to Inkspirational - INK#97 where the cue word is FLAKE and also to The Paper Players - PP#274 where the theme is LET IT SNOW.  I took a close up of the tree so that you can see the glossy accents on his eyes - he's crazy.  You can find this fab Creepmas Tree Monster at Rick's Zibbet shop and he's currently on sale too!!!   Here's the 12 Days of Creepmas Blog Hop list:

Fiona
Black Dragon
Susan R
Jessica
Suzi
Airless Chambers
Deborah
Susan S
Val
Sarah
Kat
Leigh
Lady Brayton
Sue

That's it for now - see you soon.

The Festivities Begin - 12 DOC ...

..... Hi!  It's day 2 of the 12 Days of Creepmas sponsored by Smeared Ink and my card today is on the cute side of Creepmas!

Stamps: Smeared Ink - Brass the Steampunk Reindeer; Stampin' Up! - Wonderland, Project Life Holiday Cheer; Uniko - Simply Said Christmas
Inks: SU - Sahara Sand, Blackberry Bliss
Dies: Spellbinders - Wonky Rectangles (S4-306) #5
Accessories: White Lustre Card; SU DP - Moonlight; Copic Markers, Wink of Stella - Clear

I think Brass is cute, although he's totally mechanical and perfect for Creepmas.  I covered the card with design paper and used the same colours for the image.  I printed Brass on white card, coloured him with Copic markers and cut him out with a wonky shape.  I added lots of little snowflakes after I'd coloured the image.  I edged the image with a Copic marker for a little definition.  I finished the front of the card with a simple greeting.  On the inside I cut another piece of the design paper for the mat layer and added a Christmas greeting to the white panel.

I'm submitting this card to Left of Centre - LOC#106 and also to The Challenge - TC#53.  Here's the 12 DOC Blog Hop List:

Fiona
Black Dragon
Susan R
Rebecca
Jessica
Suzi
Airless Chambers
Deborah
Susan S
Val
Sarah
Kat
Leigh
Lady Brayton
Sue


That's all for now!

52CCT - Technique ....

... Morning!  It's time for our technique challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown and April has picked my favourite technique - Emboss Resist.  Here's my card:

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - A Cottage Home; Stampin' Up! - Wonderland
Inks: Versamark; Versafine - Onyx Black; Distress - Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Salty Ocean, Dusty Concord, Blueprint Sketch; SU - Garden Green
Dies: Die-namics - Pierced Rectangle Frames #3
Accessories: White Lustre Card; Silver Mirri Card; Clear Embossing Powder; Copic Markers; Glitter

I stamped the trees first, using Versamark and green on top, directly on the card and then randomly stamped some snowflakes.  I heat embossed them all with clear powder.  The fun part was next - I added colour to the card with distress inks to create the night sky and allow the snowflakes (and trees) to pop!  I added some glitter to the trees and snowflakes.  I stamped the house on white card, coloured it with Copic markers, cut it out, edged it with a black marker and added some sparkle to the house too.  I cut out a frame in silver mirri card and adhered it, using dimensional tape, over the finished image.  I decided not to add a greeting to the front of the card.  On the inside I cut a mat layer of silver mirri card and added a Christmas message to the white panel.

I'm submitting this card to CASE-ing Christmas Challenge - CCC#30 - I love Asha's winter scene with the lovely castle.  And I'm also submitting to Merry Monday - MM#175 where the team would like to see a frame.  For more inspiration with the Emboss Resist technique, check out our blog to see what the team have made for you.

This week has simply flown by.  It's so nice to have Ben and Sophie here with us, it always makes going out fun, as I look at things with a new eye!  We've been incredibly lucky with the weather this past week - temperature in excess of 70°F in mid October - a lovely Indian Summer.  We've been shopping as well as going to to see the skeletons in Northville - I'll share photos later.  That's it for now.  See you soon.