Christmas cards, part deux

Well, hello again! I can hardly believe it myself, but I managed to create cards for the past two weekends. The first I'm going to talk about is a side step card. See Sandi MacIver's tutorial for the mechanics of creating the card here:

http://www.sandimaciver.com/sandi_maciver/page/3/

Page down until you get to the November 16, 2009 post.

I don't know Sandi at all, but I thank her for her wonderful instructions that enabled me to create the following cards.

Base: Real Red

DP: SU! Dashing
Ink: Old Olive

Mats: Whisper White/Old Olive/Real Red

Stamps: SU! Snow Swirled; sentiment from SU! Home for Christmas

SU! Ornament Punch

Rinestones from Recolections

Ink the tree with Old Olive then marker over the ornaments with a marker equivalent to SU! Real Red and the dotted swirls with a SU! Handsome Hunter equivalent. Marking over adds interest to the stamped image. To keep the ink moist, puff [huff] as if you were a kid in the cold on the inked up image just prior to pressing onto the paper. After the ink is dry, I used a spot of Tombo adhesive in the center of the ornaments then added the Rinestones. I sponged Old Olive around the tree. I assembled the card using pop dots on the ornament, the sentiment on the ornament and the sentiment in the lower right of the card.

Card number two is similar to the above except I used a rock and roll technique on the tree. First ink the tree image using Old Olive. Then, roll the outside edge only of the image onto an Always Artichoke ink pad. This gives a darker edge to the tree and adds interest. As before, I markered over the ornaments with a marker equivalent to SU! Bravo Burgandy [since the color scheme of the DP is different, adjust the colors accordingly]. Huff and press into the paper. Add rinestones, etc... I sponged Old Olive and Always Artichoke around the tree.

Card same as above except:

Base: Bravo Burgandy

DP: Holiday Thyme

Mats: Very Vanilla/Always Artichoke

This third card is a design from Michelle Zindorf. She wrote an excellent tutorial here:

http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2009/10/14/night-time-christmas-cardinal-tutorial-270/

The card is just like hers except:
Base: Night of Navy

Mat: Brushed Silver

Michelle uses markers to color in her tutorial. I used Prismacolor pencils and gamsol [odorless mineral spirits] because I can get more variety of color choices and can play with shades/hues. I have a limited number of markers, none of which are SU markers,and I prefer the creative options of the pencils/OMS technique.

So there you have it! I'm satisfied with the type of cards I have this year, just not the quantity. I only have 15 total and I need about 25 to give everyone on my card list a handmade card. Hmmmmmm, will I get them done in time???

Theme and Variation

Success! I have cleaned off my workspace and started my Christmas cards. You can see for yourself where the 'magic happens' [lol].





It snowed yesterday. It was both beautiful and inspiring and just what I needed to help put me in the Christmas card making mood.
This is the view from the window in my craft space.

This morning I woke up to our most curious kitty, our dear Pi, peering as usual out of her preferred window. Only today she had tons of white stuff to examine. Here she is surveying her neighborhood:

Each year I try to come up with a completely original card to send friends and relatives. I can be wonderfully inspired at times but translating that inspiration into a tangible card that looks good can be a challenge. This year I was inspired by, don't laugh, deer crossing signs. There are a few lining my commute to and from work and some joker decided to put a red nose on all of the deer images. I didn't follow thru with that particular detail [at least not yet] instead intent on creating a 'serious' card for Christmas. I wanted to use up some of my existing Holiday SU! DP paper stock and I was able to accomplish both in this card. Jeff likes a more traditional [red/green] Christmas card and I prefer icy colored cards with glitter. I came up with one design used three ways, hence the "theme and variation". So here are the details:

Card #1:

SU! Bravo Burgandy card stock

SU! Holiday Thyme DP

SU! Night of Navy [scallop trim]

Reindeer image: Inkadinkadoo #98398, Christmas Silhouettes

Sentiment: Night of Navy, Creative Imaginations #21749 Merry and Bright

Stamped Reindeer in Versamark then SU! Basic Black; heat emboss with SU! clear detail embossing powder. Sponged SU! Baja Breese, SU! Soft Sky, SU! Brocade Blue around deer image. Stamp sentiment and sponge SS and BB. Stamped snowflakes using Baja Breeze with stamp from SU! Trees Three set.

Card #2:

Same as #1 except:

SU! Old Olive card base

SU! Ski Slope DP

Card #3:

Same as #1 except:

Embossed with SU! Irridescent Ice

SU! Holiday Harmony DP

Night of Navy card base

SU! Brushed Silver scallop

SU! Almost Amethyst behind oval and also used AA when sponging color around the deer. Stamped snowflakes using AA.

So, do YOU have a favorite?