Christmas Card Challenges #20

The weeks are flying by so fast. Which means, before we all know it, Christmas will be here and you'll wish you had ALL of your cards done and ready to go ~ actually Thanksgiving, which is when I send out my cards. So, why not get started NOW and join us this week at Christmas Card Challenges.

We have an optional Photo Challenge to get you inspired. But the only real rule to play along with us is to create a Christmas/holiday card.  

I chose to go with the greys and red colors; and I threw in a tad bit of yellow for the birds. 

 I heat embossed the image using Stampin' Up! Smokey Slate embossing Powder. It gave it such a soft color, that instead of using Copics to color the image, I decided to watercolor it using pencils and ink.  It almost looks like a piece of Vellum is over the image due to the softness of the image/coloring.

Please don't look too close at the picture. I know, it looks like Santa has a glob of something stuck to his mustache.  But he doesn't.  For some reason, the EP came out darker in just that one area (ugh!!) and since I was in a rush (nothing new there, right?) I had to go with what I had.

Hop on over to see what the other Designers created this week and grab your craft supplies and join us. We love to see what you create!!

Christmas Card Challenges #19

I have a quick post today, mainly because I forgot to write it last night.  We have a new challenge at Christmas Card Challenges and it's a Photo Challenge.  I hope you play along ... you know you're going to need Holiday cards sooner than you think.  Why not get started now?

I took the photo literal and turned the front of my card into a "present."  Very easy and so fun to do.  I popped up the "package" with foam.

Stop by the Christmas Card Challenges blog to see what the other Designers created this week.  Then, get crafty and get your Holiday cards started.

Christmas Card Challenge #18

Thank you for stopping by today. We have an easy challenge this week at Christmas Card Challenges:

Anything Goes

It may seem a bit odd, since our challenges every week do have an "Anything Goes" option, but this week there's no Photo or Color Challenge to inspire you. . . so you're on your own.  I can't wait to see what you create.

I have a mini tutorial for you this week; so grab a cuppa and let's get crafty.

I decided to use my "Quilt" Embossing Folder for my card. Since my 1-1/4" punch was just a tad shy of the "squares" on the EF, I had to adjust the layout; which meant the squares on the outer edges would need to be cut so they fit an A2 card and there'd be a slight gap between the squares.

All lined up and ready to be embossed.

This is the back side.  You can see the quilt pattern a bit better on solid cardstock...and you can see where the DSP needs to be trimmed.

All trimmed and ready for the outer band of green (every quilt has an outer edge, right?).  I could have just placed the squares on top of the green, but I felt the additional "frame" looked better...at least it does in person.  I so have a lloonngg way to go in photographing my cards. :-(

I added a bit of Wink of Stella to the stars, because after all...stars twinkle LOL

I decorated the inside and completed the sentiment.

Stop by the Christmas Card Challenges blog and see what the other Designers created this week. Then, get busy and link up your Christmas card. I can't wait to see your creation.