Christmas tags

I wanted to make some simple, quick Christmas tags today on some white cardstock I'd already cut with a tag top (cut with a punch from Stampin' Up).  I started thinking I would stamp the outline "Peace Poinsettias" from Hero Arts in black, then stamp the solid poinsettia inside the outline to colour it. But at some stage, I changed my mind. 

I pulled out my Inktense pencils and coloured them, before adding some water (I didn't use watercolour paper, I had to be sparing with the water). I then decided I needed a background colour, so I pulled out a Distress Ink reinker in Tumbled Glass, and painted it close to the poinsettias.  I then thought I was done, until I looked at my desk and saw my Wink of Stella brush, and I had to add some glimmer.  The last thing I did on the cardstock was decide that the space in the bottom right would not be for my to/from message, but for a sentiment from Avery Elle, which I stamped in Versafine Onyx Black, and clear heat embossed. The final step was to add some red ribbon with white polka dots.

 Thanks for visiting :)  I'll be back again tomorrow with another "Challenge me a Christmas Card" post.

Challenge me a Christmas Card 15

Welcome back to Challenge me a Christmas Card part 15!

For this card, I actually combined three separate challenges.  My workmate, Trisha, challenged me o use the Australian Christmas Bell (Blandifordia nobilis) on a card.  My friend Maddie wanted me to make an Australian-themed card "without the cliche of Santa at the beach".  My choir friend, Di, wanted me to put a Christmas Carol on a card.  So I combined the three!

 For those friends in the northern hemisphere, Christmas in Australia is hot.  It's early summer and our northerly winds bring the heat down from Central Australia. Another thing you may not be aware of is that we have Australian Christmas carols - not many, I grant you, but they exist!  This one is my favourites - the words are by John Wheeler, the music by William G James.  (check out the lyrics at http://tww.id.au/christmas/carol-day.html)
I used the "softly" stamp from Penny Black for the flowers and leaves. Of course, I did not find a stamp for the sentiment, so I wrote that by hand.  The flowers and leaves were first stamped and clear-embossed onto kraft cardstock, then coloured with Inktense pencils and some water added. I also added a little bit of Wink of Stella to the flowers. A few extra leaves were stamped, fussy cut, and adhered with dimensional adhesive.

I'll be sharing this card at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - this week, it is Anything Goes!

Thanks for visiting me for my latest "Challenge me a Christmas Card" post - stay tuned for more!

Hero Arts Poinsettia

I got a new stamp set in the mail from Simon Says Stamp yesterday - and I had to pull it out immediately to see what I could make.  I'd seen a video from Debby Hughes for the Online Card Class just the other day where she coloured a poinsettia on kraft cardstock, so I thought I would give it a go.  I used my Derwent Inktense pencils, but I didn't use any water.

 Thanks so much for visiting - have a lovely day :)

Fusion #22

Time for another challenge at Fusion!

Thanks for visiting - make sure you also visit the Fusion blog to join in! 

Rainbows and a stencil for CAS(E) this sketch

I went to Paperific on Saturday - I bought a heap of envelopes and some cardstock, but only one stamp and one stencil! I decided to use the stencil with my Inktense pencils, and I followed the sketch from this week's CAS(E) this sketch.

 Thanks for visiting :)

More butterflies for CASe this sketch!

I seriously don't know what I would make if I didn't have these butterflies.  I don't think I will ever be tired of using them. 

 Playing along with CAS(e) this Sketch and with Virginia's View Die Cut Challenge. 

Playing along with some challenges.

First, a disclaimer:  I cut the index finger on my right hand last Thursday whilst washing up the food processor blades.  I now have a finger with 4 stitches in it all wrapped up in bandages.  Ouch.    So if there are typos, it's because typing is slow and annoying, and if my card looks crap, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!! LOL!

I wanted to play along with a couple of challenges today.  I saw the cool sketch at Iwona Palamountains "Sketchbook Saturday", and I also saw that Moxie Fab World has a "word die" challenge.  I had to reverse Iwona's sketch to make it work with the word die I wanted to use - the "Thanks on a line" die from Simon Says Stamp (thanks, Linda Trace!).   I then pulled out my brand new Derwent Inktense pencils (they were a birthday gift from my family - just arrived today!) and the first colour that drew my eye made me think of this week's KIS challenge - lots of turquoise!  So, here's 'tis.

Of course, I had to add some Wink of Stella ;)

 I'll also be submitting this to The Friday Mashup, where the theme is Watercolour and CAS.

Thanks for visiting :)