Hello there!  It’s time for the March theme challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  This time we’re asking our challenge participants to use funny sentiments on Christmas or wintry cards.

As soon as I saw the theme for this week, I knew which stamps I’d be using.  This bear and sentiment never fail to make me giggle!  I used a very simple layout for my card, letting the bear and his question take center stage, so to speak.  It felt good to use some of this designer paper that I’ve had for a while.

52CCT 03-19-2016

Be sure to check out what the rest of the 52CCT design team has made.  We can’t wait to see your sense of humor come through in your crafting!   You have until 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, March 25 to link your funny cards to our challenge post.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Beary Christmas (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps); A Birdie Told Me (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); designer papers from Holly Jolly Christmas 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Echo Park)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); stitched square die (Lawn Fawn)

Hello there!  It’s time for another color challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  Since St. Patrick’s Day is coming up soon, our challenge colors are green and white.

A few days ago I discovered a challenge site called CAS on Sunday.  They have a sketch challenge going on now, and I liked the sketch, so I decided to use it with the 52CCT challenge colors.  I cut a strip of green and white designer paper at an angle to fit the sketch and attached it to a white card panel, layered onto a green card base.  For the “any shape” element, I used an ornament image, stamped in green to coordinate with the designer paper.  It’s attached to the card with dimensional adhesive for a little extra visual interest.  It makes for an easy and quick card!

52CCT 03-12-2016

What will you create with these colors?  Other neutrals can be used, but white and green should be the dominant colors of your card.  Link it up to our 52CCT challenge post by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, March 18.  We’d love to have you join us!

All supplies for this card are from Stampin’ Up.
Stamp: Delightful Decorations
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Certainly Celery Patterns designer paper
Ink: Certainly Celery
Other: dimensionals

Hello there!  The fourth Saturday of the month means it’s technique time at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  This week we’d like to see stenciling on a Christmas or wintry card.

This challenge was more difficult for me than I thought it would be.  I do have a few stencils, but none of them are Christmasy.  So it took me a while to figure out how I was going to meet this challenge.  I finally decided to sponge ink over the stencil to create a background for one of my blueprint stamps.  I stamped the image first.  Then I masked it, fixed the stencil in place, and sponged two shades of brown ink around the image.  After I carefully removed the stencil and the mask, I colored the image with my Copics.  I debated whether to use a red or a green mat for the image, and picked the red because it looked better against the kraft card base.

52CCT 02-27-2016

The current challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More is “Make Your Mark”, so I’m going to throw my card into the proverbial ring over there.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what our challenge participants at 52CCT create this week!  Be sure to link your card at the challenge post by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, March 4.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamp: Christmas Blueprint 2 (Tim Holtz)
Cardstock: Kraft, Real Red (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Early Espresso, Crumb Cake (SU)
Other: Burlap stencil (Tim Holtz); markers (Copic); sponge

Greetings!  It’s Saturday, which means it’s time for another challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  This week we’re asking our participants to create a card with the theme of Christmas baking.  Cookies, cakes, pies… if you can bake it, it’ll be suitable for our challenge!

Ever since my sons were little, we’ve baked cookies to leave for Santa with a glass of milk.  So it seemed only natural for me to tap into that idea for my card.  I knew I had a designer paper with gingerbread men and candies on it, so I chose that for the background of my card.  It also has some characters that look like Santa.  Or maybe they are elves.  I’m not sure.  Anyway…  I stamped the cookies, plate, and glass onto scraps of white cardstock, colored them, and fussy cut them out.  I used a die to cut the “table” from a scrap of brown designer paper.  It’s actually a very large speech balloon die, but I liked the shallowness of the oval it made, so I used it anyway, trimmed off the tail, and positioned the glass of milk over where the tail was.   I wanted the word “Santa” to stand out in my sentiment, so I die cut the letters from a scrap of deep red designer paper.  The focal panel didn’t look quite right just put down on top of the busy designer paper, so I chose a more subtle pattern on a red background for a mat, which also helps tie in the die cut letters in the sentiment.  Bonus:  the mat also contains the word “Santa”.

52CCT 02-20-2016

The Happy Little Stampers Christmas challenge for February is to make a card using elements from their tic-tac-toe grid.  I’m entering my card there in the hopes that it has enough “Santa” to count for the white/Santa/red line in the grid.

And now it’s your turn to show us what you can create!  We’d love it if you joined our challenge this week.  You have until 7:00 pm Eastern time Friday, February 26 to link your card at the 52CCT site. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Milk and Cookies, Jesse’s ABCs (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); designer papers from Nordic Holiday and Blush 6″ x 6″ paper pads (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); Bounce alphabet dies (Sizzix); Speech Trio dies (Mama Elephant)

Hello!  This week is color challenge week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  Our hostess, April, has given us the challenge of creating Christmas or wintry cards using the colors blue, cream, and gold.

I thought for a while about how I could best use these colors, and decided to give a second try to a card design I first used last fall.  I wanted to change it to a landscape-oriented card, but the image is a bit large to do that and allow a decent border around it on an A2 sized card.  Oh well.  I stamped the ornament image on watercolor paper with gold pigment ink and then heat embossed it with gold embossing powder.  I’d used detail embossing powder on my previous card, which didn’t work out very well, so I tried my regular embossing powder this time.  The end result was better, although still not great.  (After a little testing, I think the problem is my gold ink pad.)  I used a couple of drops of Brilliant Blue reinker plus a bit of water to watercolor the image.  The embossing resisted the ink and water and also acted as a barrier to prevent the color from spreading outside of the image.  A shiny gold mat and a matching blue card base later, and my card was finished.

52CCT 02-13-2016

 
Now it’s your turn to show us what you can make with these colors!  If you need more inspiration first, go visit the 52CCT site and see what the rest of the design team has created.  Be sure to link your card at the 52CCT site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, February 19.  We look forward to having you join us!

Supplies:
Stamp: Christmas Blueprint 2 (Tim Holtz)
Cardstock: Brilliant Blue, Gold Foil (Stampin’ Up); watercolor paper (Artist’s Loft)
Ink: Gold (ColorBox)
Other: Brilliant Blue reinker (SU); gold embossing powder (Ranger)

Hello!  It’s the first Saturday in February, and that means it’s time for a new sketch challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  April, our challenge hostess, has come up with a rather simple one that should be easy for most people.  Although she’s used a tree on the sketch, any festive shape can be used.

I’ve decided to go wintry rather than specifically Christmassy, so I’ve used one of my favorite snowman images in place of the tree element.  Some cute snowman patterned paper fills in the vertical strip element.  Although I adore this snowman print, I don’t use it too often because it’s difficult matching colors to it.  But I think I came pretty close, and I guess a little contrast isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  I’ve used some shims of scrap cardstock behind the snowman to give him a little bit of dimension off the background of the card.

52CCT 02-06-2016

Check out what the rest of the 52CCT team has created this week.  Then have fun with the sketch and share your own card with us at the challenge site!  You have until 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, February 12 to link your card.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Be Jolly (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Cherry Cobbler (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs); designer paper from Winter Wonderland paper pack (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Be Jolly die (Avery Elle); markers (Copic)

Hello!  This week is stash challenge week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  The idea of the stash challenge is to use those products we have in our craft rooms but that we might not use too often.  Our hostess, Deborah, is asking us to use foils or gilding on our cards this week.

I had to think for this one.  I knew I didn’t have any gilding flakes or any of the foils that are heat set that I’ve been hearing about over the last few months, and I didn’t want to go to the expense of buying something that I may not use again.  Finally I remembered I had some gold foil stickers that I’d bought a few years ago.  I asked Deborah if they would be all right and she said they would count.  So I dug them out and had a go with them.  Well, technically, I had a go with one of them.  Whew.  These particular ornament images are pretty fragile to work with.  But I held my breath and used tweezers to help and I got it down on the cardstock without ripping it.  I did have a small ripple in it, but I was able to work the tip of my Cutterbee scissors underneath it, cut it, and smooth it down pretty seamlessly.  Sigh of relief!  I decided to color in parts of the ornament with my Copics.  Adding in the gold cording was a little tricky but I got it to work.  A layer of shiny gold cardstock between the focal layer and the card base adds a bit more shine.

52CCT 01-30-2016

Since this is “holiday” week at Addicted to Stamps and More, I’m going to enter this card into their challenge, too.

Check out the 52CCT blog and see what the rest of the design team has made.  Then share your own card using foils or gilding by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, February 5.  We’d love to have you join in the fun and creativity!

Supplies:
Stamp: More Merry Messages (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Calypso Coral, Gold Foil (SU); Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Calypso Coral (SU)
Other: gold ornament sticker (Elizabeth Craft Designs); markers (Copic); gold cord (SU)

Hello there!  It’s theme week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  This week, we’d like to see your Christmas cards featuring candles or lanterns.

For my card, I printed off a digital image of a candle with holly, and colored it with markers.  I used the current CAS(E) this Sketch! challenge for the layout of my card.  The main panel of the card is attached to the card base with dimensional adhesive to help accommodate the thickness of the ribbon and the backs of the brads holding the sentiment frame.  I also wanted to play along in the current “3-2-1” challenge at Shopping Our Stash, so I’ve used 3 metal embellishments (the frame and two brads), 2 words in the sentiment, and 1 ribbon.  Because I colored the image with markers, I can submit this card to the “Make Your Mark” challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More, too.

52CCT 01-23-2016

 

Be sure to check out what the rest of the 52CCT design team has made.  Then share your own card with us at the challenge site.  You have until 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, January 29 to link your card.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Digital Image: Christmas Candle (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Sentiment Stamp: Christmas Tags (SNSS)
Cardstock: Wild Wasabi (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: printer ink; Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Wild Wasabi ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware, dimensionals (SU); markers (Copic)

Hi there!  This week is color challenge week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  Deborah, our hostess for the month of January, has chosen a somewhat unusual one for Christmas cards:  she’d like to see shades of orange!

I will admit that this had me stumped for a while because I really don’t use orange very often, mainly just for autumnal cards.  I was browsing through my computer, looking for ways I’d used orange in the past, and rediscovered a card I’d made a few months ago.  I decided to rework it to make it suitable for the holiday season.  I scribbled red, orange, and yellow gel sticks on a piece of white cardstock and blended the colors with a slightly damp paper towel to create my orangey background.  I used shimmery white cardstock to resemble snow covering the ground and trees.  (It’s hard to get a photo that shows off the shimmer really well.)  My son helped me choose the sentiment; he picked this one because he felt the scene looked tranquil.

52CCT 01-16-2016

Thanks for stopping by today!  Be sure to check out the 52CCT blog to see what the rest of the design team has made.  Then link your own card to the challenge post.  You have until 7:00 Eastern time Friday, January 22 to play along with us.  We can’t wait to see what kind of orangey Christmas card you create!

Supplies:
Stamp: Holiday Script (Lizzie Anne Designs for Gourmet Rubber Stamps)
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Basic Black, Shimmery White (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: gel sticks (Faber Castell); Wide Open Spaces die (Memory Box)

Hello!  It’s time to get back into the swing of challenges again at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  The purpose of our challenges is to allow our participants to build up a supply of Christmas cards to have ready to send once December comes around.  Plus, it’s just simply fun to create holiday cards all year long! 🙂

We’re starting off the month with a sketch challenge.  I’ve stretched the sketch from a portrait-oriented rectangle to a landscape-oriented rectangle, but otherwise I’ve kept pretty true to the way the sketch was drawn.  I’ve also kept my card rather clean and simple in design.  I did take the liberty of omitting the embellishment type thing that’s drawn like a postage cancellation stamp.  I couldn’t figure out what to use for that element that wouldn’t detract from the rest of the card.  I guess if I’d used an image other than the penguin I may have come up with something, but I feel like my creativeness is still trying to rebound from the holiday break.

52CCT 01-09-2016

What will you make with this sketch?  Be sure to check out what the rest of the 52CCT design team has made, and meet our newest team members, at the 52CCT blog.  Then link your own card to the challenge post by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, January 15, 2016.  We’d love to have you join us!  Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Warm Penguin (Lizzie Anne Designs for Gourmet Rubber Stamps)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Season of Style designer series paper (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Regals candy dots (SU); markers (Copic)

Hello!  It’s December, which means that Christmas is just a few short weeks away!  If you’ve been playing along with us at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown throughout the year, you should have a nice stash of holiday cards ready to send to your loved ones.  To close out the year, we’re having just one challenge in December, but it starts today and lasts until December 18.  We’re inviting our challenge participants to create a card using any one of our challenges from 2015.

I’ve gone back to the start of the year with our January sketch challenge.  I’ve turned the sketch 90° on its side and put the fold at the top edge of the card.  The ornament is raised up from the card front with dimensional adhesive.  Since the sentiment was going to be stamped on a darker cardstock color, I chose a lighter shade of red than I did for the ornament, so that the two reds would end up as a close match. The gold cording is an older SU item that was retired quite some time ago. It’s a pretty simple and straightforward card, so I’ll stop chatting and share it:

52CCT 12-05-2015

There have been about 50 challenges at 52CCT this year – which one will you choose?  Be sure to link your card at the 52CCT site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, December 18.  We enjoy seeing what our challenge participants create!  Many thanks to everyone who plays along with us.

All supplies for today’s card are from Stampin’ Up:
Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Wondrous Wreath
Cardstock: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Season of Style designer series paper
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Real Red
Other: ornament punch, gold cording, dimensionals

Hello there!  It’s the second Saturday of the month, which means it’s time for another color challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.

I have to admit that this week’s colors, purple and green, are not a combination I would have thought to put together, so I struggled with it at first.  I finally decided to use an image of an evergreen tree decorated with purple ornaments.  This week’s challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch! seemed like it would work well with my idea.  I stamped the tree with a combination of VersaMark and green dye ink and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  Then I did a wash over it with a drop of purple reinker mixed with some water.  The heat embossing resisted the wash, creating a background for the tree.  The sentiment was also heat embossed in green.  I added some coordinating enamel dots to the tree, along with a silver star-shaped brad.  Cutting the focal panel with a stitched die wasn’t so easy because the wash and the embossing had both warped the cardstock somewhat.  I ran it through my Big Kick several times, with as thick a “sandwich” as I could easily put through the machine, to try to flatten it.  That did help a little bit, but not nearly as much as I would have liked.  I layered the panel with a thin purple mat and then attached it all to a card base.

52CCT 11-14-2015

What will you create with these colors?  Neutrals can be used, but the purple and green should be the dominant colors of your card.  Link it up to our 52CCT challenge post by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, November 20.  We’d love to have you join us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Season of Joy, Short & Sweet (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs); Perfect Plum (SU)
Ink: Garden Green (SU); VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Other: Elegant Eggplant reinker, clear detail embossing powder, Regals candy dots (SU); star brad (The Paper Studio); Stitched Rectangles die (Lawn Fawn)

Hello there!  Christmas is quickly approaching, but if you’ve been joining in the challenges at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown throughout the year, you should have a nice stockpile of Christmas cards ready to be signed and sent!  If you’re new to our site, that’s OK, you can let this week’s challenge spark your creativity.

We are starting the month with a sketch challenge.  For my card, I’ve turned the sketch on its side and created a little scene. I freehand cut the “snowbank”. The snowman was stamped, colored, fussy cut, and adhered to the card front with dimensional adhesive. The three little snowflake embellishments have a bit of glittery Stickles around them.

52CCT 11-07-2015

We’d love to see what you can do with this sketch!  Link your card to the 52CCT challenge post by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, November 13.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Be Jolly (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); designer papers from Blitzen collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); Frosted Lace Stickles (Ranger); snowflake eyelets (source unknown)

Hello!  Happy Halloween to all of my readers who celebrate it!

It may seem odd to be sharing a Christmas card on Halloween, but at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, we celebrate Christmas all year ’round!  Because it’s a fifth Saturday of the month, this week we have a “Pick a Previous” challenge for you.  April, our challenge hostess, is asking us to choose a previous 52CCT theme challenge for inspiration this time.  You can find the previous themes in the “themes archive” tab at the 52CCT website.

I went back just a couple of months to the August 2015 theme, “For a Child.”  I’m trying to build up a stash of cards for Send a Smile 4 Kids and will be sending my 52CCT cards to them.  Today’s card with its punny sentiment is probably more suited for a tween or a teenager than a younger child.   The layout is taken from this week’s Freshly Made Sketches challenge, but I’ve turned the sketch on its side because I didn’t want any of the little birdies to appear to be looking off the edge of the card.  I stamped the tree branches on the polka dot designer paper.  The birds were stamped on white cardstock, colored, and fussy cut before adhering them to the designer paper.  I also stamped the bird with the earmuffs on the designer paper so I wouldn’t have to try to fussy cut around the earmuffs.  (Considering the hat and the scarf on the other two birds, I do think the bird on the right is wearing earmuffs, not headphones.)  I drew in the legs for the other two birds instead of cutting around them.  I realize the grey isn’t the most cheery color for a child’s card, but at least it’s gender neutral.  That color choice ended up as a happy accident from using dark brown ink to stamp the branches on the designer paper and progressed from there.

52CCT 10-31-2015Addicted to Stamps and More is running their Holiday theme week, so I’m entering my card into their challenge, too.

Which theme will you pick?  There are over 30 from which to choose, so have fun deciding!  Then be sure to share your card with us at the 52CCT site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, November 6.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Winter Sparrows (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Soft Sky Prints designer series paper (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Early Espresso (SU)
Other: Chocolate Chip marker (SU); markers (Copic)

Hello friends!  It’s time for a technique challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown and this time it’s a fun one: emboss resist.  Even though I don’t use this technique often, I always love the results.

I used the current CAS(E) this Sketch! challenge for the layout of my card.  I heat embossed the snowflakes and the sentiment with white ink and white embossing powder.  Then I brushed a wash of ink and water over the embossing, which resisted the color.  I love the subtle variation in the color where the ink tended to pool!  Once the ink wash had dried, I die cut my card front and then attached it to a card base.  It was pretty interesting (and fortunate) that the two colors of ink I used for the wash ended up blending to match a different Stampin’ Up color. I have to admit I’m quite pleased with how it turned out.

52CCT 10-24-2015

 

 

I’m really looking forward to seeing what our challenge participants at 52CCT create this week!  Be sure to link your card at the challenge post by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, October 30.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Bows and Holly, Critters in the Snow (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: watercolor paper (Artist’s Loft); Pool Party (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: craft white (SU)
Other: white embossing powder (Stampendous); Baja Breeze and Soft Sky reinkers (SU); Stitched Rectangles die (Lawn Fawn)

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