Hello!  It’s technique challenge time at Christmas Card Throwdown.  For the next two weeks, we’re hoping you’ll give the sunburst technique a try.  Some people call it the starburst technique.  Either way, it’s a super way to use up some of your designer papers!  Here’s the link to the tutorial I used when I first learned how to do it:  Starburst Technique

I decided to go with a snowman theme for my card.  It ended up using the not-so-snowy, traditional Christmassy colors of red and green.  Usually I sponge the edges of the triangles when I do this technique, but I opted not to take the time to do that this time.

52CCT 02-18-2017

Be sure to check out the cards the Design Team has made.  Then create your own card using this technique, and share it with us at the CCT site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, March 3.  We’d love to see your take on the technique!

Supplies:
Stamps: Snowmen & Snowflakes (Hero Arts); Critters in the Snow (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Poppy Parade, Gumball Green, Whisper White (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Nordic Holiday 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Poppy Parade (SU)
Other: standard circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders)

Hello!  It’s time for the first challenge of February at Christmas Card Throwdown.  For the next couple of weeks, we’re asking our participants to make cards using the theme of Christmas and/or wintry drinks.

When I’m cold, I enjoy curling up with a mug of hot cocoa.  I like adding lots of mini marshmallows to it and letting them get all soft and partially melted before I swallow them.  🙂  So that’s the drink I opted to feature on my card.  I had the perfect stamp for this, and I decided to pair it with the sketch from a recent (but now closed) CAS(E) this Sketch! challenge.  I looked through my designer papers and chose one with peppermints, because sometimes it’s nice to add some peppermint flavoring to the cocoa.  I took the colors for the mug and the straw from the designer paper.  Fussy cutting around the handle of the mug was kind of tedious, but I think the card ended up cheerily enough:

52CCT 02-04-2017

Since I used markers to color the mug image, I’ll submit this card for the current challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the CCT design team has made.  Then show us your favorite drink!  We’d love it if you joined our challenge.  You have until 7:00 pm Eastern time Friday, February 17 to link your card at the CCT site. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Warmest Wishes (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Confetti White (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah); designer paper from Aspen Frost 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Chocolate Chip (SU)
Other: markers (Copic)

It’s time for the last CAS Colours & Sketches challenge of 2016, and we’re closing the year out with another seasonal challenge.  This week we’d like for our participants to choose one of our sketch challenges from 2016 and make a festive card with it.

I missed out on challenge #173 back in May because at the time, I had to go out of town unexpectedly.  So I decided to use it for my card this week.  It’s great for a quick card!  I used a couple of scraps of designer paper for the diagonal strips, stamped a sentiment in a coordinating ink color, and the card was done!  I spent more time deciding which designer papers to use than I did assembling the card.

CASCAS203

CC&S sketch 203-001

sketch 173

We’d love to have you join in our challenge at CC&S!  Check out the Sketch Challenges Archives tab, pick one of the sketches from 2016, and make a holiday card.  You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, December 14 to link your card at the challenge site.  Thanks for visiting today!

Supplies:
Stamps: So Happy (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K. Designs); scraps from Nordic Holiday 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (Stampin’ Up)

It’s time for another stash challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown!  This week we’d like for you to reach into your craft supplies and create a card using glitter.

I have to admit I have a serious aversion to glitter.  I don’t like how it has a tendency to go all over the place and be difficult to remove.  But I do appreciate that it can really highlight a card.  I have some glittery cardstock, which is what I’ve used for my card.  I die cut some snowflakes from it and followed the 52CCT November 2016 sketch.  I felt the bold snowflakes spoke for themselves so that the card didn’t need a sentiment.

52CCT 11-26-2016

 

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, December 2.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: none
Cardstock: Solar White Classic Linen (Neenah); Glisten designer paper from Fruitcake collection (Basic Grey); Blue Bayou, silver glimmer paper (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: none
Other: Stitched Snowflakes die (Lawn Fawn)

Hello there, and happy Saturday to you!  It’s time for another theme challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown and this week we’re looking for cards that depict an old fashioned Christmas.  This can be interpreted in a number of different ways – vintage, retro, or traditional.

I didn’t know what I was going to do for this challenge until I remembered I had designer paper that showed ornaments that, to me at least, looked like something from the 1950s or 1960s.  I looked around the internet for sketch ideas and found the current challenge at Your Next Stamp.  I had a scrap of the ornament paper that fit perfectly into the sketch, so I decided to give it a try.  The package of designer paper has coordinating solids (well, actually a very subtle variegated print, but mainly solid) so I used a burgundy and an olive green to supplement the ornament paper.  The designer papers did most of the work for me!

52CCT 11-19-2016

ynssketch52

If you need additional inspiration, go on over to the 52CCT blog and see what the rest of the design team has made.  Then show us your own interpretation of an old fashioned Christmas by linking a card of your own to our challenge post.  You have until 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, November 25 to enter the challenge.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamp: More Merry Messages (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Naturals Ivory (SU); Vintage Ornaments, Spearmint, and Maraschino Cherry designer papers from Fruitcake collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (SU)

Hello!  This week is theme week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, and this time we have a theme that I think will be fun for a lot of people:  Christmas Critters.  Any type of animal critter you’d like to use will be fine, so long as it ties in with the Christmas season.

I turned to one of my stamp sets that features animals that live in cold climates, and chose one of the penguin stamps from it.  My Santa hat stamp from another set fits this penguin pretty well.  I stamped both the penguin and the hat on scrap cardstock, colored them, and fussy cut them.  It’s not easy to see in the photo, but I added some Wink of Stella to the white trim on the hat.  In real life, it’s pretty shimmery.  Then I had to figure out a layout and a color scheme for my card.  The current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches looked like a good one.  I had a banner with a heat-embossed sentiment left over from another project, and it fit perfectly with the sketch.  A variety of designer papers makes up the background for my penguin.  I don’t often use black for card bases, but it was the half-sheet of cardstock left over from the card I shared yesterday, and it tied in with the penguin.  And now I have another card to add to the ones I’ll be sending to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

52CCT 10-15-2016

What kind of critter(s) will you choose for your card?  Be sure to share it at the 52CCT site before the challenge ends at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, October 21.  Check out what the rest of the design team has made, too!  Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters in the Snow, Hats Off to You, Happy Everything (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Basic Black (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); scraps from Aspen Frost 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); gold (ColorBox)
Other: markers (Copic); Wink of Stella pen (Zig); detail gold embossing powder (SU)

Hello!  It’s the first Monday of the month, which means it’s Cards in Envy challenge introduction day!  A few weeks ago we had the theme of “Just Us Girls”.  This time we’re turning the tables with the theme of “No Girls Allowed.”  Make a card suitable for a boy or a man, and make sure it’s flat enough to be mailed at the standard first class postage rate.

Since Father’s Day will be coming up soon, I’m sharing a clean and simple Father’s Day card.  It was a quick and easy one to make.  I laid strips of designer paper on a diagonal, trimmed off the ends, added a sentiment, and attached the main panel of the card to a base of coordinating cardstock.  It really doesn’t get much simpler!  And it fits into the theme of the current challenge at The Paper Players.

CIE 06-06-2016

So now it’s your turn! Check out the Cards in Envy site for all the challenge details and to see what the rest of the design team has made. Then share your creation(s) with us by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, June 19. We’d love to have you play along with us!

Supplies:
Stamp: Father’s Day sentiment (Purple Onion Designs)
Cardstock: Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Pyrus 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Cajun Craze (SU)

Hello!  It’s the first Saturday of the month, which means it’s sketch challenge time at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  Our sketch this week has some fun layers and shapes to play with.

For my card, I decided to use some of the wintry designer paper I’ve been hoarding.  I’m not sure why I’ve been so reluctant to use it.  Maybe it’s because the snowmen are so super cute, I didn’t want to use them up.  I’ve paired that designer paper with a coordinating print and a banner made from a coordinating solid-ish paper.  I sponged the edges of the banner with the same color ink I used to stamp the sentiment.  The snowflake embellishments were die cut from another coordinating solid and brushed with shimmery paint.  In real life, they show up from the print papers better than they do in the photo.  I added a pearl to the center of each snowflake for the finishing touch.

52CCT 06-04-2016

Be sure to check out what the rest of the 52CCT design team has made!  Then make your own wintry or Christmasy card using the sketch, and share it with us using the linky tool at the challenge post.  You have until 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, June 10 to link your card.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamp: Be Jolly (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler (Stampin’ Up); Frosty, Yuletide, Wintermint, and Sugar Cookie designer papers from Fruitcake collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (SU)
Other: Stitched Snowflakes dies (Lawn Fawn); Frost White shimmer paint, dimensionals (SU); pearls (KaiserCraft); sponge

Hello!  It’s theme week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, and this time we’re looking for cards with little Christmas critters.  So long as your card features at least one small creature, it’ll meet the challenge theme.

I decided to use one of my Lawn Fawn stamps that doesn’t get a whole lot of inky love.  I do think it’s cute, but it’s a bit of a pain to paper piece and I wasn’t in a mood for coloring.  But I went ahead and pieced my scene from various designer papers and cardstock.  For the bunny, I worked with a scrap of caramel brown cardstock to loosen the fibers in it, and then gently pulled the front and back apart into two pieces, to achieve a bit of a fuzzy texture.  The card base is textured cardstock, although I’m not sure the texture shows in the photo.  The layout for this card is this week’s Freshly Made Sketches challenge, squashed into a landscape-oriented rectangle.

52CCT 05-21-2016

What kind of Christmas critter will you use on your card – animal, elf, child?  There are so many possibilities!  Check out the design team’s makes if you need further inspiration.  Once you’ve created your own card, link it to the 52CCT website by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, May 27.  We’d love to have you join us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Winter Bunny, Critters in the Snow (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Creamy Caramel textured, Whisper White, Creamy Caramel, Soft Sky Prints designer paper (Stampin’ Up); scraps from Pyrus and Gypsy 6″ x 6″ paper pads (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Hello friends!  It’s time for a technique challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, and it’s a fun and fairly popular one – paper piecing.  It’s a great one for using up scraps of designer paper!

It took me a while to get everything planned out in my head for this card, but once it all took shape, the card came together pretty easily.  I debated using one of my digital images, but I opted to use traditional stamps instead because I felt that would be simpler to work with all the different parts I wanted to piece.  I used two different mostly solid papers for the owl’s body and a striped paper for his scarf.  For the beak, I just colored the one I’d stamped on the off-white piece of paper.  The sky blue background was splattered with white shimmer paint to look like falling snow.  I wasn’t sure if the blue background would alter the color of the tree branch if I stamped directly on the blue, so I stamped the branch on a piece of white paper and (verrrrry carefully) cut it out and glued it to the background.  Then I added the sentiment and put the owl into place.  The layout for this card is from the current challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch!

52CCT 03-26-2016

The rest of the 52CCT design team and I are looking forward to seeing what paper pieced Christmas or wintry cards you’ll share with us this week!  You have until 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, April 1 to link your card to our challenge post.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Winter Owl (Lawn Fawn); Season of Friendship (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky (SU); scraps from Blush and Blitzen collections (Basic Grey)
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Other: Frost White shimmer paint (SU); marker (Copic)

Hi there!  February may be almost over, but we still have one more challenge for you at CAS Colours & Sketches before the month runs out.  This time we have a sketch challenge for your consideration.

My older son celebrated his birthday earlier this month, so I used this sketch with some scraps of designer paper to create his birthday card.  Stef, our challenge hostess, has said that we can substitute any shape in place of the flower on the sketch, so I’ve used a birthday present.  This gift package stamp is actually from a Christmas-themed stamp set, but I think the image works just as well for birthdays, too.  I chose a polka-dotted print for the wrapping paper on the gift, with a coordinating solid color for the ribbon and bow.  I have to admit that the fussy cutting was pretty tedious, especially around the loops and tails of the bow.  Strips of two additional coordinating designer papers were put to use for my banner elements.  A simple sentiment finished off the card.

CASCAS162

sketch 162

Be sure to check out what the rest of the CC&S Design Team and our February guest designer have made.  Then make your own card following the sketch and link it to the challenge site by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, March 2.  We’d love to have you join in the fun and creativity with us!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Bows and Holly, So Much to Say (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Bashful Blue (Stampin’ Up); scraps of designer paper from Oxford 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

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)

We’re getting into the holiday spirit again this week at CAS Colours & Sketches.  This time we’re asking our challenge participants to choose one of our sketch challenges from 2015 and turn it into a holiday card.

I’ve gone back to Challenge #111 for my card.  I love the interesting angles in this sketch.  I’ve used some designer paper and paired it with two coordinating solid colors and a white main panel.  As much as I like the scripty font of this stamp set, I don’t remember to use it very often.  But the holiday sentiment fit perfectly in the space here.  Once again, I’ve turned the sketch on its side and manipulated the triangles a little differently, but you can still see how the card was inspired by the sketch.

CASCAS154

I’m going to enter this card into the current challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More.

We’d love to have you join in our challenge at CC&S!  Check out the Sketch Challenges Archives tab, pick one of the sketches from 2015, and make a holiday card.  You have until 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, December 16 to link your card at the challenge site.  Thanks for visiting today!

Supplies:
Stamps: So Happy (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Old Olive, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler (Stampin’ Up); designer paper from Fruitcake collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (SU)

Hello, and Happy Thanksgiving to all my American visitors!

As usual on Thursdays, there’s a new challenge being presented at CAS Colours & Sketches.  This week it’s a sketch challenge.  I thought the offset half-circles were really interesting!  I’ve used two different designer papers and matted them.  The easy way to make them was to cut them with a circle-shaped die, and then to cut the circles in half.  Since that resulted in two half-circles in each design, I’ve gone ahead and made two cards, which will both be sent in a few days to Send a Smile 4 Kids.  I changed up the orientation of the card and the sentiment, but otherwise all the materials are the same.   The white panel is textured cardstock, which unfortunately doesn’t show the texture in the photos.

CASCAS152 noel

CASCAS152 hello

sketch 152

What will you create with this sketch?  Share your work with us at the CAS Colours & Sketches site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, December 2.  Be sure to check out what the other design team members have made, too!  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: none
Cardstock: Poppy Parade, Whisper White textured (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Aspen Frost 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: none
Other: standard circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); “Noel” die from Wonderful Wreath Framelits (SU); Simply Said Hello die (Avery Elle)

Hello!  It’s an exciting time at CAS Colours & Sketches this week!  Today we are presenting our 150th challenge – what a milestone!  Our blog’s third birthday is later this month.  So we are combining both events into one big celebration.  We even have prizes for three lucky participants in this week’s challenge!  Uniko and Crafter’s Companion are each offering a gift certificate, and Spectrum Noir is giving away a set of 12 Aqua Markers.  How cool is that?!?

Our sketch this week features a number.  Although the number “1” is shown on the sketch, any number can be used in order for your card to be eligible for our usual Weekly Winners voting.  However, in order to be considered for one of the prize drawings, you must use the number 1, 5, or 0, or any combination of those three numbers.

When I first saw that the sketch had an aperture element, my immediate reaction was to create a suspension card.  Since I don’t know anyone who is celebrating a major birthday or anniversary any time soon, I had to think of other ways to use the number element.  The phrase “you’re one of a kind” came to mind, and with winter coming soon and the thought that no two snowflakes are alike, I decided to incorporate those ideas into my card.  I figured it could be a card of encouragement to send to Send a Smile 4 Kids.  In order to best fit all the elements onto the card, I had to “squash” the sketch from a portrait-oriented rectangle into a landscape-oriented one.  I cut the card front and the horizontal strip from designer paper.  I decided to add a curve to the horizontal strip, to play along with the idea of snowflakes blowing in the wind.  I fit the pieces together and attached them to the card base with temporary adhesive to stamp the sentiment and cut the aperture, to make sure all the layers lined up perfectly together.  The snowflake element was cut from two scraps of a solid blue cardstock that coordinates with the outline of the snowflakes on the horizontal strip.  The scrap of the card front left from cutting the aperture was just big enough to cut two smaller snowflakes from it, so I decided to do that and add them to the solid blue snowflakes.  I sandwiched a single strand of embroidery floss between the two compound snowflake elements and adhered it tautly to the back of the card front.  Then I attached the card front to the card base.  The snowflake appears to be suspended in the aperture and can twirl around.  How fun is that?!?  The number 1 was also cut from the scraps of solid blue cardstock that I’d used for the larger snowflakes.  I stacked two of them together and attached them to the card front to finish the card.

CASCAS150

CASCAS150 angle

sketch 150

We’d love to see what you can create with this week’s sketch, and to have you join in celebrating with us! Share your card at the CC&S website by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, November 18. A big hug of appreciation goes out to all of our CAS Colours & Sketches challenge participants who have made our blog such a wonderful gathering place for fun and creativity!  We hope you’ll continue to join in our challenges.  Thank you to our fantastic sponsors for this week, who have generously offered prizes.

https://uniko.co.uk/blog                      

Supplies:
Stamps: Jesse’s ABCs (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Blue Bayou (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); designer papers from Fruitcake collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Blue Bayou (SU)
Other: Stitched Snowflakes, Stitched Rectangles, and Stitched Square dies (Lawn Fawn); Landscape Trio die (Mama Elephant); Best Friends Forever number die (Ellison Design); embroidery floss (DMC)

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