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Christmas Card Throwdown - August theme challenge

Aug 122017

Hello! Today starts the second week of the August theme challenge challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown. It’s a different one this time: Tropical Christmas. Well, at least for people like me who have always lived where it’s winter time at Christmas, it’s different!

I will admit that I was struggling for ideas last week before the challenge went live, but I finally got a card made this week to share in the challenge reminder post at the challenge blog. I’ve taken extreme liberties with nature and made a very brightly colored snowflake. Because it’s pretty unique, I thought the “snowbody like you” sentiment went well with it. Hopefully this will cheer up somebody who receives this card through Send a Smile 4 Kids. The layout for this card comes from the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge. It’s hard to tell in the photo, but the card base is textured cardstock, which gives a little extra visual interest to the card.

How will you interpret the theme of Tropical Christmas? Share your card at the CCT blog by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, August 18. We’d love to see what you make! Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Festive Flurry (Stampin’ Up); Kissmas & Mistletoe (Unity Stamp Company)
Cardstock: Summer Sun textured, Real Red, Ballet Blue, Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Fiesta Spectrum pad (SU)
Other: Snowflakes embossing folder (Darice); dimensionals (SU)

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - June stash/technique challenge

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Jun 252016

Hello! This week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown we’re combining two types of challenges. We’re taking the technique challenge of triple time stamping and adding in the stash challenge of adding a few brads.

I’ve gone with a snowflake design, using the brads to embellish the centers of the flakes. I slightly offset the panels to add a little extra visual interest to the card. There isn’t a lot more I can say about it so I’ll just share the card now:

Check out what the rest of the 52CCT design team has made! Then create a card of your own and share it with us at the 52CCT site. You have until 7:00 pm Eastern time Friday, July 1 to link your card.

Supplies are from Stampin’ Up unless otherwise stated:
Stamps: Festive Flurry; Kissmas & Mistletoe (Unity)
Cardstock: Perfect Plum, Whisper White
Ink: Perfect Plum, Pale Plum
Other: Ice Circles brads

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - April sketch challenge

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Apr 022016

Hello! Saturday means it’s time for a new challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, where we celebrate Christmas all year round. Each week we offer a cardmaking challenge to help you create Christmas or wintry cards so you’ll have a bunch of cards ready to send when the holiday season rolls around. I’m excited to be the challenge hostess for the month of April! We’re kicking the month off with a sketch challenge that I’ve designed. You’re welcome to rotate the sketch onto its side, flip it mirror-image, or manipulate it into a square if you like. So long as you keep the semicircle and circle elements, you’re on the right track!

I hadn’t used this cute penguin image for a long time, so I decided to dust him off and give him a little love. I colored the snowflakes to coordinate with the cardstock I used for the semicircle, which is embossed with a snowflake design. I’ve added narrow red mats to the white panels to show them off better. The end result is a rather clean and simple styled card.

Now it’s time for you to check out all the challenge details at the 52CCT site, and visit the rest of the design team members’ blogs for more inspiration. Then create your own card and link it at the 52CCT site by 7:00 pm Eastern time Friday, April 8. I’d love to see what you do with my sketch! Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sweet Christmas Wishes (Unity Stamp Company)
Cardstock: Real Red, Pool Party (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); Pool Party (SU)
Other: markers (Copic); standard circle and big scalloped circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); Snowflake Background embossing folder (Darice); circle cutting system (Creative Memories)

CAS Colours & Sketches #156

6 Responses »

Jan 142016

Hello! Today marks the start of the first sketch challenge of the year at CAS Colours & Sketches.

A couple weeks ago, I was saddened to hear that one of my stamping acquaintances had passed away. Although I had never met Leslie in person, I had worked with her during one of the Hope You Can Cling To challenge seasons at Splitcoaststampers.com, and we “chatted” fairly frequently through comments we left on each other’s blogs. Both of us were supporters of Operation Write Home. She occasionally participated in the challenges at CC&S, and she had started up her own sketch challenges last year at her blog, The Crooked Stamper. So when I was forming my CC&S sketch challenge ideas for this month, I decided to honor Leslie by combining elements from her first two Crooked Stamper Sketch Challenges into one sketch.

I have to confess that I had more trouble with this sketch than I thought I would! My first attempt got an ink smear that couldn’t be covered up. I had a few other ideas, but couldn’t come up with color combinations that I liked for them. I did finish an actual card late last night, but I really didn’t like it. I had one other idea that kept spinning around in the back of my mind, so last night when I was trying to fall asleep, I decided I’d get up early this morning and try to get it worked out before the challenge went live. So I did… and this is the result. I still had a bit of a fudging around with the colors. I wanted to use textured cardstock for the main panel, to give it a little bit of visual interest, but I didn’t have textured cardstock in the color I wanted to use. So I had to go with the grey.

I hope Leslie realized how fabulous she was. She had a wicked sense of humor that frequently was in line with mine, and her cards brought smiles to many people, not just me. The story of how she adopted her cat is pretty amazing. I will miss seeing her work around blog-land.

So, go make a card of your own using the sketch, and share it with us at the CC&S blog by 6:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, January 20. We’d love to see what you create!

Supplies:
Stamps: Where You Should Be (Unity Stamp Company); Priceless (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Strawberry Slush, Going Gray textured (SU); watercolor paper (source unknown)
Ink: Strawberry Slush (SU)
Other: pierced oval Die-namics die (My Favorite Things)

sketchy metal thanks

7 Responses »

May 292015

Here’s a quick card I made to enter into the challenges that are ending today at The Paper Players and Less is More. I’ve used the Paper Players sketch to create an AnyHero card for Operation Write Home. I’ve had these metal star snaps for a long time and haven’t used them much because they’re pretty thick, but the Less is More challenge to use metal gave me the incentive to use them. Since the card isn’t going to be mailed, the thickness of the metal won’t cause any issues.

Thanks for stopping by today! All comments are read and appreciated.

Supplies:
Stamp: Unity
Cardstock: Brilliant Blue, Real Red Core’dinations (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Brilliant Blue (SU)
Other: Stars embossing folder (ProvoCraft); metal star snaps (Making Memories); Star dies (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - May sketch challenge

12 Responses »

May 022015

Hello! Saturday means it’s time for a new challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, and I’m excited to be the challenge hostess for the month of May! We’re kicking the month off with a sketch challenge that I’ve designed. You’re welcome to rotate the sketch onto its side, flip it mirror-image, or manipulate it into a square if you like. The star-shaped element of the sketch can be replaced with any shape. So long as we can see the basic elements of the sketch in your card, it’s all good!

I’ve chosen to go with a snowy theme for my card, using a snowflake patterned paper for the “bars” along the sides of the sketch and using a die-cut snowflake for the star element. I stamped the snowflake twice, once in grey and once in aqua. I trimmed out the center of the aqua one, added a cardstock shim to the back to give it a little dimension, and then adhered it to the center of the grey snowflake. The grey snowflake also has a cardstock shim behind it to raise it up a bit from the card base. A tiny rhinestone in the center of the snowflake adds a bit of sparkle.

I’m also going to include this card in the current challenge at Retro Rubber Challenge Blog since all the stamps I’ve used are more than a year old.

RRCB13

So now it’s time for you to check out all the challenge details at the 52CCT site, and visit the rest of the design team members’ blogs for more inspiration. Then create your own card and link it at the 52CCT site by 7:00 pm Eastern time Friday, May 8. I’d love to see what you do with my sketch!

Supplies:
Stamps: Festive Flurry, Season of Joy (Stampin’ Up); Winter Wishes (Unity)
Cardstock: Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); Winter Frost designer series paper (SU)
Ink: Smoky Slate, Pool Party (SU)
Other: rhinestone (Recollections); Festive Flurry die (SU)

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - March color challenge

6 Responses »

Mar 142015

Hello! This week is color challenge week at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown. We have a non-traditional color palette this time – pink, light blue, and silver.

I pondered the colors for a while and tossed a few ideas around in my head, but nothing seemed “right” until I decided to revisit one of my older cards and just switch up the colors. The result is a clean and layered card with some embossing and a few rhinestone embellishments.

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, March 20 to link your card at the 52{C}CT site. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamp: Winter Wishes (Unity)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Brushed Silver, Bashful Blue, Whisper White (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Pink Pirouette (SU)
Other: Snowflakes embossing folder (Sizzix), ticket corner punch (SU); rhinestones (Recollections)

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - October stash challenge

9 Responses »

Oct 252014

Hello! Once again, it’s stash challenge week at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown, where we invite our challenge participants to use particular items from their crafting stash to create a Christmas or wintry card. This time the chosen item is enamel dots.

I’ve combined a couple of other challenges in with this one. The layout for this card is the current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches. I also tied in tomorrow’s Hope You Can Cling To challenge requirements – but since that challenge hasn’t gone live yet, I can’t give any details on that! Heh heh heh. I’ve used one of my favorite little penguin images – oh what am I saying, I love all my little penguin images. 🙂 I did add a bit to the sketch by working in my enamel dots and by using a die-cut snowflake to mat the penguin. The sentiment is from an older sentiment set by Purple Onion Designs. I looked on their website to try to get the name of the set, but I couldn’t find it, so I’m guessing it’s been retired.

How will you use your enamel dots? We’d love to see! Link your card at the 52{C}CT site by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, October 31. Be sure to check out the rest of the design team members’ cards for more inspiration. Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters in the Snow (Lawn Fawn); Kissmas & Mistletoe (Unity Stamp Company); sentiment stamp from Purple Onion Designs
Cardstock: Marina Mist, Basic Black (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Craft White (SU)
Other: Festive Flurries die, enamel dots (SU); markers (Copic); standard circle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders)

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - August theme challenge

7 Responses »

Aug 162014

Hello, and happy Saturday to you! I hope your weekend has gotten off to a good start.

This week is theme week at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown. Gill, our hostess, has chosen an interesting one: mistletoe and wine. I knew I had a couple of mistletoe images, but I had to think about the wine… and I finally settled on using burgundy cardstock for it. (Get it? Burgundy? Wine? OK, maybe that’s a stretch, but going by Gill’s rules it works!) The mistletoe berries have been covered with crystal lacquer so they have a bit of shine to them in real life. I used a subtle background stamp on the burgundy strip of cardstock to give it a little more visual interest. The narrow green strip has a scored line above and below the piercing – I’m not sure how well that shows in the photo.

If you need more ideas, go check out the 52{C}CT blog and see what the rest of the design team has made. Then link your card at the challenge site by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, August 22. We’d love to see how you interpret this challenge!

Supplies:
Stamps: Kissmas & Mistletoe (Unity Stamp Company); Sanded (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Bravo Burgundy, Naturals White (SU)
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Bravo Burgundy (SU)
Other: petite scalloped circle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders); Crystal Lacquer (Sakura); piercing tool; score board

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - March Pick a Previous challenge

12 Responses »

Mar 292014

Hello! It’s the fifth Saturday of the month, which means that at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown, it’s Pick a Previous week! Since I’m hosting the challenges this month, I had the opportunity to choose exactly what type of “previous” to use for inspiration, and I’ve chosen Previous Colors. Go to the 52{C}CT site, click on the “Colour Combos Archive” tab, and select one of the 25+ color combinations to use in creating your Christmas or wintry card.

I’ve chosen the July 2012 combo for my card: black and white with a splash of blue. This gave me the chance to use this cute penguin stamp again. I colored his scarf blue and stamped some blue snowflakes on the background panel. The layout for this card is from the current Freshly Made Sketches challenge, and I’ve squished it into a rectangle.

Which color combination will you choose? Link your creation at the 52{C}CT site by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time/6:00 p.m. GMT Friday, April 4. We’d really appreciate it if you join us! Thanks for stopping by here today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Warm Penguin (Lizzie Anne Designs for Gourmet Rubber Stamps); Kissmas & Mistletoe (Unity Stamp Company)
Cardstock: Basic Black, Ballet Blue, Whisper White (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Ballet Blue (SU)
Other: markers (Copic); standard circle and petite scalloped circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders)

Cards in Envy - Snow Buddy Like You!

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Jan 062014

Hello! I hope Monday is being kind to you today. It’s a happy day over at the Cards in Envy challenge blog because we’re starting off the year with a new challenge! This time our theme is “Snow Buddy Like You”. We want to see your cards showing images of snowmen (and/or snowwomen). Remember that for our challenges, all cards must be A2 sized and cannot have lumpy, bumpy embellishments more than 1/4″ thick.

I’ve combined a snowman patterned paper with a large stamped snowman image and OWH Stars & Stamps bonus sketch #31. I have to admit that when I made this card, I was in a rush to get it finished and mailed off in a shipment to Operation Write Home before their submission deadline for winter and valentine cards. So I didn’t take the time to heat emboss the snowman. As the white ink dried on the black cardstock, it ended up taking on a greyish hue similar to that in the designer paper. Score! The cherry red strip was dry embossed with a snowflake embossing folder. I didn’t really have a good place to put a sentiment, so I opted to just not use one, making this more of an any-occasion card for one of our military men or women to use to write home to their loved ones.

If you need additional inspiration, please go check out the Cards in Envy site and see what the rest of the design team has made. Then create a snowbuddy card and share it with us on the Cards in Envy site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, January 19. We’d love to have you play along with us!

Supplies:
Stamps: Kissmas & Mistletoe (Unity)
Cardstock: Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler (Stampin’ Up); designer paper from Winter Wonderland paper pack (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Ink: Whisper White craft (SU)
Other: Snowflakes embossing folder (Sizzix)

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - November technique challenge

5 Responses »

Nov 232013

Hello! It’s technique challenge week over at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown and Louise has an interesting one for us this week – inking up an acrylic block to create a background.

I chose to ink up my largest acrylic block, which is 4″ x 5″. I randomly applied three colors of ink to the entire block. (My ink pads are all the small 1″ cube type, so it was easy to use them to add ink to small areas of the block.) I spritzed the block with water to blur the lines and help the inks run together a bit. Then I placed a piece of cardstock onto the block and pressed it with my hands to transfer the ink to the cardstock. After it dried I trimmed the edges, and the result is what I used for this card. I added a sentiment stamp and repeated a snowflake stamp several times, and heat embossed the stamping with white embossing powder. (I originally tried a silver powder, but it didn’t show well against the purple and grey inks.) After I assembled the card, I added some rhinestones to the snowflake centers to give the card a little more pizazz. And ta-da! It’s another winter card for Operation Write Home.

I hope you’ll give this technique a try and share your results with us at 52{C}CT! The linky tool will remain open until 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, November 29.

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a fantastic weekend!

Supplies:
Stamps: Winter Wishes, Kissmas & Mistletoe (Unity)
Cardstock: Smoky Slate, Midnight Muse, Perfect Plum (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Craft White, Smoky Slate, Midnight Muse, Perfect Plum (SU)
Other: white embossing powder (Stampendous); rhinestones (SU)

dynamic sketchy snowman

3 Responses »

Nov 202013

Today’s card combines the current Dynamic Duos color challenge with the current Seize the Sketch sketch challenge. I’ve used these challenges to create another winter themed card for Operation Write Home. The snowman was heat embossed on a scrap piece of cardstock and then fussy cut. He’s raised up a bit from the background to add a little dimension to the card. The photo doesn’t show it, but the black cardstock has a very subtle linen texture.

Thanks for stopping by today! Comments are always welcome and appreciated!

Supplies:
Stamps: Kissmas & Mistletoe (Unity); Critters in the Snow (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Basic Black textured, Smoky Slate (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: craft White (SU); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: white embossing powder (Stampendous)

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - November color challenge

5 Responses »

Nov 092013

Hello! It’s color challenge time again at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown, and Louise has come up with something pretty unique for us. She’s challenging us to use the monochromatic scheme of black, white and grey.

Even though I tossed a few ideas around in my head before I started actually working on my card, all of my thoughts were focusing on showing snow in some way. I finally decided I’d give this snowman image a try since I hadn’t used it yet. I masked off part of the card’s main panel and sponged along the edges of the area with black and white inks. I didn’t quite get the effect I wanted with that, but I decided to roll with it anyway. I also masked and sponged an area of “snow covered ground” at the bottom. Then I added in my snowman image and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. Some of the excess powder stayed on the card, but it’s not too bad. Then I added a coordinating sentiment. The snowflake eyelet was a literal last-minute decision. I’d already assembled the card and felt like it was missing something. I didn’t want to have to pull out the heat embossing supplies again to add a stamped and embossed snowflake in the corner. So I opted for the eyelet instead, and gently separated the panel from the card base to hammer the eyelet into place. Then I reassembled the card. I do think it looks better with the eyelet, but I’m still not completely sold on the sponging.

I hope you’ll visit the other design team members’ blogs, and then create your own card using these colors! Share your work with us at the 52{C}CT website by 1:00 p.m. Eastern time Friday, November 15. Thanks for visiting today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Kissmas & Mistletoe (Unity)
Cardstock: Smoky Slate, Basic Black (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: craft White (SU); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: white embossing powder (Stampendous); snowflake eyelet (source unknown)

dynamic cheery penguin

2 Responses »

Nov 062013

Today I’m combining the current Dynamic Duos challenge with Jeanne’s Hope You Can Cling To challenge to put a smile on someone’s face. In my opinion, there’s no way this darling little penguin can fail in making someone smile, especially with the bright, cheery colors. The layout is a really old OWH Stars & Stamps sketch that I dug up from the archives because I hadn’t used it before. However, I did take the liberty of turning the sketch on its side.

That’s it for today! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ll come back again soon!

Supplies:
Stamps: Sweet Christmas Wishes (Unity)
Cardstock: Real Red, Bermuda Bay (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Bermuda Bay (SU)
Other: Snowflake Background embossing folder (Darice); markers (Copic)

Older Entries

Christmas Card Throwdown - August theme challenge

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - June stash/technique challenge

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - April sketch challenge

CAS Colours & Sketches #156

sketchy metal thanks

52 Christmas Card Throwdown - May sketch challenge

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - March color challenge

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - October stash challenge

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - August theme challenge

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - March Pick a Previous challenge

Cards in Envy - Snow Buddy Like You!

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - November technique challenge

dynamic sketchy snowman

52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown - November color challenge

dynamic cheery penguin

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