Church Christmas Project - Day 3 (Rejoice)

Click here for more information and a link to my Pinterest board for more cards I made in past years.

One of the things I love about this project is taking the various stamps I have collected over the years (I've done this for about 5 years, I think) and combining them in different ways.

Today's card is a great example of that. I started with a Stampabilities sentiment from Hobby Lobby (my sister always takes me there when I visit her in the US - they often have 'church' sentiments that I can't find in other places). I noticed that the top part of the sentiment provides a perfect 'ground' for my Hero Arts (Greatest Gift - appears to be reitred) stable. To add a pop of colour and shine, I sponged the bottom of the panel with Fired Brick distress ink and the glued a narrow strip of gold mirror card.

FS461 - Daisies

This week's Splitcoaststampers Featured Stamper is Laine Webb. This lady has mad shading skills - her gallery is full of amazing, coloured images!

I chose this pretty daisy card to case:



I focused on Laine's
-theme (daisies)
-pretty background panel in blue and green
-general layout

I changed
-techniques
-fewer layers and embellishments

I sponged a square panel with Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers and Mowed Lawn. It felt pretty intense, so I wanted lots of white around it. My daisies are Paper Smooches Dainty Flowers 2, with al the 'bits' left in. I coloured the stems with Copics and used Doodlebug sparkly enamel dots for my flower centres.

ETA: Also linking up to Paper Smooches Flower challenge.

MCV31 - Joy

This is my card for this week's Muse: ChristmasVisions challenge where Chriss gave us this inspiration:

And it is a testament to how one small detail can really change how you feel about a card.

I started by cutting a 4x4 black panel and inlaying a Simon Christmas Tree die in white. I then cut a bunch of ornaments using a Stampin' Up Sizzix die and mirror cardstock. I was put it together and it felt blah and dull. Like I had done it before. I didn't have a sentiment and there really wasn't a place to put it that wouldn't throw the panel out of balance. And then inspiration struck! I used an MFT Snowdrifts die to cut an asymmetrical curve, leaving enough room for my simple (unknown) sentiment without sacrificing the graphic look and feel. In fact, I think it enhanced it. Thoughts?

I focused on Chriss'
-colour scheme (white, black with red and gold accents)
-use of white die cuts on a black background
-one word sentiment

ETA: Thanks, Sarah - also linking up to ATCAS.

Muse144 - Happy Birthday To You

This is my card for this week's Muse Challenge, where my daughter Kate  has filled in as our 'missing' guest (my fault compeltely!) with this fun little card:

I focused on Kate's
-colourful
-horizontal row layout
-all caps sentiment

I used a Taylored Expression gift border die. I cut it in black and also in white. I coloured each piece of the white cut with copics then coated them with 2 coats of clear Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents. I laid the black outline over top and added this WPlus9 Sentiment.

Church Christmas Project - Day 2 (O Come)

Click here for more information about my Church Christmas Card project and a link to my Pinterest board for more cards I made in past years.

This card may look familiar to you because I adapted this card to meet the needs of this project by changing the size to fit the paper that goes inside, and changing the sentiment to something more church-like. I also backed it onto Early Espresso rather than Black, but that was only because I had lots of Early Espresso on hand.

The poinsettia and sentiment are both from Altenew and embossed in gold. I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and an aquabrush to add colour.

Church Christmas Project - Day 1 (King of Kings)

During the year, I make about 350 Christmas cards that are sent out by my church (and my parents' church) to members of the two congregations. Click here for more information and a link to my Pinterest board for more cards I made in past years.

Because I make so many of these cards, they are simple in design and usually very flat. You know that I love to make square cards, but for the purposes of this project, the cards are 4.25 x 5.5. I generally make multiples of 4 (either 24 or 28) because I usually have a mat on the front of the card, and you can get 4 from a sheet.

Over the month of December, I'll show you the ones that haven't been blogged previously during the year.

For today's card, I used my favourite creche stamp - an old retired image from Market Street Stamps. I stamped it in early espresso and grounded it with a Paper Smooches Shadow stamp in Crumb Cake. I need help remembering where the sentiment came from (anyone?). I cut the image panel with a Papertrey die from Sending You to echo the 'shine' from the manger. For some colour and warmth, I dug out some very old Basic Grey Fruitcake DP and cut it with an Avery Elle Wonky Stitches die.

CASology 175 - Pie

This week's CASology Cue Card is Pie!

I have been reorganizing all my dies lately - I had stored them by theme, but now want to store them by manufacturer, so when I came across these pie chart dies from MFT (sorry, retired), I knew I would use them for this challenge. I wanted to have a heart fitting in as the final piece, but didn't have one the right size. I used the smallest MFT Heart Stax die and cut it out of the final piece instead. But then it was tricky finding a sentiment. I was thinking "you complete me", but found this Ellen Hutson sentiment in the 12 Days Companion Greetings which works perfectly to make a fun valentine or wedding or anniversary card.

That's a big focal image and there's quite a lot going on, so I kept it simple by limiting the colour palette to neutrals with one pop of "copic-wink-of stella-glossy-accents" red. That is a seriously cool technique for getting a sparkly shine!

Now it's your turn! Don't forget to drop by the rest of the DT Blogs for more inspiration:

Hannelie Bester
Hazel Hodgkins
Jen Wills
Joyce Mehrberg
Judy Marino
Kimberly Wiener
Kymona Tracey
Melissa Chipperfield
Tracey McNeely

and this week's Guest Designer: Coni