Playing with Plaid

It was such a scramble before Christmas trying to make all my Christmas cards so I've decided to join in on the Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenges as much as possible this year.

Since I had a bit of time to make a card I decided to join in on the challenge this week. The challenge is Plaid.

Well I searched high and low to see if I had any plaid items like paper, ribbon or even stamps that could be used to make a plaid pattern, and I came up with nothing! Then I remembered this rag quilt I made last year

and after a little hunt for scraps of leftover fabric, I came up with some bits and pieces for my card. Now what to do with them! In the end I decided to make a cosy hat a scarf for a cute Hero Arts snowman and also use the fabric for borders. Thanks again to my friend Linda for giving me the the snowman stamp and die sets:) She's another big fan of the Merry Monday Challenges and first introduced me to the Merry Monday Challenges.

Stamps - Frosty Wishes (Hero Arts) and Polar Set by Lia (Hero Arts)
Die set - Snowman Die Cuts (Hero Arts)
Embossing Folder - Snowflakes (Cuttlebug)

I started by heat embossing the sentiment on a panel of card and added an embossed snowbank which has touches of diamond stickles on the snowflakes. Sorry the photo isn't great - it's a really dull day here today. Then I stamped and cut out the snowman, did a little colouring with Promarkers and added the die cut plaid hat and scarf. To finish I frayed a couple of strips of fabric and used them as borders.

As I had a variety of plaid strips left over from the quilt I also die cut hats and scarves in a couple of other colours. I hope to make another couple of snowmen cards during the week to get a good start on my Christmas card stash.

Merry Christmoose

Yesterday I received some very happy mail thanks to the generosity of my favourite company - Hero Arts. Thanks a million Hero Arts:) I’m so glad I’m off work for most of this week so I can dive in and get inky! I started by making some items for a Scramble I’m hosting in the Hero Arts Flickr group on Saturday, but since the theme is a surprise I can’t post them just yet.

Anyway next up I wanted to use Christmas lights from the new Sparkle Borders set. I always like to make some cute Christmas cards and this time decided to have the funny moose from the Missing You set decorated or decorating for Christmas.

Stamps (Hero Arts) – Sparkle Borders, Missing You, Very Merry Christmas, Christmas Reindeer (snowflake), Polar Set by Lia (snowflake) and Fancy Cut Christmas (snowflake)

After die cutting a circle from a panel of kraft card, I embossed the panel and left it aside. For the background I inked a piece of white card with tumbled glass and salty ocean distress inks. After spritzing it with water and allowing time to dry, I stamped a mix of snowflakes in faded jeans distress ink . I adhered some snow banks onto the panel. These were made by tearing white card and distressing the edges with a scissors. I stamped the moose on white card and drew a line of string for my lights. The smallest light image from the Sparkle Borders set was stamped along the string. After cutting out the moose and lights image I coloured it with Promarkers and added diamond stickles and glossy accents to the lights.

The sentiment was made by combining sentiments from the Very Merry Christmas and Missing You sets.

I’m submitting this card into Merry Monday’s Christmas Lights and Glitter Challenge, Simon Says Stamps’ Anything Goes Challenge and Hero Arts’ Holiday Card Making Challenge.

Poinsettia Wreath

Today we’re going to decorate the house for Halloween and here I am thinking about Christmas again. I still have quite a few Christmas cards to make so hopefully you won’t get sick of my Christmas card posts between now and Christmas!

I wanted to make a wreath for a card and thought the pretty little flower in Hero Arts Color Layering Dimensional Bird set would be perfect for making a poinsettia wreath.

To make the background I embossed a panel of kraft card with the Snowflake Trim embossing folder from Darice and distressed the edges. The sentiment from Hero Arts Polar set by Lia was white embossed. I stuck the tail end of a piece of string to the back of the embossed panel before adhering the panel to the card base with foam pads.

Stamps (Hero Arts) - Color Layering Dimensional Bird and Polar Set by Lia
Embossing Folder (Darice) - Snowflake Trim

Next it was time to make flowers and leaves for the wreath. I stamped the flowers in barn door distress ink and the leaves in mowed lawn distress ink. After cutting out the flowers and leaves I layered the flowers and added gold sequins to the centres. Then I adhered the flowers in a circular shape and added the leaves and string bow to finish.

I’m submitting this card into Hero Arts Holiday Card Making Challenge and Simon Says Stamp Wrap it Up Challenge. Now I'm off to spookify the house:)

Polar Thanks

I couldn't wait to get my hands on Hero Arts' adorable Polar Set from the Lia Griffith collection. How could I resist a set that includes lots of cute polar creatures along with accessories and other fun images?

To start with I made the background for the penguin by dragging a Hero Arts ombré (mint to emerald green) ink pad across a panel of white card. Once this was dry I added it to my card base and die cut and stamped the sentiments.

Stamps & Die (Hero Arts) - Polar set by Lia & Thanks Stamp & Cut

After stamping and cutting out the penguin and ice floe, I coloured the images with Promarkers. Then to add some sparkle to the floe, I added a coat of diamond stickles to the upper part and covered the whole piece with a layer of glossy accents.

I'm submitting this card into the Happy Challenge over at A Blog Named Hero as this cute little penguin stamp makes me smile and Simon Says Stamp's Use a Stamp Challenge.