{Jolly Christmas} Color Throwdown #523

Hi everyone,

I had a lot of fun exploring different and a bit unusual color combinations for christmas but now it's time for something a bit more traditionally and this week's color throwdown challenge is just perfect. Red, green and craft is one of my all time favorite christmas color combo.

I wanted to try to do something a bit more minimalist this time. I normally love to go crazy on the layering and stacking  but I really tried to constrain myself. I embossed white snowflakes from an older, retired TCP stamp set on my cardstock and dabbed some white ink with a sponge on it for a touch of snow. I used the Snowfall Style 1 Die from PTI for the large snowflake.

Thanks so much for stopping by 

and a Merry Christmas!!!

Sony

{Jewel Christmas} Funky Christmas Pt.5

Hi,

I hope you're ready for another funky christmas card. I wanted to push myself a little out of my comfort zone on this one and decided to base my card on a patterned paper I'd normally wouldn't chose...and that was this one:

I usually prefer a bit more subtle patterns with smaller accents and details. I'm also not really a pink person so this paper would have probably been one of the last ones I would have used from this pack.

I thought to pull this one off, I'd have to pair it with a fun christmas tree stamp so I looked through my old stamps and found this Sprinkle one from the Cat's Pajamas that was just perfect for it.

Now I wanted a sketch that I could base my card on. I've found that having a sketch design before you start making your card is a great way to save some time. I found this sketch from MFT on Pinterest that sparked my interest and thought could be fun to make.

 

The pattern was so busy already I wanted to keep the coloring of the stamp to a minimum.

I used sponges and ink to add a subtle background behind Sprinkle and the tree. I just wanted to make it pop off the page a bit more. Some glitter, ribbon and a little metal accent were the final touches.

Here a closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Sonja

{Too much Howliday Fun} Funky Christmas Pt. 4

Hi,

I'm back with another installment of my funky christmas color series. For this one I started with a goold ole sketch search on pinterest and fell in love with this one from Jen Shults:

I really like playing with 3D elements and layering to reveal...must be my day job as a 3D Artist creeping in.lol But that's why this sketch looked like a lot of fun to me. Now I just had to pick a paper and decide whether I wanted the pattern on top or below. I went with layering it on top because the pattern would have gotten lost had I layered it underneath.

These adorable snowman are from this fun pad that started it all:

Next up was figuring out the stamp and sentiment. I had done a lot of circular designs lately so I wanted to keep the rectangular shape for a change. I recently had put in an order with The Cat's Pajamas but hadn't gotten the chance to use all of my new goodies yet so I thought...time to change that. I pulled out the set Big Cups and even though it's not really a christmas set, you can easily re-purpose it to one. I chose sleepy Poochie and paired it with the Happy Howliday sentiment from an older, now retired set.

I added a cut out snowflake behind Pooche, sprinkled some glitter, added some brads and that was it.

Here a closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by :)

Happy Holidays!!

Sonja

{Bright} Funky Christmas Pt. 3

Hi,

I'm back with another card in my funky christmas color series. This whole series was inspired by some really pretty designer paper pads I found in my local hobby store here in Sweden.  One of them was this cute snowman paper. I decided to pair the grey and white with a little soft pink.

I found a great sketch on pinterest - of course now I can't find it anymore so please forgive me for not giving it proper credit. I love the sentiment from TCP's set Give a little (now retired I'm afraid) and I really wanted to use it for this card. The challenge was that it's more of a vertical stamp so it wouldn't work as a side sentiment on a flag banner or anything like that. It had to become the main focal point. Thankfully, that set comes with this cute little penguin which can act as a perfect frame topper, which is exactly what I used it as. 

Some glitter and subtle copic coloring, a little glitter ribbon and bow aand the card is done.

Here a closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Merry Christmas,

Sonja

{Candy?} Funky Christmas Pt. 2 and Color Throwdown 522

Hi everyone,

I decided to get inspired by this week's Color Throwdown Challenge and incorporate that into my funky Christmas Color series. Especially the salmon color makes it so unique so I wanted to use that as my base and really highlight it.

I picked out my cardstock and then I went out to find a sketch I could use as inspiration. I came across this one from an old  Sweet Sunday Challenge and decided to re-purpose it a bit.

I used the cute little penguin from TCP's Big Cups and paired it with a sentiment from an older retired TCP set. I wanted to break up the diagonal lines a bit so I used a bit of Jute Twine and added a little bow. The card still felt a bit bare after that so I cut out a big snowflake from PTI and used it behind my sentiment.

Some glitter, coloring and jewel drops completed the card.

Here's a closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Sonja

{Oops} Funky Christmas Pt 1.

Hiiii,

I'm back with another christmas card. I mentioned last week how I got inspired by some designer christmas paper in my local hobby store because of the somewhat unusual colors they used. That inspired me so much that I decided to continue and make a series of christmas cards using non traditional color schemes.

Here is my very first entry aaand you can tell I was a little tired when I made this card since I didn't realize I had paired a Sprinkle sentiment, the cat with Poochie, the dog. Yeeaaahhh... lol oooohh well. The stamps are from the Cat's Pajamas Give a little (now retired I believe).

The fastest way for me to make a card is by starting with a sketch. Pinterest is an amazing way to search through sketches and what I like to use. This is how I came across the sketch I used to inspire me for this card:

It's an old sketch from 2013 on Jen Shults' blog but I absolutely adore it so I decided to run with it. I don't alway follow the sketches exactly. I rather take them as a starting point and then I go with where things take me. In this case, I went with a rectangular version of the square design and since the card was already a bit bottom heavy, I decided to place the brads on the top instead.

Next step: pick a paper and a color scheme.

I picked the dark grey christmas tree from this paper pad by Panduro Design, which is from our local hobby store chain here in Sweden. I paired that with salmon colored cardstock from PTI.

Some sparkling ribbon, copic markers, glitter and crackle paint completed my card ingredients.

Here a closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by,

Sonja

{Sweet Holidays} Mojo Sketch 504

Hi everyone,

I did a little bit of christmas shopping for my cousin's family when I spotted some super adorable christmas themed patterned paper in my local hobby store. I loved the somewhat unusual color theme and that's what inspired me to sit down and make a card again. 

I then spotted Julee's sketch on her blog and decided to take that as my jumping off point for my card. You'll notice I took some liberties with this one.

I picked a pattern and then started to layer complimentary cardstock. A little trial and error ensued until I landed at something that I liked. I wanted to make a card that I could also use as a gift card holder for our local coffee shop so a coffee motive was a must. I decided on using the to go cup from Verve's Better With You set. I paired that with a saying from PTI's Petite Places Holiday Lane. I also used the little gingerbread man stamp from that set to add a little flavor to my coffee cup. 

Lastly I needed something that worked as a frame and anchored the card. I didn't really have any small snowflakes so I decided to use the flowers from Reverse Confetti's Toucan of Friendship. I feel like they can either have a tropical or wintery feel, depending on how you dress/stamp them up.

Some final touches with a copic marker to draw in some shadows, some glitter in shape of ribbon and Stickles glitter and this is where I ended up:

here a closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by and Merry Christmas!!!

Sonja

{Santa is coming to town} Petite Places

Hi everyone,

I managed to squeeze in a little time and try out a new stamp set I got from Papertrey Ink. It's called Petite Places: Holiday Lane and it's super adorable. I made these two cards with it:

 Detail View:

Thanks for stopping by and happy holidays!!

Sony

{Hello Sunshine} TCP Tuesday 345

Hi everyone,

it's finally spring here in Sweden and after a long winter, it feels so good to have the sun come out. And nothing says spring to me better than one of Alma's newer stamp sets: Family Forever. This cute bear with this ducky friend is just too adorable.

Here is my card:

I embossed the bear and the sentiment to make the blacks really pop. For the look of the fur on the bear I first colored the edges with water color pencils, then applied water and then went back over the wet surface with the water color pencils. 

Here a closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Sony

{Happy Bee-day} SFYTT meet Honey Bee's challenge

Hi everyone,

We're in the middle of overtime at work since we're getting ready for E3 but I did have a little bit of time today so I decided to  maximize it by combining two challenges: the sketch challenge by Reverse Confetti with the color challenge by Honey Bees. I'm a bit new to Honey Bee's but I absolutely love how versatile they are. 

Here are the challenges:

                                          

 

and here is my card:

I used the stamps and dies from the Sweet As Honey set by Honey Bee's. I paired that with some jute twine and stitched circle die. To give the illusion of fireflies in a jar I used a piece of vellum and added a bit of glitter and jewel drops on top. The flower was colored in using Copic markers.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great start to your week!

Sony

{Perk up} TCP Tuesday 344

Hello everyone,

I'm back with a TCP Tuesday challenge card. This month's pick is the popular coffee/tea theme, which gave me a chance to pick up my Verve stamp set Better With You and pair it with the TCP's Watercolor Basics stamp set aka coffee spill set. :)

I used water color pencils for the to go cups and layered the spill spot using Distress Ink mixed with a bit water, works like a charm.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great start to your week!

Sony

{Hello, hello, a cheerful hello} SFYTT 57

Hi everyone,

I'm back with one more card today. This one is for this month's Reverse Confetti Sketch for you to try challenge. You can see the sketch a bit further below in my blog post. I was in the mood for something jazzy, something with dimension and graphic. And that's how I ended up with this card here:

the inside:

So...for this card I used the hello die from the Hello & Thanks Label. The toucan sans saying are both from the Toucan of Friendship set. Both of these products are from Reverse Confetti. The circular dies are from My Favorite Things.

The official sketch:

and a closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Sony

{Life is Good} TCP Tuesday 343

Hi everyone,

I've really enjoyed the new release blog hop by The Catpack over at the Cat's Pajamas.  I've enjoyed it so much I felt the need to make a spring card even though it's still pretty chilly over here in Sweden. 

I broke into my stash of stamps and came across this beauty here..retired now I'm afraid but the set was called Spring Fling by TCP. The grass die is from TCP as well. The sun is from the Scene It series by Papertrey Ink. The die is originally quite a bit larger so I used a circle die on top of it to trim it down. I used water color pencils for the grass and Poochie, distress ink for the sky and stickles glitter for the bling.

A closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Sony

{Stay Cool} TCP Tuesday 343

Hi everyone,

I'm back with another card for this month's TCP Tuesday challenge. So...if you weren't able to tell...I've been dreaming of summer lately. lol These Swedish summers are loong. Anyway...this month's TCP Tuesday challenge is about including animals in our projects. Pretty easy since there are tons of TCP stamps that include animals. 

I broke out one of Alma's retired summer sets featuring Poochie with a surfboard. I paired it with a cloud background die from PTI, on top of a background die from Reverse Confetti.

and here's a closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sony

{Sm'ore Memories} TCP Tuesday 343

Hi everyone,

I just received my order from Papertrey Ink and I was so excited, although I had to pay a hefty extra tax on it. Welcome to life in Europe I guess. :P I may have to look into the European stamp market because at this rate, this is going to become a very expensive hobby .

 Anyway, a hole in my wallet later, I hopped right into the TCP Challenge. I paired the Scene It dies by Papertrey Ink with some of my all time favorite stamps by The Cat's Pajamas, now sadly retired. I used PJ from A Beary Good Year and had him go camping with stamps from a Happy Camper. The sentiment is from another retired set but this time an MFT set.

Here is my card:

and here is a closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Have a great day!!

Sony