{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