Merry Snowflakes

One last Christmas card to share for this year...

 I used the color combination from Colour Q along with a few snowflake related products.  The banner shapes are die cuts from My Favorite Things.  I love that they are various sizes so that they fit on top of each other.  The word "Merry" is a die from Simon Says Stamp.  

 I ran the white banner piece through the Cuttlebug along with a die cut that I embossed instead of cutting.  The snowflakes are from Wplus9 Designs.  

Here is the Colour Q combo.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Prettiest Snowflakes

I love mixing colors on a card and stamping snowflakes is the perfect time to use that combo.

 I have a thing for snowflake stamps and snowflake dies so I knew I needed this set from Tim Holtz.  Each one is so lacy.  Each snowflake was inked with Distress Stamp pad inks on watercolor paper then I spritzed the images with water so they would end up a little "messy".  

 I stamped the sentiment first and embossed the black ink with clear embossing powder so the ink wouldn't run as I added the other colors.   I added dot accents here and there with Stickles.  

My card fits this Color Throwdown challenge.

Plus I thought it fit the Time Out challenge.  I know they are circles but I thought the way they were scattered reminded me of this photo.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Snowflakes in July

I love the simplicity of the CAS(e) this sketch sketch for this week so I just had to find some minutes to play. 

 In my mind I knew it was this snowflake die from Simon Says Stamp that I wanted to use thus a Christmas in July card.  The sentiment is by Paper Smooches.

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 I created my background with various Distress Stains on watercolor paper and then left that to dry.  Once dry, I cut out the snowflake and then cut another snowflake from plain watercolor paper.  I could then inlay one snowflake into the cut out space.  I love the look and then textures of the watercolor paper. I did use some of the Distress Stain Pewter for a great metallic silver accent.  

Here is the CAS(e) this sketch for this week.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Candy Canes and Santa

My card doesn't really have any candy canes on it but these colors sure make you think of a red and white striped cane.

 This goes along with the Curtain Call challenge.  I created the background with a stencil and some red spray ink and I love the result.  The sentiment is from My Favorite Things stamps, I like the font they used. 

 I used this Santa before, he is a great stamp from Paula Best and she doesn't make stamps anymore.  I am loving the vintage Santa look this year, so he was a fun accent.   

Here is the Curtain Call challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Little Birdie

My card was pretty serious until I added on that adorable little Christmas birdie.

 I started out with black Distress Stain and watercolor paper. From there I added some Pewter Distress Spray.  I am so in love with how the inks dry and create such interesting patterns.

 Next I stamped some snowflakes using Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder.  The word "peace" is a die from Winnie & Walter and the little Christmas birdie is from Lawn Fawn.  

 This fits with the City Crafter Colour Challenge.

And the Merry Monday Christmas card challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Merry and Joy

I have been making so many Christmas or Winter cards and I have been having so much fun with different techniques and stamps and dies and inks!!!

 I picked up a set of stamps with a matching die at Michaels from Hampton Arts.  I love snowflakes so I really can't have too many snowflake stamps and dies! I stamped a few of the images over my funky inked background. 

 I love playing with the Distress Stains and watercolor paper so I just mixed a few Christmas colors to create a background.  The biggest snowflake was cut out with the matching die so it could be added separate.  

 This goes with the retro sketch for this week.

 This card ended up being a bit more elegant.  Everyone seems to be creating with gold this year so I pulled out a piece of shiny gold paper I had and cut this out with a My Favorite Things die. The joy is a die from Wplus9 Designs.

 I then added a few pretty snowflakes using dies.  The biggest one is from Hero Arts, the smaller ones are from Wplus9 Designs. 

This goes along with the Inkspirational challenge to use GOLD.

It also fits the CAS-ology SNOW challenge.

These also go along with the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge for Winter Inspiration.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Snowy Trees

We don't get snow where I live but I sure love to create things about snow.

 Here I used some Tim Holtz trees stamped in white and embossed with white. They then acted as a resist to the addition of blue inks added on watercolor paper.

 I stamped a few snowflakes here and there with the same blue inks.  The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp.

This card goes along with the CAS-ology SNOW challenge.

This also fits the Virginia's View Distressed challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Why not have a yellow tree

I love using a color combination challenge to create with.

 Here I used the Colour Q combo to create a Christmas card.  It really made for a fun out-of-the-box card.

 I used a tree stamp from Tim Holtz.  The stamp has four trees on it.  I inked the stamp with different colors of Distress Stain, stamped that on a piece of watercolor paper that was spritzed with water first.  This always gives a watercolor look to the stamped image.  I just stamped that stamp a few times.  I added color and pattern to the corners with a dot stencil.  The sentiment is from a stamp set by Simon Says Stamp. 

Here is the Colour Q challenge with a super cute imspiration piece.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

O Christmas Tree

Another Christmas card to share...

 I am trying to put a big focus right now of creating Christmas cards.  I am going with different designs rather then mass producing lots of the same thing. More fun creating that way.  For this one, my main piece is a black tree. Not your usual color but it ends up as a fun combination. 

 The tree is from Wplus9 Designs  The little heart is part of the stamp, I stamped an additonal one, cut that out, colored it with red and added some Glossy Accents.  The background to the entire card is some red Distress ink blended over a dot stencil. Such a fun way to create a simple background. I added some sprays of Pewter Distress Stain, an amazing silver spray and my mat on the card is silver paper. 

This fits with the Paper Players Black Tie challenge.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Shiny Gold and Vintage Santas

I am having so much fun creating cards for Christmas.

 For this card I pulled out an older stamp I have had for awhile. It is by Paula Best, I always enjoyed her style.  The sentiment is a die from Simon Says Stamp.

 I went a little unusual for my coloring.  I added color with Copic Markers and then added shine with some Distress Spray in Pewter.  That dot background was created with a dot stencil and some gold Embossing paste. I love how this embossing paste looks.  I took this photo at an angle to try to show off the shine of the gold dots. 

 I used the Inkspirational challenge to use Gold.

And the Addicted to CAS challenge to use DOTS.

And the Wednesday Simon Says challenge.
Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

Merry, Red and Snowflakes

All good things for a Christmas card.

 I used the retro sketch for my inspiration and a great Tim Holtz stamp for the main image.  I had colored a piece of cardstock with some red Distress Ink and then stamped the snowflake over that with black ink and embossed that with clear embossing powder.  That really neat die cut word is from Winnie & Walter.  

 I added some white with a white colored pencil.  I liked how subtle the colored pencil white was for adding some interest.  

 Here is the retro sketch.
And for a photo...

It's chilly outside

At least that is what my card looks like - here in Southern California we really are not all that cold even with a little bit of welcome rain.

 I used one of my newest Tim Holtz stamps for the main image on my card.  A snowman doesn't usually take a whole lot of coloring so that is good.  The most fun part of my card is the background.  I blended on color with a few shades of Distress Ink.  That was then splattered with a little bit of water and some dots using a stencil and some Soft Gesso. 

 I cut the snowman out and added him with foam tape for dimension.  His black hat was given a coat of Glossy Accents so it was shiny.  

I used the wonderful colors from Color Throwdown for my inspiration.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)

AAA Cards and a Happy Holidays card

 The theme for AAA Cards this week is using blue for a Christmas card.

 I love creating winter or Christmas cards in unexpected colors and using this chilly aqua blue just seems to fit with a big white snowflake. 

My card uses several different strips of washi or paper tape making for a very fast and fun creation.  That really neat and dainty snowflake uses a Simon Says Stamp die with a couple buttons for the center.  The sentiment is a Printworks stamp.  

Be sure to play along at AAA Cards.

Thanks for visiting, Linda (lbpost)