Christmas Panic!

Ok, I always have very good intentions every year in the run-up to Christmas. I have perfect images in my head of sitting down in my craft room watching the snow, listening to carols and crafting away. Pah, that never happens. So in reality: last minute panic, need to make cards, so reach for a Hunkydory kit! Santa's Pants it is then...
The card to the left is an 8x8 blank with elements from the Santa's Pants collection and a Spellbinders Poinsettia used in the middle. Bottom left is an A5 card created from the same collection with snowflake acetate across the whole card as well. The right-hand one uses
                                                                                    acetate over the Santa scene and is also 8x8.

 

Golden Fairies

This 6x6 card was the result of playing with Flitterglu and gilding flakes. I have layered the main card onto gold mirror card and then black card to make it pop. The text is from a Tim Holtz Stampers' Anonymous set and is one of my favourites. The main panel was made by inking with Distress inks and Inkilicious brushes using green and yellow tones. I have then stamped the dandelions from Lavinia Stamps in plain ink to create the background. Over the top of this I have used the dandelions again, this time stamping with Flitterglu and adding some golden gilding flakes. The fairies are also from Lavina, this time stamped and embossed with detail powder.

Fluffy Penguins!

Here they are again, those little Hobby Art Penguins! They are all rather cute and I have been having fun. All the elements have been made using the Penguins set, including the sentiment. I have silver embossed the background snowflakes and used Tumbled Glass Distress Ink for the icy sky. The red matt layer has faux stitching all around to draw the eye in. The best bit I think though is the Woodware Fluffy Stuff on the hat! When added and heated gently, the stuff expands and then goes hard. You can't help but feel it! I have also used some large icy glitter to add to the frosty feel.

Snowy Winter Scenes

 Both these cards have been made using 6x6 card blanks. For the card to my right, I have cut an aperture in the front using a Spellbinders Circle die. I have then used a snowflake frame die from Memory Box to create an intricate border to the edge (cut from mirror card). The inner circle panel has also been framed with a Spellbinders Scalloped Circle die (again in mirror card) to continue the theme. I have created the scene from a Hobby Art Scene-It collection called Country Scenes. I have coloured the edge and sky of the image with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to give a frosty feel, and then used a muted colour palette of Promarkers to shade the scene. Glitter has been added on the edges of rooftops. The sentiment is also from Hobby Art - part of the Penguins set.

This card is much the same, this time playing with my Sue Wilson dies from the Californian Collection. I have cut the aperture using a basic shape and then created a frame with one of the co-ordinating decorative frame dies. Again I have used the Scene-It set to create a similar picture, extending it slightly to fit the die shape. Both simple cards, but I quite like them.

Posted Penguins!

These two little chaps are from the Hobby Art Penguins Christmas stamp set. I was inspired by one of their gallery posts and decided to make my own take on it. The card to the right has been made using the penguin stamped on Neenah Card and coloured using Promarkers with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink in the background. The papers are from the Craftwork Cards Christmas Post collection along with the flower and sentiments used. To create the opening I have taken a circle die, placed it on my chosen section and cut from the middle to the outside several times. I then cut halfway down each of the torn segments and then folded them back. The coloured image was attached behind the created aperture. I have used Glossy Accents on the stamp and some ribbon from my stash.

This is a slightly simpler version, same stamp and papers, this time also using an embossed sentiment from the penguin set. I have also coloured the back of the torn section here, as it looks more like brown paper this way. I love the look in his eyes!

Crackle Background

Another one of Lisa Baker's class makes here, this time using a technique with Imagination Crafts Crackle Medium. We started with a piece of their panel card designs and covered this with a light layer of crackle medium. This was then dried and a layer of acrylic paint spread in even stokes over the top. Once this was dry it started to crack giving a peeled paint effect. The Indigoblu Poinsettias were stamped on another piece of panel card, embossed and cut out. They were all randomly attached on the page with a sentiment in the middle.

Sparkly Magical Fairies

Here is a card which came about after experimenting with some Imagination Crafts Sparkle Medium. The background card is one of the new Imagination card panels designed by Tracey Dutton (Lavinia Stamps).  You can't really see the outside edges from the photo here, but some gold Sparkle Medium has been used around the edges to add some background sparkle. The flowers have been added using a Creative Expression mask with Sparkle Medium directly on top. I decided to play with different colours so have used Champagne, Lavender and Turquoise, attempting to spread them in stripes. The sentiment is one I found recently and is from Quietfire Designs. The fairies are, of course, from Lavinia Stamps. I rather like the effect, although maybe I should calm down a little with the colour mixture! I am going to enter this into this month's Imagination Crafts Challenge is 'Anything Goes'.

Winter Snowflake Wishes

In my stash I found some cut, tuck, fold Spellbinder's snowflake dies, so I decided to have a play with them! I used an 8x8 card blank and used centura pearl, pale blue and teal cardstock to matt and layer. To create the cut-out circles I used my Spellbinder's Standard Circle dies in 2 sizes randomly on the pale blue card. Once the circles were cut I then ran the paper though the machine using the Embossilicious Regency Swirls folder. The sentiment is from Tattered Lace. To create the snowflakes I cut them from centura pearl, then inked through the dies with the paper still inside. I also inked the back of the snowflakes so that when they are folded there is more of an interest to them. Silver ribbon was then put on the tops of the circles to create a 'bauble' type of effect.

Skating Penguins

I rather fell in love with the new Penguins stamp set from Hobby Art this year, so had to start playing! I decided to use the skating penguin as a central feature here, using one of the Stamps Away patchwork design stencils to plan the layout. I wanted to use cool blue colours for the card, so have reflected this in my paper choice and Promarker colours. I chose to paper piece the penguin's scarf with the dotty card and had to add some glitter! The background of the penguin has been lightly shaded with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to take some of the harsh white away. A sentiment was taken from a Spellbinder's sentiment collection and the snowflakes were made using Spellbinder's Create a Flake 3, cut using the same papers and inked through with the same Distress Ink.

 

Sparkle Medium Snowflakes

Amazingly, I made my first Christmas card! Again, I was playing with my Sparkle Medium! I have used a small square card base, and added some acetate on top. The acetate has been secured on the left front of the card using a Memory Box die cut with some glue behind. The die cut has also been covered in some Stampendous! Stamp 'n' Bond powder, then I have added some pearl mica powder on top. I have used a Sweet Poppy metal stencil  to add the snowflakes using Turquoise Sparkle Medium. The sentiment is from the Just Rite Noel Christmas Ornaments Set.