Inkspirational #340 and Krafty Chicks # 767

Inkspirational has a seasonal challenge and since I'm behind on my Christmas card making, that's the season I went with.  Christmas also happens to be Krafty Chicks rotation this time.

Susan from Cardmaker's Garret entered this card in the Christmas Kickstart challenge and I loved the vintage feel of it so I CASEd it.  Ivory cardstock from Gina K was cut with Honey Bee's Deckle Edge die and stamped with the poinsettia from Altenew.  The flower was masked to stamp the script background from Penny Black in Antique Linen DI and the panel edged with the same ink.  The poinsettia was watercolored with Distress Inks in Barn Door, Rustic Wilderness and Fossilized Amber.  I was amazed at how well the cardstock took the watercoloring. I did try it out with a scrap in advance. 😌The sentiment is from a freebie SSS, stamped in Altenew Almond Butter.  

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Christmas Kickstart #97 - Positively Poinsettias

Jo asked me to be her elf at Christmas Kickstart for April.  I can't tell you how excited I was to get that invitation.  I also got to pick the theme for this month's challenge and this is it.

I don't know about you but I have a number of poinsettia stamps and dies so I thought it would be good to let you use yours to get a kickstart on your Christmas cards.  Here's mine.

This is a BetterPress plate from Spellbinders called Festive Poinsettias. It works beautifully as a hot foil plate that covers the background so you can use the available stencils to color in the image.  The sentiment is from  Pinkfresh Studio's Basic Banners, heat embossed in silver.  I really had to search for a place to take the photo since the foil background wanted to reflect a range of different colors.  It worked best standing up.  

Now it's your turn to make a card featuring poinsettias.  Please be sure to read the challenge guidelines on the blog.  I'll be back on the 15th with another card to inspire you.  I'd love to see your card in the gallery. 

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The Flower Challenge #98 - Reminder

There is still time for you to make a sparkly card for The Flower Challenge.

The sparkle doesn't show up as much as I hoped it would but it does IRL.  The poinsettia are from PTI's Botanical Blocks, heat embossed in Altenew's Rose Gold and colored with Artist Markers.  I have had a package of their Rose Gold cardstock for some time and used it to cut a frame from PTI.

Be sure to check out the Design Team's cards and then make one to add to our gallery.

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Color Throwdown #822

I happy to announce that I am designing at Color Throwdown this week.  I won their #820 challenge with this card and they invited me to be their guest.  Here are the colors for this week.

This was a no-brainer for me.

I absolutely love this large poinsettia from Alex Syberia.  It comes with stencils that make it easy to color and I used Distress Inks in Lumberjack Plaid, Barn Door, Mowed Lawn and Rustic Wilderness.  The Barn Door faded back more than I would have liked and as you can see I didn't use the second layer of stencils but added shadows on my own.  It was stamped on GinaK Ivory and partially die cut along the side.  The sentiment from SSS was cut from black foil from C9.

Whether you do a Christmas card or these colors spark a different idea, we hope you will join us in this challenge.  There is wonderful inspiration for you from the Design Team on the blog. 

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Just Us Girls #755 - Stencil Week

It's Stencil Week at Just Us Girls and Lisa is our host.

This will be our last challenge of 2024 as the Design Team takes December off.  We hope you'll join us in January 2025 for a new year of challenges.  

My card is made with a hot foil plate from Spellbinders called Full Bloom Poinsettia and comes with stencils.  Since I had my Glimmer Machine out, I ended up making four cards with different foils and color ways.  Three of them were colored with Altenew inks and the last one with Distress Inks except for the pine cone.

These were so easy to color and it makes me happy to have four more cards for my stash.

We'd love to see your stenciled card in our gallery.  For inspiration please check out the Design Team and our guest Jenn's cards on the blog.

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Peace on Earth #63

Hey there!  I'm so glad you dropped by.

I saw several friends posting to Peace On Earth and when I looked at their mood board I got inspired.

I got this stamp from Impression Obsession as the result of a friend's destash.  It's stamped on watercolor paper and colored with Distress Inks.  EZPZ  The sentiment is from PTI.

Keep crafting!

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Group of Seven Cardmakers - November 2023

This month the Group of Seven has us stenciling over heat embossing.  

I need to find more stencils to do the technique with but for this card I used the poinsettia from Alex Syberia.  The heat embossed background is a stamp from SSS. It's difficult to see the inner leaves of the flower but I do love how it looks.  There are instructions and plenty of inspiration over on their blog.  Be sure to check them out and try this great technique.

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Just Us Girls # 704 - Color Week

Where is the time going?  We're already into November.  Do you have your Christmas cards made?  If not, the challenge at Just Us Girls may be just what you need.  Carol Mayne is our host and she has chosen these colors for Color Week.

I knew right away what I was going to do with these colors. 

I used my NBUS stamps, stencils and dies from Alex Syberia Designs, coloring that large poinsettia with Altenew inks.  I love that there are die cuts for the sentiments in this set too.

Melissa Craig is out guest for November.  She and the Design Team have some beautiful red and green cards to inspire you but they don't have to be Christmas cards.  We'd love to see you in our gallery.

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Krafty Chicks #672 - Christmas in July

All the Christmas in July challenges should help you get started on your Christmas cards.  I've been making them all along but have another one I made for Krafty Chicks. 

I used  images from Altenew's Poinsettia and Pine, stamping them in Memento Tuxedo Black and coloring them with Altenew artist markers.   It took a while to arrange everything and I ended up adding more than I had originally stamped.  The sentiment is from their Festive Poinsettia set.   

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52 Christmas Card Throwdown 20.23

Today I am guest designing at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  I have been playing with them for the past 19 weeks and on week 17 I was a winner of the sketch challenge with this card.   Today is a sketch challenge too.

As you may have read on my last 52CCTD post, I came to the lake with only a few Christmas stamps and didn't have this sketch sent to me before I left.  Fortunately I had something that I could make work by turning the sketch on its head. 

The Altenew poinsettia was stamped and clear heat embossed on Bristol smooth and colored with Zigs.  I added a little splatter and a sentiment from the same set. 

I want to thank the Design Team at 52 CCTD for having me this week.  You have really stretched my creativity with your challenges.

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52 Christmas Card Throwdown - 14.2023

My Christmas stash is still growing thanks to 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.  Today's challenge is red and green.

After stamping the images from SSS's Winter Flowers, I heat embossed in clear.   I was inspired by a friend to use my Inktense pencils to color them.  The panel was cut with The Greetery's Nordic Frames and splattered with Distress Ink.  The sentiment is from Penny Black. 

In case this isn't red enough, I have another card using Altenew watercolors.

Same heat embossed images on watercolor paper, placed on a panel cut with an Altenew Mix and Match Frame to let the red cs show through. 

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The Flower Challenge #75

This will be the last challenge for The Flower Challenge until February.  We hope you'll join us.

My card features an embossing folder from Tim Holtz on kraft cardstock and colored with Altenew artist markers.  The original sentiment didn't turn out well so I took another piece of kraft and gold heat embossed a different sentiment, popping it up over the old one.

Darnell is our guest this month.  Be sure and check out what she and the other designers made for our Christmas challenge. 

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Christmas Kickstart #67

I'm going to call this Christmas Headstart instead of Christmas Kickstart which is where this card is headed.  I have all my cards ready for this year but I keep making them so I have a start on next year's stash.

The Altenew Festive Poinsettia was heat embossed in gold and painted with Altenew watercolors. Their gold metallic watercolor was spattered on SU's Subtle embossed background and a foiled sentiment from Spellbinders was altered to pop on top. 

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Color Hues #51

 I'm the guest designer at Color Hues for challenge #51.

I was going to use a pumpkin stamp but when I was putting away some things I made when I had a playdate with Michele, I saw this card that fits the colors perfectly.

Orange poinsettias you say?  I saw a pot of them last Christmas at Krogers and they were gorgeous.  You may be seeing more of them from me (and someone else - maybe the person I borrowed the stencil from).😁  The stencil is from WaffleFlower colored with Altenew inks.  The hot foil sentiment is also from WF, stacked up for dimension on this otherwise one layer card. 

Let's head on over to see what the Design Team has done with these colors.  I hope they inspire you to make a card in orange and green.

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Christmas Craft Creations - October 2022

I was asked to be a guest designer at Christmas Craft Creations after winning their Winter Activities challenge with this card.   This month the theme is white on white. 

This is not always the easiest of themes but I knew right away I wanted to make a white poinsettia.

The die is from Altenew, cut in alternating layers of white and glitter cardstock.  For the sentiment I heat embossed a PB sentiment on a leaf cut from vellum and added a couple of others to balance it out.  The same glitter cardstock was used for a frame. 

I hope you'll join me over at Christmas Craft Creations to see what the Design Team has created, get inspired and make a card for the gallery.  We'd love to see you there.

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