Christmas Card Challenge - Watercolor - July - Holy Family

I chose the Holy Family for my July Christmas cards.

I selected certain elements from the Gentle Peace digital stamp set.  The set is stained glass but I just used the arch background, the star and the family. 

I first trimmed the 140lb watercolor paper to 3.5 wide and just applied watercolor from the Stampin Up Watercolor Wonder Crayons.

I let that dry overnight so that it would remain flat.  I trimmed the long strip into pieces 4.75 inches tall.

I placed the watercolor paper over the black printed image and traced the pieces I wanted.  Let the black ink dry then watercolored the pieces I wanted.  Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus with the star. The background changed some of the colors but that is okay.

I traced the greeting as well which I printed in black.  Card one is Not Quite Navy card base, card two is Baked Brown Sugar base, card three is Always Artichoke and card four is Rich Razzleberry. I mixed and matched greens for Joseph`s garment, blues for Mary`s and purple for royal Jesus.

I adhered the watercolor accent to the card front with double sided tape and pressed them under a stack of books over night.

I added a quarter sheet insert with a seasonal appropriate sentiment and a white A2 envelope.

 
I  have lost count of the number but I am happy with my progres

Christmas Card Challenge - Pencil Crayon on Kraft

I chose pencil crayons on kraft card stock for my challenge in May.  

I printed the main image from the Gentle Peace stamp set onto kraft card stock.  I then spent a pleasant evening coloring them with pencil crayons. Laurentian pencils I found the nicest to use.  I ran the black pencil along the edges to remove the lightest of the edge.

I chose a light blue card base to coordinate with the image as well as a strip of warm green to put behind the Holy Family image. 

I printed the sentiment onto kraft card stock, flagged the ends, ran a black pencil crayon along the edges and 

adhered it with 3D foam tape.

Adding a seasonal insert and an envelope and they are ready for the card box.

This next card I coordinated the card base with the edge of the frame of the stained glass window.  I chose a Pea Green textured card base.

I chose a warm brown strip of card stock to coordinate with Joseph's garment.

Both the main image and sentiment has black pencil crayon edges.

The sentiment is adhered with 3D foam tape.

This card has blue in the rays and a light mustard yellow in the window behind the family.

I chose a blue card base and a piece of coordinating card stock.  I added a bit of texture on the light piece with pencil crayon.

 

 

 

 

 

This card has a warm green card base onto which I rubbed gold pencil crayon to match the gold in the stained glass frame.  

I adhered the main image onto a layer of gold paper and trimmed around leaving a small border.

I cut the ends of the sentiment square this time.

I did a similar technique last year in March 2020.

Christmas Card Challenge - March - Madonna

The subject for the Christmas Card Challenge is Madonna.

I used the Gentle Peace Set by Stampin Up for the challenge in black on white card stock.  I then used pencil crayons to color the image of the Holy Family.  The outside frame was done with the metallic crayons.  I trimmed the image very close to the border.  I ran a black crayon along the edges.

I chose a deep warm purple textured card base.  I used my tracing wheel to add texture to the card front.

I then mounted the image to the card front with 3D foam tape.

I added a greeting in the top right hand corner also with 3D foam tape.




I added a green card base for this card and added the same texture to the front with my tracing wheel tool.

This image I gave the main characters different colored garments and put a purple border all the way around. It is mounted with 3D foam tape.

The greeting is a Stampin Up Artisan Label punchie mounted with 3D foam tape.

A few more cards in my card box.

These were time consuming but I really enjoyed the coloring same as when I was a kid.

R2G Christmas Stack Kit - Set 3&4

I started with the Stampin Up Gentle Peace stamp set.  I stamped the Holy Family onto vellum and embossed it with copper powder.  I trimmed the vellum close the edge of the image with scissors.
I glued the designer paper by Creative Imaginations - Sonnets - Plum Wash to the deep plum card front.

I adhered the vellum layer to the card front with 2 tiny round copper brads in the bottom left and right corners.  I used a copper star brad in the top center.

I designed the greeting with the Stampin Up Artisan Label punch in Perfect Plum and printed. Once punched, I used 3D foam tape to stick the greeting to the card front.

I started with the foil joy wreath on linen card stock.  I cut it with my Spellbinders smooth circle Nestabilities.  I then cut the corresponding scallop circle from light blue card stock.  These were glued together.
I chose a piece of My Mind's Eye - Countdown to Christmas - Plaid cut to leave a small border. I placed a piece of silver sticker paper 1" tall and over 6 inches wide across the center of the plaid designer paper and folded the ends to the back. It was then adhered to a Cherry Cobbler card.
I then adhered the "to the World" greeting over the silver foil paper band.  The large circle Joy greeting was then adhered to the left side of the card with 3D foam tape.

I started with the gold metal star ornament.

I cut gold metallic card stock to 4.00x5.25 inches.  This layer was adhered to the front of the black card.

I designed the starry night Bethlehem layer in black with my own drawing.  It was printed on white card stock trimmed to 3.75x5.00 inches.

I put gold metallic thread through the hole in the ornament. I adhered the metal star to the Bethlehem layer with a Zot then pulled the thread to the back of the white layer and taped down the ends. This layer was then adhered to the gold layer on the card front.

Decorative Paper - Christmas Cards

I stamped the Stampin Up Gentle Peace stamp on vellum then clear embossed it.  I trimmed the vellum to 3.75x5.00 inches.  I backed it with a pieced of my own decorative paper then placed it on the front of the card. Then I added a star brad at the top of the arch and 2 round ones on each corner of the arch.

The blue one I stamped in Taken with Teal and mounted it on a teal card.  The other was stamped with Handsome Hunter and mounted on a dark green card.  I used Craft ink so that I could emboss it before it dried.

On this card I used some of my ink spot paper in traditional Christmas colors.  I printed the greeting in dark green on vellum and applied gold embossing powder to it.  You can see that some of the green shows through which is kind of cool.  The background ink spot layer was adhered to the card front then the vellum is held in place with glitter star brads.  Really happy with this one.

For this set of cards I used 3 inch watercolors I had designed for a card class a few years ago.  I chose the kelly green and the bright blue from the watercolor and used them in the card and the embossed layer.  The embossing folder I used was the Stampin Up Large Polka Dot.  I added a length of white seam binding across the card tied in a knot then the watercolor is mounted over it.  I added a small felt angel held in place with a tiny star brad.  I no longer have the label which identified the manufacturer but it may have been Hero Arts.

I chose a dark green card for this card with another of my small watercolor backgrounds.  I stamped the greeting in the bottom right hand corner and embossed it with gold powder.  I added a random layer of gold powder to the left of the greeting and embossed it as well.  The angel is held in place with a tiny white brad.










Another watercolor square with a gold glitter star cut with the Sizzix Stars die.  This element is placed over a blue layer which was embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder.  Again, on a kelly green card. 

Be Present for Christmas - Lesson 2 - A Love Story

Today, we are making Christmas cards as the activity for our lesson to show love to those we care about.  

I needed a design for ladies who are not card makers and could be made in 30 minutes or so.  I have stamped the Stampin Up Holy Family from the Gentle Peace polymer set onto vellum and embossed it.  Half with silver powder and other half in gold powder.  We will be making 4 cards - 2 of each design.  I selected water color designer paper by Creative Imaginations - Sea Wash and Blue Wash.  I paired them with coordinating card stock in green and blue.  I have included an insert with the coordinating sentiment from the stamp set.  The vellum is trimmed close and held in place with 3 brads, a star one for the top and to tiny ones for each bottom corner. 

This week the lesson focus is Life Begins with a Love Story. We were created by a huddle of holy hearts.  Go to the window, the front door, the backyard, the park, the highest hill be awed by God's creation, you were made by love, for love and watch it come down. 

I'm selecting my lessons from The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp.  The book provides 24 lessons for each day of Advent of which I have chosen 7 for this class.  We will have readings, questions, discussion, and an activity each week.

It's time to start thinking of our Christmas Card List.  As you can imagine I would highly recommend paper cards but I recognize that it may not be right for everyone.  We want to show our love to others so it is better that they receive the love than it be handmade.  Maybe it’s a family photo, a postcard, a digital card sent by email, or a newsletter. Other ideas?

Gentle Peace - Holy Family Vellum

I'm always working on Christmas Cards.  This one is a simple one.

I selected the Stampin Up Gentle Peace set.  I stamped the Holy Family with Versamark ink on vellum and then heat embossed it with gold powder.   I trimmed it close to the border with scissors.  I chose a multicolored designer paper from Karen Foster - Shades of Morning and trimmed it leaving a small border.  I chose a deep purple card but several colors of card would have been possible.  I adhered the designer paper background to the card front then adhered the vellum layer with 3 gold brads.  One star brad at the top and 2 tiny rounds in each of the bottom corners.


Submitting to following challenge.
Sparkles Christmas Card Challenges - Anything Goes.