Cards - SC Christmas - Colored Pencil

I worked on more Christmas cards this morning.

I chose to use images I have drawn digitally.  This is my Bethlehem which I had to resize to accommodate this card size but that was easy. It was printed on ivory 65lb card stock.

I used colored pencils and colored the sky, the sand dunes and the windows. 

I cut the large star with the Sizzix Star & Starbursts die in silver card stock. I then punched the others with a CM Star Border punch. Large star adhered with 3D foam and the littles with QuickDry Adhesive.

The image was then adhered to the card with double sided tape, the white insert adhered with glue stick and a strip of d/s tape with carrier on the flap.  This is a self closing card made with 1/2 sheet of 12x12 navy card stock.

I really love how this one came out.

This is an angel a drew digitally based on a wicker angel I saw in a garden center at Christmas many years ago.

Subtle blue background, metallic halo, green metallic on the wings, a red dress with a green and gold border at the bottom.

A bit of flesh color on the face.

A self closing card from a 6x12 inch piece of card stock.  I adhered the drawing onto the card with a white insert opposite.  A length of double sided tape with carrier on the the flap.

A nativity I drew a few years ago. 

A subtle night sky, a yellow star with a wooden stable. 

The figures were colored with traditional blue for Mary and brown for Joseph. Just a wee head for Jesus.

Subtle blue sky, green and tan for the ground background.

Drawing adhered to the card, a blank white insert (not sure if I will regret this later when I have to handwrite the sentiment), carrier tape on the flap. 

Card is 6x12 navy blue linen card stock.

Calendar - Countdown - Four More

Cool Snowman Countdown Calendar featuring the scene I created and photographed. 

On this 4x6 I added the "Days until Christmas" and the star digitally onto the photo that I took.

The birthday side features bright red polka dot designer paper with silver metallic balloon punchies with black strings.

This one got a black dry erase marker.

On this Green Red Ornament countdown calendar I used a red ornament on a green background with a pine bough.  I created this digital composition a few years ago. I created all these elements myself.

I added the star and the words digitally above the ornament.

The birthday side has some beautiful blue paisley designs with olive green and chocolate brown sprinkled around the shapes.

I chose the green dry erase marker for this calendar.

The calendar features a Bethelehm collage that I created on artist board. I painted the board a medium blue.  I then ripped cardstock paper that I had painted in deeper tones of blue.  The paper was also embossed with the Swiss Dot folder.  The darker pieces were adhered onto board leaving the blue color show in between.  

The Bethelem buildings a a similar design to my Simple Bethelehem.  They were traced, cut from card stock, painted with silver domes and lit windows. The bottom third was cover with crinkled paste paper in deep blues and purples. The silver band of metallic card stock was cut with the Creative Memories Decorative Trimmer and adhered over the collage.

I did have to manipulate a photograph of this artwork to make the silver band wider to allow for the words and space for the numbers.  

The birthday side is a piece of wonderful floral designer paper with purple and yellow flowers and yelllow bees. This calendar was paired with a purple dry erase marker.

Warm Snow Angel count down calendar was made with the photo shoot I did the other day.

I added the words "Days until Christmas digitally before having the 4x6 printed professionally.

The birthday side is a colorful wirly swirly designer paper featuring many colors.

I paired this calendar with an orange dry eraser marker.

These are ready to go!

Art Show - Open Art Competition

I submitted two pieces to the AAC Open Art Competition - photography.

Title: Red Poppy

Size: 14.00 x 17.00 inches

Medium: Photography

Print 8.5 x 11 inches

Mat: Double Archival white with black core

Frame: Black wood wide profile

This is a gorgeous Red Poppy facing the morning sun head on and looking so gorgeous. Managed some bokeh in the background from the water drops on foliage.

Title: Red Dot

Size: 12.00 x 14.00 inches

Medium: Photography/Digital

Print 8 x 10 inches

Mat: Archival off white with black

Frame: Silver Metal

This started out as a photograph which was altered a lot with filters then turned into a black and white image. I rotated it which gave it an oriental feel so I placed a red dot on it.

Reception is Saturday, September 8 at 7 pm.  - I placed Second in the Photography Category!!

From the judges: Good colour choice for composition. Interesting composition, love the simplicity and execution. 

Sympathy Card Digital

 I created this digital card for my cousin and his wife who lost their daughter in a tragic accident last week.

I started with a re-inker background which I made while trying to take an abstract photo for the upcoming art show.   The resulting photos were not what I wanted and not to waste the ink I captured the color onto a 4x6 piece of photo paper.  I tried several color variations

This morning I cut the piece of arty photo paper to 3.75 x 5 inches and started doodling.  I drew the flower and the ground and added texture with a black marker.  I then mounted it to a piece of coordinating card stock.  I scanned the card and added the sentiment.

The colors were bolder than I wanted so in my photo editing software I soften and manipulated the colors a bit.

I am really happy with the final result.  I was able to send my sympathies by email.

Card - Coffee Time

I made this card for the 2021 Spring and Summer Coffee Loving Card Makers Blog Hop.

I started with a digi of a hand drawn pastel image of a beautiful coffee pot and cup.

I just love the soft muted tones of this image.

 I printed the image on a quarter sheet of white card stock and trimmed it to 3.75 x 5 inches.

I added a warm caramel piece of card stock layered behind it and adhered these layers to the front of a pea green card base.

I added a greeting above the image with a ripped layer of the same caramel card stock and the greeting printed on a taupe card stock.

I added 3 mini brads to the left of the greeting.

This greeting layer was adhered with 3D foam tape. 

Ornament Trio - Challenge

I designed this card with the challenge at Merry Monday Christmas Card Challenge.  I was very happy to find this challenge blog as a couple of my regular challenges have shut down.

I started with the digital ornament trio which I designed.
I drew the ornaments and then  added some of my own digital paper paste backgrounds into the them.
The branches was designed from an actual pine tree branch photo.
The polka dot - snow background is another of my own elements.
The words are added digitally as well.
Once printed onto white card stock this layer was trimmed to 3.75 x 5 inches.  I then cut a layer of black card stock to repeat the color in the outline of the ornaments.  This was cut to leave a small border.  It was adhered to the card front of a warm medium green card.  I then adhered the ornament layer with 3D foam tape.  
To add a bit of sparkle to the card I spattered it with Iridescent Pearl Mist by Maya Mist.  It's great to create a quick card with my own designs.



Submitting to Merry Monday Christmas Challenge - Branches.

Mosaic Monday - Valentine's Day

I have been working on my digital photography editing skills. (One of my goals for 2017)  I started out with an image I put together while I was working on a challenge on my Flickr group.  I have been gathering texture images and I was fortunate that my sister gave me a piece of cheese cloth last time I was there so I took a photo of it against black and white backgrounds.  The other layer that I added was an image of a frozen pond with horizontal textures.  This week I learned how to create an editing mask so that I can reveal my main elements through the 2 textures I had applied over them.  Wishing everyone a nice Valentine's Day.

I was out to visit my Mom and Dad on the weekend and I shared with her my Tea Cup Coaster project.  She donated several small pieces of fabric toward the cause.  I really enjoy making them. Now I have a good variety of fabric designs to ensure they are all unique.

This was breakfast this morning.  A cup of Raspberry Thriller tea in a small bone china teacup set.  Rye bread toast with peanut butter and Raspberry Jam.  I used one of the napkins I received from Margie at Tea in the Valley in her blog give away.  Pink was the color scheme and it fit right in.  I placed a Battenburg lace heart at the top of the placemat which has a saying about grand daughters. A pink stained glass angel set in a wooden base stands at the top of the place setting.

I am joining Maggie who hosts Mosaic Monday #27.

Business Card & Promo Graphic

I designed a business card and a promo graphic for a client.  She wanted a vintage feel using the colors white and aqua. I found the ironwork grill image on Vintage Feed Sacks graphics site (see note) which I thought worked pretty well.  It was just black and white graphic so I colored it the aqua color and gave it a clear background.  I then created a white background onto which I placed the ironwork graphic and the relevant text.  She was wanting a larger graphic to put on a t-shirt or other promotional material.  I followed the same process for this one. She added her tag line on this one which I think is very appropriate.  They were delivered in digital format so she can get the business cards printed through the printer of her choice as well as use the files on social media. You can find her on Facebook Alberta Vintage.

You can check out my Digital Products page for further details.

Note: I was going to leave a link for the graphic but it seems be redirecting to a different site.  I`m not sure if that is temporary or permanent.  I will keep an eye on it and post a link if it clears up.

Be Present for Christmas - Lesson 7 - God in the Manger

Today, we focus of the babe in the manger.  Jesus is born. 

The suggestion was made that we make thank you cards.  Some are still working on advent calendars so I changed my plans and made simple thank you cards.  I used the cards available at the local arts and crafts store.  I then selected some Christmas and non Christmas frame images to surround the greeting at the center of the card.  I made 2 of each design.  The images were selected from Clker and Graphics Fairy.  

We started with gratitude and we end with gratitude.  God comes quiet... The victory is won.  All of conquered heaven and grateful earth echo and throb tonight with the heart cry of the God-Child. I did it for love.

The greatest Gift laid into our empty hands...  Grace is weightless.

We have had a very good class.  I have learned a lot and I believe the ladies enjoyed it as well.

Have a stress free Christmas season.  Today was the first snow for us so it's starting to look a lot like Christmas.

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.  I handed out this freebie from Ann's website.  You don't have to work for Christmas.

Banner Thank You

I made this card for color challenge.  I started with the thank banner as I need a card for a friend who hosted me at her cottage a while ago. 
I stamped the Thank You from the Stampin Up Noteworthy stamp set in Night of Navy 3 times on a piece of white about 1.75" wide.  In my recent order the Banner Triple punch arrived as well.  I punched the bottom of the white layer then cut a NofNavy layer and punched that one too.  I then adhered the white to the blue and trimmed the top to match. I love that I can make my banner as long as I want. I tied a Calypso Coral ribbon around the banner above the words.  I added a small flower button in NofN with a Zot. I printed a
section of a Decorative Overlay in NofN onto the front of the More Mustard card.  I adhered the banner to the right of center.

Submitting the card to the following challenge(s):
Color Q #301

Note Card Refurbished

Here's a card I created with one of these note card on which I made a mistake when writing. Since it's only one layer I had to cut it down and layer it again.  The yellow matched perfectly.  To help incorporate the element into the card I placed it on my light table with the thanks facing down and traced around the edge with my embosser.  I did a lot of that in my early card making days.  I now have an extension cord set up in my craft space where I can plug in my tools rather than having to go to the kitchen.  Helps in actually making it happen.

Letterhead - Digital - Christmas 2

Here are the letterheads I designed this year. These are great  for Christmas letters.  The blue one on the left is a collage I did last year to which I added the caption of O Little Town of Bethlehem.

The brown one is the same image altered with photo editing software to be in warmer tones.  I kept the same caption for this one.

I created one with my office nativity and added Christmas Blessings as the sentiment.

Baby Announcement Cards

I made these baby announcement cards for a friend's daughter who is expecting a baby and the shower is today!

I went with non traditional colors of yellow and green.  I used Stampin Up digitals: Letter It Stamp Set and Ice Cream Parlor Ribbon and Buttons.  The colors are Daffodil Delight and Old Olive. The letters were given a shadow to add dimension. I designed the main element and color printed. I added it to a layer of yellow.  I used Bazzil Mexican Poppy because I did not have Daffodil Delight card stock.  This was then layerd onto a white card.
The banner was color printed and cut with the Bitty Banners Framelit set.  It was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.

The insert was customized with these colors.

These clear boxes are working out so well to present a set of cards in a professional and elegant way.

Peace Card Set

I made another set of cards for a donation to a fundraiser.

I found green backgrounds from the web then created the word PEACE with digital images from Aria Sparkle.  I created an oval with a gradient fill with a dark border.  I layered the word on top of it. I found the sprig of olive branch on CLKER.  The bottom one is a gradient background with darker edges.














Once the card was printed I added a pearl white card stock die cut of a dove on the top and a star on the bottom one. These are Sizzix dies.

Card Club - My Thank You Card

I made these smaller note cards as a thank you for the girls who signed up for card club.

These were made with Stampin Up! Sweet Sorbet DSP digital images.  I added several pieces of Pool Party thread across the DSP under the greeting accent then added a Pool Party thread bow on the right hand side.  The black greeting accent is from the You're Lovely stamp set. I overlaid the greeting over the decorative accent which is from the Eventful Year stamp set. I colored it with Groovy Guava.

The bottom set of note cards were printed on ivory card stock. The Stampin Up! set is Petal Parade in a variety of colors and lay outs!

Cards - Autumn Thanks

I started with the autumn pumpkin digital file from Graphics Fairy.  I color printed it then aged it with a bit of Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Stain.  This card has a different layout because I forgot to use my Magnetic Platform and the die moved on me so it cut crooked, so I had to use the die cut instead of the hole. I layered the pumpkins onto dark green card stock and adhered it to the bottom of the card. I cut the greeting with Memory Box die.  I applied tape runner adhesive to the Thanks die cut and placed it above.  I managed to find a piece of deep yellow fiber in my stash and wrapped it around the card several times and knotted it. Trimmed the ends.

I made these cards for my on-line card exchange. I'm also submitting to Come and Get It Card Challenges which is to use an autumn digi.

Home Page Challenge - Doodles

I made this card for a challenge on one of my on-line groups.  The challenge was doodles.  I would not say one of my strong points but I wanted to participate so I went for it.
I found a pumpkin digital image at Graphics Fairy.  I printed it, trimmed it and then added some Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Stain to tone down the white in the back ground.  I rubbed the edges of the image with orange dye ink pad.  I used the same ink to do my hand lettering and doodling at the top of the card.  I used a water brush and picked up some dye ink from the pad and added Fall in hand lettering.  I added the doodles to the right.  I stamped the hello within the doodles with a green ink pad  and a small clear stamp.  I then added a shadow to the hand lettering with a green marker.

Just a Note to a Friend

I made this card for a friend who needs a bit of support and cheering up at this time.

I selected a warm green card.  I color printed a Stampin Up! flower from the Punch Bunch - flower for you. It's a digi stamp so I removed the scallop and the greeting leaving only the flowers.  I colored it blue and cut it out with Spellbinders Nestabilities - Smooth Ovals. I added a deeper blue oval behind it cut with the next size oval.  I added a deep green ribbon across the bottom third of the card with the ends taped to the inside.  Stamped a butterfly and the sentiment in dark blue.

Card - Ornament Trio

Here's the next one.  This card makes use of an ornament I drew quite a while ago.  I used it here filled with watercolor and here with a glittered star.
I started with an ivory card. The branches were created from a photo of an actual pine tree branch then placed at the top to anchor the ornaments.  I created the speckled dot background which is color printed in green. I placed a trio of the ornaments on the card with the center one being a bit larger than the other two. This time the ornaments were filled with filigree pattern in 3 different colors.  I added the string bow to each of them.  I created a clear circle in the center into which I put the 3 words: Peace, Love and Joy.  On the center one I printed Love again punched it out with a 1" punch and mounted over the center with 3D foam.

Card - Little Town of Bethlehem

Here's the next one.  This one is a scan of a mixed media art piece I made for this project.  I took a picture of the art work and had it developed on photo paper.  It was mounted on a white card.  It is held in place with a small silver star brad.  You can find details here.