Crafty Individuals Christmas

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These are my last batch of cards for Christmas. Hurrah! Using up 'waste' backgrounds from cleaning spare ink and paint from brayering & stencils, and then over-stamping with Crafty Individuals 'Noel Border' stamp, CI-502. I have also cut Memory Box's 'Star of Wonder' dies in black, and computer-generated the sentiments.

The background above is using up the ink from the AALL & Create 'Steam Cogs' stencil.

It's unlikely I'll be posting again before Christmas Day, so thank you for visiting my blog this year, and here's wishing you a very Happy Christmas (and if you don't celebrate Christmas, I'm sending you a virtual hug!) xxx

Stargazy Ellie

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This is fresh from my craft desk for my niece. Our family have a thing for elephants, and this li'l cutey is a digistamp from Lili Of The Valley, called 'Stargazing'. I used Koh-I-Noor Aquarelle watercolour pencils to colour, and Decoart Glamour Dust for glitter.

The big star is from a Memory Box die set, 'Star of Wonder', raised slightly on recycled cardboard. The 'Merry Christmas' greeting is a Tim Holtz stamp from Stampers Anonymous.

Grungy Stag

This is the last of my stag series, for the time being. I have other cards to be working on! Again, this uses Ellie Mulligan's majestic 'Highland Stag' stamp from Crafty Individuals and the 'Ornate Holly' die from Memory Box.

I started with kraft card, which I brayered with white acrylic paint. Then I created the background with the handy little script stamp from a lovely A4 sheet from Crafty Individuals which were given away with a stamping magazine earlier this year. Sorry, I don't recall which one.

I was going to stamp the deer separately, and fussy-cut it out, again, but I just lightly stamped the image on the card for a positioning guide, and liked the effect so much, I left it like that.

The edges are sponged with black, and I used a black waxed cord for the wrap. The holly is cut in dark brown and tucked behind the wrap, and I cut an extra tendril to fill the space at the top.

The 'Believe' word is from Crafty Individuals word stamp, CI-258, stamped onto kraft card and mounted on sparkly white card.)

Starry Starry Night

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This is Ellie Mulligan's 'Highland Stag' again, from Crafty Individuals. This time, he is embossed in white on white card, and I've highlighted his eyes with a black fineliner, wiped off almost immediately to leave those beautiful eyes. (See close-up below.) I also dabbed a touch of Hickory Smoke Distress Oxide on his nose. He is fussy-cut and raised slightly on recycled cardboard, and wrapped in the 'Ornate Holly' die, cut in silver, from Memory Box. The stars are also by Memory Box.. the 'Star of Wonder' set.

The December word is from an AALL & Create stamp set, left over from a previous project, also raised off the paper, which is from The Paper Tree 'Yuletide Memories Essentials' pad.

Rudolf

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This is my second card with this stag, but I have a lot more work for him to do, so I hope you won't get bored! Again, this is by Ellie Mulligan for Crafty Individuals.

I started by matting and layering onto gold mirri card some paper that I found in my stash that has trees on it, but they're not easy to see, especially as I (rather clumsily) splatted white paint over the top! To festive it up a bit, I sprinkled on Decoart Glamour Dust while the paint was still wet. As per usual, the pretty sparkle is too subtle for photographs.

Then I took two cuts from my Memory Box 'Ornate Holly' die and glued the stag on top. Him, I stamped in Onyx Black Versafine onto kraft card and heat-embossed with clear powder. I coloured his antlers in a darker shade, and his ears and some of his face. I wanted to Rudolf-ise him, though, so I stamped him again, in black onto red card and then just cut out the nose to stick on top of the kraft one. To finish him off, a couple of white gel pen dots in his eyes, then fussy-cut him out, put Glossy Accents on his eyes and very shiny nose.

It needed something else, and the snowflake does the job (punched with a Kaleidopunch).

The greeting is computer-generated.

Polar Knight

Since this brilliant stamp - Sir Theodore Cogsworth - from Doodlin's by Donna was released, I have been wanting to find a different way of presenting it, so I thought polar bear. Not seen anyone else do that (yet), so here he is.. legendary arctic explorer, Ted Cogsworth, with news of his knighthood!

Here is the text:

ARCTIC EXPLORER KNIGHTED

Celebrated polar archaeologist, Theodore Cogsworth, 47, known as Teddy, was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen at Buckingham Palace earlier today.

The honour was bestowed in recognition of his greatest discovery at the North Pole, the remains of a pre-industrial factory, believed to be evidence of the original Santa's Workshop which is now known to have been moved to Lapland to support the EU economy following Brexit. 

Prior to Ted's amazing discovery, Santa, otherwise known as Father Christmas, had been perceived as a mythical figure. As well as the workshop, fragments of clothing for a genus of small humans called 'homo elfin' and bones from an ancient species of deer were found close by. DNA sequencing revealed genetic evidence of flight muscles and red noses.

The work of Sir Theodore Cogsworth has removed any doubt about the existence of our annual visitor from the North, and generations now work tirelessly all year to ensure that when he checks his list (twice), their names will be on it. The world is a nicer place because of it. Thank you, Sir Ted! This newspaper believes the Nobel Peace prize will be next.

Snowy House

From the archives: 6" square card, using an image and sentiment from an old card, I set it on a first layer of kraft card to co-ordinate with the house, then onto gold mirror card and blue Bazzill cardstock. Just finished with a Kaleidopunch snowflake and a red faux gem to reflect the red in the card image.

Christmas Window

This is a 6" x 6" card, using a recycled image and sentiment from old cards, inked around the edges and layered onto a blue Bazzill cardstock mat, and decorated with holly leaves punched from old sheet music and snowflakes made with a Kaleidopunch. A button and string and some glitter complete the card.

Funky Hand Merry Christmas

This was made using digital papers from Funky Hand's 'Funky Little Christmas' CDs. I like the barely discernible snowflakes in the pattern. Not sure I would use this colour again, if I were remaking it now, and using Bazzill cardstock for the main greeting has made the heat embossing look bumpy because of the texture (which I love, normally, but it doesn't work here). The two punched snowflakes are made with a Kaleidopunch. The scalloped edging on the paper was achieved with fancy-edged scissors. Mini-brads complete the design. Possibly good for a male card?

Funky Christmas Candle

This one was made using Funky Hand digital papers, some gold peel-off borders, a red satin bow, panel of embossed gold card, a fussy-cut stamped, painted and glittered candle, some curled gold wire flourishes, glittered holly leaves and metal floral embellishments. Aaand breathe.

Sleepy Christmas Kitties

Super simple recycling.. using a cute image from an old card, layered up and embellished with a punched (Kaleidopunch) snowflake and a red gem. (The fur trim on the hat was already glittered.)

Christmas Party

I used a small image that made me smile, and layered it on burgundy card and then gold mirror card. All three layers were deckled with fancy-edged scissors, and then mounted on low profile 3D foam pads for a little dimension. The words are stamped, but I'm afraid I don't recall the details. The whole card is 6" square.

Umpteenth Recycled Xmas Card

The focal image on this card is recycled from a handstamped card that I received. I inked the edges and mounted it on a 6" square card that is embossed with a holly spray folder.. Cuttlebug, most probably, which has been lightly stroked with green Stickles and a touch of red. I've tied some string around it, and decorated it with some red tinsel miniature pom-poms and punched holly leaves using my large Woodware punch and some old music sheets, inked around the edges with dark brown Chalk Eyes ink.

Santa's Face

This is an A6 (4" x 6") card. I used the same spruce branch stamp I used in other recent Christmas card posts, such as Blue Spruce and White Spruce. Stamped with a Versamark inkpad, it shows as a watermark on the green card. The text stamp in the background is an old PSX Christmas Script stamp, heat embossed in black and edged with black ink. I've wrapped some red vellum around one side, so the text shows through. The sentiment is stamped in Elzybells 'Sugar Candy' white pigment ink. A glittery silver thread wrap, a snowflake charm, rosebud and three faux gems complete the design.