52 Christmas Card Throwdown Sketch Challenge

Hello! Today I am sharing a Christmas card created for the Sketch Challenge at the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.

52 Christmas Card Throwdown November Sketch

I absolutely love participating in sketch challenges. The limited choice in terms of design pushes me to think innovatively. Instead of feeling restricted, I find that my imagination thrives! Additionally, challenges that don’t have specific manufacturer affiliations or brand restrictions make it possible for me to explore my vast collection of crafting supplies. I can reach into my stash of paper, stamps, and dies and mix-and-match!

52 Christmas Card Throwdown | Sketch Challenge

  • I cut a 4 1/4″ square of the tree patterned paper with a now-retired Lil’ Inker stitched die and added it to a 4 1/2″ card base of TE Mulled Wine cardstock. (As I mentioned in this post, patterned paper offers a quick and convenient way to add character in cardmaking. I found a now-retired package of Taylored Expressions patterned paper with a variety of coordinating papers.)
  • With one of the Tag Stacklets 3 dies, I cut the ornament from patterned paper and Snowdrift cardstock. I used a die in the Build a Scene – Rolling Hills set to cut a snowbank from Snowdrift cardstock and added it to the ornament.
  • I cut a strip of the striped paper 1 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ and added it to the background and the ornament to the strip.
  • With the Taylored Expression Little Bits Snowman die set (now-retired), I cut the pieces and assembled the snowman. I used the Little Bits – Snowflake Confetti set to cut snowflakes from the Snowdrift cardstock. I adhered the snowman and snowflakes to the circle ornament and tied twine at the top.
  • I used the Savvy “Let It Snow” rubber stamp, (bought over a decade ago at the Impress stamp store in Seattle), for the sentiment and cut it with a die in the TE Mini Tags set (the set is now retired, although there appear to be similar small tag dies on the Taylored Expressions site). I added the tag to the ornament with an enamel dot.

52 Christmas Card Throwdown | Sketch Challenge

This challenge gave me the perfect excuse to revisit forgotten gems in my stash.


Bzz, bzz … Hello!

Today I’m sharing a playful “Hello” card showcasing some Paper Smooches supplies (now retired).

Paper Smooches Bees & Flowers

I die cut the Bees from several different cardstock colors. I cut the Dainty Flowers 2 from white cardstock and used just the outlines so that the emphasis would be on the colorful bees. The sentiment (a Savvy wood stamp I bought at Impress) was stamped on cardstock that I cut with the smallest die in the Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Rectangles set. I used the largest die in that set to cut the woodgrain paper.


CAS3: Day Seven

I’m sharing a card inspired by one shown by Jennifer Rzasa in today’s Clean & Simple Cardmaking 3 lesson. Jennifer’s card featured a beautiful painted feather.

CAS3: Day Seven

I wanted the simplicity of stamping (and wasn’t sure I could pull off painting a feather!). I stamped my sentiment, and then used a brush to apply some water to the paper. I colored the cityscape stamp with the Pitt Big Brush and stamped into the wet watercolor paper. The result was a subtle blur. I wanted to keep some of the cityscape detail. This is definitely a technique I’ll use for other stamps. From my brief investigation, it seems to work better with rubber stamps than clear ones.

Supplies:

Happy Winter

Today I’m sharing a seasonal card celebrating winter as I transition from making holiday cards, which isn’t easy! It seems as if I’ve been making holiday cards for months at this point.

Happy Winter

This card came together quickly with the use of die cuts and an embossing folder background. The sentiment is a retired Savvy stamp, which I die cut with the smallest die from the MFT tag set.

Hope you’re enjoying these last few days of 2013!

Supplies:

Season’s Greetings

Merry Christmas! Today, I’m sharing a die-cut holiday card inspired by the homes of Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard. Edgartown is filled with stately, white clapboard Federal-style mansions of the whaling captains.

Season's Greetings

I began the wreath by cutting a circle outline with the two smallest circles in the Sizzix die cuts out of Craft-a-Board. This served as a base for the wreath onto which I added the holly leaves cut from Dill cardstock. I finished off the wreath with a red bow. To keep with the colors of the New England homes, I cut the door twice, once from white and again from black cardstock. I trimmed off the molding from the black door and adhered it to the white door. Since I was creating a card without a sentiment, I dry embossed the card base with the “Christmas Words” folder.

Supplies: