A Mini Monkey

 I made a card for my sweet great nephew who is turning two today!  I thought this mini monkey from Art Impressions would make the perfect card.  I paired him with some bright Basic Grey papers that I've had for a while, and made a circle cutout, as he is a Front & Back style of stamp, so the backview of him can be seen from the inside.

Star Wreath

 Square cards just seem to be my thing lately.  I used the Star Wreath stamp & stencil set from Pigment Craft Company to make multiples of my card today.  Stencils really allow you to create a bunch of images in a hurry, which really works well for me this year.  I used a non-traditional palette with the Pigment Craft Co's inks, adding a little sparkle to the poinsettia centers with my Wink of Stella pen.  The sentiment is from the Fa La La stamp set, and I layered it onto two other die cuts for a little extra dimension.  9 more in my stash!

Berry Merry

 I've been on a Christmas card making roll over the last couple of weeks, so will post them as I'm able.  I got eight of these pretty little wreaths made up.  I love the colour palette from Pigment Craft Company!  I stamped the wreath using their inks, and matched it up with coordinating cardstock.  I wanted a patterned paper for the background, and couldn't find what I wanted - so I made my own.  This is the Square Dance stencil set from The Greetery.  After assembly, I added a little chunky glitter to the berries, and popped up these sentiments from Pinkfresh Studio.

I think these are my favourite cards from what I've made for Christmas this year :-)

More Quads

 This is the second set of cards I've made using the Create in Quads stencilled panels that my niece gave me - these are just gorgeous on kraft paper!  I love the muted look, and stuck with pale grey and green for the accents.  I've kept them fairly plain, but may add a little distress glitter to them before the go in the mail.

I used my sewing machine to stitch the panels to the green card bases, and added the sentiments from the Pigment Craft Company's Fa La La set.

Pumpkin Spice

 I pulled out this sweet Lawn Fawn set that I haven't used in a while, to put together a little Pumpkin Spice card this week.  Those LF face stamps always make me smile.

Coloured with Copic markers.  Papers are Home Again by Carta Bella.

New Simon Says Stamp Exclusive set!

 I'm excited to be sharing a card made with the Art Impressions exclusive stamp set that is available only through Simon Says Stamp!  Here is SSE22C Fab-yule-ous Friends:

I coloured this trio of gals as brightly as I could with my Copic markers, and created a soft ink blended background using Distress Oxide colours Spun Sugar and Blueprint Sketch.  I cut a hillside from Lawn Fawn's Hillside Border dies, and Art Impressions 5353 - Lg Snowflake Dies were arranged around the edges.  The ladies and sentiment are popped up with 3D foam adhesive, as is the whole square panel, then mounted on a white card base.

Check out the Art Impressions blog today to see all the wonderful inspiration from the whole Design Team - as well as the SSS blog.

Christmas Snowmen Set

I have a Christmas card to share today using the 5571 - Christmas Snowmen Set from the Watercolor Journal line.

I coloured my snowman in #969/565, and stamped onto the smooth side of some Ranger Watercolor Paper.  I masked him off, then coloured up the log from 5055 - WC Sitting Places Set, and stamped him on either side, creating a much longer looking log than the actual stamp size.  I pulled out the colour and softened the lines with a damp paintbrush, and began adding colour.  #969 and 565 were painted in streaks on the log.  #126 was painted on the vest and hat band, #407 was used on the scarf, and layers of #N45 were added to the hat.  I left a little space on the hat to add the sprig from 5009 - WC Mini Flower Set, and used #847 to add the berries.  #847 was also used to create a cardinal, and I changed his head to create the distinctive feather shape.  With my mask again in place, I stamped the branch from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4 in #969/249 several times to create the shrubbery.  And finally with a wash of #565 - I painted in the sky, and used it to create shadows on the snowman and around the log.  White paint was used to add the falling snow, and to add a few snowdrifts on the log and shrubs.  After die cutting and matting my image, I added a bright bow, some pretty patterned paper, and a sentiment from 5566 - Christmas Sentiments Set.

Be sure to check out the Ai blog on Saturday to see what Tricia & Dot have to share!

Rainbow Wreath

 I've seen such amazing ideas online from talented crafters, using pastel colours to make beautiful holiday cards, so I used this pine bough die, and six pretty colours of cardstock to put a wreath together:

And yes, I realize that this is not a holiday card...  I had enough sprigs to create two cards, so one will have a festive message, but I thought this one would make a pretty birthday card for my daughter.  I created my wreath on a square piece of cardstock that I die cut with this diagonal hashtag die, and mounted in on some silver mirrored cardstock.  The silver sentiment is one of the pre-made ones from Pinkfresh Studio.

I'm really happy with how this turned out!

Second Coffee Card

 I have another card for the 2022 Fall/Winter Coffee Lover's Blog Hop, once again using supplies that I had in my stash.  Lots of die cuts and patterned paper, with a little sparkle:

Here are the two cards that I made for the hop. (Bear with me, it's the first time I've use my phone to take photos!!)

2022 Fall/Winter Coffee Lover's Blog Hop

 It's been a while since the last one, so I am very happy to be participating in the 2022 Fall/Winter Coffee Lover's Blog Hop!  I haven't missed one yet... so here is my first card, featuring all kinds of bits and pieces that have been in my craft room for a while.  Older papers, and my favourite Verve sentiment:

Thanks for looking!  And thanks to Amy & her crew who put this hop together every year.

Create in Quads

 I was gifted this set of four stencilled panels last year, and have finally been able to get them made up into cards.  These are the unique Create in Quads stencils from Taylored Expressions - this one is Mistletoe.  They're all stencilled on one sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock, then cut apart to become 4 coordinating cards.  I've paired them up with bows from The Greetery, and a sentiment from Pigment Craft Co.  They're intended to be Christmas cards, in which case I may glitter them up a bit, but I think they'd work for other occassions, so for now I'm going to keep them as is.

November WC Weekend

I am happy to be breaking out one of the new Harvest Journal stamp sets today from Art Impressions - here is 5593 - Harvest Scenes:

I coloured my scene with Tombows #969/565 and stamped it onto my Canson XL Watercolour Paper, then pulled out the colour with a damp brush.  I added in the little mouse from 5599 - Mini Mice & Squirrel Set using my stamp positioner.  

I wanted to fill my containers before I started painting, so I stamped two images from 5475 - WC Flower Set 6 several times in the milk jug, masking the chair/jug - using #565/177.  In the wooden basket, I used the circular flower image from 4868 - WC Flower Set 2 in #993, and tucked in some greenery around them using the trailing greenery from 5126 - WC Foliage Set 4, in #158/098.  Picking up colour from my palette, I added #407 to the chair, #977/969 to the basket, #743 to the milk jug and #N65 to both the mouse and watering can.  For the green pumpkin, I added a base layer of #990 to make it a creamy colour, then used a dabbing motion to add #158 in mottled streaks.  To the orange pumpkin, I started with #993, adding several layers, then #933 and #969 for some shading.  Tones of several greens were added to the stems.  The robins got red tummies of #743, and layers of #977 for their feathers.  #565 was painted under the chair to add a shadow, and used to give shading in and around all of the images.  I like to add a few reflection colours to metallic surfaces like the watering can, so dabbed on a little blue and red to pick up the shades from my scene.

I matted the image with some brown cardstock, then mounted it on some of the pretty papers in the 5606 - Harvest Journal Paper Pack.  I used a sentiment from 5600 - Harvest Sentiments Set, and die cut it with one of the dies from the 5543 - Journal Template Die Set, and adhered it with 3D foam adhesive.  Be sure to visit the Ai blog on Saturday to see what Tricia & Dot have to share!