A Spidey Birthday!

I have a wonderful Great Nephew who turned four this week, and he's a huge 'Spidey' fan - he's the version of Spiderman aimed at a younger audience.  So... I pulled out my supplies and got creative in figuring out how I could make a Spidey card.

I used an oval die to cut out his head, then reshaped it a little, and copied the web pattern on his head with a marker.  I had one of these silhouette die cuts already, and decided to layer them to make a shadowy cityscape.  After spelling out his name, I decided that the D in the alphabet die set would work for his eyes, so I added those, plus a few dots for decoration... and a Spidey card was born.

Happy Birthday, Alex!

Cozy Fireplace

The October Betterpress Society plates from Spellbinders are called Cozy Fireplace - a set of registration plates (meaning multiple colours/pieces) for the holidays.  This is the first of several projects that I've made with the set:

I wanted a retro vibe for my card, so chose some muted Distress Oxide inks, which have a muted cast to start with: Vintage Photo/Ground Espresso/Bundled Sage/Rustic Wilderness/Speckled Egg.  The trees were done with an ombre effect.

I love the idea of mixing die cuts with Betterpress images, so pulled several Spellbinders sets from my stash, and decorated the mantle.  I matted my scene with the same pink cardstock as my poinsettia, and added a gold star to the small tree.

You can get a subscription to the Betterpress Society through the Papercrafter's Workshop.

Ai Christmas Card

 I am on the Art Impressions blog today, for my last 2024 Watercolor Weekend!

Today I am using the 5857 - Baby Mini Foundation Set that was released last year.  This image was part of the Nativity Journal Bundle, but works great all on it's own as a card.

Before stamping, I determined that I was going to use the 5065 - Oval Double Stitched Dies to cut out my image, so I traced the outline on my Canson XL Watercolour paper to give myself a painting guideline.  I stamped my image using #N65, as I wanted a soft outline to paint with.  I used four of the branches from 4960 - WC Fir Trees Set coloured in #249/565 and stamped in all of the pine boughs.  There are two branches that bend in each direction, so it allowed me to make it look as though the branches were hanging down from each side.  I coloured each branch in #249, then added #565 along the bottom edge to provide a built in shadow.  I touched all the branches with a damp brush to bring out the colour, and soften the lines.  The birds were painted with #969/947/865, with several layers to add some depth.  #992/969 were painted in streaks on the manger, to indicate a wood-like texture, and I used the #992/993 markers directly on the paper to create the hay underneath.  #850/947 were painted on the Baby's face, with a little glow added to His cheeks.

A wash of #565 was painted on the sky, but it was a bit too purple for my liking, so I darkened it up a little using Blueprint Sketch Distress ink.  It was also added to the snowy hillsides, and as shadows around the manger.  I used my Twintone markers to add in the bird's eyes/beak/legs, and the Baby's features.  I used Bleedproof White paint to add snow to the branches, along with a few snowflakes in the sky, then painted in some shadows with #565 on the snow.

I used the oval die to cut out the image, then matted it and mounted it onto my background paper from 5963 - Winter Woodland PP with 3D foam adhesive.  A few jewels and a foiled sentiment finished it off.  *I am sharing one project this morning, and Gennette will be posting another one this afternoon, so be sure to check out the Ai blog later on!