For this slimline card, I decided to use a Spellbinders die that I got on sale last year when in Texas. Using a scrap piece of DSP I die cut the sledding image and then using another die from Cottage Cutz I cut two sets of village houses. I coloured the sledding piece using pencils but left some of the DSP pattern showing on faces and base. After dry embossing the snow at the top I then glued the village houses. I also added a bit more of a snowy bank at the bottom and stamped the Hero Arts greeting in the corner. Using a sparkle pen I added some light in windows and on the bunting so that the village would stand out a bit more. Then I added the main die cut on top of the rest. Added this panel to a top folding base and another card completed with only a few more to go now.

I made this card last week but hadn’t yet posted it. After seeing that it fit the new challenge at Inkspirational I decided to post it now. It was inspired by a card I had seen but cannot now find a link to and the designer had used leaves whereas I decided to use stars. Basically I die cut stars from various scrap pieces using 2 different dies along with one tiny one. The frame is from a PaperRose stitched rectangle set. The sentiment is from LawnFawn. Once the frame was cut I added it to the dark blue piece and then onto the card front. I heat embossed the sentiment and die cut the word several times to make it thicker. Played with placement to ensure I could get the stars and sentiment to work together and then glued it all as shown. I’m pretty happy with end result and my hubby thinks it is great.

When I was fooling around with some left over strips of CS I decided to create a couple of background pieces with them. I just randomly glued strips to a scrap piece and then using dies from my MFT set I cut out the trees. I really liked the result so I cut a piece of white CS to look like some snow, glued it at the bottom of the black card front and added the trees. Using 2 tiny star stamps I stamped the stars and then went over them with a sparkle pen. I white heat embossed the sentiment which is from Hero Arts. I would have used snowflakes but couldn’t find one small enough. Note to self – buy some additional small stamps for Christmas designs.

The berries in the photo reminded me of beads so I used sequins to build a tree. Some of the photo colours are represented by both sequins and ribbon. My design style is mostly CAS but as there is a layer it is a combination of CAS and Clean and Layered.

I glued the sequins into a tree shape and added a strip of gold to make the trunk. Added the ribbon at the bottom with the sentiment (from Hero Arts) just above it. A very simple card and quick to make too.

So the colour I avoid using is brown and this challenged me to actually design a card using it. For some reason on this photo the card base looks gray but it is a very dark brown by GKD called Charcoal Brown. The kraft strip is a scrap piece cut with a die from a distressed edge set by Spellbinders. I stamped the sentiment in Walnut Distress ink and clear heat embossed it. To get the background I used a stencil and some distress collage medium that I coloured with Frayed Burlap ink before adding it to the card stock. It dries to a faint crackle finish that I think adds to the bark of the trees. The deer was die cut from a chocolate box lid that I had saved because I liked the gold design on it. This piece also looks gray but it is a light brown in reality. I found a sequin on my desk so I added it to the sentiment strip with a tiny gold jewel in the center. Don’t know why I avoid using brown, because the end result of this card is actually something I like.

It is funny how, on occasion, a challenge comes along and we are already working on a card that fits it perfectly. This is one of those cards. The die cut house was left over from a piece I cut off on another project and the circle is from that project too. I added a bit of silver behind the house before I glued it. I also stamped and heat embossed the snowflake from a small set by GKD onto the circle and then added the house to that. The sentiment is from a set by Hero Arts and I added a tiny snowflake there as well. Background is a scrap piece that I cut to size and then added the navy ribbon as shown. A few tiny blue gems and another card is ready for Christmas.

Couldn’t resist doing another card for JUGs after I had seen an image on Pinterest that I found cute. This card is my take on that image found here.

After playing around a bit with placement I stamped both images from a GKD set called Warmer with You and then coloured them with InkTense and Prismacolor pencils. Once done and dry I then dry embossed the snow using a Sissix folder. I die cut another piece of white CS using a border die set also by Sissix I think. Could be Spellbinders but I forget which. Once cut I stamped the sentiment after curving it and then stamped the mittens. I added a bit of sparkle using a Sakura pen, but it doesn’t show on photo. I think I am getting much better at CAS cards.

Using my recently acquired MFT kit, I created this card by stamping the images and then colouring them using a combination of Distress Inks and InkTense pencils. I used a couple of shades of the 3 colours to give some variation to the images. I quite like the result.

A few weeks ago I created this shooting star background by using silver embossing paste through a Hero Arts stencil. Finally got around to using it and made this card for the Double Trouble TicTacToe challenge. I used the diagonal line from bottom left to top right. I didn’t go along with the twisted sister section though.

I added the background piece to a dark gray card front and then took the soft patterned paper from a Recollections pad and die cut the circle before adding it on top. Using the village die from Cottage Cuts I die cut the village I cut a piece off the end so it would fit where I wanted. Before gluing it I used a small sponge with some faint violet ink to give it a bit more definition and I also added a touch of sparkle with a Stardust Sakura Gelly roll pen. The sentiment is from my newest MFT kit. I’m using this particular stamp a lot right now so I guess it is my latest favourite stamp.

A while back I tried making this plaid panel for a colour challenge but hated the result and didn’t use it. It has been sitting on one side for more than a week along with a pile of left over strips from various projects. On Monday I had the idea of using the strips by sticking them onto a scrap piece of CS and the striped piece is from one of those that I made. I made no attempt to match the stripes in width just randomly selected the ones I wanted to use on each panel. Many bits were from mirror CS so a lot of the diagonal stripes are shiny. Another happy accident occurred when I placed the striped piece on top of the plaid and decided they looked good together.

I added the layers to the black card front and then using my new MFT word die and another scrap piece of PP I die cut it and glued as you see here. To finish the card I die cut the snowflake from pale blue mirror CS using a die from a Susan Wilson set. In making this card initially the inspiration was just from what was on my desk, so another happy accident is that the new challenge from Double D is all about blue and this card fits the challenge too.