Christmas Collage ft. Mama Elephant

I am super excited to share my first entry to Ksenija's Chasing Mojo Challenge.

 

I was inspired by Margarita's adorable card. (view it on her blog here) I loved her idea of framing cute critters (it's brilliant and oh-so-fun!) and the soft look of the blended backgrounds. Also CASEd her black sentiment and her use of small embellishments.

The bunnies are from Mama Elephant's Pix's Happy Holiday set, while the frames are from Winnie & Walter's Framed with Evelin T Designs set. I colored all the images with Copic Sketch marker, and all the colors I've used are listed below:
Top Left Bunny: BG10, BG15, BG09 (scarf) RV09, RV19 (Coat)
Top Right Bunny: R27, R38, E09 (bag) YG03, G07 (clothes) Y11, Y13, Y15 (ribbon)

Bottom Left Bunny: Y02, Y21 (banner) RV11 (dress) BG10 (wings)
Bottom Right Bunny: V04, V06, V09 (dress) E33, E15 (antlers)
All bunnies used C1 and C3 for shading
Square Frame: E33, E15, E37
Retangular Frame: E44, E29, E49

Then I masked each frame and image one by one and sponged some distress ink to create the soft background. (Yellow: Scattered Straw. Pink: Spun Sugar. Blue: Tumbled Glass. Green: Shabby Shutters.)

Next I added blush to my bunnies by dabbing on some pigment ink with a Q-tip. I think it really makes a difference!

To finish off the card, I applied some glossy accent and adhered some sequins to embellish the card. I really enjoy mixing stamps from different stamps sets and companies, and had a lot of fun creating this card. I hope you have enjoyed looking at it, too! Have a wonderful day! 

Challenges Entered: 

Winnie & Walter 3rd Birthday Bash: Three Challenge (I used 3 stamp sets: Framed with Evelin T Designs, ME's Pix's Happy Holiday, MFT's Essential Sentiments. I've also adhered 3 cupped sequins and 3 star sequins.) / Sequin Challenge / Bright Colors Challenge / Mood Board Challenge (Inspired by the bright colors) / Cute Critter Challenge / Ink Blending Challenge

Autumn Wreath ft. The Greeting Farm

EDIT: Winner at Happy Little Stampers

Today I have another non-holiday card to share with you. The heart mask, floral wreath and colored card base are all inspired by Gloria's card (shown below).

First I stamped the little squirrel from The Greeting Farm's Wood Friends set. Then, masking his feet and tail, I stamped the tree stump image from Pix's Favorite by Mama Elephant. I used the second largest heart die from Memory Box's Cross Stitch My Heart set to cut out a mask. Then I stamped a bunch of little images around the mask to create my wreath. 
The acorn image is from the Wood Friends set I listed above, and the little mushroom and leaf are from the Pix's Favorite set I mentioned before. The small flower bouquet and the heart (bottom right corner) are from Mini Pony Party. It's a Simon Says Stamp exclusive collaboration with The Greeting Farm and was part of the STAMPtember release. The small pumpkin is from Meowlloween, another set from Mama Elephant. It's so nice that a lot of American stamp companies have similar styles: bold outlines and cute images, so that we can mix and match our stamps to create more unique scenes. 
 

All of the images are stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Sketch markers. I've also heat embossed my squirrel with clear embossing powder and some images with sparkly ones. The sentiment is a Paper Smooches gold heat embossed die cut. To finish off the card, I traced the heart shape and added stitched lines with my black gel pen. You can see that it's a thicker pen that makes the lines more dimensional and reflective under light. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I hope you have enjoyed it, too!

Challenges Entered:

HLS: CASE the Designer / Memory Box: Marvelous Metallics / Stamp Ink Paper: ATG but Christmas

Farm Fresh Challenge: Sparkles / Always Use Rubber: Summer/Autumn / Cards und More: ATG with Sparkle

7kids: ATG (I've used a bunch of Copic Sketch Markers, you can shop here!) / Die Cut Divas: Layers (Layered images) / Sweet Kobylkin: Chasing Mojo Challenge

Totally Trees Modern Thank You Card ft. Stampin' Up

EDIT: Top 3 at Time Out

 

I've been using a lot of fall/autumn colors lately, so for today's card I decided to bring back the bright, intense colors! The tree stamps are from Stampin' Up's Totally Trees set, and the sentiment is from Flourishing Phrases. 

I could keep this card very simple and stop after stamping and heat embossing the focal images. However I really wanted to try out this frame die from Mama Elephant, so this is what I did instead. I added some interest to the frame by sponging Fossilized Amber, Picked Raspberry, and Stormy Sky distress inks onto the upper half of the die cut. 

I flicked some water droplets onto the inked portions of the frame for the splotchy effect, and mist a layer of Perfect Pearls water for the shimmery look. To finish off the card, I added a few Liquid Pearls drops. 

Challenges Entered:

Verve Inspiration Challenge / Viva La Verve Sketch 2 / Time Out: Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart

ATSM: Make Your Mark

Spooky Ghost Cat ft. Mama Elephant

When I saw CASology's Spooky theme for this week, I immediately thought about this little cat ghost image from Mama Elephant's Meowlloween Extras set. I decided to keep the sketch and the color scheme very very simple. So it might not seem that interesting at first glance, but wait until the night comes...

Boo! Now tell me that isn't spooky ;) That's right, he glows in the dark! I've always wanted to try out Wow's Glow in the Dark embossing powder, and this is the perfect chance. The effect is pretty good, and it's definitely a lot of fun to play with. 

The sentiments are also from this set. I can't stop laughing at the (be very afraid) sentiment. It's so darn adorable! I've also added his brows so that he looks like he's determined and ready to give you a scare. (haha!) I hope you have enjoyed this cute, spooky card, and thanks for stopping by!

Challenges Entered: 
 
CASology: Spooky / Word Art Wednesday / Dies R Us: Fall (including Halloween)

Rainbow Unicorn Shaker ft. Mama Elephant

Edit: Cas-ual Friday: Contender / Marker Pop: Winner / SSD: Champion
 
Hello! I have a cheerful card for you today. What brightens up a person's day more than a rainbow and unicorn SHAKER card? I know, I've added all the happy elements into this one ;) I was inspired by Winnie & Walter's WCMD challenge to create a rainbow card and just received my happy mail from W&W. Besides the goodies I ordered I also received this playful pack of iridescent sequins (as a thank you gift, thank YOU, W&W!) that I couldn't resist putting onto my card. So a shaker card it is!

To create the rainbow I used the curviest die from Lawn Fawn's Simple Stitched Hillside Borders die set. After die cutting it once I shifted the die a bit downwards and ran it through the die cut machine for the second time. This will create a thin strip of arch. Repeat the process several times with each rainbow color, piece them together and you'll get a rainbow! 
One thing to note though, for some reason this particular die doesn't align perfectly when you're trying to die cut for the second time. If you look closely at the left side of my rainbow in the first photo, you'll notice that the ends are skinnier than the rest of the arches. That didn't bother me for this design, but if you are looking to create arches that have even width, you might want to try with another border die.

I used my all time favorite Memory Box cross stitched heart die to create the shaker window. I'm thinking about turning the positive heart piece into another card, but I don't have an exact plan yet. 

 I colored my unicorn using Copic markers. To make it even more magical (as if a rainbow colored unicorn isn't enough), I applied some wink of stella to the unicorn's mane. Since the unicorn's body is a light gray, I decided to use a gray polka dot patterned paper as the shaker's background.  


The sentiment is aww-some and totally matches the card I'm creating for today: "Happy Birthday. Wishing you rainbows and eternal happiness." How cute! I embossed it with sparkle embossing powder to add a touch of glamour. I hope this rainbow card has brightened your day a little, thanks for stopping by!

Challenges Entered:

Maker Pop Challenge #104: For the Girls
 
Cas-ual Fridays 157: Shaker Cards / Winnie & Walter: Rainbow, Stretch Your Dies (I used a border die to create the rainbow) CASE a W&W DT (I CASEd Gayatri's card where she used a border die and colorful cardstock to create a background. I also CASEd her heart die cut and keep the focus of my card in one corner of the card.) For a friend (I'm dedicating this to the same friend mentioned in the previous post.) Pick n' Mix (white, poppy, mustard, lawn, cerulean + shaker + sequins + cute) CAS

 
SSD: Color Inspiration(right), Polka Dots, Birthday / Memory Box #17: Sequins
SSS Monday: Powder Power / SSS Wednesday: ATG