Monday and the start of a new week + it was Rudolph Day just yesterday!

Morning readers, 

I recently made a card using a new (to me) technique from a video by Zoey Scarpelli, though I have no idea why it's never crossed my mind before!. Whilst making the card I "cleaned" off the excess ink (from my stencils) using a spare snippet of white card .. turns out it was large enough to make not one but two Artist Trading Cards, want to see? Great value, a Threefor technique! Should you wish to revisit the card then it may be viewed here.

Two ATC's using the "clean off" from my stencils

Materials used:

• White, 250gsm, C6 card and matching envelope
• Card in white and black
• Snippets of card in white and black, for my sentiment plane
• Inks used: Distress Inks in ground espresso, frayed burlap, pumice stone, spiced marigold, picked raspberry and blueprint sketch
• Stencils used: Tim Holtz THS002, THMS007 and THMS053 and a 6"x6" Circles stencil from Stamposaurus
• Precious Remembrance shop sentiment (from the New Day set) and Pink and Main flower (from PMO554) stamped using Versafine Clair nocturne and morning mist inks
• Using a floral die set and textured black card snippet I cut three flowers but ended up only using two of them on the card, the third made the above ATC
• Another snippet of white card for my Precious Remembrance Shop sentiment
• Sunday International coneflower image, stamped using Versafine Clair nocturne ink
• A sticker from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology "small talk" book
• Faber Castell pitt pen, to doodle around the sticker
• Crystal stickles to bling up my coneflower
• Given that all these inks are water based, once they were dry I gave them a quick spritz with Crafters Companion Spray and Shine, to seal

This was my original project, with the piece on the left being
the "clean off" for my stencil, and what I used to
make the above ATC's

I'll be entering the above make for the following challenges:-

1. Ellibelle's Wednesday Challenge - Feb challenge - ANYTHING GOES
2. Penny's Paper Crafty - challenge No. 565 - ANYTHING GOES
3. Creative Inspiration - challenge No. 11 - ANYTHING GOES
4. Gem of a Challenge - challenge No. 4 - ANYTHING GOES
5. Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - challenge No. 224 - ANYTHING GOES

And a reminder of the video inspiration ....

And now, since it is about the time (RUDOLPH DAY) .... the challenge at Scraps of Life finished at the end of December but the challenge has been saved and taken over by Helen Nile so it will continue to encourage and inspire us all to crack on with our Christmas projects - YAY!

My C6 card

Materials used:

• White, 250gsm, C6 card and matching envelope
• Card in white and red, for my card front, insert and matting
• Using a makeup brush and Tim Holtz stencil (from THMM155) I applied Versafine Clair tulip red randomly to the lower right corner
• Tim Holtz image (from THMM155) stamped using Versafine Clair shady lane ink
• Tim Holtz sentiment (also from THMM155) stamped using Versafine Clair nocturne ink
• Red alcohol pen to add some colour to the berries
• Crystal stickles to the berries and then just a few general dots to add sparkle to the stencilling and card front

I will be entering the above make for the following challenges:-

1. Rudolph Day Challenges - Feb 25th challenge - ANYTHING CHRISTMAS GOES
2. The Holly and Ivy - challenge No. 156 - ANYTHING CHRISTMAS GOES
3. Peace on Earth - challenge No. 58 - ANYTHING CHRISTMAS GOES
4. Addicted to Stamps & More - challenge No. 462 - CHRISTMAS
5. Christmas Craft Creations - Feb challenge - STENCILS or EMBOSSING FOLDERS

I discovered that I was picked as a TOP3 over at the Gem of a Challenge - thank you so much peeps.