ABC Christmas Challenge - E, F & G are for?

We have a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Carol is the host, and the themes for this month are:

'E is for Elf'

'F is for Fir Trees'
&
'G is for Garland'

There's a lovely prize from Carol for the lucky winner:

I picked a Penny Black stamp called 'Bauble Balance' to use on my 'Elf' card...stamping it directly on to a kraft card blank, along with the matching sentiment, then coloured it using watercolour pencils.

My 'Fir Trees' card is a little bit of a cheat...I actually made the watercolour panel at the same time as this card last December...it was originally A5 in size, but just as I finished I managed to get a smudge of green ink in the middle of the sky, so had to trim it down. It's been sitting in my image box (along with a skinny snippet) since then waiting to be turned into a card. Anyway, here's how I made it...I started by painting the sky and snow banks on to watercolour paper, using Distress Inks (Stormy Sky & Chipped Sapphire). I then stamped my trees ('Before the Snow' and a smaller matching one from a little set called 'Wonder Collection')...using 'Evergreen Bough' Distress Ink...masking off the snow bank in the foreground. Once dry, I stamped each tree several times, then added a little more colour to them using more of the same ink (and a little of 'Pine Needles'). Once the trees were dry, I added my 'snow' by splattering a thick mixture of white watercolour paint all over the image. Finally, I stamped my sentiment (from a set by the Colorado Craft Company), then distressed the edges before adding the panel to a kraft card blank.

On my 'Garland' card, I stamped my image directly on to a kraft card blank, along with a Lili of the Valley sentiment, then coloured is using watercolour pencils.

I'm also entering these cards into the following challenges:

• As You Like It - Favourite Reason to Send a Card (Christmas - it was making my own Christmas cards that first got me into stamping & crafting)
• Christmas Cards All Year Round - Something Beginning with E & F (Elf & Fir Trees)
• Christmas with the Cuties - Elves, Gnomes or Fairies (Just the first card)
• Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes
• Happy Little Stampers (Watercolour) - Anything Goes (Just the second card)
• Polkadoodles - Anything Goes
• Simon Says Stamp (Wednesdays) - Anything Goes
• Sparkles Christmas Forum - CAS (Just the first card)

For more inspiration from my lovely DT buddies, please pop over to the ABC Christmas Challenge.