Wednesday 3 March 2021

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

14 comments:

  1. Love your little elf - that's quite the balancing act, lol! Beautifully CAS, love the kraft background, so striking! Thanks so much for playing at Sparkles!

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  2. Love this fun little elf, Helen! Love the pencil on kraft card!! Stay safe!! :)

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  3. All are lovely cards, Helen. Thanks so much for joining us over at As You Like It Challenge!

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  4. Such an adorable bunch of cards. Always love how you use kraft card and colour. Thanks for playing at Polkadoodles, hope to see you join in with future challenges too. Stay safe and keep crafting!

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  5. Such a lovely trio of festive cards, Helen. I love kraft cards and your colouring on it gorgeous. My favourite has you be your awesome snow scene, and thanks for explaining the creative process.
    Take care,
    Hugs
    Carol x

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  6. Three wonderful Christmas cards, Helen! I especially love the grove of fir trees. You are rocking the coloring on kraft!

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  7. Fab Selection of cards thanks for playing along with us at crafty catz hope to see you again.

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  8. Three beautiful cards! You colour so very well with watercolour pencils!

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  9. Wonderful cards for the E, F and G challenge, Helen. I love the fir trees one most.
    Wishing you a fine week.
    Dorte xx

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  10. Lovely cards, thanks for sharing with us at CWTC. Sue x

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  11. Completely adorable! I love the kraft paper and your coloring is so beautiful. So glad you joined us at Christmas with the Cuties!

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  12. A beautiful winter card, loving the background and those are fabulous trees. Thanks for joining in the challenge at Happy Little Stampers. Caz. DT

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  13. Hello me again, I repeat the same as above comment. Thanks for sharing with us at Sparkles Christmas Challenges. Caz. DT

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  14. Beautiful creations!! Thanks so much for participating in our CHRISTMAS CRAFTS ALL YEAR ROUND challenge!!! Can’t wait to see you participate again in our next challenge!! Have a happy crafting day!! Stay safe and healthy!! Deanne at A Little Bit O’ Paper

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Thanks for taking the time to look and comment on my cards! Helen x