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Wednesday, 13 November 2024

ABC Christmas Challenge - W & X are for?

We have a fun new ABC Christmas Challenge starting today...Fabiola is the host, and the themes are:

'W is for Watercolour'
&
'X is for Xylophone'
(Photo Inspiration!)


The prize for the lucky winner is this gift certificate:


For my 'W is for Watercolour' card, I used stamps from a Woodware set called 'Sketchy Pure Branch'. I inked the two branch stamps using three shades of green Distress Inks (Evergreen Bough, Pine Needles & Forest Moss), spritzed then with a little water, then stamped each several times on to watercolour paper, inking again each time before stamping. I then spritzed it all with some more water, and allowed the inks to bleed into each other to create a watercolour effect. Once dry, I mixed gold and red Cosmic Shimmers mica pigments with water, then splattered those over the branches, and added a die cut sentiment...cut from a snippet of gold mirror card using a Creative Expressions die. I matted the watercolour panel on to some more gold mirror card...distresssing the edges a little before adding it to a card blank.


For my 'X is for Xylophone card, I took inspiration from the bear shape, and picked a Little of the Valley stamp called 'James the Bear - Little Star'. I stamped him on to a snippet of watercolour paper, coloured him using watercolour pencils, then carefully cut him out. For the background, I took inspiration from the multicoloured bars on the glockenspiel, and picked a piece of watercolour effect paper from the 'Pastel Watercolours' pad from The Works. I embossed it using the 'Jolly Christmas' embossing folder by Couture Creations, then matted it on to a snippet of black card before adding it to a card blank. I stamped a sentiment (from the 'Scribbly Christmas' set by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous) on to a teeny snippet of black card using white pigment ink, then added that and James the Bear on to the background using 3D foam pads.


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.

10 comments:

  1. Two lovely cards Helen, the bear is very sweet and really like the foliage with the hints of gold on the first one, perfect for our current themes at Allsorts and We Love Stamping challenges, many thanks for joining in.

    B x

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  2. Both are lovely cards, but thank you for entering the bear card into the Snippets Playground Challenge. See you up in the treehouse for some hot chocolate shortly! xxx

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  3. Love the ferns on the first card. Thanks for sharing with us at We Love Stamping. Little ted looks fab on your card with the lovely EF.

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  4. Great cards. I love the look of the layered stamping to create your fir tree on the first. I bet the shine you added really enhances the look too. Thanks for sharing it with us at we love stamping and for joining in with the theme this month xx

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  5. Two super cards, Helen. I especially love the first one, the watercolour effect is beautiful. Thank you for joining in the Allsorts Challenge this week.
    Liz xx

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  6. The boughs are beautiful with the red and gold!
    Thank you for joining us at Allsorts!

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  7. Your cards are so beautiful Helen, I love the first one with the branches, the watercolour effect is stunning.

    Hugs
    Anke

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  8. I love both cards Helen! As always, your snippets card is gorgeous!
    Hugs
    Di xx

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  9. c'est adorable Helen, très mignonnes créations, biz

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  10. Both cards are absolutely beautiful, hard to choose a favorite. I love the golden accents on the first and the watercoloring effect looks fantastic. And such a sweet little bear and great embossing on the second card.
    Thanks so much for sharing at my Crafty Wednesday challenge!
    Ellie
    Ellibelle's Corner

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