Oh Happy Day of Joy & Wonder

Tuesday already? Geez! It's all moving too fast for me!

  

I have a retirement card to share today that I've made for a cousin who is leaving her job after 40 years. And I also have another Christmas card to share as well.

First to the retirement card: I used one of Sketch ~N~ Scrap's current sketches for July. I have no idea anymore where this rubber flower stamp came from, but I thought it went nicely with my American Traditional Designs flower-patterned paper. The blue card stock is SU and the light manilla yellow card base is something I picked up at Hobby Lobby many moons ago. The flowers were stamped on some of it also, as well as the front Avery Elle sentiment.

I used my 1.5" circle punch around the flowers and colored them with my ProMarkers. I made the light blue dimensional dots with my first bottle of Nuvo Drops (I have ordered several more! Me Likey!) This is an A2 card. The sentiment was stamped on a Lawn Fawn die cut. VersaFine Clair was used as the ink throughout.

The inside sentiments are by Pink By Design and Avery Elle.

The back uses an Impression Obsession siggie stamp on leftover scraps from the front.

CHALLENGES:
1.  Sketch ~N~ Scrap #149 - Sketch is shown above
2.  Stamping Sensations July Challenge: Earth Laughs in Flowers - my card features flowers that have been hand-stamped and colored with ProMarkers.
3.  Stamplorations Summer Theme & Sketch Challenge: Stamps + Anything Goes

4.  Country View July Challenge: Blues and Greens
5.  Crafty Creations #395: Always AG
6.  Colour Crazy Week 29: AG with Colouring - I colored my images with ProMarkers.
7.  Outlawz Festive Fridays July 26-Aug 5: Anything Goes (Happy Retirement)
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Onto my Christmas Card next. I used a sketch from last week at Split Coast Stampers (no time deadlines). This is a 6x6 top fold card. White textured Bazzill card base and all other papers are from the Carta Bella So This Is Christmas collection, off-white velvet ric rac and tiny gold star sequins are  from my stash.

The totally adorable image is called Hanging Stockings from Mo's Digital Pencil store. I printed it out on Office Depot 110# index stock and trimmed the paper to the sketch element dimensions. But I felt it needed something in the background around the fireplace instead of just a solid color.

So, I stenciled the area with Tim's Woodgrain Layering Stencil, one of my new blending brushes and Distress Ink in Old Paper as it blended well with papers I chose. I applied the ink rather heavily and am glad I did. I like the subtle bit of texture and color without competing for color oxygen with the image's delightful characters.

I then set to coloring the image with my ProMarkers. I also outlined the edge in the darkest brown I used on the fireplace. I finished off the stocking hangers and angel on the mantle with a coating of Sakura metallic gel pen

I die cut a Spellbinders label in coordinating paper and used a Papertrey Ink sentiment stamp, placing it above the mantle like you would a mirror or painting. I originally wanted a wreath there but didn't have one small enough. I think the tiny stars are just perfect.

On the inside, I have seen some card makers stamping their sentiments at unusual angles, so I thought I would try here. Don't know as I particularly like it, LOL. Recipients will likely say I stamped it crooked. Well, yes, on purpose, LOL.

For the back of my card, I stamped a Sugarloaf siggie in the bottom right hand corner of this cute tree border design. Looking and comparing the front to the back, I felt this tree sheet complemented the front a lot. Similar mix of off-white and color.

Really glad I made this card. The image was so fun to color and the sketch elements were straightforward. And the stenciling was also fun and I think adds a lot to the overall look, especially as pertains to Jingle Belles challenge (see below).

CHALLENGES:
1.  Split Coast Stampers Sketch #SC758
2.  Jingle Belles JB:19:15: Rustic Fireside Glam

3.  Rudolf Days Challenge July: Anything Christmas Goes - I have played 10 challenges total.
4.  Christmas with the Cuties #29: Going Green
5.  Outlawz Monday Greetings July 22-Aug 4: Sentiment + Brads/Sequins/Gems - I have star sequins surrounding my sentiment.
6.  Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge #448: ACG + Opt. Twine or Ribbon - I've played the option and used velvet ric rac ribbon.
7.  Stamplorations Mixed Media Summer Challenge: Stencil + AG - I used a stencil on the image background.  

8.  I Love ProMarkers Challenge #389: AG + Opt. Christmas in July - I've played the option with my Christmas-themed card.
9.  Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge #281: Anything Mo Goes + Opt. Christmas - I've used a Mo digital image and I've played the Christmas option.
10.  Aud Sentiments Challenge #23: Sentiment + For a Child

Well, that's all from me at the moment! I appreciate you hanging in there through 2 cards and many photos and sentences! As soon as I click on Publish I am going right back to finishing yet one more card, so I'll be back real soon! Thanks a bunch for coming by!  XOX