The musings and offerings of a burgeoning greetings master

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Mr Cardmaker's Christmas Collection, Part Deux

Back to share some more of the 2013 Christmas cards. I have actually been working on some for 2014 already, and throwing in a birthday card here and there, but those are for another day.

I did some hand coloring, both with colored pencils and watercolor, and a marker here and there. 

With the pencils, I did this--

Trying to keep things simple, I did some super fast coloring on this happy snowman and his birdie posse. I really like how the white shows up so well on this grey paper. Some torn paper to make the ground, some Stickles to add some sparkle, and there they are! I popped the panel up onto a patterned paper background piece, added that big snowflake, and we were done.

Oh, and a quick trick--The white "merry"?  The liner paper from the red sticky vinyl one! It was so shiny and bright, I just HAD to use it! Sad that the vinyl itself was such a challenge to work with. I abandoned it almost immediately.  

Then it was time to watercolor--



This is a Stampendous stamp that I really like. I stamped in Versamark and gold embossed it. A water brush and some red ink to fill in some key areas, and I was done with that! A quick sentiment strip finishes it all off.

In a similar vein--

This one was stamped in Archival ink, so it wouldn't run when I hit it with the inks. I went a bit closer to real life coloring here, and I merely added some punched branches that were punched from white glitter paper to add a wintery feel.

I love to do the hand coloring, but it takes SO long to do well, I left that idea for more Christmas cards, and thought I would do a big stamp project instead. 
I made this--

I had an idea I would be able to do this rather quickly. Yeah....That didn't happen. This was a GREAT amount of fun, though, and I think I used about six kinds of stamps and stamp companies to create this one. My fave was using the top of a Christmas tree to make the parts that look like evergreens (or ferns, depending on your point of view). I also learned that my red inks are VERY pink, except for one. Hmmm....

So, that's more of the collection.   I have a few more to share, but I have to run to work!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best to You-
Richard

9 comments:

  1. Hi Richard! Your cards are wonderful! I love the snowman, and would never have thought to use the liner sheet but it's perfect! The birds look difficult! The cards are both beautiful - I prefer the one that's hard to color (of course). The fave of this whole group though is that wreath. W.O.W.!!! That is spectactular! Excellent work!
    Hugs!! (ps - thanks for your sweet comments on my blog, you make me smile!)

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  2. I've just been through all of your posts...you are rockin' the posts, dear friend! Wow, wow, wow!!! These are all incredible! You were very busy, especially with working full time again too. It's so hard to jump back in after being gone a while, but so happy that you're back with us! Happy crafting!! Can't wait to see what you do next :-)

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  3. All terrific, of course, but really love the last one, the Peace on Earth wreath - I'm a sucker for wreaths. So happy to see another post from you! Wish you didn't go back to work : )

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  4. Oh those are awesome!! You do beautiful coloring!!! And I see the card I got!!! Of COURSE it's just soooo gorgeous and I love it!!! Must be because that red is rather pink! ;) Thank you again soooo much!!! And have a great day at work!! Hugs!!

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  5. Richard these are all wonderful cards! I love the snowman on gray with the white pencil! And cardinals are my favorite bird as I grew up in the Midwest watching them in a nest each year in our backyard! I love how you colored them!! And that wreath! Stunning!! I hope you had a lovely holiday! Happy New Year!

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  6. All of your cards are fabulous Richard, but I especially LOVE the wreath one at the bottom!! Wow!!

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