More Christmas Cards

Just a short post with a couple more cards I've made. These two are less traditional in appearance, with nothing overtly Christmasy about them.  If you click on each card, it will bring up a larger version of it.  I stamped the aspen trees, below, with black ink, then sponged color on the background to give it an autumn feel.

For this card, I used a simple stencil and placed it over maroon cardstock, then sponged in the "mist" background with different colors.

Christmas Cards

Well, gosh! I won a card contest!  I've been making Christmas cards for a contest and came up with some cool ideas using "found" items like bits of lace, scraps of material, pieces of ribbons, etc.  I decided to go with nontraditional colors.  Instead of the usual reds and greens, I went with golds and beiges.  Above is the card that won the contest. I'd used an old postcard for the main part of the card.  Below are two more cards I made, using the same color scheme.

  

Making Beautiful Cards #7

This card was made using two stamps and one color--eggplant. First, I stamped the lace background, then sponged more eggplant color around the edges. Next, I stamped the goddess, then carefully cut out the image and glued her to the lace background. Then I glued it to lavender cardstock. I like the simplicity of the card.

Making Beautiful Cards #6

This is one of my more unusual cards. The "bubbles" were made by combining equal parts water and liquid dish soap, and then adding tempura paint. Then you take a straw and blow bubbles in the mixture until the bubbles foam up and form a large mound above the rim of the bowl.

Next, you place a piece of paper on top of the bubbles and press gently down. The result is what you see on the left. When the bubbles pop, they leave a lovely impression on the paper.

I love these bubble images! They are fun. They have depth and look almost three-dimensional. And they make interesting images for cards.

Making Beautiful Cards #5

Here's another card I made using blue card stock. The horse part is stamped on glossy paper, which absorbs the ink so incredibly that it ends up looking and feeling like a photograph. You absolutely cannot smear the thing once it's done, even if you run your finger across the checkerboard surfaace.

I inked the checkerboard stamp first, then used a paper towel to rub away the ink from one part of the stamp. Then I stamped it on glossy paper. I then sponged a small amount of topaz ink off-center, for drama. Next, I stamped the horse.

Then I glued the glossy card onto dark blue paper, and glued that to the blue card stock

Making Beautiful Cards #4

This card I made for my best friend, Carol. Oddly enough, the darling little dragon blowing out a candle was a freebie given to me when I purchased some other rubber stamps at a stamp show. Vendors often tuck a little freebie in the bag with your purchase. It's a nice touch, and while the freebies are often something I wouldn't normally purchase (like the little dragon), I frequently end up finding many uses for them. This dragon is my "birthday" stamp. I've made many birthday cards with it.

Everything except the smoke is a stamp. The dragon and candle are one stamp. The stone floor is another. I made the smoke by tapping a Q-tip on my ink pad and drawing the smoke freehand with the Q-tip. Then I added "Happy Birthday Carol" with a gold ink pen.

Making Beautiful Cards, #3

This is a card I made for my friend, Jacquie Rogers, who writes totally fun books about faeries and dragons, and pirates and such. I printed out a copy of her most recent book cover and designed a card for her. She promptly commissioned me to make a couple dozen more! Now I have a sideline doing author cards featuring their book covers.

Making Beautiful Cards #2

Shock! I'm back the next day with another card to display. Not much news in my life except to say that while unloading groceries I opened a bottle of new shampoo I'd bought and sniffed it to see what it smelled like. Got a dab on my nose and wiped it off. Now I can't get the perfumey smell out of my nose! Have scrubbed & scrubbed with tissue. Headed for the shower now. Hopefully the smell will stay in my hair and not my nose.

This card shows my love of the Asian influence in art, and also my love of combining textures and patterns. Oh, and my love of monochromatic color themes.

Making Beautiful Cards

Confession: I am a rubber stamper. I make cards. I used to be an artist in my former life (oil, watercolor, pen and ink). And while I no longer have time for art, I still crave that creativity outlet. So I do the next best thing. I make cards.

I used to look down my nose at stampers, considering them second class citizens compared to REAL artists. Also, I was secretly afraid that if I got started, it could easily become a passion. But a client kept telling me how much fun it was and one day, she sent me a couple of rubber stamps and a set of ink pads. I was doomed.

Since I've been so darned busy, and haven't had time to post regularly to my blog, I thought I'd try posting pictures of my cards. At least it won't look like a barren desert here. The card above is one I'm particularly proud of. The Asian cat and Asian writing are stamped in a dark purplish-maroon color called "eggplant." The bands of color in the background were made using a sponge and Q-tips.

The images I'll be posting will be compressed, because Blogger doesn't like big files, so the pictures won't be the highest quality. But hopefully they'll give you a good idea of the types of cards you can make with rubber stamps. I'll try to post a new card every few days or so, schedule permitting.

What is your hobby? Any artists out there?