Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....(LTC #132)

The Art of Christmas Swap

First Snow (LTC #132)

The Card:

I LOVE Christmas. I've always wanted to make a card, but I'm always way to busy in December. I broke down and joined this swap though so I decided to do something elegant and simple. I thought of some of my favorite things about Christmas and I have to admit I really delight in the first snow. I love the slightly chilly air, the crisp clean smell and the way the flakes look as they fall. It's my favorite time to take a stroll and then come back to a cup of hot chocolate. So that was my theme....the delightful pleasure of the first snowfall at Christmas.

Making The Card:

I stamped the image on cardboard card stock and layered white tissue paper at the bottom to create the snow. I layered on red and light brown christmas paper and then used pearl accents to create the illusion of snow falling. I stuck with two colors for the card so that the color wouldn't distract from the snow. I colored her winter coat, hat, mittens and tights in holly red and then accented the jacket with a white paint marker. This is definitely a bit different from my normal style. I kept it simple to give it that old fashioned feel!

                                                                      White Christmas

Just Stamp It!...(LTC #131)

Just The Stamp Swap

Birds Of A Feather (LTC #131)

This was for a swap listed by Lava Girl. We have both been doing LTC's for about 6 years now. When we started a good majority of the cards were completely stamp based. Amazing carves set on a single piece of paper. We have seen an evolution in the styling and set up of LTC's. Now there are embellishments and tons of layers and hand painted cards with mixed media. Not to say that those things didn't exist 6 years ago, but there were very few people doing them. She wanted to challenge us to focus on our carve for this swap. No coloring, no embellishing, no layering (kind of broke that rule). From the beginning of my start in cards I have been all about color and layers so I joined to challenge myself and to see some amazing carves by other people. 

Making The Card:

I picked some hand made paper that I had been playing around with for a different swap. It was made with Ranger Alcohol Inks, stencils and Dylusions ink sprays. From there I simply stamped my image. I chose a peacock because I figured that if I stamped it on colorful paper I would be less tempted to color it. The image I carved was somewhat smaller then LTC sized so in the end I did put a backing paper on it. I stuck with just black hoping that sticking with a solid color would make me a tiny bit less of a rule breaker.

This really was a hard swap for me. I carved 3 different images before I was able to find one that I could just "stamp" and walk away. I'm not sure I could have done this swap with anything other than a peacock. I'm going to have to try this again in the future just to push my own boundaries.

98 Percent Human, 2 Percent Bird....(LTC #130)

An extra card made just for fun

The Angel Experiment (LTC #130)

The Card:

I joined a faerie swap listed by Linden Leaf. Two weeks after sending the cards out they were returned to me minus the postage. I felt so bad for holding up the swap that I grabbed an old carve I had sitting around and made a bonus card to send. Years ago while I was working in insurance I used to listen to audiobooks all day long. after listening to the first few Maximum Ride Books by James Patterson, I carved two images that reminded me of the main character. It was a fun set of books and carves. The first book in the series was titled "The Angel Experiment". 

Making The Card:
Since this was a quickie card I used only materials I had on hand. First, I covered white paper in black distress ink and then stamped the image with black Versafine Ink. I then colored the image first with copic markers and then enhanced the wings with chalk. Finally I sprayed the entire card with a shimmer mist and looked for a backing paper that would compliment the image.

Book Teaser:
WELCOME TO MY NIGHTMARE.
Do not put this book down. I'm dead serious - your life could depend on it. I'm risking everything by telling you - but you need to know...