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Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Christmas Critters!

My favorite time of the year is approaching quickly...winter. I love wearing sweaters and living in the desert doesn't give me much chance to wear them!  I thought making Christmas cards year round would make me feel cooler when our temps were up at 118, but it didn't. While still wearing shorts and tanktops, I loved making this card for the challenge at Christmas at Sweet Stampin'.  This month the topic is CHRISTMAS CRITTERS.  I purchased this Whimsy stamped named Christmas Turtle and Dove last year and finally inked him for this challenge. Aren't these two little critters adorable?!


I colored them with Copics and then took my Blender pen and kept dabbing at the turtle which is what gives him the texture look. And since this stamp is what the second day of  Christmas is about, I hand wrote my sentiment on the image. I used White Glitter Ritz on their hats.

The round diecut was sent to me by my dearest friend, Lillian, in white. I used my red Copic pen to color the edge for this card. That's the nice thing about sharing a die cut with someone. Make them white so they can be inked, colored or embossed to match the card!  The diecut is by Marianne and the Christmas lights across the top are a stamp and matching die by Your Next Stamp. I applied Glossy Accents to each bulb for them to be smooth and shiny. I colored the base of each light with gray Copics and then applied clear Wink of Stella on each so that they'd have that metallic look. I glued a Santa hat brad (with the back cut off) in the center of my satin bow and applied White Glitter Ritz on the hat's pom pom and cuff. The multi-colored jewels are from my stash and I used the same colored jewels as I colored the light bulbs. The paper is from a paper pack by Bo Bunny.


Our sponsor this month is The Hobby House who has donated a prize of a £10.00 voucher to their fabulous store.
http://www.thehobbyhouse.co.uk/


It's getting time to get your cards ready for the upcoming holiday, and we're hoping that you'll join us at the Christmas at Sweet Stampin' monthly challenge theme of CHRISTMAS CRITTERS.  The Design Team has out done themselves this month with their inspirational cards. This challenge is for 4 weeks so there's plenty of time to get your card made and posted on the Christmas at Sweet Stampin' challenge! 

                                                                                  Hugs,
                                                                                  Gail

This card is entered in the following challenges:
Cute Card Thursday, Sister Act Card Challenge, Di's Digi Designs, Craftyhazelnuts Christmas Challenge, Catch the Bug, The Glory of Christmas [Bingo (Diagonal: ribbon, stamp or digi, pearls or gems)], Ribbon Girls, Robyn's Fetish, Craftin' Desert Divas, Cutie Pie Challenge, Melon Headz Friends, Crazy Challenge (3 Santa Hats), Crafty Girls, As You Like It (see top para for fav season and why), Craftyhazelnuts Christmas Challenge 2, Natalie and Amy's, Craft-Dee Bowz, My Mums Craft Shop, Jelly Park Challenges, One Crazy Stamper, Craftyhazelnuts Patterned Paper, The Sisters of CraftDream Weaver Stencils, Stamping Sensations, One Sweet Challenge, Crafty Bloggers Network, Stamp and Create, Ladybug Crafts, Creative Corners  

37 comments:

  1. A fabulous card Gail! Love the turtle and dove image what a cute take on the 12 Days of Christmas. Those lights are fab will have to check them out. Amazing colouring as always, hugs Susan x

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  2. fabulous and gorgeous card Gail alos your card under.
    Gr Karin

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  3. What a gorgeous Christmas card, love the colours and the image is so cute..Hugs Lozzy xx

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  4. Fantastic card layout, beautiful colouring, and a really cute image. I love Winter too, fortunately I live somewhere where we normally have a cold enough Winter to wear jumpers, and I always hope for snow too! Thank you for joining in with The Sisters of Craft challenge. Tracy DT

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  5. Ah, just LOOK at this -- they both have matching hats, not to mention the exact replica of the hat in the center of the bow!! Too, too, CUTE . . . I love happy critters like this and you've aced the coloring and shading, especially the turtle. Love the glitter on the hats - again, ALL matching, along with the cute papers and it's nice to see an array of colors on your gems, instead of all the same - good way to use up those odd number of colors left on a card, as we all know. And last of all, that row of lights overhead is the perfect ending touch. This is a WINNER, for sure.

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  6. This is beautiful! Love your string of lights across the top and the beautiful red die-cut! The image is so cute and your hand-written sentiment is lovely - I couldn't handwrite a sentiment on my cards as my handwriting, even my printing, looks awful - your penmanship is beautiful! Love how you did the texture on the turtle too and thanks for sharing how you did it!

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  7. Adorable. Love this is image and the way you colored them. Also love the elements you have added. Thanks for joining us at Melonheadz Friends.

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  8. This is so adorable and beautifully coloured! it's gorgeous ..thanks for joining us at Sister Act Card Challenge..Sue DT :)

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  9. Awwww! Too darn cute! Thank you for sharing with us at the Glory of Christmas. - Myrna DT

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  10. I adore this, Gail! Wonderful image and fabulous colours! I particularly love the string of lights and the Santa hat brad!
    Thank you for joining us at the Cutie Pie Challenge. Jane xx

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  11. I love this one Gail, the image is just great, such fun!
    Hugs Jacee
    Simply Paper Card Design

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  12. Absolutely adorable Gail. Thanks for joining us at One Crazy Stamper this month.

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  13. so cute love the christmas lights dies
    hugs
    céline

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  14. Fabulous card, and I love how the sentiment matches the image. Beautifully coloured too.
    Hugs
    Annette - Netty's Cards
    xx
    Proud to design for :
    Crafty Little Fairies,
    Top Tip Tuesday,
    ABC Christmas,
    As You Like It and
    The Stamp Basket.

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  15. Stunning card Gail, so love that image!
    Many thanks for joining in the Cute Card Thursday Challenge! Debxx

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  16. They ARE so cute!! And so is your card! Love that string of lights and the multi colored rhinestones. Thanks for playing with CHNCC2.

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  17. Gail, this card is the cutest. Great coloring. And the image is adorable.Thanks for joining us at the Craft-Dee BowZ challenge this month. Join us again soon. Hugs, Barbara

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  18. How cute! Such a wonderful Christmas card. Some one will be lucky to receive this!

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  19. Adorable Christmas card! The image is too cute and I LOVE the bright colors! Thanks so much for sharing with us over at Craftin' Desert Divas!

    Emily
    Mollie's Motif

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  20. Absolutely adorable card! Thanks for playing along at Catch The Bug.

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  21. This is so sweet! My goodness your coloring is spot on. Beautiful job shading and highlighting.

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  22. Cute animals, thanks for joining us at Creative Corner this week

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  23. Love the coloring and texturizing of your turtle, and the great sparkle on the hat brims. Thanks for linking to the Dreamweaver challenge this month!

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  24. Beautiful design and colours Gail, absolutely perfect for our theme at Stamping Sensations, thanks so much for joining in and sharing your lovely work with us.

    B x

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  25. Thanks for entering our Glory of Christmas bingo challenge and all of my Craftyhazelnut's challenges with your lovely crafting - hope to see you again soon. x

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  26. Another gorgeous card, gorgeous image and colours. Thank you for sharing with us at Robyn's Fetish Challenge this week. Marlene DT

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  27. Super cute image and fantabulous colouring, love the lights along the top too. Thanks for sharing with us over at Jellypark Friends. Mel :o)

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  28. Really fun card Gail, and such a cute image. You colored and shaded him wonderfully. Thanks so much for taking part in the Dreamweaver Stencils challenge.

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  29. Lovely card, thanks for joining us at Cutie Pie's. Sue x

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  30. This is awesome!! Such a cute image, beautifully coloured, fab embellies and attention to detail too :-) Thanks for sharing in the "All About Animals " challenge at Di's Digi Designs Donna ♥

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  31. Love, love, love the way you coloured this turtle Gail... brilliant and gorgeous!

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  32. This is so sweet, love that beautifully couloured turtle, such a pretty card
    Hugs julie P

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  33. This is extremely cute and cheerful Gail, love it. Thanks for joining us at Stamping Sensations this month.
    Pinky

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  34. Congratulations!
    The Top 3 Button you can find on our Blog.
    Lizzy

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  35. I so love what you did with this image - your colouring and your hand written sentiment. Loving the embellishing you did too, esp the string of lights - reminds me of my childhood when these type of lights were basically all anyone had. Nice work with the Copic blender pen too, it adds a lot to the colouring.

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  36. This is adorable, I love the central image, beautifully coloured. The bow and little Santa hat had just add that something extra to the card.
    Thank you for entering the Sisters of Craft challenge
    Pixie (DT team)

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