Christmas Cards #... Darn, I Lost Count

I've been playing around with Christmas card designs for the last week and I've officially lost count.

Here are the 2 cards that I didn't take pictures of yesterday because of the dark. It's still raining, but there was enough light to take pictures - and for the pictures to turn out pretty well.

I wanted a card that leaned toward the masculine end of stamping. Something that was simple and not too fussy to make in bulk. Since I'm working a lot more than I was last year, I need something that can be cut and assembled relatively quickly. The tree is stamped in Burnt Umber Palette Ink and then watercolored with Old Olive ink - which warped the paper slightly. I think I'm going to make a change over to chalk pastels which should color nicely and not warp the paper.

Stamps: SU - Lovely as a Tree, PTI - Take a Bough. Paper: Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Olive Press dp. Ink: Old Olive, Burnt Umber Palette. Accessories: brad, aquapainter, dimensionals.

I was trying to think of other stamps that would make Christmas cards - when I remembered Baby It's Cold Outside by MFT stamps. I'm also in a very monochromatic mood, so the entire card is Rose Red. The image was stamped in Palette Noir ink and colored in with Prismacolor pencils and blended with baby oil. The snow, skirt, scarf and snowman are all shimmery with Oyster Twinkling H2Os - now that I figured out how use them successfully, I'm in love. The ribbon is woven through holes punched with a Martha Stewart ribbon punch.

Stamps: MFT - Baby It's Cold Outside. Paper: Select White, Rose Red cs and dp. Ink: Palette Noir, Rose Red. Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Baby Oil, Twinkling H2Os, ribbon punch, organdy ribbon, tacky tape.

I've also been playing around with my Christmatini card - and trying to figure out how to stop the marker from smearing when I put the Twinkling H2Os on. After deciding that I needed to use a non-waterbased marker, and questioning if I wanted to buy a red Copic marker JUST for this, I remembered that Sharpie markers are alcohol based. The red Sharpie works fabulously and after I changed the color of the Twinkling H2Os, I'm getting the look I wanted.

Hoping the rain ends soon,