Slimline Christmas Carol Kittens Card and a Bonus Card!

Hello and welcome! I’ve got a slimline card today that features the Carol Kittens stamp set from Gerda Steiner Designs as well as one of the puppies from the Howl are You set and one of the kittens from the Christmas Kittens set. My card took a bit of a left turn along the way, and I ended up with a second bonus card for you, so you can see that card at the end of this post. 

I’ve made a video showing how I made this card, so if you would like to see the video in HD, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

I started my card by cutting a piece of Strathmore watercolour paper to be about 9 x 4”, slightly larger than my rectangular die, and I taped it down to an old cutting board. After wetting it, I dropped in some Distress Ink reinkers in Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet and Dusty Concord. Once this was dry, I spattered it with some Kuretake Starry Colors paint in gold and let it dry. 

I used a Trinity Stamps die called Wonky Stitched Wilderness slimline series to cut out my background. I also embossed some of the stars that come with this die set.  I coloured all my images with Copic markers and have listed them below, and then cut them out. I applied some glossy accents to the dogs’ collar and the ornaments. I also die cut a snowbank from white cardstock using the Lawn Fawn Hillside border dies. 

When I went to assemble my card, things took a left turn.  I felt that the puppy was rather lost amongst all the kittens, but he was meant to be the singing star of the card.  So I removed the Christmas kitten in the tree (who I thought was looking very startled by the dogs’ singing), and he shows up later in the bonus card.  I die cut some trees from Sunny Studios Woodland Borders die set and covered them with Nuvo Moonstone glimmer paste.  

I embossed and heat set the words “Joy”, “The World” and the musical symbols (all from the Carol Kittens stamp set), using some Stampendous Pearlustre Moonstone embossing powder onto my snowbank border.  I also used the word stamp “To Youuuuuuuu!!!” from the Howl are You set and changed it to “Tooooooooo” by masking and rotating the stamp to only stamp and emboss the bottom of the u’s.  I then cut this out to make a speech bubble. 

To assemble my card, I foam mounted the snowbank and adhered it to the background.  I added some Nuvo shimmer pen just along the edge of the snowbank and then adhered the rest of my images. Finally, I glued the speech bubble in place to complete my card.  

And for the Bonus Card ...

So even though I had this card done, I still had that kitten in the tree image coloured and cut, so I decided to make a second card with it.  I coloured one of the other kittens in the Christmas Kittens set, as well as the tree branches.  

I die cut a panel of white cardstock with a wonky stitched rectangle die, and cut a lift the flap circle on this.  I heat embossed the “naughty or nice” sentiment around the flap in Stampendous Pearlustre Moonstone embossing powder.  I did the same for the word “Lift” on the flap.  I die cut a frame of gold foil cardstock and adhered this to my card base.  I glued the kitten in the tree in place so he would show up behind the flap, and then adhered my white rectangle panel to the card base.  I added the second kitten below the flap, and glued the tree branches over the flap itself.  I added glossy accents to all the ornaments. On the inside, I stamped the sentiment and added the broken ornament.  

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you’re having a great day! 

Copic Markers used:

Dog - E59, E57, E53, E51, E35, E33,  Collar - R39, R29, R35

Black cat - N6, N4, N2, N0, R20, R00,  Scarf - G99, G94, G82

Tabby cats - E34, E53, E51, YR27, R20, R00 Scarf - B66, B63

Grey cat - C3, C2, C1, C0, R20, R00, Tree/ ornaments - G67, RV13, RV04, RV02, YR16, Y38, YR21.

Hats - R39, R29, R35

Music sheets - E51, Y23

Gerda Steiner's Chicken Scratch card with a Singing Puppy!

Hello again everyone!  I'm back with another card using Gerda Steiner's "Chicken Scratch" stamp set and a very happy, singing puppy from her "Howl are You?" stamp set.  I am honoured to say I am also a guest designer again today on the Gerda Steiner blog! You can see her blog HERE.  I absolutely adore this little puppy and have found ways to use him on several cards.

I started by stamping all my images onto 110# cardstock using copic friendly ink (I used Gina K amalgam black ink).  I then used copic markers to colour in all the images and then fussy cut them out.  The markers I used are shown below and also at the end of this post in a list.  I also used a black glaze pen on all the eyes.

 

For the background, I used the Cloud stencil from My Favorite Things with Distress Oxide Tumbled Glass ink to make the sky.  I then used Lawn Fawn's Little Picket Fence border die to cut a fence from white cardstock.  I also cut the grass from green cardstock that I had in my stash, using Lawn Fawn's Stitched Hillside dies.  I embossed the grass using Lawn Fawn's Stitched Trails die to give the grass area some interest.

I then adhered the grass and fence onto my card front.  I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment (from MFT's Essential Sentiments stamp set) with Versafine Ink, and then heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I stamped the "To YOUUUUUUUU!!!" sentiment onto white cardstock using VersaFine onyx black ink, and then freestylye drew a speech box around it using a T ruler and rounding the corners.  I fussy cut this out and used a blending foam to ink the outside edges with Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide Ink.

Then I adhered all my images to the card front.  I popped up the puppy and the "To YOUUUUUUUU!!!" sentiment on foam tape while all the other images were glued directly to the card front.  Finally, I adhered my card front to the card base.

Thanks again for joining me, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Supplies used:

Gerda Steiner - Chicken Scratch, Howl are You? stamp sets
MFT's cloud stencil
Lawn Fawn dies - Little Picket Fence, Stitched Hillside, and Stitched Trails
Distress Oxide Tumbled Glass ink, Versamarkink, Versafine onyx black ink, Gina K amalgam black ink
Copic Markers:
Chickens - R24, Y17, E23, E35, E13, E11, C2, E40
Rooster - BG78, BG18, BG49, BG32, R24, Y17, E35, E13, E11
Pig - R22, R20, R43, N4
Dog - E79, E59, E51, E53, E34, E23, R39, R29, R35

Gerda Steiner's Chicken Scratch and Howl are You?

Hello Everyone!  I know I've been MIA from my blog but its been summer and there has been a fair bit going on here as well as a short holiday.  I’m super excited to tell you that I have also posted this card as a guest designer on the Gerda Steiner blog today!! You can check out her blog HERE. I’m just so grateful to Gerda for this opportunity. I've got a card today made with the adorable "Chicken Scratch" stamp set from Gerda Steiner and I had this idea to pair it up with some of the puppies from her "Howl are You?" stamp set.  I absolutely love the expressions on the faces of her animals - they tell a story without needing any words!

I stamped out all the chicken images with copic friendly ink ( I used Gina K black amalgam ink).  The pictures below show which copic markers I used, and I have them listed below also.

I had previously stamped and coloured in this dog from the "Howl are You" set several months ago.  I frequently do stamp more images and colour them all at the same time as it saves time trying to decide which markers to use and then getting them out.  Then I store them either with the stamps or in a plastic folder so I can quickly make a card as needed or when inspiration strikes!  So I'm not entirely sure which markers I used, but my best guess is N4, N6 for his paws, E79, E59, E57 for the darker brown areas, and YR23, E35 for his snout, and R20 for inside his ears.  I also used a black glaze pen for the eyes on both the chickens and the dog as well as the dog's nose.  I used glossy accents to fill in his teeth and give them a little shine.

After colouring in all my images, I fussy cut them out.

I die cut the frame from black cardstock using a Double Stitch Rectangle Frame die from Poppy Stamps.   I adhered black foam squares from Scrapbook Adhesives to the back of the frame to give it  some dimesion.

I also cut one of the frames from white cardstock and kept the middle inside piece for my card.  I embossed this inside piece with an embossing folder from Taylored Expressions called On the Spot. I liked how the circles give a rather whacky feel to the card which I thought was in keeping with the stacked chickens and long suffering dog.

Once everything was cut and embossed, I positioned my elements on my card and decided where I wanted my sentiment to go. I then positioned my card front in my stamp positioner, removed my elements leaving the stamp in place, and embossed the sentiment with Versafine black ink.

Then I adhered my frame above the sentiment, added in the inside embossed piece and then finally adhered my dog and chickens.  The final step was to adhere my card front to my card base.

Thank you so much for joining me for this fun little card.  Have a great day and happy crafting!

Supplies used:
Gerda Steiner stamps - Chicken Scratch, Howl are You?
Poppy Stamps - Double Stitch Rectangle Frames, model 1996
Taylored Expressions - On the Spot embossing folder
Copic markers - R24, R20, Y17, E23, E35, E13, E11, E40, C2, N4, N6, E79, E59, E57, YR23, E35.
Ink - Gina K black amalgam ink, Versafine Onyx black ink
110# cardstock