Author Topic: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016  (Read 8298 times)

Offline djc

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Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« on: June 30, 2016, 09:01:50 PM »
Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge -- 2016

Some of you have gotten a head start on our holiday cards by participating in Cindi's Christmas All Year! Challenge.  This month, I'm taking over for Cindi by offering our yearly Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge.  I have made exactly one Christmas card this year—the one I posted for AIR16.  I need to make more Christmas cards.  I think I’ve seen some similar comments posted by others so I know I’m not alone.  Come join me for this month’s challenge and make lots of cards.

The Challenge: 
You have a full month--July 1 through July 31--to post your entries in the album set aside for this challenge in the gallery and link them to this Discussion Thread.  The challenge ends on July 31 at 11:59 pm your time.

Remember you must enter only new cards--nothing you made or posted prior to July 1, the first day of the challenge.  If you have a special technique you'd like to use that does not include stamping, your card will still count.  It would be nice to combine stamping with other techniques, but sometimes that isn't feasible, and I want your cards to be something you will love.  So your paste-embossed, embroidered, stenciled, Iris folded, etc. cards are welcome.

Requirements:
1. Complete the tasks as described in this challenge.

2. When you post your card in the gallery, please label it with the name of the appropriate holiday and add the words "in July." For example, Christmas in July, Hanukkah in July, Kwanzaa in July, etc.

3. When you post your project in the gallery, describe it. Tell how you made it and what you used.  Thanks to Sadie, we have more space in which to describe our posted cards so don’t be stingy with your comments.   Some information that you could share:
Stamps:
Cardstock/Papers:
Card Size:
Inks/Coloring Medium:
Accessories:
Technique:

Next, come back to this Discussion Thread to link your post here and to tell us how it went--the good and the bad. 

Combining Challenges:
You can combine this challenge with another challenge as long as the host of the other challenge will also allow it.

Prize:
There will be a prize awarded at the end of the challenge.  Your name will go into the hat once for every card you post in the gallery and link to the discussion thread. OK. I already know that the next question is do I get my name in the hat 10 times if I make 10 of the same card. I'll say you can get your name in the hat up to three times for multiples of the same design. Fair enough? There's no limit to the number of different cards you can post. You'll get credit for each different card.

I hope you'll join us and begin making your December holiday cards.  We can inspire and motivate each other.  Don't forget to have fun!

Daria
« Last Edit: July 15, 2016, 10:00:32 PM by djc »

Offline howdyheidi

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Re: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2016, 07:26:48 AM »
Thanks for offering this challenge! I hope to make at least 5 cards this month!  I am not home at the moment, but I have a new Christmas stamp and embossing folder sitting on my craft desk at home that I hope to use as soon as I can!
~~Heidi~~

Offline djc

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Re: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2016, 10:54:44 AM »
Great, Heidi.  I'm hoping to make up for all the cards I didn't make the first half of the year.

Daria

Offline stampwilly

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Re: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2016, 09:17:33 AM »
Thanks for this challenge. It always helps me to get more Christmas cards done. Near the end of the month I will be stamping with friends so I will work on them then! Something to look forward to! :smile:

April

Offline djc

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Re: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« Reply #4 on: July 03, 2016, 09:42:24 AM »
I just finished the backgrounds for six cards I began on Thursday.  I just need to stamp and assemble them.  They are drying now; I hope to finish them today.  Yea!

Daria

Offline djc

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Re: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« Reply #5 on: July 04, 2016, 12:01:47 PM »
I have posted my first cards for this challenge.  I made the same background I used for the owl card.  Jan's Blend It! Challenge for AIR16 has me blending ink again. 

SU Cozy Christmas Card

Set of Six Cards

One thing I learned is not to use a punch to cut Therm-o-Web's Masking Magic.  I used my Creative Memories circle punch and spent the next twenty minutes prying the pieces of paper and film out of it.  For a while, I thought I'd ruined it forever, but with some fine tools, I was able to dislodge the stuck pieces.  Advice:  Use scissors or dies.

I've never used Wink of Stella to produce splatter before, and it worked great.  I shook up the pen (cap on), and then I removed the cap and held the end with one hand and tapped on it with the pointing finger of the other hand.  It worked great.  In addition to the larger dots you can see in the photos, there're finer dots of silver on the background that you can see when you move the card or hold it under light.

For the next bunch, I'm either going to make more of the Christmas card I posted to my Pillow Top Challenge, or CASE a super easy card I saw at Mainely Stamping in Fairfield. 

TFL.
Daria




Offline Nora S

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Re: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« Reply #6 on: July 04, 2016, 05:48:23 PM »
Daria, here is my first Christmas card for this year - finally!  I am so behind.  I will most likely not be able to participate in this challenge for the rest of this month, as you are aware I will be away from home. 

Thank you for offering this challenge!

Nora

My Submission:  http://www.duhnproductions.com/Pics/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=0&pid=2795#top_display_media

Offline djc

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Re: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« Reply #7 on: July 05, 2016, 01:47:56 AM »
Nora, your card is beautiful!  I have to try using the Brushos with a stencil.  I love the look you got!

Thank you for playing.  I'm glad you were able to complete one card before your trip.

Daria

Offline Iring

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Re: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« Reply #8 on: July 07, 2016, 10:37:17 AM »
I stamped and colored 3 of the same image on the 4th, playing with my mom and sister.  Yesterday I tried completing them in to cards ... not that successful.  Hope to try again today!
Cindi

Offline djc

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Re: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« Reply #9 on: July 07, 2016, 11:32:02 AM »
Cindi, that's the way I do it too.  I made six pillow-top backgrounds first.  Then, since I'm copying a card I already made, I was able to cut and fold the card bases and cut the mats and watercolor pieces for the focal piece.  Next, I'll do the stenciling, then the paste embossing, then assembly, and then the Wink of Stella.  Oh,  yeah, and the inserts.  Hmmm.  That sounds like a lot, but it's really an easy card.  Or maybe not.  lol.

I'm dealing with the feral cats that live in my back yard.  A lovely, wonderful lady is helping me to catch them and get them spayed.  I'm going to bring the kittens into the house so we can treat their ills and tame them so they are adoptable.  It is a lot more work than I realized, but it's wonderful to actually be doing something.  The cat population in my back yard is out of control and growing.  It will be so wonderful to get the kittens to the point where they are adoptable. 

So far, I have only one kitten in the house, and she managed to escape from her pen; it took me a half hour to find her.  The room she's in is a large family room where I keep my two indoor cats and the TV set.  And all the boxes of stuff that don't fit anywhere else.  The good thing was, in order to find the kitten, I had to start moving boxes, and I started going through them.  I think I've just started a much-needed purge of unnecessary stuff.

However, I am determined to make a lot more cards this month!

Daria


« Last Edit: July 07, 2016, 11:34:09 AM by djc »

Offline howdyheidi

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Re: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« Reply #10 on: July 07, 2016, 02:07:48 PM »
I have two images colored well enough to use. I hope to be able to make them into cards later tonight. 

Daria, it sounds like that card you are making has a lot of steps!  I so rarely do anything assembly line.  I wonder if I really should for Christmas cards, but it just hasn't been my style to work that way.  But I really admire people who do!
~~Heidi~~

Offline djc

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Re: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« Reply #11 on: July 08, 2016, 09:13:37 AM »
Heidi, I only do it at Christmas time when I duplicate some of the cards three to six times.  Once I have a prototype made, the others are so easy to do.  This time I'm copying the pillow-top card with paste embossing that I posted during AIR16.  I always stamp extra images so I don't have to start from the absolute beginning if I mess the first one up.  If I do mess one up, it becomes the one I experiment on.  Works for me.  If I really like the way a card turns out, I'll use the extra images to make another one while all the supplies are at hand.

I've been in a real slump lately.  I think I'll just copy cards for a while--other people's cards and my cards that I especially liked.  Maybe that will help get me back into the groove.  There are some wonderful cards out there that someone else has already designed. 

I'll be looking for your cards.  I hope I can get into the craft room to at least stencil the colors in.  That's something I cannot do with a tiny kitten curled up on my chest.  She thinks I'm her mother.  lol.

Daria

« Last Edit: July 08, 2016, 09:15:36 AM by djc »

Offline howdyheidi

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Re: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2016, 09:20:06 AM »
Daria, I think that is so fun that you are raising the kittens and helping control the population in your yard. 

I do have two cards, very similar, but not the same, to share.

English Robin 1

And English Robin 2.

I have many more ideas for cards too!  I would like to try coloring this image on black and I have some stamps I ordered coming that will work for Christmas cards too. 

Thanks for hosting, I hope to get a lot more done!
~~Heidi~~

Offline djc

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Re: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« Reply #13 on: July 08, 2016, 04:40:19 PM »
I love both of your cards--such a sweet image and wonderful coloring.  Such a deal on that magazine/stamp set/embossing folder!

Daria

Offline djc

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Re: Winter Holiday Cards in July Challenge, 2016
« Reply #14 on: July 08, 2016, 08:00:14 PM »
I just finished stenciling mine.  Stenciling the same image six times (actually seven, I messed up one) isn't that much fun.  Now that they are all stenciled, I'm reconsidering the paste embossing.  I might just leave them the way they are; I rather like them as they are.

Daria