Fall and Christmas cards by Jami Steiger

 

Wow! I can't believe it is August already! I am ready for cool days and nights. I love the holidays and look forward to making cards and decorating my home.

My first card has a fall theme. For this card, I started by stamping the bicycle from set 5186—Enjoy the Ride—and then created a mask for the bike to stamp the tree behind it. When I stamped the bike, I did not stamp the bow on top of the package, so I could change the gift box into a basket and add a pumpkin. For the bow on the front of the bicycle, I used Winsor & Newton gold ink. I stamped a few pumpkins in the foreground to add depth. For final touches, I added a jute knot and popped up the sentiment from the same stamp set. I used paper from the 5973-Fall S2 paper pack.

Tombow markers used:  452, 565, 837, 098, 977, N55, 312,  N35, 993, 946, 177, 992

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For my second card, I couldn't resist painting a vintage Christmas tree! I love the Christmas colors of the 1950s. 

This was an easy card because it only required three stamp sets. I started by stamping a pot from set 4870 - WC Ornate Containers. For the container I stamped, I didn't color the entire stamp, so the container would fit better with the tree. After stamping the container, I lightly drew some lines with a pencil to create a base for where I wanted to stamp the fir branches from set 4960 - WC Fir Trees. I stamped a few branches to get an idea of the shape, then used drawing gum to paint the ornaments where I wanted them on the tree. This allows you to watercolor without affecting the ornaments until you remove the gum and hand-paint them. I used Winsor & Newton gold ink at the top of the ornaments to give them a hanger for the tree. To add shimmer to the ornaments, I used a clear Wink of Stella pen.

 Next, I used Dr. Ph. Martin's bleed-proof white to add highlights and snow to the tree. I then splattered some green and pink ink onto the card. I die-cut the tree into an oval and glued it onto paper from the 6036 - Easter Bunny paper pack. I added a few buttons and a bow to finish the vintage look. 

Tombow Markers used:  565, 772, 526, 969, 312, 177