Christmas in July with SSS!

The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers invited me along as guest designer this month — thanks girls! 

We're celebrating Christmas in July and Edna is in a festive mood. My ostrich appreciates the sandy setting but he's a bit worried that there might be nothing for him in those piles of gifts, he certainly thinks he might be on Santa's naughty list!

The string of lights is from an old magazine freebie set and it didn't stamp all that cleanly so I gave it some assistance with a fineliner. I used a silver pen at the top of each bulb, coloured them with a Copic and gave each one a little halo of coloured light with some chalk before adding a “catchlight” dot to each with a white paint pen.

The ostrich has been at the green feather dye as he thought it would look quite festive with his borrowed Santa hat. His faint shadow is courtesy of a bit of chalk.

I've finally managed to get my hands on the Katzelkraft Christmas Sayings set. I could only find it stocked at a US store (Topflight Stamps) that doesn't ship to the UK. Hubby just visited his son in Canada though so I got them shipped there and he brought them home for me (plus a couple of other things to help make the shipping fee more justifiable!). Hooray!

Stamps:
Ostrich, Funny Accessories and Christmas Sayings (all Katzlekraft, no longer with us)
Magazine freebie Christmas set 

Paper: 
Bristol board
Scrap of smooth black

Ink: Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Coloured pencils
Copic markers
Bright white embossing powder (Wow!)
Chalk
White and Silver paint pens (Posca)
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by! If you're making festive cards (snarky if that takes your fancy but any Christmas cards are welcome) why not play along with the Sisterhood:

 

Link in the Chain - June

It's reveal day once more at Card Chain Challenge. My card has gone to Dagmara in Poland this time.

From the options on offer I chose the themes of coffee and friendship and the technique option of embossing.

I noticed Dagmara mentions on her blog that she keeps pet rats. Having recently acquired the Katzelkraft City Rats stamp set I decided they should be the ones enjoying a coffee together. I did change the facial expression for the rat on the left -- he's usually looking rather scared. I covered up part of his face when I inked the stamp then drew in a little smile instead. His companion looks as if he's enjoying the aroma of that coffee, I just hope they don't over indulge! 

It's my usual one layer aesthetic for CCC, the embossing adds a bit of texture and there's a tiny touch of sparkle on the spoon, courtesy of Wink of Stella. The images are coloured with a mixture of Copic base layer and pencil detail and white paint pen over some of the steam lines.

Stamps:
City Rats (Katzelkraft, no longer with us)
Coffee and Chocolate (Stamperia)
The Cafe (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)

Paper: Bristol board

Ink: Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black, Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Copic markers
Coloured pencils
Pop Culture border embossing folders (Cuttlebug)
Pan pastel (Phthalo green tint)
Wink of Stella (clear)
Posca paint pen (white)
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by! There are a few more days left to sign up for the July chain if you fancy making and sending one card and getting a card in return. All the details here if you’d like to join the fun