Recyled rustic reindeer

Christmas Kickstart this month is all about the reindeer with host Jo and guest elf Loll looking forward to some reindeer games filling up the gallery. Meanwhile, the Die Cut Divas are focusing on the three Rs — recycle, reuse, repurpose!

I've combined those two challenges and come up with three Rs of my own — a recycled rustic reindeer! All the die cut parts other than the stars are cut from a board envelope (you know, the ones that come from that global giant online retailer). I wasn't sure the wafer thin dies would go through but it cut perfectly and obviously it posed no problem for the steel rule die used for the banner and laurel wreath.

The gold stars are the other bit of recycling — they're die cut from a tomato paste tube, one of my favourite materials for homemade metallic embellishments.

The reindeer has a strip of card behind the top of his head to push it forward slightly and the antlers are not stuck down at all. I curved the sentiment slightly to match the curve of the banner before stamping, added some stamped plaid tone on tone for an extra rustic touch, then assembled it all.

Stamps:
Plaid Scrapblock stamp (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Sentiment from an old Technique Tuesday stamp set

Ink: 
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)
Memento Luxe ink by Tsukineko (Love Letter)
Adirondack pigment ink by Ranger (Snowcap)

Paper:
Red, ivory and board envelope

Other:
Cool Yule thinlets dies (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Regal Crest bigz die (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Confetti die (Mama Elephant)
Copic markers
Coloured pencil (pale pink)
Glossy Accents by Ranger
Tomato paste tube metal
White paint pen by Posca

Thanks for stopping by! You can find details of both challenges by clicking the graphics below:

Link in the chain — August

The second of the month can only mean one thing — time for the reveal of August's cards for the Card Chain challenge where 26 players exchanged happy mail around the globe.

This time I chose the theme of elephants and/or mice and the sketch to play with and my card has travelled to the lovely Gail in Norway.

I planned to use the mouse from the Katzelkraft Russian Cats set but having got it out of the cupboard I put it down somewhere and promptly lost it! In the end I decided this little Penny Black mouse would make a cheerful substitute, I think he's about to offer that daisy as a little gift in an attempt to lift poor Ellie's mood. Hopefully the cats will turn up now I don’t need them!

I did stamp and mask the mouse before stamping the elephant but made the mistake of doing it in a lighter ink colour and it really didn’t look right so I fussy cut a second one and stuck it over the top. The flower that's part of the stamp got a bit lost somehow so I made a daisy to stick over it. It's a couple of die cuts that are supposed to be flower centres and a circle made with a hole punch.

Stamps:
Les Jungles (Katzelkraft, no longer with us)
Enjoy Sayings (Katzelkraft, no longer with us)
Critter Party (Penny Black Transparent)

Paper: Bristol board

Ink:
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Broken China)

Other:
Coloured pencils
Christmas rose dies (Sue Wilson/Creative Expressions)
Corner Chomper 

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