Merry & Bright ACK Part 3

Today I'm back working on the ACK (Artful Card Kit) called Merry & Bright (HOTP).  

Card #1: (pictured above)

Of the three cards I made today, I think this first one is my favorite.  It's a cut-away card where you can see the inside of the card peeking out where the card front has been cut away.  The cutaway shape was created by using a HOTP template from the set called Design Tool Kit #1.  The papers, focal, and tag for the greeting were all in the kit, but I added stamping and coloring to the focal & tag.  The focal is a stamp from the October 2019 Cardmaking and Papercraft Magazine - set called Christmas Cuties. I stamped it in black (VersaFine) and then embossed it with clear embossing powder.  Then I colored the image using my Scroll & Brush markers & a water brush - embossing between colors with clear powder since I was coloring on a glossy surface and didn't want the colors to smear or run.  The sentiment was stamped & embossed in the same way using a stamp from a HOTP bulk stamp set I got a long time ago - but is also a part of their Christmas Words set. (I ended up going over the embossing with a black Sharpie since I wanted a bold black color and for some reason stamping on top of the green background dulled the black ink I used for stamping.) The focal is matted on a white mat die cut with a Spellbinders die from the set called Decorative Labels Twenty-Two.

Inside:

Inside are more of the papers, a couple more die cuts from the kit.  Once again I used a stamp (Christmas Vintage Labels One from JustRite) with black ink & heat embossing to add the sentiment - once again enhancing the letters with a black Sharpie marker.

Card #2:

Here I used an embossing folder & ink to create the background.  The embossing folder (Snowflake Swirl by Darice) was only an A2 size, so I used it twice - side by side - to emboss the whole card front on this 5" x 6.5" card.  The focal is from the kit, but I stamped the image (another stamp from Christmas Cuties) and colored it with my Scroll & Brush markers.  The embellishments top and bottom are die cuts from the kit, but the were from a long border piece which I cut apart.  The sentiment is hand lettered on a tag that was cut using a die from Bonjour Paris (Sizzix). As I look at it, I think it might be better to go back over the letters with a black pen.

Inside:

Inside the paper, sentiment, and embellishments are all straight from the kit, except that the embellishments were cut from the long border strip.

Card #3:

This card is shaped using another HOTP template - this one from Design Tool Kit #2 (after I first glued the paper to the card front (paper from the kit). The focal is a die cut from the kit, but I stamped, embossed, and colored the deer (as I did on the 1st card) using a HOTP Small Stamp called Small Reindeer.   This is matted on a piece of gold poster board cut with a Spellbinders Gold Labels Four die.  The sentiment is as it came from the kit, but I matted it on red.

Inside:

I don't usually completely fill the inside of the card like I did here.  The tree is a stamp from the same bulk stamp set/Christmas Words set from HOTP.  I colored it with my Scroll & Brush markers, and with an Inktense pencil (without water this time).  The sentiment is a die cut from the kit, but I added the stamped/embossed greeting (also from Christmas Words).