TCC82 Peace on Earth

Hi Friends!!

It’s time for the new #82 {Retro Holiday} Challenge at The Card Concept! What a gorgeous wreath with all of the pinks, blues and sparkle- this reminds me of Christmas at my grandparent’s home.  Silver trees with pink and blue were all the rage in the late 60’s :-)

I decided to pull out the retired Stampin’ Up! stamp set, Merry & Type to create my Mixed Media card.  I thought that this stamp set would be perfect for the retro feel and we cannot wait to see what you create for our challenge!

I have incorporated the Try Stamping on Tuesday #347 "How Sweet It Is" Sketch Challenge into the design (I flipped the sketch) along with the As You Like It “Christmas orNon-Christmas and Why?” Challenge (I love Christmas so Christmas it is!) and the Addicted to Stamps and More #268 “Holiday” Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to do so, I hope you will find the time to check out the rest of the wonderful Design Team cards at The Card Concept as well as the entries at the other challenge sites- gorgeous inspiration from all!

To create this card:

1). Prepare a piece of white cardstock with an embossing powder tool, stamp the ornament image with Versafine™ Onyx Black ink, apply silver embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.  Once the embossing powder has cooled, watercolor the ornaments and background using a water brush with watercolor pencils and water-based marker (colors are listed at the end of the post).  Add shadows with a water soluble graphite pencil.  Die cut the panel with a pierced rectangle die.

2). Ink the #25 stamp with Versamark™ ink, stamp repeatedly over the background on the panel.  Use a pastel pencil to color over the images, run with your finger or a paper stump (remember the “Popping Pastels” technique?).  

 3). Mount the panel onto a piece of gray cardstock and trim close to the edge.

4). Score a piece of white cardstock vertically (per the layer in the sketch- it is hard to see in the photo), mount onto gray cardstock and mount onto the white card base.  Add the watercolored panel directly onto the card front.

5). Ink the sentiment with Versafine™ Onyx Black ink, stamp onto a piece of white cardstock, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with the heat tool.  Add a wash of watercolor to match the card front, die cut with a pierced tag die, mount onto gray cardstock and trim close to the edge.

6). Die cut a snowflake from silver foil, split in half and adhere behind the tag sentiment.  Mount the sentiment to the card front with dimensional foam. Add a few rhinestones to the corner and ornament along with using a clear glitter pen over the ornaments to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Merry & Type (retired Stampin’ Up!)

Ink/Mediums: Versamark™, Versafine™ Onyx Black; Derwent® Watercolor Pencils; Stampin’ Write Markers-Bermuda Bay, Blushing Bride, Island Indigo, Sweet Sugarplum, Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen, Conté à Paris Pastel Pencil 

Cardstock/Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Silver Foil

Accessories: Big Shot™, ODBD Pierced Rectangle Dies, MFT Pierced Traditional Tag STAX, Memory Box Lindeman Snowflake Die, AquaPainter™, Embossing Buddy®, Heat Tool, Silver and Clear Embossing Powder, Rhinestones

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by!  I hope I have inspired you today and that you will be able to join us for the #82 “Retro Holiday” Challenge at The Card Concept!

Christmas In July- Another Tissue Watercolor Background

Hi Friends!!

Today I am sharing a Clean and Simple (CAS) Christmas card using the scrap leftover piece of a tissue paper technique background I had created for another CAS card (see previous post here).

Since I already had the background panel, I searched through my stash of "scraps" and found the snowflakes plus the sentiment already die cut/printed and ready to go making this card fairly quick and easy to assemble :-)  

I love participating in online challenges so I am linking this card to the CAS-ual Fridays #198 “Christmas in July”Challenge along with the More Mixed Media July “Anything Goes” Challenge and the Happy Little Stampers July Christmas "opt twist Die Cuts" Challenge.

If you have not already had a chance to visit the above challenge sites, I hope you will do so- so much inspiration from their Design Teams as well as in their galleries!

To create this card:

1). Using Tranquil Tide and Soft Sky Classic Ink, tap the pads onto a silicone craft mat, spritz with water, use a plastic spoon (or palette knife) to mix the ink a bit and lay a piece of tissue paper into the ink (smooshing very gently with your fingers to moisten all of the tissue).  Carefully lift up the tissue paper and set onto a paper towel to dry.  My first layer was a bit light so I added additional ink until I was satisfied with the color.

2). Using a craft glue, spread the glue over an entire piece of white cardstock, squishing the tissue a bit to create more ridges and allow the panel to dry (I did use a heat tool to speed up the process- I am so impatient!).  De-static the panel with an Embossing Buddy®, gently rub the Versamark™ ink pad over the ridges, apply Silver Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool.

3). Use the Big Shot™ with the MFT Stitched Rectangle STAX Dies to cut the panel, mount onto Basic Black cardstock and trim close to the die cut edge.

4). Print the sentiment from Merry & Type using My Digital Studio™ (retired Stampin’ Up!) onto Whisper White cardstock, die cut with the Big Shot™ with a smaller frame die from the MFT Rectangle STAX , mount onto black cardstock and trim close to the edge.   Adhere the sentiment panel to the tissue paper background panel.

5). Die cut the various snowflakes from Silver Foil, mount a few behind the tissue paper background and sentiment.  Trim another Whisper White panel and mount onto the Basic Black card base.  Add the layered snowflake background panel to the car front with dimensional foam.

6). Finish off the card by adding the large snowflake, rhinestones and a few accents with  Nuvo™ Silver Lining Crystal Drops.

Stamp Sets: Merry & Type (retired Stampin’ Up!- digital version)

Ink/Mediums: Printer Ink- Black, Versamark™, Classic SU! Ink- Tranquil Tide, Pool Party; Nuvo™ Silver Lining Crystal Drops

Paper: Whisper White, Extra Thick Whisper White, Basic Black; Silver Foil, Tissue Paper

Accessories/Tools:  Big Shot™, MFT Stitched Rectangle STAX Dies, Memory Box™ Lindeman Snowflake Die, Impression  Obsession™ Snowflake Die Set, Embossing Buddy®, Stampin’ Emboss® Silver Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Rhinestones

Thanks again for visiting- hugs and I hope all of you have a great week!