Baroque Christmas

As I played with the Snow Swirled set this weekend I noticed how well it co-ordinated with the flourish from Baroque motifs.  So I created a little snow storm!  This card actually took me quite a while because I couldn’t settle on the colour combination.  Perfect Plum and Pale Plum work together but neither Bravo Burgandy nor Eggplant Envy work as a darker colour with them.  I ended up using just a little Bravo Burgandy and a bit of Black in the darkest areas of sponging.

Perhaps next time I do one like this I should take pictures as I go.  First I stamped the tree and the snowflakes in versamark on separate pieces of Whisper White cardstock and embossed with clear e.p.  I cut a piece of paper into the shape of a gently rolling hill and laid it across the bottom to mask my snowy ground before sponging all the sky.  I sponged first in Pale Plum and then worked in Perfect plum to create the middle colour and the darkest colour at the top.  I used a Plum coloured Marvy Brush marker to draw along the swirls of the flourish and the tree and then wiped the excess off the embossing.  I sponged the tree in Pale Plum and stamped three tree tops in Pale Plum also.

Although it is hard to see in the photo the ribbon is tied in a bow and the two tails are twirled and then held under the matte with sticky strip.  The matte is made from Bravo Burgandy but I coloured the edge with the same Marvy marker to make it a darker burgandy.  I popped the tree up on Stampin’ dimensionals. The finished size of the card is 4 1/8″ by 7 1/8″ a non-standard size for which I have no envelope, but as I don’t want to crush the ribbon twirls anyway, I think I will keep this one for friends close by.

Supplies:

Stamps: Snow Swirled, Home for Christmas, Baroque Motifs
Inks: Versamark, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Bravo Burgandy, Basic Black
Cardstock: Pale Plum, Whisper White, Bravo Burgandy
Also: Wine organza ribbon, clear e.p. Stampin’ dimensionals, Marvy brush marker no.64

Snow laden tree

I  have several Christmas card events to plan for in the coming months so I have been playing with snowflakes stamps again.  This tree and the snowflake is from the Season of Friendship set in the Stampin’ Up Holiday Mini.  I think the projects featuring different seasons caught my eye more than anything else, but I have been having fun making winter scenes.

I have spent a bit of time lately browsing through the wonderful artwork of Michelle Zindorf and was inspired to try a scene complete with shadows and heavily sponged skies.  To make this card I stamped the tree in versamark and embossed with black embossing powder.  I then stamped the snowflakes in versamark and drew snow on the branches with the versmarker before embossing again, this time with white e.p.  To make the tree’s shadow I inked the trunk with Brilliant Blue and stamped it at an angle, using a little scrap of paper near the base to mask any area I didn’t want stamped.

The sponging for the sky had to be built up layer by layer creating the impression that the moon was shining from the left.  In order to have the snowy ground I ripped a piece of paper to use as a mask while I sponged.  I used Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue and Brilliant Blue.  Finally I stamped a few more snowflakes in Ballet Blue and matted it to fit on a 5½”x5½” square card.   It was fun to make so I’ll be revisiting this style and method for sure.

Supplies:

Stamps: Season of Friendship
Inks: Brilliant Blue, Ballet Blue, Versamark, Bashful Blue
Cardstock:  Brilliant Blue, Ballet Blue: , Whisper White
Also: Black and white embossing powders, versamarker sponges

Sing ‘n’ Stamp with Becky

For the last few weeks the Stamp Simply Challenges have been focusing on Sharon’s Challenge design team.  The current challenge feature’s Becky beautiful work.  I spent quite a while browsing through Becky’s archives, collecting ideas.  Becky is a singer and stamper, hence the title.  Part of the challenge was to include something music related; I tried to include the lyric from this set, but it didn’t work out.

To make this card I stamped the tree and stars in versamark and embossed with gold embossing powder.  I then drew lines for the tinsel using Sparkles diamond glue from Personal Stamp Exchange and sprinkled some fairly fine coloured glitter on the glue.  As the glitter included bright pink flecks I matted with Rose Red as well as brushed gold.  I would never have thought to make a black Christmas card but I quite like the black and gold combination.

Supplies:

Stamps: Wondrous Gift
Inks: Versamark
Cardstock: Basic Black, Brushed Gold, Rose Red
Also: Gold organza ribbon, Sparkle diamond glue, glitter

Snowy doorstep

This set really appealed to me when I saw it because of the sleds and skis by the door.  There are skis and sleds by our door and a wreath hanging for as long as the snow stays.  My door is not as rustic as this one but otherwise it’s a good match.  And of course those of you who know me know that I have roamed far from my home, Australia, where Christmas is hot and sunny, to live here where we hope every year that Christmas will be white, like this doorstep.

I stamped the picture with Basic Black and then used watercolour pencils for the colouring.  It is hard to colour well on such a detailed picture.  Then I picked out the colour of the skis for my mattes, one is Not quite Navy and the other is a co-ordinating piece of designer paper from way back when.

Supplies:

Stamps: Home for Christmas
Inks: Basic Black, Not quite Navy
Cardstock: Basic Black, Not quite Navy, Naturals White, a piece of Slab designer paper
Also: black grosgrain ribbon, ticket corner punch

I also tried a monochrome design with this stamp, which I will probably try to improve, I’m not totally happy with it, perhaps a different colour might be better. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Home for Christmas
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Versamark
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Bella Rose designer paper
Also: White embossing powder

Season of Friendship

The inspiration for this card was a card made by Sharyn Tormanen on page 64 of the August/September edition of Papercrafts magazine.  Once again a simple but striking card caught my eye.  The red flourishes were stamped with the gorgeous flourish from Baroque Motifs and the white flourishes are rub-ons from the retired Cherished Memories set.

When my older daughter saw this one it appealed to her because of its simple unclutterd style.  Her motto in many things is “less is more” which is often a good guide when it comes to decoration.

Supplies:

Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Season of Friendship
Inks: Riding Hood Red
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Pirouette Pink, Bella Rose designer paper
Also: Cherished Memories rub-ons

Simple Snowflake

The latest Stamp Simply challenge was 2b Krafty with Janine.  I spent some time browsing through Janine’s impressive blog and was inspired by this simple but stylish card. I liked the clean lines and the central image.

Once I decided my card would be a Christmas card a little sparkle seemed like a good idea.  I started by stamping the snowflake in Elegant Eggplant and then embossing with irridescent ice.  It sparkled a little but not enough so I stamped the versamark pad on the whole rectangle and embossed with irridescent ice again!  Unfortunately the camera didn’t pick up the sparkliness very well.  The “Season’s Greetings” is stamped in white and then embossed with irridescent ice also.  The background is done with three colours of ink stamped and restamped to create different shades.

The finished size of the card is 5½” x 4¼” but I started with a piece of cardstock 4¼” x 12″  and scored it at 5¼” and then 10¾” to make the flap on the right side.  Attached to the flap is a 1¼” circle with a slot punched in it to thread ribbon through.

Supplies:

Stamps: ,Many Merry Messages, Winter Post
Inks: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Craft White, Versamark
Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Whisper White
Also: Eggplant grosgrain ribbon