I wanted to show you a Christmas card I designed to show some friends for a cardmaking night last month. I've done it up as a tutorial so you can do it step by step, too. This would be an easy card to mass produce if you need a bunch quickly (Christmas is only 2 1/2 weeks away, so cards going in the mail, really have to be done, soon, right? Ack - I know I have a few more to make, and soon!)
You will need:
- glossy cardstock (I get mine from Stampin' Up! - it may be available elsewhere. I haven't tried it with photo paper, yet, so I can't tell you how that works. But the glossy really makes a difference on how the card looks, so try to track some down.)
- ink pads
- sponge daubers (I really like the daubers. I've tried using tissue, and sponges, but I find the daubers easiest to handle and control and less messy)
I used a deer stamp, and a tree stamp, you can use whatever you have to create your landscape. Here we go:
Emboss an image on your glossy cardstock. I inked the reindeer with gold ink and stamped, and then sprinkled on gold embossing powder and set it with the heat tool.
Once the image is cool, apply ink to the glossy cardstock using the sponge dauber. I like to move the ink around in a circular motion, and on the glossy cardstock, you really can move the ink. It takes longer to absorb the ink than a regular cardstock.
Apply a second colour, if desired. I used navy for the night sky, applying the colour more darkly closer to the ground and more lightly as we moved up toward the sky. I used chocolate coloured ink for the ground.
Working on a scrap of paper, I stamped the tree image in hunter green, sometimes stamping more than once between reinking the stamp. You can see I stamped off the page, too. This multiple stamping creates the effect of a forest, and now the deer is in a setting.
Can you see all that ink on the embossed image from my tree stamp?
Now it's gone! I simply used a tissue to wipe the excess ink from the embossing. While I waited for the ink to dry on the glossy cardstock, I ran a cardbase through the Cuttlebug and created a sentiment by embossing and punching it out from a scrap. When the ink was dry on the central image, I applied a mixture of coarse and fine glitter to the line where the earth and sky meet to create a frosty effect. I then tied some linen thread around the card for a little extra punch. I also adhered fine glitter on the deer's rack.
Speaking of racks, someone is waiting to hear who won the RAK I was giving away during the MSW bloghop. Thank you to everyone who came by and left a comment - it really was gratifying to read how much you appreciated the simple to advanced approach I took. I will have to remember to do that again from time to time! We printed all the names of the commenters and numbered them, then Sarah picked a number between 1 and 31. She chose number 16.
And the winner is....
...
Stephanie!!!
Stephanie I will email you to request your address. Congratulations and thanks so much for joining the blog hop!
Thanks to everyone who popped by today. If you use this technique, I'd love to see it. Leave me a comment to let me know where to come see your creation!
Blessings,
Ann
