Merry Christmas

I had originally not intended to make Christmas cards for Operation Write Home this year. Because of the drawdown in Afghanistan, they need fewer cards in general. The advice from Sandy Allnock, OWH's founder & executive director, was to make about 20-25% of the number of holiday cards we've made in the past. (You can read more about their current requirements on their blog.) I figured, with all the people who make cards for them, they would likely have quite enough Christmas cards. But I saw several comments on their blog from people saying they weren't making any this year, so I decided to put just a few in my next package to them. This card is one of those.

I began with OWH's sketch #239:

Obviously, I altered the sketch somewhat. The reindeer stamp I chose was larger than the focal panel in the sketch, so I enlarged the panel, used narrower mats, and eliminated the layer behind that. I also moved the panel towards the upper left corner of the card front. But that's sometimes the point of sketches--to give a good jumping-off point.

I don't know where the reindeer stamp came from. It's part of a set, but there is no identifying information on the stamp sheet. I stamped it on a piece of 140-lb. watercolor paper and colored it with Inktense pencils and my water brush. I also used a silver gel pen on the bells around his neck. When I finished that, I applied a wash of watered-down Pumice Stone Distress ink to form the ground, and Stormy Sky Distress ink for the sky area.

For the greeting, I used one from this Hero Arts set, stamping it on a piece of white cardstock in Hero Arts Navy Mid-Tone Shadow ink. I die cut & embossed it with a Spellbinders "Classic Ovals" die. With the cardstock still in the die, I lightly blended Stormy Sky over the middle portion.

I double-matted the focal panel with 2 shades of blue cardstock, and adhered it to a piece of "Soft Snowflakes" patterned paper from The Paper Patch. Next I adhered my greeting in place. I inked the front of a white A2 card base with Chipped Sapphire Distress ink, and adhered the completed card front to that.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

 a2z Scrapbooking's Challenge #2 for World Card Making Day: "Anything Goes"
Hero Arts' Holiday Challenge: "Anything Goes"