Peace Crystals

a2z Scrapbooking is having a "One Layer Holiday Card" challenge at their blog. I will be the first to admit, I am not a one-layer kind of girl. It's not that I find them overly difficult; I just love my layers! But I decided to give it a go for this challenge. I really should probably do more cards like this, since it came together super quick.

I used Hero Arts' "Christmas Crystals" stamp set for my card. After creating a card base from Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper, I placed it in my MISTI and positioned my stamps. Once I had them where I wanted them--and STRAIGHT!--I picked them up with the door of my MISTI, and inked them with Versamark. I stamped the images & greeting, and then heat embossed with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder.

Once the embossing had cooled, I used 3 of my Zig Clean Color pens to color the crystals. I basically traced around the embossed lines, and then used a damp paintbrush to pull the color out into the center of each facet.

When the color had dried, I drew a line with a fine-tip black pen from each crystal up to the top of my card front. I tied 3 little bows with crochet thread, and glued them to the tops of the crystals. And that finished this card. Like I said, quick & easy. But oh, that layer withdrawal...! LOL