Silver Bells

The challenge at Merry Monday this week has been to use Blue, Gold, and Silver/White on your card. I must admit, I struggled with this a bit. I know silver & gold can be used together, but there's just something about it that seems a bit off to me. But I think I managed OK! :)

I decided to use the sketch from the Stella Says Sketch #410 challenge at Catch the Bug for my design:

I began with my focal image, the "Christmas - Bells" from Bugaboo Stamps. I decided to combine painting with a bit of paper piecing. After sizing the image in Photoshop, I printed it onto a piece of Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper. I also printed a reverse image of just the bells onto the backs of silver foil cardstock from Die Cuts with a View, and light blue & dark blue shimmer cardstocks (from my stash). I cut the bell pieces out, and set them aside while I painted the rest of the image with my Zig Clean Color pens & a water brush. I also used a silver glitter gel pen to color in some of the spaces on the hanger in the bells image. I then glued the silver and blue pieces in place. I used the outside of the largest of Spellbinders' "Classic Ovals LG" dies as a template to trace an oval around the image. Finally, I cut it out with my scissors, and erased the pencil lines.

For the background, I cut a piece of navy cardstock to 4.25x5.5". I die cut the bottom edge with one of the "Stitched Borders 1" dies from Pretty Pink Posh, and trimmed the panel down to 4.75" high. I cut two 1/2" strips from the light blue shimmer cardstock I'd used for the bells, and adhered them to the top & bottom of a white A2 card base. I adhered my navy panel in place, and then it was time to determine what to do about the strips in the sketch.

I ended up cutting two 7/8" wide strips of silver foil cardstock, and a 1/2" and two 1/4" wide strips of gold. I adhered the wider gold strip in the middle of the navy panel, and positioned and glued down the narrower strips. Finally, I adhered the silver strips, centered between each pair of gold. I adhered my focal panel, & added some silver Stickles around the perimeter of the oval. I put some dots of gold Stickles over the berries in the image, and along the scalloped border.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Catch the Bug Challenge Blog: "Anything Goes"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"
Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
Craft Your Passion: "Anything Goes"