Happy Hanukkah

Die Cut Divas' challenge this month is "Layers or Layer It." I created another Hanukkah card for this challenge. The woman I'm giving this card to is blind, so I wanted layers & texture, so she can get a tactile experience from the card.

I cut the Star of David from chipboard, using a template I'd made. After coating it with gesso, I painted it with a Ranger Adirondack Silver paint dauber. I let that dry, and then used the Tim Holtz "Dot Fade" stencil & Golden Extra Heavy Gel (matte finish) to add some texture. Then I set that aside to dry for a few hours.

Once the gel had dried, I cut pieces of silver wire. I taped one end on the back of my star, threaded some seed beads on, and then wrapped the other end around to the back of my star & taped it in place. I repeated this until I had several beaded wires. I adjusted the beads, so they were in smaller groups along each wire, and used dots of Glossy Accents to hold the groups in place.

I die cut a dark blue panel with the largest "Decorative Labels One" die by Spellbinders, and glued my Star of David to that with Perfect Paper Adhesive. I also die cut a greeting strip using one of Pretty Pink Posh's "Stitched Borders 3" dies. I stamped "Happy Hanukkah" on that in Versamark, using the "Basic Alpha" set from Ellen Hutson's Essentials by Ellen line. Then I heat embossed that in Ranger Silver embossing powder.

To finish my card, I cut a panel of silver embossed paper from Michael's to 4.25x5.5". I adhered my greeting strip & Star of David panel to that, and mounted my card front to a white A2 card base.

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

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: "Anything Goes"
Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday: "Use Dies"
Pile It On #123: "Any Holiday/Celebration"
Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"

Happy Hanukkah

The Lawnscaping Challenge is coming to an end today. It's been going for 5 years, but this is their last challenge. The theme this time is "Holiday Cards." I need a couple of Hanukkah cards, so I created this one for this challenge. I got the idea for the stamping from this video by Yana Smakula.

I have a Star of David template that I'd created for another card a couple of months ago. I traced around it onto a piece of masking paper, and enlarged my tracing slightly before cutting it out with a craft knife. I cut a piece of white cardstock to 4.25x5.5", and adhered the negative portion of my mask to that, centered side-to-side. I stamped snowflake & heart images from "Winter in the Park," "Deck the Halls," & "Peace Joy Love" (all by Lawn Fawn) to stamp inside the opening in my mask. I used Hero Arts Soft Pool, Tide Pool, & Pool inks, as well as Delicata Silvery Shimmer pigment ink for my images. I heat embossed the silver ones with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. To make the Star of David stand out even more, after I'd finished stamping & heat embossing, I inked lightly with Broken China Distress ink. Then I removed my mask.

For the greeting, I used Lawn Fawn's "Claire's ABC's" & my MISTI to stamp with Versamark. I heat embossed that with Ranger Silver embossing powder.

To finish, I inked a scrap of white cardstock with Pool ink, and cut two 1/8" strips. I glued those to either side of the card front, and adhered the card to a white A2 card base.

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

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
Pile It On #123: "Any Holiday/Celebration"

Wonderful Holiday Wishes

A friend of mine always does a painting of a poinsettia for her Christmas card. When I saw the card Nina-Marie Trapani created for Simon Says Stamp's Studio Monday this week, I knew I had to try something similar! I used 2 stamp sets: "Mondo Poinsettia" for the flower and "Mistletoe & Holly" for the greeting (both Essentials by Ellen).

I began by determining where I wanted my greeting to go, so I would be sure not to stamp any flowers there. I stamped it very lightly on my A2-size panel with Colorbox Putty Archival ink, just to act as a placeholder, since I wasn't really sure whether I wanted just to stamp or heat emboss the greeting. I then stamped the poinsettia randomly around my panel with Hero Arts Red Royal ink, being careful not to overlap the greeting.

After I'd finished stamping, I used masking fluid to mask each flower. I wanted to do an ink-blended background, and considered using paper masks for the poinsettias. But I could tell it would be impossible to cut around all the details towards the center of each flower, so there were no gaps. I was reticent to use masking fluid, since I have kind of a bad history with it. But I figured I'd give it a try anyway.

After applying it to all the flowers, I let it dry for a few hours while I did other things. When I came back to it, I blended Cracked Pistachio, Evergreen Bough, & Pine Needles Distress inks over the background to create an ombre effect. I then ever-so-carefully removed the masking. Thankfully, it did not rip my paper up! Then I watercolored my flowers with a Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker (Carmine Red). I used a damp paintbrush to spread & blend the color on each petal. I also colored the flower centers with a gold gel pen. Then, just for a little more pop, I flicked droplets of Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine mist over the panel.

When the panel was dry, I used the coordinating "Mondo Poinsettia" die to cut each flower from the panel. I blended the same 3 Distress inks onto another panel, cut to the same size as my first, and glued the negative portion of my original panel to that. Before adhering my poinsettias back in place, I went ahead and heat embossed the greeting with Ranger Super Fine Detail Gold embossing powder. Finally, I adhered my poinsettias into their original positions, popping them up on foam tape. After mounting it to a white A2 card base, I added drops of Gold Stickles to the centers of the flowers, and this card was done!

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Through the Craft Room Door "Anything Goes"
Craft Your Passion #342 "Anything Goes"
Pile It On #123 "Any Holiday/Celebration"
Die Cut Divas "Layers or Layer It"
Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday "Use Dies"
Creative Knockouts #172 "Winter Wonderland/Festive Fun"