Happy Holidays

I am so very happy to be the guest designer at the Christmas Card Throwdown challenge blog today!!! The theme of this challenge is "Snow Globes." I created a card for Send a Smile 4 Kids, using digital images from 2 different companies.

As with all my cards that involve digital images, I began in Photoshop. I opened the snow globe elements (globe, topper, & base) from Doodle Pantry's "Snow Globe Gala" (discontinued) and the "Santa Brings Home the Tree" image from Dearie Dolls Digi Stamps. I decided on the size of my final panel, and created a blank "canvas" in Photoshop that size. I arranged my images on the canvas & sized them to fit. I typed the greeting above the snow globe, using the "warp" tool in Photoshop to curve the text. It took a bit of fiddling, but I finally got it looking right. After I had everything set like I wanted it, I printed my composite image onto a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper that I'd cut to size.

I used my Inktense pencils to color everything. After applying clean water to the area I wanted to paint, I would pick up the color from the pencil with a damp paintbrush & apply it to my paper. I prefer this method, as it gives me the most control over intensity of color & shading. After the paper had dried, I dotted over the snowflakes within the snow globe with a white gel pen. I finished the painting process by adding faint streaks of white acrylic paint to indicate shine marks on the glass of the snow globe.

To finish the card, I double-matted the panel with pink & green cardstocks, leaving a 1/8" border on all sides of each mat. I mounted everything to a white A2 card base, and this card was done! I'd say the hardest & most time-consuming part actually was doing the greeting in Photoshop. Of course, the painting came in a close second! :)

Holiday Cheer

I am in the middle of making holiday cards for Send a Smile 4 Kids. Yes, it's crunch time for holiday card making! This card that I saw on Pinterest inspired the design for my card today. That one has only one candy cane, but I felt my design called for 2. I'm not sure if the other card maker used a larger circle punch or die than I did, but I thought having just one of the candy canes I made on my card left too much bare space.

I began by punching the circles for my candy canes. I used a 3/4" circle punch, and punched 10 red circles and 9 white for each cane. It really wasn't that bad time-wise, since I was punching instead of having to run the cardstock through with a circle die 38 times for both canes! Once I had punched them all, I used liquid glue to glue them all together. I followed the design of the inspiration card closely, so I could get the curve at the top correct.

For the background, I die cut a kraft panel with the largest of Memory Box's "Wrapped Stitch Rectangles." I laid my candy canes centered on the panel so I could get a sense of where to attach them together. I tacked them together with a dollop of liquid glue, though without gluing them to the panel just yet. (I just wanted to be able to move them as one unit.) Then I set those aside to dry.

I stamped a greeting from Hero Arts' "Color Layering Wreath" set in Versamark onto a scrap of red cardstock, and heat embossed with Ranger Super Fine Detail White embossing powder. I die cut that with the oval from the "Stitched Tags" set by Pretty Pink Posh (apparently discontinued). I didn't want the greeting just "hanging out" on my card, so I cut two 3/8" long slits on either end of the oval with my craft knife. I threaded some red & white checked ribbon through the slits, going under the tag. I adhered the ends of the ribbon to the back of my panel.

By this time, my candy canes were dry. I glued them to my panel, centered & towards the top. Finally, I tied a bow with the same ribbon as I'd used under the greeting, and adhered that over my candy canes with a glue dot. I did squirt some more liquid glue under the top of the knot, just to make sure the bow didn't come untied. I mounted my panel to a white A2 card base, & this was done! It was so easy, I actually made 2 at the same time. Both took me only a couple of hours total to make, including figuring out how to put together the candy cane.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Dies R Us Challenge #108: "Stitched Dies"
Incy Wincy Designs: "Christmas"
Die Cut Divas: "Anything Goes"
613 Avenue Create Challenge #215: "Anything Goes" (also playing the optional "Christmas/Winter" twist)