Shiny Merry Christmas

Several years ago, I had done a painting of colored-cellophane-wrapped balls under a crystal trifle dish, & created our Christmas card for that year with an image of that painting. (I titled it, "Visions of Sugarplums.") One of our friends told me she treasures that card even more than the others I've created over the years, just because of the colors. I decided to create this card, inspired by that one, using Hero Arts "Christmas Crystals" stamp set (discontinued). I also created a coordinating envelope.

I got the instructions for this double Z-fold card from Sam at Mixed Up Craft. I used Bazzill Jawbreaker cardstock to create the card base, following her measurements & instructions. I wanted to use rainbow foil for the greeting, so I created that in Photoshop, printed it with my laser printer, & foiled with my Mini Minc machine. This is actually the best result I've ever gotten with foiling--no blank spots! I matted that with a silver holographic cardstock, & added it to my card base.

I stamped all the crystals onto Strathmore Smooth Bristol paper, and heat embossed them with Ranger Silver embossing powder. I used my Tombow markers to color them in rainbow hues, and blended the colors out with a wet paintbrush. I found that, to avoid brushstrokes, I needed to add quite a bit of water and just let the color spread. The heat embossing formed "walls" to keep the color & water from bleeding outside the lines.

After the crystals had dried, I poked small holes at the top of each, and stitched "hangers" with silver thread. I matted the panels with the same silver cardstock I'd used for the greeting, and adhered them in place.

I created the envelope from a similarly colored piece of 12x12" cardstock, using my We R Memory Keepers 1-2-3 punch board. I stamped 3 crystals on the front, and heat embossed with silver. I used a silver paint pen with a T-squre ruler to draw the "hanger" lines to the top of the envelope front. I also created a liner from the silver holographic cardstock, & adhered it inside the envelope. This card design is definitely a hand-deliver one, because it's quite thick--unless you add extra postage! Hopefully our friend will treasure this one, too.

I'm entering this card & envelope in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create Challenge #228: "Anything Goes"
The House that Stamps Built DCC D419: "Stamp on Your Envelope"