I have put my name down to do the Art Market on the “Decoy” this Sunday 7th Oct and on the 4th Nov. I didn’t take any Christmas cards with me last time as I thought it was too early – but apparently it’s never too early! So I have been busy all week going through my Christmas box of bits, finishing off cards that I had started but put aside for whatever reason. Here are just a few…
All stamps are by Stamp-it Australia, apart from the first tree card (Penny Black) and Winnie the Pooh (All Night Media).
Getting into the festive spirit at last, with my first Christmas get-together under my belt. Time to put the champagne on ice.
STAMPS: 4542E Blitzen, siset114 wording
PAPERS: White Matt Card, Leaf Green Vivaldi Card, PoppyRed Mi-teintes Card
INKS: Postbox Red, Cut Grass & Lemon Zest Dylusion Ink Sprays, Jet Black Archival Pad
ACCESSORIES: Chequered Dots Dylusion Stencil, Stardust Stickles, Ruby Red Liquid Pearls, Lime Ribbon, Brown Pencil
Spritz your matt white card with water, then ink sprays until card completely covered. Dry with heatgun.
Lay stencil over and spritz with water. Lift off stencil and run a roll of paper towel over card to dry. The water will have bleached the inks from card (as the inks are water-soluble), leaving pattern of stencil behind.
Stamp your reindeer and wording onto card in Jet Black Archival ink. Colour in reindeer with brown pencil.
Turn card over and run strip of 2-sided tape around perimeter. The ribbon I used had bobbles along both edges, but was very wide, so I cut it in half lengthways. Attach sections of ribbon around edge of card with the bobbles sticking outwards.
Attach card onto layer of Red card, then backing of Leaf green card. Finish off by adding some Stardust Stickles to champagne glass with a few bubbles rising out of it, and some Ruby Red Liquid Pearl for reindeer’s nose.
I think reindeer’s such elegant animals and the males antlers afford them a certain sense of majesty. They always seem to hold their heads up so proudly, probably because they have such strong neck muscles carrying all that weight around. I have decorated this stags regal headdress with some colourful joyous baubles. And no, he doesn’t find it the slightest bit demoralizing or embarrassing. Who cares if people think he’s snuck into his wife’s closet and stolen her festive earrings? – it’s all in the spirit of Christmas. Get a bit of bling on!!
STAMPS: Stag 4986E, Joyous wording siset059, Linear Baubles 4356E
INKS: Jet Black StazOn Pad and Sepia Archival Pad
PAPERS: Ivory Matt Card, Hilary, Maraschino & Lily Pad Bazzill Cards
ACCESSORIES: Shrink Plastic, Spectrum Noir Pens, Watercolour Pencils, Water brush
1. Stamp wording across bottom of ivory matt card in black ink. Sponge around card with Sepia ink.
2. Stamp Stag in black onto a separate piece of ivory card. Colour in stag with watercolour pencils, using a waterbrush to help blend colours. Cut out stag. (Yes, sorry, the antlers are a bit of a pain). Magic Mount body of stag to original ivory card with wording on. I used a glue stick on the antlers. Layer ivory card onto Maraschino (red), then Hilary (darker green) and finally Lily Pad (light Green) Bazzill backing card.
3. Stamp Linear Baubles onto shrink plastic with the black StazOn pad. Flip the shrink plastic over and colour the baubles in with the Spectrum Noir pens. If you try to colour on the same side, the pens will make the black lines bleed as they are both alcohol based inks. Use the fat nib on the pens and don’t worry about keeping in the lines as the baubles are going to be cut out anyway.
Cut out the baubles. Put the baubles one at a time (or they will stick to each other when hot) into a heatproof container and heat them with a heatgun to shrink down. They will roll about a bit, so make sure your container has sides! If you don’t have a heatgun, you can use an oven (see back of packs for instructions). They will reduce to approximately 1/4 of their original size. Have a pair of tweezers ready in case you need to touch them as they will be HOT! I usually also keep a small acrylic block handy to give them a gentle pat after they’ve stopped shrinking, to ensure they are flat (makes it easier to stick them onto your cards). Don’t pat them too hard or you’ll squish and distort them.
4. Place your baubles on card in desired positions hanging from antlers. Mark their spots using fine end of brown Distress pen. With the aid of a ruler, draw a thin line from deer’s antlers down to bauble position. Place a dab of Glossy Accents on card to adhere baubles. Hold them in place for a few seconds with fingertips. Now also cover top of baubles with Glossy Accents and sprinkle with Clear Rock Candy Dry Glitter. Set aside to dry.