Hello friends...
Another week has flown by and here we are in the final month of 2023 and counting down the days until Christmas!
As always, a new week brings a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and this week our theme is all about Winter Blues and we hope you'll join us and play along!
For my make, I chose to create a project using a very special die set, the adorable Walter! This Tim Holtz set is exclusive to SSS and is available for a limited time only, whilst stocks last and all you need to do is add $25 or more of Tim's branded products into your basket, search for Walter and he will be waddling to you as a FREE gift!
So back to my card, where Walter is all dressed up for Christmas, ready to surprise his Santa Baby and little penguin girlfriend, Winifred and here's how I created this card!
To begin with I made a white card blank measuring 20 x 15cm. I then cut a panel of mixed media heavystock card, slightly smaller in size than my card blank and spritzed this panel with a light misting of water.
To add colour, I used the following sprays:
DISTRESS SPRAY STAINS; Walnut Stain, Speckled Egg, Broken China
OXIDE SPRAYS: Speckled Egg
After spritzing more water over the inks to blend them, I heat dried the card panel and machine stitched a border around the outside. I then applied Grit Paste through the Speckles Layering Stencil, placing it at the top of the card, and only applying the paste so that it stops about half way down. Once dry, I mounted the background onto my card blank, leaving a very narrow border around the outside.
LAYERS
Moving onto the main background and for this I cut a panel of Distress Watercolour card, 17 x 12cm.
I spritzed the card with more water and then applied Mica Stains ~ Snow Flurries, Winter Frost, Shiny Bauble. I spritzed the colours to create a slight graduation of intensity, so that the bottom section will remain mostly white, with just a hint of the spray showing. Allow the colours to blend and then heat dry the surface.
Once again, I machine stitched a border around the edge and then applied more of the Grit Paste through the Speckles Layering Stencil to create the look of snow. I added the paste so that it will align with the paste/snow on the background panel attached to the card blank.
When dry, I matted the panel onto silver metallic kraft card and attached it to my card using foam pads.
TREES
To begin with I coloured a piece of mixed media heavystock card using the following combination:
DISTRESS SPRAY STAINS: RUSTIC WILDERNESS, BUNDLED SAGE, SPECKLED EGG
OXIDE SPRAYS: SPECKLED EGG
MICA STAINS: FROSTED JUNIPER
Once the card was dry and the blend was just right, I used the trees from the Forest Shadows Die Set to cut my two separate images to create the background layer and the foreground. I also cut a second layer of white card, which I used as a drop shadow by adhering this piece behind each of the green layers.
To create the snowy effect on the edges of the trees, I brushed the Embossing Dabber very lightly over the tips and then sprinkled White embossing Powder over the top. Tap away the excess and heat emboss the powder.
Because I wanted to add some glitter and snow, I applied a light coverage of Micro Glaze over the top of each die cut. This will stop any ink turning your snow green and bleeding into the Snowfall Paste, which I added along the bottom of the die cut and to some of the branches.
I allowed for the paste to dry, before drizzling some Glossy Accents over the paste. Working quickly, I sprinkled Mica Flakes and Rock Candy Glitter over the top, tapped away the excess and set this aside to dry...
...and once the pieces are dry enough to handle, I attached them to my card front, placing them across the background, slightly overlapping the edges and creating different heights to each piece by adding foam pads.
WALTER AND WINIFRED THE PENGUINS
Both of these adorable penguins are cut from a combination of Black Heavystock card, White Distress Watercolour Card and Mixed Media Heavystock card. Each of these card surfaces will create different effects and that is why I chose to use this combination.
Once all the pieces are cut, I then painted the accessories with Distress Paints ~ Santa's hat, the scarf, the beaks, feet, bows and glasses.
I also gave each penguin a touch of pink of their cheeks.
After assembling each image, I wanted to add an extra accessory to Winifred, some ear muffs.
These are actually die cut using dies from the Chilly and Freeze, which were the DieCember set from Tim, in 2022! This accessory fits perfectly and I just added some tiny white polka dots and the tiny bow.
Attach each penguin onto the project with foam pads.
SENTIMENT
The sentiment, "It's A Wonderful Life", is from the Sketch Greenery Stampers Anonymous stamp set. I stamped the message with Barn Door Archival Ink, onto a die cut Vintage Label, which I lightly spritzed with the Shiny Baubles Mica Stain, just to give a smattering of colour.
I attached the label underneath the scene with foam pads to add height, and then added two Hardware Heads to either side of the label. Each Hardware Head is painted with Speckled Egg Distress Paint.
FINISHING DETAILS
We're nearly there and all that's left is to add the tiny details of the cloud in the sky and the shining star.
The cloud is cut from watercolour card, using the Sizzix Christmas Cutouts Die Set and inked with Lost Shadow Distress Ink. I attached this to my background with foam pads.
Finally, I added the gold star, cut from gold metallic kraft card using the star die from the Holiday Blocks die set.
I cut two of these layers and then cut each layer in half to create four stars, which I then adhered over the top of one another to make one complete star, which I attached to my panel, adding a silver Metallic Droplet in the centre.
...and that completes my Christmas card, which I hope you love and will make you smile to banish those winter blues!
As always, if you make anything, or if you've been inspired by anything that you've seen here on my blog ~ then please, let me know by tagging me on social media or leaving a comment here and I will be right over to take a look!
Don't forget that every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $25 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp and you can join in up to 5 times, which means you could have 5 chances to win. You have until next Monday at 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today ~ stay safe and keep well.
Love Emma xxx
Recipe for project:
Distress Paints: Candied Apple, Mowed Lawn, Speckled Egg, Wild Honey, Mustard Seed
Mica Sprays: Snow Flurries, Winter Frost, Shiny Bauble, Frosted Juniper
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