Saturday, October 18, 2008

A Christmas Contender!

The Framed Blue Bride Bird Print (shown) was my inspiration from Stef to get my behind in gear and design this year's Christmas card.

I wanted it to be simple, yet elegant. Last year's card had many, many pieces to cut and adhere. I wanted to avoid that this year, and send a meaningful message in a time of uncertainty on so many fronts.

When I bought the SU! set To You and Yours, I was shaking my head at myself. I have so many Christmas stamps and such a small window of time to use them. However, it was the dove that convinced me of its versatility. This could be used for many occasions when I want to wish someone the peace of the Holy Spirit. Yes, I was inspired by God to buy that set... I know... nice try, JoLynn. :)

However, I love the simplicity of this card. As you can see in the close-up, I added some glitter with my Gelly Roll pen. I argued with myself about masking... stamping the swirls with a metallic ink, then stamping the dove with a SU! Basic Gray. The metallic inks, however, take forever to dry and, after saving a few things I had done with them in the past and observing them, I noticed that these inks do not have staying power. The Gelly Roll pens dry almost right away and you get nice, subtle glitter without a big ol' mess. I saved the messier part for the inside sentiment (shown), which will be stamped in white craft ink. It looks great! The last time I used that ink on Night of Navy, I didn't give it time to dry and ruined an entire stack of stamped cards. I salvaged it by only using parts of the stamped images, but I wanted to scream... wait, I DID scream, when I did it.

Of course, I needed a little texture and dimension with this card. I used my new Long Classic Rectangles Nestabilities dies. Of course, I had to search the net AGAIN to remember how to put these through my Cuttlebug. I really need to use them more often! I also used my Scor-Pal for a few more lines to frame the image.



Size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches
Paper: PTI white, SU! Night of Navy
Ink: SU! Basic Gray, SU! white craft ink, silver Gelly Roll pen
Stamps: SU! To You & Yours
Embossing: Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, and Scor-Pal

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Definitely a lovely contender for your Holiday cards! I'm with you about the messy metallic inks, and the gelly roll pens do just fine! Really classy!
smiles,Deena

Ann said...

Wowza! This is gorgeous! Love what you did with that inspiration piece--surprise, surprise, I chose the same one! ;)