A blog devoted to the cards I make in my tiny upstairs space. When my sister stays there, she calls it an "artist's garret". I'm not an artist, but am an enthusiastic cardmaker - hence the title "Cardmaker's Garret".
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Sunday 3 June 2018

Masculine Christmas

For June, the CAS Christmas challenge is being hosted by Christine (A Card Day's Night) and she has chosen "Masculine" as our theme.


I am not very good at masculine cards but, during my recent craft retreat, we worked on the embedded brushos technique.   I ended up with a piece that was in quite muted colours and decided it would be a good background for a masculine card.


For details on how to do it the embossed brushos, see the first 6:50 minutes of this video. Basically you sprinkle brushos on some watercolour paper, run it through an embossing folder, and then spritz.  Because the embossing folder presses the brushos into the wc paper, it is more concentrated around the raised parts.

I then brayered lightly over the raised parts with white pigment ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder.

I die cut the row of trees out of brown and white cs.  I used Sizzix's thin double-sided adhesive sheet on the top side of the white layer and then stuck the brown die cut very slightly offset on top to give the look of a sprinkling of snow on the branches.  Because there was a bit of exposed stickiness, I added ultrafine glitter to take care of the stickiness - I figured just that tiny bit of sparkle wouldn't take away from the masculine nature of the card.

We'd love to have you join us at CAS Christmas!  Head on over and see the rest of the inspiration from the Design Team and our talented Guest Designer, Bobby (of bits & pieces).  You have until June 24th to link up your card.  Please make sure it is clean and simple, and is masculine in theme or tone.





Supplies:
Stamps - Penny Black sentiment
Ink - Wendy Vecchi Archival Potting Soil
Paper - white and brown cs, watercolour paper
Size - A2
Accessories - Penny Black In the Winter die, blue Brushos, Cuttlebug embossing folder, glitter, fun foam



13 comments:

  1. I think the little bit of sparkle always goes down well, masculine or feminine. The background is wonderful and such an effective technique. Love the offsetting of the tree die to look like snow and what a wonderful Masculine card Susan. x

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  2. Love how your background turned out Susan. The muted colours look fantastic with the brown trees. Great colour combination! And so clever to add an off-set white die-cut of the tree to look snow on the limbs. Great design, my friend! xx

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  3. Love the mix of blue and black with your brusho background it looks so wintry. The brown trees are a perfect addition for a masculine card.

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  4. I Love how your embedded Brushos snowflake background turned out, Susan. Perfect for a guy Christmas card. Your die cut Winter trees were perfect for a simple Winter scene. TFS my friend. Hugs...

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  5. Your beautiful bare trees combined with your muted background is just perfect for a masculine card, Susan! This works perfectly! I love how crisp your snowflakes turned out using that technique!

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  6. Thanks for your comments, everyone!

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  7. Your background is fantastic with the wonderful effect of the embossed brushos, Susan! Love the mix of colors with the white pigment/embossing powder. And how clever you are to offset the tree die-cuts! The branches do look like they have snow on them! Hideko xx

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  8. Missed the embedded Brusho technique during the retreat, but it sounds interesting. You’ve turned your piece into one cool masculine card, Susan. Love the offset diecut trees. xx

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  9. What a beautiful background, Susan! Love how the Brusho's colored the piece and how the embossed snowflakes stand out! The snowy trees are perfect! I think a little shimmery snow is perfect!

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  10. What a lovely background your created with that interesting Brusho technique Susan! I really have to try that out! The layered dark trees look wonderful in the foreground of this firewworks-snowy sky!! Julia xx

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  11. That was a brilliant idea to use your awesome gear background for this masculine Christmas card, Susan! Also brilliant to offset the trees with white (NEVER would have thought of that and love it!) and then cover up the sticky bits with glitter! Go to the head of the class!! Hugs, Darnell

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  12. Fabulous! Those trees and the background together give so much dimension. Love it!

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  13. Thanks for all your kind comments!

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