Penny Black Bell

Before the month is over, I wanted to enter this card in the December "Winter or Christmas" challenge at Penny Black.

I put the stamp in my MISTI and inked it up using mini Distress inks and Distress markers. The mini ink pads make it easier to get into the different areas, and then the markers let you do fine areas like the stems. I stamped onto mixed media cs, repeating the process until I was happy with my colours.

I kept the stamp in place in the MISTI so that I could use a technique I learned from Jill Foster in this video.  Basically you stamp over the coloured image with Versamark and heat emboss with clear embossing powder. It is then very easy to do your watercolour wash background around the image without risking the colours in the image running into the background - especially the red from the berries.  I did the wash in a pale grey-blue.

Once dry, I splattered with a bit of watered down gray ink. I stamped my sentiment on a scrap using the same ink, heat embossed it, and trimmed it into a little banner. I sponged around the edges of it with a bit of the grey.

I trimmed my main panel with a Spellbinders matting basics die, popped it up on fun foam, and added my sentiment banner.

Supplies:

Stamps - Penny Black Bell and Berries, Old Island Stamp Co. sentiment

Ink - various mini Distress inks, Versamark, Versafine Smokey Gray

Paper - white and mixed media cs

Size - A2

Accessories - Distress markers, clear embossing powder, Spellbinders matting basics rectangle, fun foam

Emboss Resist Sleigh Ride

Before I get on to today's card, I want to share some exciting news.  Two of my favourite stampers, Loll Thompson and Bonnie Klass, are starting a new challenge blog on March 1st.  They are calling it CAS Mix Up Card Challenge.  It's perfect for those of us who make mainly CAS cards but want to dabble in a bit of mixed media.  So head on over and sign up!

This week's SCS Technique Lovers' Challenge is "Revisiting Emboss Resist".  I love emboss resist so made this card:

I stamped the sleigh ride and the sentiment in white and heat embossed it. Using lots of different Distress inks, I sponged the ground and sky. For the snow, I sprinkled chunky white ep randomly over the sky and in a more controlled line along the "ground" the sleigh is on. I heated it from underneath. The bell that is part of the sentiment stamp did not look right so I restamped it on a scrap of watercolour paper, heat embossed it in gold, painted the bell in gold, fussy cut it, and layered it over the original white bell.  Here's a close-up: Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: Great Impressions "Jingle All the Way", Tim Holtz sleigh

Paper: Penny Black luxury white cs, scrap of watercolour paper

Paper Size: A2

Ink: ColorBox white and gold; Distress Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans, Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire, and Iced Spruce

Accessories: white embossing powder, gold watercolour paint, Frantage Chunky White embossing powder, fun foam sheet