Thursday, July 7, 2011

Christmas in July - Greeting Card Kids - Paper Players Challenge #54

Christmas in July - what a concept!  It seems so out of sync to be thinking about Christmas, and snow, and cold, when its hot outside -when its too hot to sit outside, and indoors has to be air conditioned..
However, the card was a lot of fun to make, and thinking about snow actually cooled me down.
The Challenge with Paper Players here is a theme one, and the design could be anything - What a wonderful way to make a card.

I started by stamping the image of the girl pulling a Christmas Tree on a sled using Stazon ink on Whisper White card stock. Then with the wonderful watercolor crayons and the Aqua painter I colored the image.  I actually did this on the holiday weekend at one of my craft shows.  People and fellow vendors were very curious as to what I was doing - some actually came over and ended up buying a card.  I find that customers and vendors alike really like to see the artist at work, and doing work becomes a drawing card for customers.  It's a win-win situation.

When I saw what the challenge was at Paper Player, I decided to make this image into a Christmas card - even though the thought of Christmas does not sit well with me right now. I used the circle die #2 to make the circle for the image,  and then scallop circle die for the red scalloped circle layer.  Before attaching the circle to the scallop circle layer, the circle was sponged with Baja Breeze ink, and snowflakes put in the sky using the end of a paintbrush and white acrylic paint.  While the paint was still wet some dazzling diamonds was sprinkled over the snowflakes, making them sparkle.  Liquid Applique was applied on the pompom of the hat and the fur around the hat, sleeves and coat edge. and spread lightly on the ground under the sled and the girl.  Drying it with the heat gun made the applique "pop" - making it look like real fur and real snow.
The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny wishes and stamped using Real Red ink.
Next with the mat pack and paper piercer, holes were pierced in each scallop.  Then the circle was attached using dimensionals.
The base card is Real Red, matted with Whisper White embossed with the Northern Flurries embossing folder.  The edges and raised embossed areas were sponged with Baja Breeze ink.
The 1 by 4 1/4" whisper white ribbon panel was embossed with the Perfect Polka dot embossing folder, and lightly inked with Baja Breeze.  Then a 1/2" strip of read red was punched using the scallop edge punch and attached to each side of this panel.  Next  5/8" real red satin ribbon was attached to this panel, and a 1/4" white grosgrain ribbon placed on top of that.  this entire unit was glued to the Whisper White layer.  The image was attached over the center of this panel using dimensionals.  A bow made with the white grosgrain completes the card.

Stamps: Greeting Card Kids, Teeny Tiny wishes
Inks: Black Stazon, Baja Breeze, Watercolor crayons, Real Red
Papers: Real Red, Whisper White,
Accessories: Northern Flurries embossing folder, Perfect Polka dots embossing folder, 5/8" Real Red satin ribbon, 1/4" whisper white grosgrain ribbon, Scallop circle die, Circles die #2, Liquid Applique, Acrylic paing (white), dazzling diamonds, mat pack and paper piercer, stampin dimensionals.

Hope you enjoyed this card.  I'm really not ready to wish you Merry Christmas though!

12 comments:

Christyne said...

Another fabulous job! Love it!

Donna MacDonald said...

Super adorable - great way to use the EF and you did a wonderful job with the main image - well done!

Shelly Schmidt said...

Wonderful card- love the background!

Anonymous said...

So very cute!

jaydee said...

Fabulous card. You did an amazing job with the focal image and I love it juxtaposed with the snowflake. Great sponging, too!
So glad you decided to join the Paper Players again this week and shared this wonderful card
Jaydee

Lauri said...

Beautiful job with the image! Love your spongina and the textured white accents! Thanks for playing with the Paper Players this week!

Tui Nathan said...

Super cute card ... love the liquid applique trimming on the coat it makes the whole image "pop", great the design and your sponging is just lovely!!!
Thank you for the joining us this week at Paper Players!

LeAnne said...

I am glad you pushed through your aversion to thinking about Christmas during the hot months! This is just wonderful--one of my favorite images, too! Thanks for playing with the Paper Players this week!

Ann Schach said...

Adorable! I love all of the dimension! The coloring is perfect! Thanks for playing with The Paper Players this week!

Anne Marie Hile said...

Maria, I just have one word for this gorgeous card: WOW! I just love all of the beautiful details you have added and the image is shaded perfectly. Thanks so much for playing along with us at the Paper Players this week! :)

Sue said...

I really like the vintage look of this card. Great work.

harry89 said...

I really admire your work the looks are pretty good..

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