Hi you guys! Today Hero Arts is having a blog hop to celebrate the 2011 Joy To You holiday catalog going up in the online store. I’m so excited to be playing along!
I had a hard time deciding what stamps to use — there are so many great ones to chose from! Finally, I settled the cling Merriest Christmas Wishes set and the Pool Designer Papers! (You know how I love pool! Oh yah!)
And here’s what I came up with!
I love playing around with solid stamps like this because there’s so many things you can do with them. You could go ahead and stamp it in a nice blue color and you’d have a sweet, tweet scene in no time. Or you could try the kissing technique. But I didn’t want to do either of those! Nope, not me. Instead, I stamped it with VersaMark ink and embossed it in clear, then colored it with inks.
Here’s a closer look so that you can see the embossing better — you gotta tilt it to get it to really show up.
And, here’s a little step-by-step on how I did it! First, I stamped the bird on new Pool Designer paper — just love this pattern because it goes with everything. (Each pack of paper includes 12 8.5 x 11″ sheets, 4 each of 3 designs.)
Then I grabbed my sponge daubers and distress inks and colored in the bird, then wiped it off with a dry paper towel. Love using sponge daubers for coloring things like this because their small size lets you put the ink right where you want it. (Full supplies at the end of the post.)
Then I kept going and colored the rest of the scene. The embossed parts made a resist and the ink easily wiped away. To finish off the card, I just trimmed it and added it to a Pool Notecard stamped with the Tree Trunks — in Soft Pool, of course! A little teal gems, some ribbon, and the message and I was done! (Just love all the messages in this set — especially this one.)
(Supplies: Hero Arts Merriest Christmas Wishes set , Pool Designer Papers, Tree Trunks, sponge daubers, Pool Notecard, clear embossing powder, and VersaMark ink. EK Success border punch. Distress inks in barn door, broken china, vintage photo, and walnut stain all by Ranger. Grosgrain ribbon from my stash. The photo overlays are from Katrina at Pugly Pixel.)
Now, remember how I mentioned a giveaway? Yep, Hero Arts is giving away a great prize (including new Pool notecards + envelopes!)! The lucky winner will be chosen on August 5th from all the comments received on each stop in the hop, so be sure to comment + visit them all!
You can comment about anything you like, but I’d love to hear about something that gets you in the holiday mood. It was 104 when I was stamping this, whew! So I listened to music and pretended like those snowflakes weren’t melting. :)
Here’s the full hop in case you’re just joining in:
Your next stop on the hop is the super talented Tami Hartley’s blog — she made FOUR amazing cards! Go check ’em out!
Joyful hopping,
Wow, talk about a great effect!! The embossing looks wonderful as does the card:)
I really like this stamp you used. You made a delightful card.
Thanks for sharing.
Joyce
When I first saw this stamp I knew I had to have it – love the nature stamps and this is a great one for Christmas cards – awesome job on the card.
Beautiful card–I love to do this embossing technique on cards–
Fabulous card, Lisa! I love your bright red cardinal and really pretty colour combo! I’m so excited about the pool goodies being back and even better than before, too!
Now what gets me in the mood for Christmas? In the middle of summer, not very much! I prefer to think it’s going to be summer all year long, even though I’m sure I’ll be snowed under by November! :) Thanks for the chance to win!
I just love the bright colors of your card. I especially appreciate you sharing your techniques with us. THANKS!!
Very beautiful card … Another stamp to add to my wish list !
I love the blue with the red and I love trees. Beautiful card.
Love your card! I agree with you the pool color is wonderful. I can’t imagine working on Christmas cards yet–maybe I should get the Christmas music out. I would really be in trouble then as I am already teased because because y family thinks I start too soon as it is.
I love the embossing. The red is perfect.
Wow! What a stunning card! It took me a little while to figure out how you did it but it clicked once I scrolled down! :) Thanks for the great idea!
Oh how I love cardinals, that stamp set has my name written all over it! Gorgeous card, you are so talented! It doesn’t take much to put me in the Christmas mood, when it was 104 degrees in NY 2 weeks ago I took my 2 girls to the beach, and while playing in the sand what were they singing? Jingle Bells! LOL!
oh so pretty! adore the fabulous colors and sweet birdie.
What great tips! Thanks. I love aqua with red.
Oh, now this is just soft and serene and beautiful! I love the red cardinal against the soft white and blue! Thanks for the detailed instructions…very helpful! I think listening to Christmas music is what really gets me in the mood for the holidays.
very whimsical
Really great card!! I love that stamp!!
Love this stamp and may have to purchase this one too! Love what you have done with this one! Thanks!
Love this card … the pop of red really adds to the overall effect, and the bright crisp blue adds a fresh charm to the overall card. Really, really lovely …
Thank you for sharing!!!
Great technique…thanks for the lesson.