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,
This card is a joy! I love this stamp and you made it so beautiful with the kissing and embossing! This stamp is must purchase for me!
I really liked this stamp when I first saw it, wasn’t sure what I would do with it. Your card is beautiful! Thanks
That little birdie just pops! So cute! Thanks, Lisa.
Oh, wauw, this looks sooo great!! Love how you put the colors behind the stamp, looks very pretty and the white embossing there, actually looks like a layer of snow!!! Perfect!!
Hugs, Wendy
Love your card, especially the color combo. It is my favorite. I’m going to try your technique. Thanks for the chance to win.
this set is my favorite, i love the tree trunks and the bird, and that font has become my favorite! beautiful card, lisa!
wauu..it looks so great love the card! I love this stamp set! thanks for chance to win :)
I love the close-up detail photo. This card must be a real stunner in person. I am a versamark addict so I appreciate this card even more!
Oh, this stamp is adorable. Love your card and the color of the paper. I love Hero Arts blog site because I am forever learning or re-learning a technique. Thanks for sharing.
Cardinals have special meaning to me, so I will have to get that stamp. Your card is beautiful and thanks for sharing some tips!
oohh!! love the colour combination! what a perfect christmas card!
Such a beautiful card. Love the pop of the red bird. Just stunning!
I’m bookmarking this tutorial! I love your card and the techniques used! Beautiful!!!!! Fa la la la la!!!! Thank you for taking the time to share the steps!
Wow, love that pop of red and the bird too!
This was one of my favorite stamps from the CHA-post online catalog! Thanks for showing the how-to’s :) Such a great card. I’m in Texas too so this heat s NOT putting me in a holiday mood, but a couple of things that do are (1) when the Christmas cartoons/shows come on TV (Snoop, Rudolph, etc.) & (2) sometimes we’ll get to drive thru a small town on the way to somewhere and driving down the main street when they’ve decorated w/ the garland swags over the street is always cool!
This is a most wonderful holiday card! Love the colours and how you combined the Tree Trunk stamp with the holiday image!
What a beautiful card! love the colours. Margaret K.
Love this stamp and love your card Lisa. The embossed bg is beautiful!
I love, love, love this card.
Fabulous card, love the colours and thanks for sharing the details
Louise