Gingerbread Christmas

This card turned out a little bit differently than I anticipated. I knew I wanted to make a card with the Rubbernecker stamp Reindeer's Flight. I had picked up some beautiful wintry looking DSP while traveling on vacation last summer. It is made by http://www.kaisercraft.com.au/ and I thought it match perfectly with last year's SU In Color Soft Sky. I stamped the Reindeer's Flight stamp once on 140# watercolor paper and then stamped it again on a scrap of the same paper. The second stamping was done with India Ink Black by Superior and Versamark, then embossed with clear EP to raise the outlines. I watercolored it with my SU Classic pads and carefully cut it out. The main panel was cut with my Square Nestabilities and a color wash of Soft Sky was applied. I also went over some of the ripples of color on the backgrounds with my mixture of Simple Solutions #2 and LuminArte Metallic Mica Luster Pearl to give a shimmery cloud effect (doesn't show up well in the photo). Then I popped up the cut out with craft foam. Two scalloped squares were cut with Nestabilities, one in Soft Sky and the other in Bravo Burgundy. The edges of the main panel and the Soft Sky scalloped square were sponged with Creamy Caramel for a vintage look. Then I took my Versamark pen and outlined the edges of the Bravo Burgundy panel with Versamark and embossed it with SU Winter White EP. The idea was to make it look a little frosty, but it ended up a little blotchy and grainy looking. I contemplated chucking the panel, but decided it looked like the white frosting on a gingerbread house and that I really liked the effect. So it stayed...

The card was built on a shell of Whisper White followed by a layer of Soft Sky sponged with Creamy Carmel. Next up was Bravo Burgundy (embossed with The Snowflake Spot and Winter White EP) with machine stitching in light blue to match the Soft Sky. The next layer was the yummy Kaiser Craft DSP with a zig zag stitch to lend a country feel. To add to the country feel, the corners were punched out of a piece of Whisper White that I embossed with the CB Snowflake embossing folder. Then I heat embossed over the dry embossing with white EP. I thought it resembled stamped tin that is such a country staple. A country style heart was cut from chipboard with a Cuttlebug die. I rubbed the heart into my Bravo Burgundy pad and then into the Versamark pad and heat embossed it with clear EB and then embossed the top edges with the Winter White EP and tied a scrap of rick rack around it.

The whole thing was topped off with a bow of Soft Sky double stitched ribbon, a flower from the Pretties Kit, an SU button and a piece of crochet thread.

A pretty intriate card, but one that was heaps of fun to make!