Christmas is Coming...

Hi there everybody.  Here are some cards I made for last month's Hochanda shows.

These are all new Christmas images by Chocolate Baroque and this first one is a really big stamp called Christmas Garden.  I decided to give it a bit of a vintage look so stamped it using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and coloured using a waterbrush.  I decided to drag the colour into the lanterns, snowflakes and foliage, and then I added some Ripe Persimmon on the poinsettias, baubles, robin and baubles on the Christmas tree, holly berries and candle flames.  I then added some green into the foliage using Cracked Pistachio, and some Fossilised Amber and Ripe Persimmon for the rings of light.  I painted in the background again using the Fossilised Amber and a waterbrush and then highlighted the edges with some more of the same ink blending it with blending tool.  I then hightlighted the candles in the lanterns and the larger free standing candles with a white pencil.

I finished by cutting it down and then added a layer of red followed by a layer of kraft card, and then added the sentiment using the Ripe Persimmon ink and heat set with some Clear Gloss Embossing Powder before adding this to the square white card which is about an inch or so larger all round.

My next card features a pretty little bird sitting on holly and berry branches and comes from the Christmas Circle stamp set.  It actually doesn't have to be a robin but I just love a robin at Christmastime and so I coloured him in that way.  I heat embossed the image using WOW Metallic Gold Embossing Powder and coloured with a waterbrush using Distress Inks in Pine Needles, Candied Apple, Brushed Corduroy and Vintage Photo, then added the snowy background with well watered Blueprint Sketch and added some falling snow with a white Posca Pen.

I then made the background using a small snowflake stamp and sentiment which comes from the first set.  I stamped and heat embossed the snowflake using the Gold EP and then added the colours using Pine Needles, Blueprint Sketch and a bit of Mermaid Lagoon to bring them together using a blending tool.  I then added the sentiment randomly tone on tone and finished by water bleaching to give it a snowy look and cut the rectangle using a Crealies Pierced Rectangle die.

I finished by adding a gold mat using some Gold Mirri card, again die cutting with the Crealies die, and then added the topper across it for a bit more interest.  I then stamped another sentiment along the bottom of the card with the Gold EP.

The final card I am showing here was made using Brushos and an image which is part of the same stamp set used above.  I stamped and heat embossed with the WOW Gold Metallic EP and then sprinkled some Brushos - Yellow around the candle flames, Emerald Green along the bottom and around the edges, and Brilliant Red over the poinsettia.  I then spritzed with water and mopped up a bit and allowed it to dry.  I then filled in the leaves and berries and tidied up the poinsettia using the same inks, and then just added a little Orange on the candle flames.

I decided to frame this and cut a white layer to fit the card with just a small border and cut the circular aperture just a little above the centre to allow for the addition of a sentiment.  I then cut a frame for the aperture using the Gold Mirri card using a Stitched Circle die from The Works, and then added the corner leaves which come with the first set and finished by adding one of the sentiments which is included in this set all heat embossed with the Gold EP.

Thank you for stopping by today and I'll see you again soon.