I have already used all of my first pearls package and I am down to the pearl rows, so I was thinking I could use them to hang ornaments from. Which was the starting point for this card. The oval was cut out of Brushed Gold cardstock, around which I applied a fine line of Tombow glue and then pourred some Champagne glitter around it.
To colour the ornament, I applied Cherry Cobbler ink with my ink pad all over the image, then used a blending pen to wipe clean the detailing on the ornament, which I then coloured with my Old Olive marker before stamping the ornament on Very Vanilla cardstock and punching the image out with the matching punch.
At the left side, I added a big rickrack strip cut out with the Tasteful Trims die, then I proceeded to rub the cardstock with the edge of the bone folder until it came apart in the middle and I ripped the cardstock in two, exposing the inside of the cardstock and giving a plush look to the rickrack, giving it texture. I used a marker to add faux stitching on both sides and added some shimmer brads in a matching shade.
At the left of the sentiment, which reads "Christmas is love...", I added a small red heart, which is in fact a leftover "hole" from one of the snowflakes from the Northern Frost die. If you look closely, you'll notice the holes on one of the snowflakes look just like small hearts, so I kept those aside and used of here, which I colored with a Cherry Cobbler marker to make it pop. The scallop trim was created with the Chain punch (hmm, am I translating its name right?) and then I added a Vanilla Hodgepodge brad.
I wanted to try something I hadn't done before, which is coloring Crystal Effects with a reinker to color something. Since I was working on a very small surface, I filled the star with Crystal Effects using the tip of my paper piercer to move the Crystal Effects around on the brad and added a drop of reinker to it. Maybe not the wisest move on my part, especially since the brad was already in place on the card. No matter how small you try to make the drop, it is still too much ink for such a small detail, so I had to use the corner of a tissue to absord some of the excess ink and managed to salvage my experiment and make it work. Next time, I'll either mix the Crystal Effects with the ink on a small container and then apply it to my surface using the tip of a paper piercer or I'll add the Hodgepodge piece to the finished card AFTER I've colored it. I was lucky that it worked and didn't ruin the card this time around...
Anyway, with all of that being said, here is the finished piece.
Here is the LINK to our new challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:
Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marissa
Renée
Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Noël contemporain
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Brushed Gold
Designer papers: Belles vacances
Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive
Accessories: Old Olive marker, pearls, lace trim, shimmer brads, Tasteful Trims die,
Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, Chain punch, Ovals die, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Champagne glitter, Crystal Effects, Cherry Cobbler reinker, distressing tool, bone folder



Cool card Cindy, & the christmas tree works really well as a background pattern! Lots of clever tricks happening on here - thanks for sharing all the details. :)
Posted by: Helen H | November 19, 2010 at 03:33
Love the half pearl "hanger" and the lace at the top of the ornament. Lovely use of this week's sketch :)
Posted by: Marisa | November 19, 2010 at 11:44
Wow, so much to look at! A lot of work and effort went into that card, Cindy. I'm really impressed with how you gave texture to the ric-rac die... I would have never thought of that. The whole card is is like one technique after another.
Gorgeous!
Posted by: CeeCee | November 19, 2010 at 18:55
Simply gorgeous Cindy! Love what you have done with the pearl strip! very clever. I am now hanging out to get my hands on the lace trim. So vintagey.....LOVE IT!!!
Kirsty xx
Posted by: Kirsty Brown | November 19, 2010 at 19:52
Just beautiful Cindy. I love the pearls and lace. The designer paper looks fantastic too. I love all the details of your post too, so many things went into making this gorgeous card.
Posted by: Lee-Anne | November 19, 2010 at 20:17
Cindy this is pure eye candy. I love all the little detail work from the crochet lace to the pearls to the ric-rac over the DSP. I love every detail! Good for you for trying something new too. It can be hard to step outside our comfort zones but your "risk" was done to perfection!
Posted by: carrie gaskin | November 20, 2010 at 10:23