Winter Mugs

I'm nursing a cold this weekend and I taking it easy in front of the computer, watching a craft video with a Christmas card done by AmyR that was simple but packed a punch. At the end of the video, I thought of the Wood Textures Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up! and wonder how it would look with a small image stamped repeatedly on it to create a background. This card evolved from there.

I looked at my stamps and Hug in a Mug jumped out at me, because it had small enough images to create a colored background (and also because any excuse to use this set is a good excuse). I had a look at weekly challenges to see if any of them had colors that could work and spotted the Fab Friday combo #126. It's a fun combo, but it's also quite bright because of the Lemon Lime Twist color, but the fact that I was using a wood-texture paper worked in my favor with this combo because it tamed down the green a bit. I used the three colors from the combo to watercolor tbe mugs with an Aqua Painter brush, and added a bit of Soft Suede for the tree trunk and Whisper White for the whipped cream. (Did you know you can watercolor with Whisper White even though it's a Craft ink? You can!) Touches of Clear Wink of Stella were added to a few details. The Designer Series Paper is not watercolor paper, so watercoloring it with ink without getting blotches is an interesting challenge. I found that adding a bit of clear water to the mug before coming back with ink on my brush helped, but at the same time, I had to be careful not to use too much water because the paper is fine and will warp quickly. It's not perfect, but the look of the stamp set and the card is whimsical, so I could get away with it not being perfect.

Also inspired by Amy's card is the sentiment. We don't have an awful lot of French word dies, but we do have some in the (Sunshine Wishes Thinlits set. To get an ombre look similar to the one Amy did, I drew a Lemon Lime Twist line with a Stampin' Write marker using the brush tip and went back with my Aqua Painter brush to pull the ink towards the bottom, creating a lighter shade of green. Then, I die cut the word "wishes" out of that watercolor paper, and the same word two other times out of Lemon Lime Twist cardstock. I made sure to use pieces of Big Shot adhesive sheets on the back of all three cardstock before die-cutting, to make layering them easier.

I needed to find some words to finish off the sentiment, so I pulled out Holly Jolly Greetings, which allowed me to get "Best wishes to you." I was trying out various ribbons at the bottom and finally landed on Pear Pizzazz shimmer ribbon. Don't forget that because of the ribbons' shine, their colors can often adapt to various hues. This is the case here. Pear Pizzazz is a soft, pastel color but it works really well with the brighter Lemon Lime Twist shade.

This card is also tying in with the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge #278 and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (Anything Goes).

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Hug in a Mug, Souhaits de joie (Holly Jolly Greetings)
Cardstock: Lemon Lime Twist, Real Red, Watercolor Paper
Envelope Paper: 2016-2018 In Color
Designer Series Paper: Wood Textures
Ink: Real Red, Lemon Lime Twist, Emerald Envy, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Accessories: Voeux ensoleillés Thinlits (Sunshine Wishes), Stampin' Dimensionals, White Medium Envelope,
Big Shot Adhesive Sheets, Aqua Painter Brush, Pear Pizzazz 3/8" Shimmer Ribbon, Clear Wink of Stella Brush

 

Comments

[Elizabeth Price]

WOW, I love Love LOVE this card!!! Seriously it's fabulous and the stamping and watercoloring on the wood paper is awesome. I can't say enough how awesome your card is. Thanks for joining along with our holiday inspiration challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments. Smiles, Elizabeth

[Lin Brandyberry]

LOVE the stamping on the woodgrain paper - and this wonderful mix of colors! Thank you for playing with us at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge!

[Heather H]

Holy smokes - this is AMAZING! I never would have thought of using Hug in a Mug for creating a background - duh!! It's gorgeous, and even more so stamped on the Woodgrain DSP. Just brilliant, Cindy! Thanks so much for playing at Fab Friday!

[Stampin' by Genny]

Great idea to stamp on the wood textures dsp. Your card gives me feelings of comfy and cozy. Thanks for joining us at Hand Stamped Sentiments.