May Your Holidays Be Filled with Joy and Laughter

Inspiration: Festive Friday #22 (Christmas and Snowflakes) + Sunday Stamps #193

So a few years ago, the Clarity Stamps stipple brushes were the new "in" thing and when I was able to get them on sale (because they are really pricey), I purchased them and gave them a try. I remember being really underwhelmed with the result and thinking maybe I'd get more into them after using them more. That never happened as they remained on the back of my desk, forgotten, and I keep reaching for other tools whenever I am using stencils on projects.

Enter the Picket Fence Studios blender brushes. I saw those recently in craft videos on YouTube and my interest was piqued. The crafters were raving about them, but I could see in the video that the resulting blended ink was really smooth. Again, when a Black Friday sale come on, I decided to give them a try. And here's my take on it: they are an instant favorite!! They are really soft, so they can be used with delicate stencils (like the Knitted Sweater one from Echo Park I used here) and the blending is smooth and seamless. That ombre effect? Done with one colour of ink. I simply started blending at the top of the cardstock after tapping the brush on my ink pad and I went down the cardstock without reinking. And it took less than two minutes - the transfer was really fast as well. What also impressed me is that they can be used to ink edges as well (which is where they differ from the Clarity Stamps brushes). They come in a variety of sizes - I went for the 4-brush set. I cannot wait to test them out some more, but as of now, I am thrilled with them!

So basically, the starting point of this card was trying out the brushes. I looked for a stencil that I could easily work into a design after, which I why I picked the wool design, and I looked at online challenges to see if there was a combo I could use. The one from Sunday Stamps is gorgeous and was just calling out my name. After I was done playing with the brushes, I wasn't sure what to use the stenciled piece for. I rumaged through my things for a while and kept going back and forth between a few ideas - and finally went a whole other direction entirely. I spotted the Woodland Critter Huggers and since I've only used them for gift card pockets so far, I thought I would like to see one done on a card, and doing that allowed me to not cover the background too much (which the other ideas did, and I wanted the beautiful background to shine).

I dressed my deer up with the Woodland Critter Huggers Winter Add-On elements and instead of die-cutting the mittens, I used some felt ones I found in my stash recently. (Those were sold by Stampin' Up! many catalogues ago.) Die-cut snowflakes were added to fill out the space a bit and I added some to an envelope to match as well. Considering this started out as me playing with a new tool to test it out, I'm really happy with the end result.

 

 

   

Colour Combo: Raspberry Ripple + Mint Macaron + Powder Pink + Early Espresso

 

Supplies
Stamps: Parfum de Noël (Christmas Messages - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Powder Pink, Very Vanilla, Raspberry Ripple, Mint Macaron, Crumb Cake,
Early Espresso
Designer Series Paper Stack: Subtles
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Emboss Powder, Crumb Cake Medium Envelope, Glitter Dots,
Myths & Magic 6" x 6" Glimmer Paper, Felt Embellishments, Pinewoood Planks 3D Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!);
Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios); Marisa Snowflake Die (Simon Says Stamp);
Woodland Critter Huggers Dies, Woodland Critter Huggers Winter Add-On Dies,
Dotted Rectangle Stackables, Stitched Rectangle Stackables,
Mini Snowflakes Dies (Lawn Fawn); Knitted Sweater Stencil (Echo Park)

 

Comments

[Heather H]

Cindy, I so love this card - love your critter all cozy in his sweater and mittens! I loved hearing about your new toys, too - so glad you got such awesome results! Thanks so much for playing at Sunday Stamps!

[Ann Schach]

Such a cute, cute card, Cindy! I love how you created the sweater background. The felt mittens are the perfect accent! Thank you for sharing at Festive Friday!

[Claire Broadwater]

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this adorable card. The felt on the mittens is perfect! Just delightful! SO happy you joined us at Sunday Stamps!

[Annette Elliott]

Your card is adorable, and I can see why you are in love with the new brushes- may have to join you in that purchase! Your Woodland critter is just adorable and perfect for your cool background! thanks so much for playing along with this weeks color challenge at Sunday Stamps! Happy Holidays!