Inspiration: Global Design Project #197 + Little Red Wagon #505
Oh, how I like that beautiful colour combo! I've been trying really hard to stay away from Christmas and focus on summery projects, but with the new Tim Holtz dies coming out, the Little Red Wagon challenge with the Christmas theme and the beautiful combo which was perfectly suited for the little elf... Not saying, They made me do it, but, hey, they made me do it! ;)
I also realized when I saw the colours together that I had the perfect opal polish to go with the Pear Pizzazz and create a shimmery background - and it turns out the opal sheen is the perfect blue to match the Seaside Spray cardstock. (I'm so in love with that In Color!) I decided to work tone on tone and blended some Blue Parakeet Opal Polish on Pear Pizzazz cardstock, through the Classy & Fabulous stencil from Carta Bella. This made for a fun wallpaper-looking background. I then went on to prepare the elf and packages. Those Tim Holtz dies are not for the faint of heart. The amount of die-cutting and teeny tiny pieces is pretty extraordinary, So is the result, though - you just have to arm yourself with patience. I initially thought it would take forever, but I had a show playing on my laptop (just discovered a new Bell app that lets you play what you have on your recorder directly on your computer - neat li'l gadget!) and I got in the groove using my Sidekick. For the bows, you layer two pieces, which is what gives the shadow and depth. I cold have done two colors, but that would have meant die-cutting twice, so instead, I got my daubers out and simply inked the bottom piece with the same color of ink, darkening the cardstock. That worked out really well. I think the worst part was adding the stripes to the candy canes! While I initially thought I could create a candy cane fence behind him, after putting one together, I quickly retired that idea.
Last, I went looking for a sentiment, and I found one that says "Wishing you everything on your list..." from last year's Signs of Santa set, which was just perfect. I stamped it with Basic Black Archival ink and quickly pourred some clear embossing powder on it to emboss it. It made the sentiment much darker and crisper so I'm glad to added that step.
I then looked through my envelopes and found that the Avocado one goes really well with the Pear Pizzazz cardstock. It's slightly darker, which was perfect to add die-cut gifts and have them stand out. The elf was die-cut out of black glimmer cardstock, which adds a little bit of pizzazz to the overall design.
I love that little dude. The silhouette is so cool. I'm thinking next time I die-cut him, I might try paper piecing to give him colored clothes and see how he looks.
Supplies
Stamps: Panneaux de Noël (Signs of Santa - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, terracotta Tile, Seaside Spray, Thick Whisper White, Black Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Basic BLack Archival, Terracotta Tile, Pear Pizzazz, Seaside Spray (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Santa's Helper Dies (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); C;assyc & Fabulous Stencil (Carta Bella);
Blue Parakeet Opal Polish (Cosmic Shimmer); Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder (Stampin' Up!);
Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn); A2 Avocado Envelope (envelopes.com)
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