Inspiration: MFT Sketch #458 + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Christmas)
I love everything Birdie Brown, and she hit a home run with her latest stamp set, Christmas sELFies. It includes adorable selfies from with different winter characters. Here, I went Christmas with my card, but the snowmen and polar bear could work really well for more generic cards. I can't wait to play with the other images some more, but for this card, I picked the North Pole trio: Rudolph, Santa and an elf. I used the sketch to layer three different patterned papers from the cute Holiday Cheer paper pack from Sunny Studio. I tied some green and white trim between the top and bottom panels and I also added white sequin trim between two of the lines on the pattern paper. I die-cut snowflakes out of Tropical Tide glitter cardstock, which matches the patterned papers very nicely.
I was kind of excited that this stamp set does not require the purchase of a die set (instant savings!). The image are just squares. I created my own Polaroid by cutting a white rectangle and stamping the image centered at the top. I used my Polychromos pencils to color the image. I blended some of the colors with mineral spirits. By the way, my store owner shared the best tip in one of her weekly videos: you can use the Alcohol Ink Blending Pen from Ranger and fill it with mineral spirits (Gamsol), whic allows you to blend your pencil coloring without the use of stumps. I was so excited when I heard that because I like the use of mineral spirits to get an even look, but I've always hated how finicky stumps are. Initially, I had a few and I used sanding paper to take the last color off, so it was taking forever to color an image. I later invested in doubles of a few sizes and I was using the same tip for the same colour family, but I still felt like stumps were a hurdle to work with. Enter the alcohol ink blending pen - it's a game changer! It works really well, especially the smaller tip, and you really just have to scribble on scrap paper to take off the last color, like you would with regular blending pens. It works great, in large or small areas. But learn from my mistake - add a very SMALL amount of mineral spirit inside the marker. I was too generous when I filled mine and it not only leaked everywhere when I was fililng it, but the pen kept leaking for weeks even after I took some of the liquid out. I took I had either ruined it or that the tip was not working, but after a while, it stabilized and now I've got the perfect flow. I also like that I don't have to keep the mineral spirit open on my desk and run the risk of knocking it over, so this one is a big win.
I wanted Rudolph's nose to stand out so I trying options - clear gem, red gem, I was thinking of doing red Stickles and then I realized that the red confetti from Pretty Pink Posh I bought this week are the exact size of his nose! The metallic shine is just perfect so I added it to my image with a dab of glue. I also added gems in a few spots on the card, including clear ones on the tuques at the bottom of the card.
For the envelope, I picked a green metallic one and I embossed my image with pink powder in the corner. I repeated the same embossed image inside the card as well.
Supplies
Stamps: Christmas sELFies (My Favorite Things)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Holiday Cheer (Sunny Studio); Tropical Tide Glitter Cardstock (Tonic)
Ink: Tempting Turquoise Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!); VersaMark; Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Melon Mambo Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Fairway Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com); Wonkly Stitched Rectangle Dies (MFT);
Red Confetti (Pretty Pink Posh); July and August Crystals (Studio Katia);
Polychromos Pencils (Faber-Castell); Christmas Day Snow Dies (Echo Park);
White and Green Cord Trim, White Sequin Trim (Michaels)
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