Inspiration: Tic Tac Toe Challenge #133 (Black + Stripes + Wreath)
One of the cards I entered in the weekly Tic Tac Toe challenge was picked as their spotlighted card of the week, I was invited to be a guest designer for one of their upcoming challenge if that was something I was interested in. I hadn't guest designed in a while and thought it could be fun to sneak something creative in my to-do list.
This is this week's board. The wreath element caught my eye because I have this adorable set from Avery Elle called Christmas Critters that include a fawn with a wreath around his neck. That was my starting point and I decided to frame him with the Wonky Scalloped Frames dies. So as you can guess, I was going to go for the line with the ribbon, but when I started getting my elements ready and working on a layout, I was not liking the addition of ribbon, so I switched gears. I was using the Home for Christmas 6 x 6 Mega Pack from Carta Bella, which includes black, and I wanted to use one of my favorite paper for the background, the one with stripes and snowflakes. So that became my new line, the center horizontal line.
I stamped the fawn in black ink on white cardstock and colored him and the night sky with Copic markers. I then used the Falling Snow stencil from Simon Says Stamp with white embossing paste to add snow. I added a few freckles to the fawn with a white gel pen.
You will spot a lot of new products that came out this year on my card, as I was inspired to use what was around on my desk. I used the Layered Pine stamp set and die from Avery Elle to create boughs to place on both sides of the card. The set includes two Christmas light images, the round bulbs and the straight bulbs. I picked the latter version, colored them in red and green and I started die-cutting them out, but I was not liking the look of the white border against the pine bough, so I decided to hand cut the lights so that I could follow the outline. Those are tiny so that took patience and precision! I covered the lights with a touch of Glossy Accents.
Another recent item is the Vault Series: Christmas 2021 dies from Tim Holtz for Sizzix. I used the smallest 3D star to add to the top of the frame (that was my first time using those, love the look!) and I also used the big loopy Christmas word. Because I have the Home for Christmas sticker book, I was able to pick a sticker that says Merry and use it to form a full sentiment. I tried die-cutting it out of black glitter paper, but it had not cut fully through, so I changed my mind and used green patterned paper instead, which looked just as nice.
My local scrapbook store had just restocked on the Christmas Sparkle silicon mould when I last stopped by, so I jumped on it. I was really curious to test it out when I came back home, so I first filled the shapes with moulding paste, and I was on the fence about the results, so I tried filling the shapes with hot glue to compare. So those shapes had been left sitting on my desk overnight to dry and when I started working on this card, they were ready to be used and I decided the poinsettia might look nice on the card. To color it, I used my waxes from Finnabair. I haven't done a lot of mixed medias, but I'm slowly dipping my toes in with a few products. I like how the poinsettia turned out! It got even better when I added the Gold Sparkle Crystals in the center. I added those gems to the fawn's collar and to the star as well, and I added two additional crystal stars to the sky.
Supplies
Stamps: Layered PIne, Christmas Critters (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Evening Evergreen, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Sticker Book: Home for Christmas (Carta Bella)
Ink: Tuxedo Black, Soft Succulent, Evening Evergreen (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Vault Series Christmas 2021 (Tim Holtz for Sizzix);
Layered Pine, Wonky Scalloped Frames (Avery Elle)
Accessories: Crystal Stars (Buttons Galore & More); Gold Sparkle Crystals (Studio Katia);
Markers (Copic); Glossy Accents (Ranger); Envelope Punch Board (Stampin' Up!);
Falling Snow Stencil (Simon Says Stamp); Burgundy, Graphite and White Gold Metallic Waxes,
Old White Matte Wax (Finnabair); Christmas Sparkle Silicon Mould (Prima Marketing)