Botanical Christmas Cards

I hope you aren't tired of seeing Christmas things from me. I am trying to get caught up, and I finally am! When I did this post with the Botanical Christmas tags, I said that I would probably use the same stamp set for Christmas cards, and I did! This Botanical Blocks IV is not a new set from Papertrey Ink. I've had it a while, and it's finally the year I use it in a big way!

The sentiment is from a Memory Box set, CL-5181 Scribble Christmas 

Instead of using color pencils on these cards, I decided to go with watercoloring them using Distress inks. I just pressed my ink pads onto an acrylic block, and added some water mixed with Perfect Pearls powder. These images have a beautiful shimmer in real life.

To stamp these cards, I put each of the two main stamp images in turn, into my MISTI stamping tool. Taking a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor cardstock 4.25" x 5.5" (I like the TH cardstock for cards like this because it's white and matches the rest of my card) I stamped the image using Versamark ink, first on one side, then turned it 180 degrees and stamped the image again. I embossed the images with JudiKins Detail Gold embossing powder. I stamped 5 pieces of cardstock this way for each image, giving me 10 of each image to paint.

I had a lot of fun painting these in the evenings while listening to podcasts, like I do when I color anything. 

To make the cards, I cut 20 pieces of Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock to 3.75" x 5". I die cut a rectangle from the upper center of the panel (leaving enough room at the bottom for the sentiment) using the Die-Namics MFT-847 Inside/Outside Stitched Rectangle die set. This leaves a window with a nice stitched edge. I stamped the sentiment from Memory Box CL5181 Scribble Christmas at the bottom of each white panel and embossed it with JudiKins Detail Gold embossing powder.

The colored panels needed to be cut as precisely as possible so that the openings in the centers would be in the right place; and I had to cut 20 of them. To do this, I used a jig that my husband made for me. A friend asked me what a jig is, and I found this description "A jig's primary purpose is to provide repeatability, accuracy, and interchangeability in the manufacturing of products" 

Here's a photo of my jig in use. This is how I lined up the die I used (from Hero Arts DI198 Infinity Stitched Rectangles)

First I put the red panel (cut to 4" x 5.25") in the corner formed by the 2 wood sticks (in the top left). Then I put the piece of chipboard down over the red panel. The chipboard piece was the same size as my red panel, and has a cutout that just fits my die, in just the right place. It also has little tabbed cutouts to allow me to tape the die in place. This helped me to cut all 20 colored panels (10 red, and 10 green) in exactly the same place each time.

To finish off the cards, I adhered the white panel with the sentiment onto the colored panel with the center cut out. I cut apart the watercolored pieces and adhered one each in the openings of the colored panels. The whole thing was adhered onto a white base card of 110# Neenah Solar White.

Do you see the pile of rectangles that were cut out of the centers of the colored panels? I have 10 each of green and red. I also have some very sweet white pieces with stitched edges that I cut out of the white panels. June is Christmas tag month for me, so I have a feeling you will be seeing those pieces as tags in the near future!

Products Used:

Both cards:

Papertrey Ink Botanical Blocks IV

Die-Namics MFT-847 Inside/Outside Stitched Rectangle die set

Hero Arts DI198 Infinity Rectangles die set

Memory Box CL5181 Scribble Christmas (for sentiment)

JudiKins Gold Detail embossing powder

Perfect Pearls Powder

Versamark Ink

Tim Holtz Watercolor cardstock

Neenah Solar White 80# & 110# cardstock

Poinsettia card:

Distress inks: Candied Apple, Worn Lipstick,  Mowed Lawn

Hopsack Red cardstock from The Paper Cut

Holly card:

Distress inks: Candied Apple, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn

Emerald Green cardstock from The Paper Cut

#AltenewLove

I'm interrupting my blogposts of more cards using the Distress Oxide glaze technique (which will continue very soon) to show you this. The most amazing thing happened yesterday when our mail came. I got a little envelope from Altenew Stamp Company. I thought hm...did I order something that I forgot about? But this envelope was a small, card sized one. I opened it, and inside was a little stamp set, and definitely something I would have bought. There was a letter thanking me for being a valued customer, and get this...the stamp set was personalized. I mean that they made a stamp out of my name! I am so amazed and thrilled by this.

Here's the stamp set they sent me

Isn't it amazing? It's like they know me and chose something I would love, and it has my name! Wow.

I was so excited that I went in and made a card with it right away. I know I will use this a lot. Thank you Altenew!

I feel like I won the lottery! Yes, I love Altenew stamps and inks, but they had me at quality products and great customer service.

I wanted to share this with all of you, first to tell you that Altenew is such a great company; but also, I hope you like my card. It came together so quickly, and was a lot of fun to make. 

I stamped the floral image with Versamark ink onto watercolor cardstock, and embossed it with JudiKins Gold Detail embossing powder. I colored the flowers and leaves with Tombow markers and used a water brush to pull out the color. It was fun and very fast and easy. Love! If you have a smallish floral stamp, you can also make a similar card.

Products Used:

The Dianne Johnson stamp set :-)

Altenew ALT1504 Garden Hydrangea Stamp set (for the sentiment)

Die-Namics MFT-847 Inside/Outside Stitched Rectangles

Hero Arts DI198 Infinity Nesting Rectangles

Tombow Markers 905, 126, 177

Niji water brush

Veramark ink

Versafine Onyx Black ink

JudiKins Gold Detail embossing powder

Papertrey Berry Sorbet cardstock

Core'dinations 80# White Canvas cardstock

Neenah Solar White 110# cardstock

various sequins

Distress Oxide Glaze Technique: Christmas

At the Creativation show this past January, Tim Holtz introduced a really cool technique you can do with Distress Oxides. He was playing around with different substrates for Distress Oxide, and tried the inks on glossy paper, specifically the Ranger Alcohol Ink Cardstock. It seems like Tim Holtz will try anything with his products, including licking the paper (not recommended). He found that the oxidation of the inks was especially pronounced on the glossy cardstock, (that's when he licked it) and then he tried a product that's been around awhile, Distress Glaze. Distress Glaze is a pretty cool product that will seal a surface and make it permanent (such as sealing Distress inks to protect them from being activated again). It's an almost waxy substance that can be applied with a blending tool, or even with your finger.

I've had a lot of fun playing with this technique, and have made a lot of backgrounds using it. For the purposes of this post, I made two Christmas cards. Since I'm trying to make all of my Christmas cards and tags by October, these are my March cards (still late). I made two versions and couldn't decide which I liked best, so I'm doing half of one and half of the other.

While I was making the backgrounds for these cards, I took a lot of pictures to try and show you how this is done. It's pretty easy and it's fun. Since I wanted blue backgrounds for these cards, I got out all of my blues and a purple in my Oxide inks.

I also used Ranger Alcohol Ink Cardstock, although in the past I have done this technique using other glossy cardstock (including Kromecoat) and it seems to work just as well.

I worked with 3 colors at a time, putting them on my mat, spritzing with water, and also running a brush through them so they wouldn't be such square shapes when I swipe my cardstock through.

Here's the first swipe. I just laid the cardstock onto the colors and I may or may not have moved it around before picking it up.

This is what it looked like after one swipe. After placing it in the colors, then I dried it with a heat tool. I prefer to use the Ranger one for drying because it doesn't distort my cardstock as much.

I ended up using 3 pieces of glossy cardstock for this session. I didn't want to waste the color on the mat, and three seemed to use up most of what I put down each time. It doesn't really soak in to the glossy cardstock much.

I put down 3 more blues and kept swiping the panels into the ink. 

The panels continued to evolve. I dried them after each application of color.

I also spritzed them several times and splattered them with ink that I picked up with my brush.

I kept spritzing, blotting, splatting and drying in between

I also picked up a little ink and touched my brush to the paper in places, and that made nice bubbles.

It was at this point that I thought I wanted it to be a little darker blue. One of the blues I used (Blueprint Sketch?) turned a kind of purple. This is not the Wilted Violet color, as I had not used it yet at this point. I used very little of the Wilted Violet and Cracked Pistachio. The glaze will also darken these colors more.

I added some more Faded Jeans color. It's important to realize that there is no right or wrong here, and that the more layers you add the better it will look in the end. Also, the panels will look very cloudy or chalky when dry. This is how they are supposed to look at this point, but they won't end up that way!

Before adding the glaze, I usually will buff the panel a little with a paper towel. My friend Marj Marion came up with this idea, because when you apply the glaze with your blending tool, quite a bit of color comes off on your sponge. Buffing with the paper towel will take off some of that color in advance.

After buffing with the paper towel, your pieces will already look brighter and start to show some of the layers underneath.

This is what the jar of Distress Glaze looks like. Tim Holtz (being Tim Holtz) designed it so that the round blending tool fits right in. I actually store the sponge applicator that I use right inside the jar. It will eventually get very gunky and you can throw it out and replace with a clean one.

I'm just starting in on a corner here. This is when the magic really starts to happen. One tip is, be sure you like what you have on your panel before you glaze it. Once the glaze is applied, the panel is sealed and permanent.

After you apply glaze to the whole panel (it doesn't take a lot), then you can buff it again with your paper towel. 

Here are the panels before the glaze

And after

They turn so much brighter and more beautiful. It's almost like you can see every layer. (I swear that the Peacock Feathers turns almost green on these). These will turn out differently every time you make them.

Here's my second card.

For the first card, I took a panel of white Core'dinations linen textured cardstock and cut it to 5.25" x 4".  Using my mini MISTI, I lined up a Merry Christmas sentiment from the Papertrey Ink set "Keep it Simple: Christmas" and stamped with Versamark ink. I embossed it with Candy Store Chrome embossing powder.

I then positioned the Memory Box die 99765 Pinpoint Double Frame in the upper center of the panel and cut it out. I then cut the Memory Box die 99503 Fresh Pine Curved Border out of some Neenah Solar White 80# cardstock, and positioned part of the border behind the opening of the frame.

I cut a piece from the Distress Oxide glazed panels I made and positioned it behind the trees. The panel was then adhered to a piece of Malmero Pearl Blue cardstock and mounted to a base card of Neenah Solar White 110# cardstock.

My second card was made in a similar way, except instead of the Memory Box Pinpoint Double Frame die, I used the Die-namics MFT-847 Inside/Outside Stitched Rectangle (3rd from Largest) for the opening, and the Die-namics MFT-463 Blueprints 13 Stitched Rectangle for the panel itself. The stamp is Peace Border F3605 from Hero Arts.

I was having a hard time figuring out which card I liked better. The Peace one shows more of the beautiful background behind, but I think I'm leaning toward the Merry Christmas one. What do you think?

To see a great video of the Distress Oxide Glaze technique by Jennifer McGuire, click here. You can see my post about Distress Oxides in general here, or search my blog for Distress Oxide.

Products Used:

Both Cards:

Distress Oxide inks: Faded Jeans, Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch,

Broken China, Mermaid Lagoon Peacock Feathers,

Cracked Pistachio, Wilted Violet

Ranger Alcohol Ink cardstock

Distress Glaze

Memory Box die 99503 Fresh Pine Curved Border

Core'dinations White linen textured cardstock

Neenah Solar White 80# & 110# cardstock

Malmero Pearl Blue cardstock

Versamark ink

Candy Store Chrome embossing powder

Card #1:

Memory Box die 99765 Pinpoint Double Frame

Papertrey Ink Keep it Simple: Christmas stamp set

Card #2

Die-Namics MFT-847 Inside/Outside Stitched Rectangles

Die-Namics MFT-463 Blueprints 13 die set

Hero Arts Peace Border F3605 

SaveSave