Hey friends,
Erin Lee Creative has just come out with a new holiday release and I am loving it! It's all about the reason for the season, the birth of our Savior! I'm creating with 3 different products from this collection, so scroll down for all the details. Also, shoutout to Erin for sending me the products that I'm creating with today! I'll have my supply list linked at the end of this post as well.
(FTC Disclosure: as an affiliate for various companies in the craft industry, I will receive a small commission for purchases made through my convenient affiliate links, at no additional cost to you.)
I'm also featuring several techniques: ink blending, heat embossing, stamping, die cutting and paper piecing.
First, I pulled out an A2 size piece of 80 lb white cardstock and did some ink blending with my Catherine Pooler Inks in Orange Twist, Do Si Doh and Lemon Sorbet.
I'm only going to use half of my ink blended cardstock for today's card, trimming horizontally right in the middle. I'll save the other half to make a duplicate card later. The ink blending will be the backing to my die cut scene.
Next, I made 4 die cuts using different cardstocks, with the Oval Nativity die and my Platinum 6 die cut machine. I cut one complete die cut with black cardstock, then 3 partial die cuts with white, tan and gold holographic cardstock.
For the white die cut, I only wanted to hand trim the star at the top and adhere it to the star on my black die cut. For the gold holographic cardstock, I had some scraps and made a partial die cut only to retrieve that tiny gold center for the white star. Not pictured is the tan cardstock. I only wanted the sloped line in the middle to represent a natural color of dirt or sand, an earthy neutral color to break up my black silhouette. This is definitely an optional thing. I liked how it looked, so I kept it.
Before adhering my white star. to the black, I did some ink blending with the Lemon Sorbet ink around the edges, glued my gold star center on top, then glued the entire piece to my black star.
I also used the Starry Night stencil on top of my ink blending. I simply trimmed a large half oval shape from the inked cardstock. To achieve this, I placed my black nativity die cut on top, then simply hand trimmed just under the upper half outline of my die cut. It's not perfectly trimmed but it really doesn't matter, as long as the black die cut covers the edges.
When I finished hand trimming my inked trimming, I kept in in place with tape on the back of the entire inked card panel to do some stenciling. I just thought it would be easier to gauge where I wanted to stencil, using my black die cut as a guideline. I taped off the area where the windows are, then taped my stencil to my craft mat and used my Cloud Whip, a modeling paste from Scrapbookcom. It's currently not available in the shop, but I've linked a similar modeling paste in my supply list.
The reason I wanted to use the modeling paste is for dimension for my stars. You could also stencil with white paint, you just won't get the same dimension. And yes, that's a used gift card I'm using to stencil with. Hey, use what you have. I didn't want to go digging for my craft scraper and I always keep old gift cards handy.
IMPORTANT TIP: Make sure you prime any tape you use when placing over cardstock, if it's not a low tack tape. Just place your tape across your arm and it will pick up the oils from your skin.
You do not want to risk tearing your beautifully inked cardstock with paper tears from the tape.
Finally, I added some white highlights with a gel pen to the top of my trees and building, as if the moon were shining. No, there's no moon, haha. Just humor me, people.
I also heat embossed my sentiment from the Love Came Down stamp set, stamping with clear emboss ink and my Misti stamp positioner, sprinkling on some Ranger Gold Tinsel embossing powder, tapping off the excess, then heating it with my
craft heat tool.
I recommend you prime your cardstock with an anti-static pouch or
tool before heat embossing. This helps to minimize excess powder that scatters about and can make your embossing look messy.
If you lasted through my entire crafty monologue, you're a better person than I am, haha. I sometimes get a little caught up in explaining things and get a little wordy. Not always, but sometimes. I have to remind myself that some of you might be looking into cardmaking for the first time, so this might be information you've not been exposed to before. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!
Check out all the crafty goodness at
Erin Lee Creative. I believe she is still having a $1 embossing folder sale as well! There was a coupon code available for 10% off the new release last week, but I'm not sure if it's still active. Give it a try though and find out, using coupon code NEW at checkout. Have a great day!
Terri
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#wavingmywand #erinleecreative #nativity #christmas #scripture #bible #savior #reasonfortheseason #diy #cards #cardmaking #scrapbookcon #catherinepoolerink #stamping #stenciling #stars #nightsky #bethlehem
