Wednesday 19 November 2014

Non-Traditional Christmas Card


Meet today's card.  It is totally a non-traditional card for Christmas but I loved how the background turned out so I decided to go with it and make a holiday card.  I am also playing along with the Colour Challenge at Splitcoast which I seldom have time to do.  Look at these wonderful colours:



I began my background with a piece of watercolour paper.  I applied Distress inks (Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers and Peeled Paint) to my acrylic block, sprayed with water and painted it onto my paper.  After my paper was covered with ink, I sprinkled on some coarse sea salt and sprayed it with some additional water.  I found that the salt works best in lifting the colour off the paper when it is wet.

TIP:  I tape my paper to a small cutting board that I bought at the Dollar Store.  By taping it down, it won't warp so badly and it is easy to move out of the way to dry.

When the salted background was dry, I inked up the Berry Merry Christmas stamp from Penny Black with Stazon ink  and stamped it across the top and side of my card front.

TIP:  When stamping on a painted or heavily embossed background, it is best to use Stazon ink for a better, dark impression.

To add to the depth that the colours lend to my card, I stamped the Letter Background from PB along the one side of the card front using grey Memento ink then stamped the sentiment from the Christmas Cheer set. 


Adding my card to these challenges:

Addicted to Stamps- MAKE YOUR MARK

Use Your Stuff- STAMPS

Mixed Media- CHRISTMAS

Through the Craft Room Door- ANYTHING GOES


Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Supplies:  stamps- Penny Black/ inks- Distress, Memento, Stazon/ coarse sea salt/ paint brush/ acrylic block

18 comments:

JanR said...

Ooooh, loving this non-traditional card!

maria's knutselplezier said...

I olso love this stamps , and have used him for mij CMc, but you did it again in an other way , I love your colours and image!!!

Greetings
Maria

sandie said...

What a great technique, it really does give a stunning look. Thanks for joining us at ATSM

CherylQuilts said...

Non-traditional is wonderful when it turns out as beautiful as this card, Karen! It's gorgeous! Beautiful background you've achieved, and I love the framing! Warm hugs, sweet friend! (Brrrr!)

NanaConnie said...

Really lovely non-traditional Christmas card, Karen! So tickled to see you joining in our "Anything Goes" challenge at Through the Craft Room Door this week. I hope we see you again for our next challenge, too.
NanaConnie DT

Princess Judy Palmer said...

Great card! It has a nice wintery feel to it.

shirley-bee said...

Fabulous, love it!

Rahmat said...

Stunnig background, love it. Thanks for joining in at ATSM!

Davi said...

Stunning Karen!! I love the colors and your salted background, it always gives such cool results! The image is beautiful with it, I REALLY LOVE this one ;)

Cornelia (fun stamping) said...

Great background - love the softness of it! Thanks for playing with us at ATSM this week!

Anonymous said...

I love techniques!! Great card and thanks for sharing with us. Thanks for joining us at Use your Stuff and hope to see you again.
Tammy DT

Amanda said...

Beautiful mixed media card! I love the colors you chose! Thanks for joining us this week at Use Your Stuff!

Anke said...

WOW WOW WOW I love the background, the colours and the stamps, Karen. Wonderful card !!!

Hugs
Anke

Bobby said...

Love it, Karen. My daughter used salt on some of her watercolors but I never thought of it for cards. I'll have to try it.

Deborah Frings said...

Love it! The watercolour background is so beautiful and I do like the patterns left with the salt technique. Thanks so much for playing along with ASM this week!

sannalippert said...

this too is such a lovely Chrissy card! glad you joined in with us at MMCC several times!!

Far North said...

Oh such a Beautiful card! Love the many background layers you created! Perfect for your stamp.
Thanks for playing at MMCC.

maria f. said...

Another beaut with great salt results. Thanks for playing with us at the MMCC with this card too.