Saturday 27 June 2020

Peace and Joy


Welcome
Meet today's card.
Since I am still not working yet, I've been trying to be productive in my extra time.  I thought it was a good time to start working on a few holiday cards when I heard the guy on the radio said it was 6 months until Christmas.  lol
On another note, I have been watching the Facebook Lives by Vicki Boutin.  I love her fun attitude about creating and 'making magic happen'.  The other night she challenged us to create a background with some blending and watermarking and that is how my background was created. 
If you are interested in seeing any of her 'lives' she posts them all on her FB artist page and also on YouTube.

Here is what the piece looked like:



So onto my card details.
I began with a piece of heavy white cardstock.  I loosely covered it with some Gesso using a palette knife.  Not all the areas are covered, I applied it like I was buttering my toast.  I set that aside and let the whole thing dry.  It dried quickly as the layer of Gesso was pretty thin.  
(you can tell if it's dry when it doesn't feel cool to the touch)
Next, using a piece of acetate, I rubbed some of Vicki's Art Crayons directly onto the acetate, diluted it with water and pressed it onto my panel which you can see on the left hand side.  On the right hand side, I rubbed some VB crayons in blues onto my acetate and without diluting it, I picked up the colour using a stencil brush and rubbed it along the side and up into the green, blending the colours together.
Since the crayons are water soluble, I was able to remove some of the ink with a baby wipe and add some watermarking to the piece using the Messy Dots stencil from A Colorful Life Designs.
I used the Hemstitch die to cut the inner frame then stamped the sentiment from PTI and clear embossed it.
Using a scrap of inky paper, I die-cut the evergreen boughs and glued them at the top.
I finished it off by splattering using my white Posca pen and added the bow at the top of the bough.




Thanks so much for coming by and taking a look.

Adding my card to these challenges:
Simon Says Wed.- ANYTHING GOES
Creative Artiste Mixed Media- ANYTHING GOES
Fab 'n' Funky- CHRISTMAS

Discount Code for A Colorful Life Designs


Supplies
Stamps- Tis the Season (PTI)
Inks- VB Art Crayons; Versafine Clair
Paper- heavy white (Scribes Nook)
Accessories and Tools- Hemstitch die (Spellbinders); Everygreen dies (TH)
Messy Dots stencil (A Colorful Life Designs); sheet of acetate; Mister (TH)

21 comments:

Joan Bardee said...

Gorgeous!!!!!

SmilynStef said...

what fun techniques and awesome end design

Evelyn S. said...

What a terrific card! I'm always so inspired by creations like this one....now to see if I can apply the technique! Beautiful work.

Glennis F said...

A fabulous result, love those colours too!

Mac Mable said...

Karen your card is so fresh and so very pretty. The colours and technique are fabulous and the grouping of the die cuts look beautiful x. A contemporary and fantastic Christmas card, which I love x.

Christine Alexander said...

gorgeous colours Karen, and love that die cut frame :)

Pat said...

What a beautiful background Karen and I love the messy dots stencil you used and the colours are gorgeous, also the fullness you have got in the bunch of foliage all in pretty matching colours, also the hemstitch frame looks wonderful, and to finish the dark embossed sentiment really stands out. x

aussie aNNie said...

Vicki Boutin does have some fabulous ytubes too....she is a classic and your result here shows, it's a beautiful card and lovely colours.xx

Claire (Mrs H) said...

Wow what a fabulous background. I think I need to check out YouTube to investigate this technique

Jules said...

Hi Karen

A stunning creation .. .. as always!

Love the colours and the hemstitch inner die is a beautiful touch.

Love Jules xx

cuilliesocks said...

Hi Karen this is stunning, what a wonderful background and the foliage dies are so beautiful, love it, Kate x

Lori m said...

Gorgeous keepsake holiday card, just gorgeous colors and background with you diecut, hugs, Lori m

Bonnie said...

Love the suggestion to add gesso like buttering toast. Cool background and die cuts.

Debbie Gaetz said...

Because these aren't traditional christmas colors, the card design really stands out. beautiful!

Andree said...

A beautiful Christmas card. The colours and background look fabulous.
Thank you for joining in with our June challenge "Anything Mixed Media Goes" at Creative Artiste Mixed Media. Good luck x

Loll said...

Gorgeous card Karen. I LOVE the artsy background --- it's beautiful. Looks amazing with your lovely swag in the same colours. Great design, my friend! xx

kiwimeskreations said...

Loving your colours Karen, and what a great way to make a background - your twigs look fabulous over it - close enough colours to blend, but enough of them to really give the card some depth - love it!
Stay safe
Blessings
Maxine

Bonnie said...

I'm getting emails from your posts again. Yay! I don't know why they seem to be so intermittent! I have enjoyed catching up with your awesome techniques and cards. This is especially beautiful with the soft blues and greens! Awesome Christmas card, my friend!

Pat K said...

Wow..this is stunning Karen. Wonderful colour combo with such an elegant design. Thanks for joining us at Fab'n'Funky Challenge. Pat K xx

Susan said...

Definitely one of my favourites of your recent cards, Karen! Love the blend of colours and the wonderful bunch of festive branches.

Vicki Dutcher said...

Love that you link your blog from FB -- this is just stunning - the colors are so me :) I'll probably CASE this - just sayin