Thursday Dream Schemes--Free Challenge

This week, we have a free challenge week. I chose to do one last Christmas card (seeing as Christmas Eve is tomorrow). This time, I decided to eschew my glitter-loving ways and do something a little more vintage. I used metals and alcohol inks.

First, let me clarify one thing--the glittery silver around the edges is not actually part of the card, but my Christmas tablecloth. Additionally, the black border around the images is burgundy velvet paper. It is beautiful to use, but horrible to photograph. The brown color is Creative Imaginations Real Wood paper in cherry.

So, the steps? Well, first I distressed the beautiful

Basic Grey paper and the Real Wood with Walnut Stain Distress Inks. Then, I ran two fantastic Dreamweaver Stencils, LL 430 Buck and LS 92 Merry Christmas through my Revolution Die Cut Machine. I used the Quickutz Metal Sheets and a rubber mat to make the impression.

I used alcohol inks over the whole impression, making sure that I rotated the blending tool between each pat. I let it dry for just a moment, and added a second coat.

Then, I lightly sanded the whole thing. The sanding removed the inks on the embossed portion only. It also scruffed a little on the background. The lovely, vintage look probably could have been enhanced even more if I would have taken the sanding block to the edges as well, but perhaps that is a project for another day.

The rest was simple assembly and adding a couple of brads. As it was, I liked this project when I was finished. It looked like a "masculine" Christmas card. I made a second one to give to my father for Christmas and will probably use similar techniques on other cards. Come back again next week, when the theme will be "Love in the New Year". I am not sure what I will be making yet, but I promise--no more Christmas cards. (Although this card could have just as easily been an all occasion or birthday card.)