Aspen Trees Snowfall

Good morning, friends.  What another lovely autumn day outside.  I really could get used to these days that are sunny with blue skies above and crisp weather all around.  I haven't been spending too much time outside though.  For some reason I seem to be stuck downstairs in my stamp room.  But Connie is there right alongside of me, and we've been busy!  Today's card is one that I made right before she arrived but have been too busy to post.  But it's one I thought you really needed to see.  In my humble opinion, it's simply gorgeous!  Tell me what you think of it.

Isn't this a wow card?  I love the look in person because it has such a lovely shimmer over the twilight sky with the stark black tree trunks to offset it with the pop of the white snowflake to wow.  Here's the instructions in case you're inspired to make one of these too.

I started out by die-cutting the aspen trees into a Basic Black cardstock piece that is cut to 5 1/4" x 4".  The trees are cut right in the center.  

Then I cut a quarter piece of Basic White cardstock at 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" to color in my twilight sky. This is larger than I needed, but I planned to trim it down after it was finished.  I used Blending Brushes and these colors:  Fresh Freesia, Highland Heather, Orchid Oasis and Starry Sky inks. 

I started blending on the bottom with Fresh Freesia which is the lightest color.  I blended the color up about a third of the cardstock piece.   Switching to Highland Heather ink, I blended in an area a little bigger than 1 1/2" across going down into the Fresh Freesia color and then up.  Next was blending the Orchid Oasis color down into the Highland Heather and up.  Lastly was the Starry Sky blending up and becoming quite dark at the very top.  I hope you can see clearly how the colors were blended into each other across the whole card.

Next, I wanted to add some snow or stars to the card.  That was easily accomplished by spattering Wink of Stella across the whole card.  Set aside to dry for a few minutes before going on with your project. Just a reminder - remove everything out of the way!  Yes, I seem to have some Wink of Stella sparkles on a couple of ink pads.  I should know better, and I thought I did.  But a reminder is always a good thing.

The lovely background that you just made now needs to be trimmed down a little to fit behind the black trees.  The cardstock was trimmed down to 5 1/8" x 3 7/8" to be just a smidgen smaller.  Multi Purpose Liquid Glue was used on the back of the trees and frame to attach the two pieces together.  Then Dimensionals were used to pop it up on the card base.  I tried several different colors to see what went the best with my twilight sky and I chose to use Orchid Oasis.  It seems to compliment the sky tones the very best.

Now for the sentiment for the card.  I love the song Silent Night and this sentiment seemed a perfect fit for the card.  It's from the Peace to You stamp set found in the July - December Mini Catalog on page 41.  The set has four sentiments that I've found work nicely with so many of my card ideas lately.  I seem to be a little fixated on this set, but when something works - use it!  This time it's stamped with Orchid Oasis ink onto a 1/2" strip of Basic White cardstock.  I like these skinny sentiments because they don't cover up too much of your lovely design, but still pack a punch.  It's just trimmed straight to fit the card and attached with adhesive.

I was excited that I could add one of these gorgeous, iridescent Wonderful Snowflakes.  So pretty!!  They are easy to overlook in the Mini Catalog on page 45.  It took me a while to find them myself.  But they are well worth finding.  You get 24 snowflakes in a package so you can add them to lots of projects.  And did I happen to mention they are so very pretty?  Ok, one was added to this card.  It's attached with just one Dimensional right in the center.  Do you see the center of the snowflake is just the right size to use a Dimensional?  Brilliant planning, right?

After checking through my stash of bling, I actually went with a retired sequin assortment that matched the card colors perfectly.  I used the Woven Thread Sequin Assortment from several years ago.  The sequins are iridescent in shades of pinks, rose, turquoise, and purples.  So how could I not use them?  Sorry they are retired, but sometimes you need to use what works.  Five of these were added to the card design using Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.  And there you have it.  Another card ready to mail off to some lucky recipient to share some Christmas joy.

Hope you're getting started on your Christmas cards.  A lot of the stress of making so many cards evaporates when you get an early start.  I'll have more ideas for you coming up soon.  Connie and I have been busy stamping and creating all kinds of lovely cards that I'll be sharing in the coming days.  Hope you'll check back often to see what else I have to share with you.  Blessings and many hugs!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon