Sunday 27 July 2014

Noel --- How elegant is silver?

Have you ever fallen in love on the spot?  Well I did when I saw the wonderful Memory Box die, Glowing Candles.  I knew the moment that I saw the die precisely how I wanted to use it.  So, of course, I bought it.

As Fate would have it, I found a challenge that was made for the idea I had in my head.  How cool is that?  Of course I had to enter it and so I proceeded to create the card I had imagined.

The first thing I did was to cut Silver Foil with the marvellous die.  I wasn't at all disappointed.  You know how sometimes things aren't as great as you think they'll be?  Well, this was every bit as great as I thought it might be.  The silver foil die-cut was perfect...or almost so.  I had to add a couple of little details.  First of all I coloured a number of rhinestones using my Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities.  While they dried, I used my Old Olive Blendability to put light veins along the holly leaves.  Then I added the coloured  rhinestones as berries and the die-cut really was perfect.

I kept the background simple.  It took a bit of work to be simple, but then there are degrees of simple in card-making.  First I heat-embossed "Noel" across the bottom of the Whisper White cardstock using Silver embossing powder.  After that was good and cold and dry, I proceeded to create a background.  I used a large sponge and lightly added "blobs" of So Saffron, Pistachio Pudding and Pink Pirouette inks.

After that I took my retired two-step Watercolour Winter stamp set and used the Poinsettia stamps, both the sketch one and the "fill-in" one.  I triple off-stamped Strawberry Slush with the "fill-in" stamp and double off-stamped Pistachio Pudding with the sketch stamp.  I wanted the images to show up but very lightly.  The die-cut was, of course, the star of this card.

Once all that was dry I used a base of Pistachio Pudding and then added a layer of Silver Foil (with the corners rounded).  I glued the die-cut directly to the coloured up Whisper White because there was no way to properly raise it with Dimensionals.   Then I rounded the corners and adhered the piece to the rest of the layers.

And that's the card.  I love it when everything comes together just the way you've imagined!



Yes, I'm showing the same card twice.  It's hard to photograph silver.  So I've added the first with a flash and the second without.  The real colours are much more like the second photo but the shine of the silver barely shows and therefore I had to have one with the flash.

For more cards in this challenge, check out Just Add Ink.  This is their challenge inspiration:


You can also check out more cards in the City Crafter Challenge Blog where I've also entered the card in their challenge.   The spray of Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz all over the background really gives it this look in real life.  Their inspiration photo is here:


I also entered the card in the Christmas Card Challenge #35 which, this week, is for "anything goes".  You can check out more of their cards here.

And finally I entered this card at Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra.

31 comments:

  1. What a wonderful card! That is a beautiful die! Thanks so much for playing along at CCCB!!

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    1. Thank you so much, Ros. Yes, I fell in love with that die! I really enjoy your challenges.

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  2. The candle die is quite gorgeous Heidi and you created a truly beautiful background to support it! A real work of art and the silvery shimmer is perfect for Christmas. Thanks for joining us at Just Add ink this week.

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    1. Thank you very much, Kim. I appreciate your comments. I love the challenges at Just Add Ink.

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  3. Wow this really is lovely. I really love the background you have created. It really works well with your silver die candles. Chantell JAI

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    1. Thank you so much, Chantell. I wanted a subtle background and it worked out well.

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  4. This is stunning!! Thanks for sharing your talent with us this week at CCCB :-)

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    1. Thank you very much, Charlene. I love the challenges at CCCB.

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  5. OH my those candles look fantastic! You've done a fab job with the inspiration picture at Just Add Ink this week.

    Trish
    JAI Design Team

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    1. Thank you, Trish. I really enjoyed the challenge a lot.

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  6. Such sweet card and thanks for joining us at CCCB!

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  7. Oh, this is BEAUTIFUL, Heidi! The softness of the background is just gorgeous, and helps make the candle die-cuts the star of the card. Such a pretty card. Thanks for joining in the fun at Just Add Ink this week!

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    1. Thank you so much, Christine. I really wanted a background in which one could make out some detail but which also didn't take over the card.

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  8. Such a beautiful card Heidi, your background is really lovely and that dainty Candle die it's so pretty.
    Thanks for joining us at Just Add Ink.

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    1. Thank you very much, Nikki. I love coming over and doing your challenges.

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  9. Beautiful card, Heidi! Love the silver. Thanks for joining us at Sunday Christmas Card Challenges.

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    1. Thank you, Marsha. I've really been enjoying your challenges.

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  10. Gorgeous design love it...thank you for sharing it with us over at the Completely Christmas Challenge Challenge....
    Hugs
    Suzy B ( Owner )
    Xx

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    1. Thanks, Sue. I really enjoy your challenges.

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  11. Thank you so much for entering our Completely Christmas challenge 22 with your lovely card - we hope we'll see you again soon, Hazel, DT - you could also enter this into my CHNC challenge extra for July - I'd love to see it there too. x

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    1. Thank you so much for the lovely comments and also for the suggestion, Hazel.

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  12. Quite pretty! The silver foil against that soft background is lovely! Thanks so much for linking up with us at Christmas Card Challenges! Karen N (DT)

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  13. love love the silver!!! Thanks for joining us at the weekly Sunday Christmas Card Challenges!!!

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    1. Thank you very much, Wendi. I am really enjoying the look of Silver Foil cut with the skinny dies.

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  14. This is beautiful, and that die looks gorgeous cut out with the silver. Thanks for joining us at Just Add Ink :)

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    1. Thank you, Jodene. I really enjoyed your challenge.

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I welcome your comments or questions.