An Extravaganza for Papercrafters

Stampin’ Up!’s Online Extravaganza promotion has started! For the next three days you can save 15% off selected card colours and ink pads. Plus eight bundles have an additional 5% off, meaning you now save 15% off the cost of buying the stamp sets and coordinating dies separately. I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to get a discount on card I needed anyway so my order is already in. Of course the other bonus with paying less for the card, ink pads and bundles is you’ll pay less on the shipping and taxes too!

In yesterday’s project I used three of the discounted colours, Night of Navy, Merry Merlot and Seaside Spray. Today’s project uses two more colours from the Online Extravaganza promotion, Blackberry Bliss and Old Olive.

FAUX ENAMEL ORNAMENT

I began by creating a faux enamel ornament for the focal point of my Christmas card.

I chose the long ornament image from the Christmas Gleaming Stamp Set and mounted it onto my Stamparatus plate. Next I took some of the Pretty Peacock Foil from the Noble Peacock Foil Sheets and wiped it with an Embossing Buddy to remove any oils and static. I placed the foil onto the Stamparatus platform and then stamped the ornament image using Versamark ink.

With that done I sprinkled the image with White Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. Then I removed a few stray specks before melting the rest with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Once the embossing had cooled I punched out the ornament using the coordinating punch from the Gleaming Ornaments Punch Pack. I was now ready to do some more embossing.

This time all I needed was to press the front of the ornament onto the VersaMark pad. Then I sprinkled the sticky ink with Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder. I tapped off the excess and melted the rest with the Heat Tool, while holding it steady on my Silicone Craft Sheet with my Take Your Pick Tool. Once the embossing powder had melted I repeated this process again to add a second coat of clear embossing. My ornament now had a faux enamel look that really enhanced the foil.

"Seasons greetings" card with faux enamel ornament created using the Peaceful Boughs and Christmas Gleaming Stamp Sets and Gleaming Ornaments Punch from Stampin' Up! #papercraftwithme

THE BACKGROUND LAYER

Although the ornament was done, I wasn’t quite ready to put away my embossing tools just yet.

To create the sentiment for my project I took a layer of Whisper White Card and wiped it with the Embossing Buddy. Then using VersaMark ink I stamped the “Seasons Greetings” sentiment from the Peaceful Boughs Stamp Set. This time I chose Gold Embossing Powder and sprinkled it over the VersaMark ink. Once I’d removed some stray specks I melted the rest with my Heat Tool on 2 (high).

Now it was time for some ink, Old Olive to be precise.

In the top right corner of the background layer I stamped the fir branch image from the Peaceful Boughs Stamp Set. Then I stamped a second layer of Whisper White Card in the same place. Finally I stamped a portion of the branch in the top left corner on the front of a Whisper White Medium Envelope.

I was now ready to put it all together starting with a card base of Blackberry Bliss Card.

First, on the inside I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to fix the white layer without the sentiment. The layer with the sentiment was then attached to the front of the card base .

With Stampin’ Dimensionals I then attached the faux enamel ornament to the branch. I finished off the ornament with a bow of 3/8″ Braided Linen Trim attached using a Mini Glue Dot.

Although the layout of this project is fairly simple, the faux enamel ornament really does make this card into something special. What do you think?

ONLINE EXTRAVAGANZA

Don’t miss out on your chance to save on basic supplies with the 3 day Online Extravaganza. Now’s a great time to expand your crafting options with a wider range of cardstock or ink pad colours. Or like me you could simply save on colours you know you use a lot. Of course the opportunity to save on extra 5% on 8 bundles isn’t a bad deal either!

I now have a new Host Code F7TEQT7Q so if your order is under $200 before shipping and taxes make sure you include this. Then I’ll add your name to a draw next month to win free Stampin’ Up! products. It could make ordering during the Online Extravaganza even better! If your order is over $200 don’t use my Host Code as you’ll earn Stampin’ Rewards instead.