Friday, November 27, 2015

A snowy Christmas by Astrid

Hello lovely visitors, thanks for dropping in!
It being less than a month until Christmas now (eek) I thought I would share another Christmas card idea with you....
I love making my own Christmas cards and am always on the look out for quick and easy card designs that are easy to send in the mail. Shimmerz products offer the perfect solution.
I used 4 different sprays for this card:
Spritz Rocka Fella Blue
Vibez Princes
Vibez Before Dawn
Coloringz Heidi Ho Blue

I'm sorry that I have no process photos to share, but living in Scotland, it gets dark well before I get back from work, and as I made this in the evening I could only take photos at the weekend.
Here's at least a quick step by step...
I started with a piece of 7.5 by 7.5" neutral toned scrapbook paper. Added texture with a Tim Holtz stencil and Ranger embossing paste (I find this particular paste holds colour better than any others I have tried).

Next I used my sprays, starting with Heidi Ho Blue, followed by Princess, RockaFella Blue and a bit of Before Dawn. When dry I added a die cut (the Tim Holtz leaf) and a little Dusty Attic ribbon slider, which I had coated with gesso. Then I spritzed again, with Rocka Fella Blue. I dried the sprays with my heat gun and then dry brushed with gesso to bring out the raised bits. I love the snowy effect this gives over those blues....
A bit of background stamping, using Watering can Archival ink

A die cut sentiment
And finally some metal corner pieces. These were bright silver to start with. I coated them with gesso, spritzt them with the Rocka Fella and then again carefully dry brushed with gesso.

A vintage Santa image (from a Maja Design collection) framed with some Stampendous EP in aged silver finished it all off.

This card was great fun to do, I hope you like it....
I also hope you are having fun with your holiday projects, and thanks for visiting here like always. But before you leave, don't forget, you can order Shimmerz products directly from the Shimmerz Paints Store. If you do,  mention my name (Astrid Maclean) in the «Instruction to Merchant/seller» part of your order form (just below your name and address). After clicking «add», you'll get a FREE product in the color of your choice. And for people from outside the US, Shimmerz do a really good deal on postage!
Thanks for visiting today and have fun making your own Christmas projects! Shimmerz beautiful shimmering paints and sprays are just perfect for Christmas!

25 comments:

Rita said...

Good Morning Astrid. Your card is jaw dropping gorgeous. I can't stop looking at it. What great talent you have. Hugs Rita xxxx

Unknown said...

Beautiful card, and I love the vintage blue tone! The detail in your close ups is drool worthy, I LOVE the texture xx

Unknown said...

Such a beautiful season card! Love it! Xx

ike said...

WoWza !!! That is super stunning. Such an amazing creation :-D

Hugz
IKE xxx

My Challenge Blog
My Shop
My Blog
FB Fan Page
Cat Lovers Challenge Blog

Words and Pictures said...

Magical bluesy tones - and I love the leaf over the texture. That little Father Christmas cabochon is wonderful!
Alison x

Anne (cornucopia) said...

Wow!!! Beautiful card!

Pamellia said...

Stunning Astrid! Love the rich blues and I would never had thought to use a leaf die on a Christmas card but man, it really works with this design! hugs :)

Patty O'Malley said...

Beautiful!

Dorthe said...

Gorgeous Astrid, and I so love the leave you added on top of the wonderful stenciling, and with so much texture. Beautiful altered corners and frame, too.
Dorthe, xoxo

froebelsternchen said...

A glorious card! Simply Aamazin gdear Astrid!

experiments in paper said...

AN exquisite card, Astrid! Love how you've created such a magical, frosty effect in such beautiful blues... the shimmer is perfect! The framed Santa image is fabulous....you are so great at combining various parts into a beautiful whole! xxx Lynn

Kathy Bradley said...

Astrid,
Your card is so very gorgeous and elegant. And, I love the wonderful textures and colors.

Julia S-W said...

A real beauty Astrid! I adore the leaf on top of the stencilled texture and the dry brushing is the perfect finishing touch. Love it!
Julia xx

Julia S-W said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mamablitger said...

Fabulous card Astrid.. It's very elegant and at the same time rough and vintage. Love the soft colors here. Normally I prefer vivid colors. But the way you used soft colors as here it looks awesome.
Thank you for sharing your lovely card.
Hugs from Monica... Spain

Margaret Mifsud said...

Wow! Astrid .. this is simply divine!! Love the different shades of blue and the effect on the die cut leaf is stunning!! Fabulous textures and amazing details!! xx

Maryann Laursen said...

WOUW an absolut stunning christmascard here again from you sweet lady. Sooo outstanding and beautiful as usual and in those amazing colors here. Just wonderful work Astrid.

Jackie PN said...

Absolutely stunning Astrid!! I just love the addition of the vintage Santa- those blues are outstanding!! xo

WendyK said...

A fabulous card Astrid, I just love the cool colours and texture.

Corrie Herriman said...

So beautiful !
Corrie x

Sandy said...

Wonderful -you definitely sold me some sprays Astrid!!
Sandy xx

Scraps of Elegance said...

Wow, the relief work is stunning.

Anonymous said...

Truly magical!
Wishes
Lynne

pearshapedcrafting said...

This really is FABulous! Such a treat Astrid! Chrisx

Jenny Marples said...

Absolutely utterly gorgeous! Jenny x