Christmas

Hello & welcome, thanks for stopping to visit. I know how busy everyone is, so if you choose to spend a little time here at my blog, I am so happy to chat for a bit. You've seen this card before...it's one I made in class using Elizabeth Craft stickers & the lovely Ritz Glitter. The gold at the bottom is a Shimmer Sheetz, and while it looks like there is some red on it in the photo, it must be a reflection of the red mat with the camera. No red on this gold! Which was embossed using the Holly EF. I made 3 of these cards to send out this year, for my 3 brothers & family. (did these Monday night, not in a classroom!) Process review: Apply Sookwang to plain c/stock - precut to desired size. Remove backing to expose the 'sticky' part of the tape. (always save this waxy backing piece). Remove outline part of the sticker and using good tweezers, carefully position against the sticky c/s. Using the waxy backing, cover  piece of c/s with the outline part only of sticker, and burnish it down very well. (You don't want the glitter getting under the outline edges. This waxy piece helps keep fingers off the sticky part). Lift waxy backing from the c/s, dip the entire c/s with outline in Cool White Highlight (Ritz) and generously cover the entire c/stock.I keep my Highlight Ritz in a plastic container, & use a plastic spoon to just dip the glitter over the piece. You might find it easier to just pour from the container over a surface that you could dump the excess glitter back into the original container.  Use soft brush to brush off c/stock surface of any excess glitter. THEN, rub, rub, rub-a-dub to burnish the glitter. You'll see it beginning to shine. Once you have the glitter glowing, take copic markers (or other alcohol markers would work I'm sure), color darkest shade at base of leaf, barely touching marker tip to the glitter. (not great for the nibs). Use a lighter color, apply gently & sparingly. Take Copic Blender pen, and pull color towards the tip of the holly leaf. You can go back to darken any place you think needs a bit more color. Doesn't take a lot though. The secret is touch the nib to the glittered surface gently - the color will bleed onto the glitter and you can blend it easily. Do the same with the stem part of the holly branch. I used some red Elizabeth craft dots...use tweezers or pick to lift off the sheet, touch to the outline sticker on the cardstock. Done! I used a sticker for the sentiment. On 2 of the cards, I colored this sticker with red copics prior to adhering to the glittered surface. I liked it. The rest is just a brown-black moire paper mat, then a scant red mat, onto nice quality green textured Bazzil that I had adhered the embossed shimmer sheetz. This has got to be my favorite of all the cards I've done. Have a great day, and lots of hugs! See you later.