Social Stamping - #19 Merry & Bright

Merry & Bright with In the Pines

Hello. Welcome to Valley Inspirations with Andrea and the 19th and final for 2020 Social Stamping Blog Host. Thank you so much Kelly for instigating and coordinating the Social Stamping Blog Hop. For me, this blog hop has certainly helped me through this very strange year of COVID-19. Sharing paper crafting is such a delight.

This month's Social Stamping theme is Merry & Bright, which I have interpreted as a happy Christmas theme. When thinking about what I would make, I decided to create a card based on a ATC I created earlier in the year - that's right, it was only last month. What is an ATC you ask? The letters stand for Artistic Trading Cards. They are similar to Sporting Trading Cards. I am part of the Art with Heart team and for many years a number of us have been creating ATCs based around a technique or theme to share with others in the share. It has been a brilliant way to learn new techniques and challenge myself to design within  2.5" x 3.5". Here is the ATC I created for the Plaid challenge last month, where we needed to create our own plaid/tartan with watercolour. 

I have been intending to create full size cards based on my ATCs, but haven't created many, so decided to try with this design. Here is my Christmas card for you in this final 2020 Social Stamping Blog Hop:

The first task in creating this card was to create a plaid. I used Shimmery White card-stock cut a little bigger than the strip I needed so I could trim it down if the edges were a bit mucky. I painted a stripe every 3/4" in watered down Rococo Rose Classic Stampin' ink using the mid size Water Painter. Then I painted a stripe in Petal Pink Classic Stampin' ink next to the Rococo Rose stripe, leaving an un-inked white stripe. The card-stock piece was turned 90 degrees and the same painting process was carried out. 

Once dry, Rococo Rose and Petal Pink Stampin' Write markers were used to draw a thin stripe on the edge of the same colour stripe using the thicker nib. Then using the thinest tip of the Rococo Rose marker two thin stripes were drawn near the thicker Rococo Rose stripe. All the stripes were drawn and then the card-stock was again turned 90 degrees and the same stripes were drawn at 90 degrees to the first stripes. As you can see, the plaid is not perfect like a woven tartan or printed design. That's fine - ! love the relaxed water-colour bleeding of colours. 

The background is a piece of Petal Pink card-stock that was embossed with the Evergreen Forrest 3D embossing folder. Some White Craft ink was lightly dragged over the embossed trees with a Sponge Dauber to delicately highlight the trees in the background. To add some "stars" to the sky, Frost White Shimmer Paint was splattered using the Water Painter. This background was adhered directly to the Rococo Rose card-stock base.

The plaid piece was positioned with Dimensionals. Three trees were die cut with the Pine Woods dies from Shimmery White card-stock. I little of the Frost White Shimmer Paint was painted on the trees, reminiscent of snow on the tips of the branches, to add a little shimmer. I so love the In the Pines bundle, as you may have guessed if you follow by blog.

A circle of Vellum, cut with the Layered Circle dies, was adhered to one side over the plaid. The two smaller trees were partially tucked under the Vellum circle and adhered directly to the plaid. The larger tree was placed over the Vellum circle with Mini Dimensionals. A sentiment from the coordinating In the Pines stamp set was stamped in Versamark on Rococo Rose card-stock and heat embossed with White Emboss Powder. The sentiment was fussy cut and positioned with both Multipurpose Liquid Glue and Mini Dimensionals. Snowflake Adhesive-backed Embellishments were added as the finishing touch. They are so pretty.

A piece of Whisper White card-stock was stamped a couple of times with the group of little trees from the In the Pines stamp set using Petal Pink and Rococo Rose Classic Stampin' inks. The stamp was inked in Petal Pink and then bits of the stamp were daubed with Rococo Rose and then stamped. A thin strip of the plaid was also adhered to the bottom of the card inner. A C6 Whisper White envelope was similarly stamped with the little trees across the bottom front of the envelope.

I hope you are enjoying this month's Social Stamping Blog Hop which has focused on the "Merry & Bright" theme. If you started at the beginning with our amazing Social Stamping Host, Kelly Kent, then the next in line is the lovely Sandra Collet at Sanzstamps. Use this link to see her gorgeous creation or click on the 'Next' graphic below. If you would prefer to go to the full list of participants click on this link to be taken to Kelly Kent's Host Blog Post at My Papercraft Journey where you will find all the individual links that can take you to each person's blog.

I hope to see you again next year - let's hope it is a better year for us all. I'm not sure whether the Social Stamping Blog Host will continue - keep an eye on Kelly Kent's blog.

Do look after yourself and your loved ones. I hope you enjoy an amazing Christmas and New Year. Stay well, stay safe and be kind to yourself and others in these strange times. 

Andrea 😘