Creative Cucina

It’s not even Thanksgiving yet and I’ve made more Christmas cards than I care to count! I’m so ready to move onto something new. In about a week, I can preorder new stuff from the Occasions Mini Catalog and I’m excited!

This card was made using Soft Suede as the base, layered with a soft suede striped DSP from Christmas Cocoa. I stamped the leaf from Berry Christmas in Old Olive ink, and added 3 Circle Rhinestone Brads for holly berries. The bird is also from Berry Christmas and I stamped it in Real Red ink, trimming it out with my scissors and adhering it to the base with a dimensional. Underneath the leaf, I used my Paper Piercer to make a row of dots.

As for the sentiment, from Heard from the Heart, I colored in the words with Old Olive marker and “Christmas” with Real Red marker. The Whisper White layer was then attached to Real Red textured card stock with dimensionals.

The shimmer paints have proven to be very versatile! You can use them as ink directly on the stamp, or mix them with reinker and sponge it onto the stamp, sponge the shimmer paint onto card stock, or even mix them with 70% alcohol and make shimmer mist.

This card uses Champagne Shimmer Paint in two ways. First, I mixed Real Red reinker with the Champagne Shimmer Paint in an empty button container, then sponged it onto the poinsettia stamp from Berry Christmas with a Sponge Dauber. I did the same technique for the centers, with So Saffron reinker and the Shimmer Paint.

As for the card base, it’s a 4″ x 8″ piece of Always Artichoke, folded in half to make a 4″x4″ square. Using the Champagne Shimmer Mist on a Sponge, I sponged the paint around the edges of the card.

The stamped image layer is Whisper White, matted with Real Red Textured card stock. The greeting is from Heard from the Heart. I colored in the words with my Always Artichoke marker and sponged the Real Red/Champagne mixture on “christmas” with a Sponge Dauber. That Real Red/Champagne Shimmer Paint combo is gorgeous in real life. It’s like adding glitter to your ink!

I was inspired by a card I saw using this stamp set and cracked glass technique. For my card, I used Very Vanilla card stock and the Leaves Awash Jumbo Wheel with Chocolate Chip ink. Then, I colored in the leaves with the Aquapainter and various colors of Classic ink pads.

Next, I followed the directions for the cracked glass technique and covered the entire surface of the card stock with Versamark and Glassy Glaze. I heat embossed the Glassy Glaze and repeated the steps 2 more times. As per the directions, I put the paper in the freezer and then cracked it in various places.

After that, I ran the card stock through the Big Shot using the Top Note Die. Please make sure your layers of glassy glaze are “dry” or “frozen” enough or bits of it will get stuck in your Top Note die!

To finish off the card, I added Circle Rhinestone Brads with the cropadile and mounted the very vanilla top note to the base with dimensionals. The sentiment is from Note of Thanks Mini Note Kit. I colored in part of the image with my Dusty Durango Marker and stamped it on Very Vanilla, punched it out with the Large Oval Punch, sponged some Creamy Caramel ink on top, then mounted it on a Chocolate Chip Scallop Oval Punch, attached with dimensionals.