Monday, October 24, 2011

Vintage Santa in Shades of Brown

This is my entry for Week 2 of the Twelve Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style challenge. In addition, I am entering in the following five challenges:

I am getting pretty far behind in the Funkie Junkie challenge, but I think I'll be catching up now. I got a little stuck on week 2 and just stayed stuck instead of moving on to some of the other weeks and then coming back (I did manage to do week 4). Linda's inspiration tag is beautiful (see below), but I just couldn't get it together. I did make an ornament a couple of weeks ago, but did not like it at all. I think it was because I was trying to use the same colors that Linda used and they just weren't coming together in a way that I liked. When I decided to try a different color combination, that worked much better for me. The inspiration pieces I took from this tag were the shabby flower, the flourishes and snowflakes in the background and the snowflake embellishments.

The Santa image I used is a stamp that was created exclusively for members of a stamping forum that I belonged to several years ago. I really like this image a lot, but have only used it once or twice before. It is so big I have a hard time coming up with designs where it doesn't cover everything else up. I stamped it with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink on tan cardstock. I cut it out with a rectangle nestie and matted it with a scalloped rectangle. I pierced the scallops and sponged the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

I don't own the Tim Holtz tattered florals die, so I used what I had to make my flower. I made the bottom layer by gathering a circle of tea-colored lace. The other two layers are made from silk flowers. They started out as white. I painted them with cream color acrylic paint and sponged them with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. They ended up a little too dark so I dry brushed just a little more of the acrylic paint over the top. After I layered the flower, I sprayed it with some homemade glimmer spray and added the jewelry finding and pearl in the center. I really like this flower and think I'll be doing a lot more painting on silk flowers. I buy the cheapo ones at Walmart or Dollar Tree so they are kind of tattery looking on the edges, which I think adds to their shabby look. Pretty cool.

The bottom layer of the card is dark brown Bazzil cardstock that I embossed with a Sizzix texture plate. After embossing I sanded the top lightly. Since the Bazzil doesn't have a white core, it just lightened up the high spots and left it darker in the recesses, which added some dimension to the background. The edge piece is dark cream color paper that I stamped with flourishes and snowflakes using Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I then sponged more of the DI on the edges and added a piece of the same lace from the flower on the edge. The piece under the image is a scrap piece of DP I had. I crumpled it then flattened back out and roughed up the edges by scraping the sharp edge of my scissors along them. I then inked the edges with the Walnut Stain ink.

For the snowflakes I stamped more of the flourishes on a scrap piece of ivory cardstock with the Walnut Stain ink and brushed them with bronze color Perfect Pearls. I punched them out, layered them, and added a button and some twine to the centers.

Here are the ingredients I used from the inspiration cards on the Catered Crop Challenge:
Papers: Pattern paper
Stamps: Men
Color Mediums: Glimmer Mist (my own homemade kind)
Embellishments: Lace, buttons, pearls, twine
Tools: Die cuts, punches

I don't often say this about my own work, but I really like this card. I really like how the different challenges that I participate in stretch my creativity. I probably would never have made a completely brown Christmas card otherwise. I also like finding my own ways to do the same types of things without having a lot of the tools and supplies that my budget doesn't allow. It really stretches my creativity and gives me ides for doing other things.

Well, I think I've rambled on long enough. Thanks for stopping by!

18 comments:

Ellie Knol said...

Beautiful, especially the tag!
You could enter that in the FSC challenge as well, you know?!


Thanks for joining us at the Fashionable Stamping Challenges!

Linda Coughlin, the funkie junkie said...

Whoa, Judy, you really hit it out of the ball park with this one! The image is wonderful, but what I really love is the color palette and all your sensational texture. The lace is so perfect and your flower absolutely ROCKS! And look at all the challenges it fits! I have to say thanks for three teams here - Our Creative Corner, Simon Says Stamp and Show and my own little 12 tags challenge. Great work and thanks so much for playing with all of us!

Hugs,
Linda

Mandy Makes and Mends said...

I love your card the shades of brown look really good. I love the way it has all come together . Mandy.

Judy said...

I have to clarify - the tag isn't mine. I only dream of doing work like that. :) That is the week 2 inspiration tag from Linda's Funkie Junkie challenge. I included it for reference. Sorry if I didn't make that clear in my post.

crazyribbonlady said...

Loving the vintage! Thank you for joining us at Charisma for this weeks embossing challenge! :)
Emma x

Silvia(Barnie) said...

That's a wonderful Christmas card with a fabulous vintage feeling. Thanks for joining the Fashionable Stamping Challenges.

Claudia said...

Wow, thats a fantastic card!!!

Candy C said...

Hi Judy. I truly do LOVE your vintage Santa Christmas card all done in brown tones. It's just stunning and a perfect example of thinking beyond just red and green as Christmas colors. Thanks so much for joining us at Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge. <3 Candy

xxxtglxxx said...

This is really beautiful Judy - I love your style! :)


Gorgeous image, snowflakes and design, just stunning.

Thanks so much for playing at Charisma Cardz this week,

hugs

xxalisonxx

Vee said...

A beautiful card, thanks for joining Charisma this week.
xx Vee

Tui Nathan said...

Wow ... a beautiful card, I love your shades of brown and that flower is stunning ... oh, not to mention the vintage Santa image ... how fabulous!
Thanks for joining us at Our Creative Corner!!!

Marjie Kemper said...

Wow, this is SO beautiful! Love all the rich tones, the gorgeous snowflakes and flower, and your super subtle Santa face. Thanks so much for joining us this week at Our Creative Corner!

Meggymay said...

Gorgeous vintage Christmas card. Thankyou for joining us at FSC this time.

Mrs.B said...

Fabulous Christmas card and the sepia tones give it a wonderful vintage feel. Beautiful flower.
Thanks for sharing with us at Fashionable Stamping Challenges.
Avril

Sarah said...

This is such a wonderful card Judy - so rich in it's vintage tones and that image is so lovely. I think your flowers and the intricate details are fabulous - everything works perfectly - A great creation! Thank you so much for joining us at Simon says Stamp & Show! Sarah.

Holly Barrett said...

I love your Santa face - so close up and detailed! The colors you've used here are certainly elegant and the layers create a rich texture. Thanks for sharing your talent with us this week on Our Creative Corner.

Jennifer Rzasa said...

So beautiful and elegant! So glad you joined us this week at Our Creative Corner!

Terry said...

Love the vintage feel! Both of these are so stunning with fabulous layers! Thank you for joining us at Fashionable Stamping Challenges!