Imagination Craft's Art Stamps: Sparkly Starlight Santa!

Good morning all! The school run is getting mighty chilly at present, but I see no one with scarves yet, so I am determined to persevere!

A frosty theme is what I wanted with my card for this week, but not just any frost - Starlight coloured, sparkly and pearly!

This card is a very simple one, all the better for this time of year.

My first step was to choose my favourite Imagination Craft's Starlight colours that would blend together making a gradation of blue. I usually work in threes with colours, may it be markers, paints or pencils, so I chose Sax Blue, Mediterranean Blue and Pearl. Taking Watercolour Card and a wide brush, I applied the colours in broad streaks horizontally across the paper. Where the colours met, I went over the join with the lightest colour. I  also mixed some of each colour in a Paint Palette to add even more tones and applied these. You can add water if you want to when mixing, but I love the high pigment and opacity of the paints so I wanted strong concentrations.

Next step was to carry the Starlight look and colour onto my card base. I am usually very wary of stamping straight onto my card blank, but I know that the Starlight Paint will not warp or seep into the paper. I poured a small amount of Sax Blue Starlight Paint onto a Heat Resistant Craft Sheet and transferred onto a firm Brayer.

I then brayered directly onto the Imagination Craft's Christmas Words Stamp, concentrating more on certain areas. Making sure not to saturate the stamp as the text is beautifully detailed, I positioned the stamp towards the top right corner and bottom left corner of my 7x7 card blank. You can also use Cut and Dry foam to make a 'paint pad' if you prefer - whatever works for you!

The next step was to cut out a section from my (now dry) painted watercolour card to the size I wanted for my topper panel. Onto this panel I stamped the Imagination Craft's Santa Claus using Clear Versamark Ink and then heat embossed with Wow Opaque White Embossing Powder.  I also made a matching mini panel from a small leftover piece of the painted card and stamped a sentiment from the Hobby Art Poinsettia Set (embossing as before). To add dimension to my card, I rummaged in my stash and found some small MDF snowflakes. I painted these with the 3 colours of the Starlights that I had originally chosen and stuck them to my card (once I had deliberated enough!) As an aside, the paints take to the MDF very well with no priming at all. In this case though, it would have been much better to have used the Imagination Craft's Art Cut Snowflakes as these are soooo much lighter on your card! (hint, hint, HINT!!)

All matted and layered...

He is a rather jolly chap isn't he? I do like the old fashioned feel to him, just like he should be.

I hope you like it; a simple card with a stamp that does all the work for you!

Love

Martina

xxx