Christmas In July Let It Snow

Hello, welcome to my blog!!

I want to start out by thanking everyone for the support and nice comments you all leave for me. I truly appreciate the support of this blog!! I enjoy card making and bringing my creations to you, this wouldn't be possible without your support, so again, thank you!!!

Scrapbookcom continues their Christmas In July sales. To check out the sales, click on the "coupons" tab located on their home page. They have great sales and free gifts... sales change every couple of days so be sure to check back often. Right now, while supplies last they have an adorable chubby penguin stamp set for the free gift! I have a banner located on the lower right side of my blog that takes you directly to their store. *Affiliate links used at no additional charge to you, thank you for your support!

Christmas In July continues with day four. Today, I have a Christmas card that uses ink blending, heat embossing, die cutting and inset stamping. Inset stamping is a fun technique that can be done with any stamp and coordinating die. Normally I would die cut a panel and pop it up using foam over the stamped image, but today I decided to cut the panel and die cut window in half to create some added white space for a different look. I will be using Gina K. Designs stamps, dies, ink and cardstock to create my card. To add some shading to my panel, I will be doing a gradient ink blend. Let's get started!!

I will be doing all of my work today on my Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat.

To start, I cut a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" panel out of Blue Denim Cardstock using my Tim Holtz Guillotine Paper Trimmer. Next, I take a die from the Sparkling Snowflakes Die Set and adhere it onto the center of the panel using Purple Tape. Using my Blender Brush, I blend Blue Denim Ink around the panel, fading in towards the die, but not all the way as I want to leave the plain cardstock color around the die. For my second color, I blend In The Navy Ink around the panel, fading into the previous color about half way, being careful not to cover all of it up. For my final color, I blend Black Onyx Ink around the very edges and corners of the panel. *The reason I blend before die cutting is that there is some very small intricate pieces after die cutting and I didn't want to catch them with my blender brushes.

After my blending is complete, I run the panel and die through my Big Shot Die Cut Machine. I then use my Craft Tool to completely dry my panel. *Anytime I ink blend and I plan on heat embossing, I dry my panel so that the embossing powder doesn't stick to the damp ink. When my panel is completely dry, I place it into the bottom corner of my MISTI Stamp Positioner. Taking the coordinating stamp from the Sparkling Snowflakes Stamp Set, I line it up in the die cut opening then pick the stamp up with the door of my MISTI. I then remove the blended panel and replace it with a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" panel of White Cardstock. I ink up the stamp with In The Navy Ink and stamp it twice for a dark, crisp image and set it aside while I work on my embossing. *When wanting a perfectly lined up image for a die cut window, place the die cut panel into the corner of the MISTI then line up the stamp in the opening, close the door of the MISTI to pick up the stamp then remove the die cut panel and replace with the panel you want to stamp. This ensures your image will line up perfectly through the die cut window, as long as you are using the same size panels.

I now place my blended panel back into the corner of my MISTI and prep using my Anti Static Powder Bag. I arrange three stamps from the Sparkling Snowflakes Stamp Set and stamp using Versamark Embossing Ink. I then add Silver Embossing Powder and heat set with my Heat Tool.

Leaving the stamps attached to the door of my MISTI I turn my panel so I can stamp the other end. Again, I prep the area using my Anti Static Powder Bag and stamp the images using Versamark Embossing Ink. I add Silver Embossing Powder and heat set with my Heat Tool.

I now place my panel into the opposite corner so I am able to stamp the other corners. I rearrange the stamps then pick them up with the door of my MISTI. I again prep the area using my Anti Static Powder Bag. I stamp with Versamark Embossing Ink then add Silver Embossing Powder and heat set with my Heat Tool. I turn the panel and repeat the process for the last corner.

Looks like I forgot to snap a couple of pictures, ugh! I cut my embossed panel completely in half at 2 1/8" (the length way) using my Guillotine Paper Trimmer. I then cut an 1/8" off each panel, on the die cut edge (which will create the gap running across the center of the finished card). I also cut 1/8" off on each back side of the two panels (which will create the white border on the finished card). I hope this makes sense, sorry!

Taking a piece of cheap store bought fun foam I cut it to be about 1/8" shorter on the three sides of the panel. I then turn the panel over and fit the die back into the opening and tape into place. I remove the embossed panel and run the foam and die through my Big Shot. I then trim the foam down on the die cut edge to be 1 3/4". It will now line up exactly with my die cut panel.

I add Liquid Glue to the foam and adhere my embossed panel onto it making sure everything lines up. I repeat this process for the other half of the panel.

Using my Scor Buddy, I place a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Blue Denim Cardstock and score at 4 1/4" to create my card base. Using Terrific Tape, I adhere my stamped snowflake panel onto the card base.

Using Liquid Glue, I add to the back of the foam and place over my card front being sure to line up around my stamped image. I repeat this process for the other panel.

 

For a sentiment, I place a scrap piece of Blue Denim Cardstock into my MISTI and prep using my Anti Static Powder Bag. I then stamp a sentiment from the Sparkling Snowflakes Stamp Set using Versamark Embossing Ink. I add Silver Embossing Powder and heat set with my Heat Tool. I then trim the sentiment into a strip. I add Foam Tape to the back of the sentiment and mount onto the center of the stamped snowflake and this completes my card.

This completes day four of my Christmas In July. I hope you are enjoying the different Christmas card ideas. I mentioned before that snowflakes are my favorite, and making these cards I realized just how many snowflake sets I have! The images could easily be changed to something other than snowflakes. I really love the pairing of navy blue with silver embossing, they were made for each other!! Come back tomorrow for the final card in my Christmas In July series!

If this is the first time visiting my blog, welcome and I hope you return. If you are a returning visitor, thank you so much for your support!

Should you have any questions or comments please leave them in the comments section. I'd love to hear from you and what you thought about today's card.

If you would like to be notified by email each time I post something new to my blog, you can click on the subscribe button at the top of the page. *Be sure to verify your subscription through the email link to activate. There is also a follow button that you can click on located below my profile if you would like to follow my blog.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you come back soon!

Happy Stamping and God bless!!

Jeannie