Sunday, December 18, 2016

A Winter Birthday Card

Hello friends and visitors! Today I have a birthday card I made for a special blog friend, Lisa of A Mermaids Crafts to share with you. Please visit Lisa at her lovely blog if you haven't already--she is one talented artist who does amazing things in her Shabby Chic style. Nothing says winter beauty to me more than blue skies and birch trees!



The background corrugate board is waste packaging from a toaster. I pulled off some of the paper and added Picket Fence Distress Crackle Paint. Some was from an old jar and it was super thick, but made some amazing cracks--more so than the newer thin runny stuff. After it dried thoroughly, I gave it a coat of DeoArt Ultra Matte Varnish  and a sprinkle of Clear Rock Candy Distress glitter and DecoArt Glamour Dust. The blurry photo on the right shows just a hint of what is seen in real life. Boy, you really have to hold your mouth just right to capture that sparkle on an I phone camera! I apologize for the poorer than usually photo quality. I was trying to take this on a bright sunny morning without additional lighting to get that winter sun.

 

The blue panel was made by embossing a card panel with Tim Holtz Snowflurries Texture Fade, scraping a thin and thick coat of gesso on with a  credit card. I purposefully left some areas uncovered. When dry I went back in with Distress paints in blues. I made another of these backgrounds in a little darker combination of paints, and perhaps you will see that on a future project. I wanted this to be bright and cheery for Lisa's birthday. 


For my focal layer, I chose Tim's Birch Trees Thinlits die and pretty much followed this amazing tutorial by Anna-Karin of Layers of Ink. Anna-Karin is an amazing artist, and I draw so much inspiration from her. To make this my own, I used an old Inkadinkadoo script stamp and added some "snow" where a dusting might land in the thick woods using my Ranger Emboss It and Emerald Creek's Soft Fallen Snow embossing powder. I use the embossing liquid straight from the jar, using a fine paint brush to get it right where I need it. Of course the pine boughs (Tim Holtz Holiday Greens Mini Thinlits) needed some snow, too. You might be able to see I tucked in a Tim Holtz Tree Line Thinlit die cut. 




The Impression Obsession Deer Trio got pulled out once again, and the deer are peeking out to wish Lisa a Happy Birthday! My sentiment to Lisa is stamped with Tim's Simple Sayings set and colored with Distress inks to compliment the colors of the woodsy scene. To fluff this up a bit (I tried to make a nice feminine card for my friend, but it just wasn't happening!), I added a hand dyed seam binding bow. I had to pull it out of the way a bit to show the entire sentiment. (Next time, plan ahead!)



I apologize for all the shadows, but I think it makes the woods look a little denser! Making this card for my friend brought me such joy! One of my fondest memories growing up is walking through the birch woods on the edge of our farm. It was beautiful any time of year, but there's something so special about a birch tree in the winter, when it shows the beauty of it's bark.


Happy Birthday, Lisa!

I would love to share my card with these challenges:
A Vintage Journey December Challenge-Winter Magic
--Deep Ocean Challenge #144-"Silent Night"
-Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge-Let There Be Snow
-Scrapy Land Challenge #55-Anything Goes (With a die that Scrap Land sells) I used an Impression Obsession die and 3 Sizzix dies.
-Creative Artiste's Challenge #21-Anything Mixed Media Goes
-Word Art Wednesday Challenge Weeks #260-261-Anything Goes
-Noor! Design Challenge 25-'Sparkle' so difficult to capture on camera, but it's there!
-Allsorts Week 394/395 Blue Bingo I choose blue and brown, add dimension and masking. Masking was done with Distress Micro Glaze on the birch trees. Please refer to Anna-Karin's link in my text for instructions.
-Your Next Stamp Challenge #54 Color Challenge I used the first 4 colors--what a gorgeous inspiration photo! (1/5)

Fussy and Fancy Challenge #79- Angels/Fairies or Winter (2/2)
Winter Wonderland Challenge Blog For Someone Special/Happy New Year
-Mixed Media Place- November Challenge Another gorgeous mood board!I was inspired by the blues, brown tones and icy feel to it.


Thank you for stopping by and leaving your wonderful comments! I know you are busy, so your visit is even that much more special to me! 
Hugs and Blessings! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Sara Emily
UPDATE: Yippee!


33 comments:

  1. An awesome card Sara, your friend must be delighted with it. The corrugated, textured frame and pretty snowflake background look amazing and I love how you've created the illusion of the sweet deer family peeking out from the trees.

    Thank you for joining in with the December challenge "Anything Mixed Media Goes" at Creative Artiste Mixed Media and good luck x

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  2. Well this is a beautiful piece... and now what everybody wants to know: how is the new toaster? LOL. I really love the look of this... to me, (in the PNW), this absolutely evokes the freezing winter mornings in an aspen grove. Brrr...

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  3. Gorgeous winter birthday card Sara Emily!
    Hugs
    Samra
    Paper Talk with Samra

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  4. Also Thank you so much for joining Scrapy Land Challenge with this beauty!
    Hugs
    Samra DT
    Paper Talk with Samra

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  5. Simply beautiful and texturetastic! Xx

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  6. Thank you so, so much again, my friend!! I am looking at this work of art right now and it is even more stunning in person!! I can't tell you how much I absolutely adore this card, Sara Emily!! You have captured winter beauty perfectly!! Plus, you've incorporated my obsession with tree dies and deer dies :) The texture is amazing!! The pretty blue snowflake background is just stunning!! I could go on and on because I simply love every single amazing detail!! It truly is spectacular and I'm am so blessed to own it!! Thank you again my dear, sweet friend!! I can't tell you how much it means to me that you took the time to create this during the busy holiday season!! So thankful for you!! I hope you have a wonderful Sunday!! Big thankful hugs :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  7. Absolutely gorgeous. I love your trees and 3D effect :)
    Thanks a lot for joining us at Fussy and Fancy! :)
    Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Creative New Year! :)
    xx

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  8. Wow, I'm speechless at the magical beauty of this Sara! Truly beautiful xx

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  9. Stunning creation and so many gorgeous items used. `This card was really made with a lot of thought and love. Thank you so much for joining our 'Blue Bingo' challenge at Allsorts.

    Kath

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  10. What a gorgeous card, Sara Emily, you did an amazing job on those birch trees and background! I love how you finished the corrugate board and made it look so wintry. I love your blue snowflake panel - it's so pretty behind those awesome birch trees with that sweet little deer family peeking out. Love it!! Hugs :-)

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  11. Lucky Lisa, this is a real beauty Sara xxx

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  12. Stunning Sara, just love the depth you have created with this piece, and of those colours.... stunning!!!
    Thanks for adding it to AVJ of course too! xxx

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  13. Sara Emily!! This is absolutely exquisite!! Your friend sure is lucky! I think I love this above the rest the best! Beautifully done ,my friend!
    Hows the jolly coming around your house?
    Sending wishes for a wonderful Christmas for you and your family!
    much love,Jackie xx

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  14. Simply stunning, Sara Emily - the colours, the trees, the depth - it's an absolute winner in my eyes! Thanks so much for joining us on A Vintage Journey.
    Alison x

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  15. Magical, dreamy and spectacular, Sara! Lisa is a lucky lady, indeed! You have managed to achieve a fabulous depth here and the colors are fantastic! What a beautiful winter scene you have created with that awesome snowflakes background! What you did with your corrugated cardboard is simply amazing! Absolutely stunning card, my friend!
    Christmas hugs! Branka xx

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  16. I know Lisa will love this amazing card. It is so dimensional and filled with such awesome texture, just her style! I love your color palette and every single card you've shared with these deer. Christmas hugs, Autumn

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  17. Oh Sara! This is one fabulous card! Hugs, Chrisx

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  18. Beautiful!
    Thanks for joining us at Scrapyland Challenge blog and Good Luck !
    Maryvonne – DT member

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  19. This is fabulous, Sara. The texture on this card is absolutely amazing. Thanks so much for stopping by to share it with us. It's always so nice to have you join us.
    Blessings to you,
    Karen
    Word Art Wednesday

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  20. Gorgeous card Sara Emily - burr, makes me cold just to look at it!
    Sandy xx

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  21. A real stunner Sara, I love the Birch trees and they look even more beautiful with the deer peeping through! The blue sky in the background really does make the trees and deer 'pop' and it also reminds me of the Birch trees behind my Mum and Dad's house in Canada which I loved to explore... I see from Lisa's comment how much she loved her beautiful card!

    Whilst I am here, thank you so much for joining us at A Vintage Journey too! Hugs, Anne xxx

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  22. A really lovely card with tons of details. Looks smashing. Thanks for joining us over at the Winter Wonderland.
    Love n hugs
    Marie

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  23. Beautiful colours and love the birch trees! Thanks for joining us at Your Next Stamp!

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  24. Your creation is beautiful for lovely LIsa, and thank you for entering our challenge theme of"Blue Bingo", at Allsorts Challenges, do hope to see you again. ♥
    [aNNie DT for Allsorts Challenges]

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  25. ❤❤~♥ღ¸♪♫•*❤❤´~♥ღ¸♪♫•*❤❤´~♥ღ¸♪♫•*´❤❤ MERRY CHRISTMAS sweet Sara. Much Love. j. ❤❤~♥ღ¸♪♫•*❤❤´~♥ღ¸♪♫•*❤❤´~♥ღ¸♪♫•*´❤❤

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  26. It's a super creation for our bingo grid theme, many thanks for joining us at Allsorts challenge.

    B x

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  27. this is so very beautiful Sara - what a gorgeous card - I just know your friend will have adored it! Hugs rachel x

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  28. I love this. Your mixed media looks amazing and the finished card is fabulous.
    Thank you for sharing this with us at Noor Design UK.
    Hugs Sharon. x

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  29. Oh be still my beating heart...... This is an absolute stunner! Sara . Wintry colours, snowflakes, birch trees and all that fabulicious texture and dimension = ♥♥♥.
    Definitely adding this to my 'closet' faves :)
    hugs x

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  30. Love your card especially the texture. The design is beautiful. Thank you for joining us at Creative Artiste this month and we hope to see your beautiful art work back here again soon. Judy DT

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  31. Really cute winter card!!
    Thank you for playing with us at Fussy & Fancy challenge
    Nathalie DT

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  32. Wonderful card, so lovely.

    Hugs
    Anke

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