Thursday, December 1, 2016

Holly Jolly Christmas-Winter Wishes at Emerald Creek Dares

Hello friends and visitors! Now that Thanksgiving is just a memory here in the USA, our thoughts turn fully toward winter holidays. The theme at Emerald Creek Dares this month is 'Winter Wishes',and we want you to bring your best winter wishes, New Years ideas, Hanukkah or Christmas creations! To give you a little inspiration, I made a frosty Christmas card using a new Holly Branch stamp sold at Emerald Creek Craft Supplies and four of Kim's finest embossing powders. I have no step out photos to share, but I've included links to Emerald Creek products at the end of this post.


I started with manila card stock and using a scrap piece of card as a mask, painted horizontal lines of Golden acrylic paint. I love this paint--it has so much shimmer and glides on smooth. I blended over with Frayed Burlap Distress ink and flicked on some water for those age spots I love so much. This was layered using foam adhesive tape on a manila card blank which I edged with Versamark embossing ink and embossed with Charred Gold and Soft Fallen Snow embossing powders. 


I inked this beautiful Emerald Creek's Holly Branch stamp in Archival Jet Black and dried. I water colored the holly berries with Candied Apple Distress ink and the leaves with Evergreen Bough Distress ink and a water pen. The ribbon portion of the stamp was treated to some more of the gold paint mixed with glaze this time to thin the color and allow the stamping to show through. The shimmer is beautiful in real life--you'll just have to take my word on that. Once all the coloring was done I fussy cut the image and embossed with Soft Fallen Snow embossing powder to give a frosty look to the leaves and berries. I went back in with Ultra Puff White embossing powder to look like little bits of snow. I used the Charred Gold on the ribbon. To stick the powder in such tiny areas I applied Ranger Emboss It Dabber straight from the opened bottle using my finest paint brush. Because the embossing fluid is clear it's really hard to see exactly where it goes, so this was a rather tedious process. If you find you have too much powder on your surface, simply go back with a stiff paint brush to remove some before heating.


For my smaller holly leaves, I painted more of the gold on some card stock and cut with Tim Holtz Christmas Mixed Media Thinlits die. I embossed the 'snow' using the Ultra Puff White, the branches with Charred Gold and the berries with Fine Candy Red embossing powder. Again, I used my tiny brush to paint on the embossing fluid. The red and gold powders melt rather quickly, and the Ultra Puff a  little slower, so doing this was a little tricky. I had to be careful not to overheat the powders or it would melt into the paper. The paint does help to set up somewhat of a barrier to this.


I stamped Tim Holtz  Simple Sayings label on a scrap of the same card as the background (Versamark ink) and heat embossed with more Charred Gold. I applied a Holiday Talk Metallic sticker for the sentiment and inked with Frayed Burlap and Spritz and Flicked for age. Finally, I gave it a snowy finish using the Ultra Puff White. This and the holly stamped image was popped up on more foam adhesive tape. Now I can't get that song out of my head!


Emerald Creek products used:

Other products used and available at Emerald Creek Supplies:


That's all for today! I hope you've found some tiniest bit of inspiration in my card, and that you will head over to see what beautiful winter wishesl my teamies have for you. Then it's over to you! I hope you'll link up your winter wishes for a chance to win a generous gift certificate to Emerald Creek where you will find lots of goodies to complete your holiday projects!


Emerald Creek DaresEmerald Creek Dares

I'm sharing my card with the following challenges:
Addicted to Stamps Challenge #136-Die Cuts and/or Punches I used an Emerald Creek stamp and a Tim Holtz die cut.
Your Next Stamp Sketch and Color Challenge #53 I chose gold, red, and green.
Deep Ocean Challenge #-143 "Santa is Coming to Town" I interpreted this as being a Christmas challenge in general. If I'm wrong, please feel free to delete my entry.
Mod Squad Challenge-Holiday Dimension I popped up my stamped image and sentiment and light dimension through use of chunky embossing powders.
Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #222-Make Your Mark I used a water pen and my inks to make my marks!

Thank you for your visit and your comments! I read and appreciate each and every one of them!
Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily

27 comments:

  1. Oh my word Sara Emily! I love what you did with this stamp!! I use those same distress colours when i watercolour mine! The gold/glaze combo on the ribbon part is gorgeous & I can see the shimmery...it must be even better in person! What a beautiful card!! ~hugs~

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  2. Absolutely gorgeous Sara and I bet it's even more stunning in person! Thanks so much for joining in the fun at our Double D ‘Traditional Christmas Colors’ challenge! We hope you’ll come back often.

    Darlene
    DOUBLE D Challenge Blog
    DAR’S CRAFTY CREATIONS Please stop in for a visit!

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  3. Absolutely stunning, Sara Emily!! I love the gold stripes!! You've showcased the stamp perfectly!! The holly leaves look amazing!! The shimmer is fabulous!! What a gorgeous card this is!! I love, love it!! Have a great day!! Big hugs :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  4. My friend, you should move in with me and we could save half of our money!!! Seems we always fall for the same supplies and could just partner with them! ROTFL!!! I just got this beauty and have yet to ink 'er up. NEVER, would I EVER have thought to do something so elegant and regal. What a surprise coming from you! I thought of dirty brown and rich reds and deep green. Ha! I'm all the more excited about the possibilities. Loving seeing your work for your new team. Hugs, Autumn

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  5. Beautiful card Sara Emily! Love how you used the Holly stamp. The embossing powder around the sentiment is the perfect touch to finish it.

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  6. A beautiful card Sara. Very elegant. A lovely design and great use of the stamps. Stunning!! Thanks for joining our challenge at Addicted to Stamps. Marlies

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  7. That holly stamp is fabulous Sara and I just love how you coloured it, it has a kind of retro look to it, which I love! The media thinlits work beautifully with the stamp too and they look amazing in the Golden paint, as does the gorgeous background you created. A truly festive feast for us all! Hugs, Anne xx

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  8. Gorgeous Sara Emily, love the gold stripey background and you have made that holly stamp from Emerald Creek shine, it is fabulous! Thanks so much for sharing it with us, Deb xo

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  9. What a BEAUTY! Love the gold in this! So glad that you join the fun over Simon Says Stamp Wednesday “Anything Goes” Challenge! Awesome details and design! Super work!

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  10. Hi, there - remember me? Your absent friend from blogland, lol!! LOVE this make, Sara Emily - and look forward to keeping up more regularly with your fabulous art in the near future! Always makes my day! xxx Lynn

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  11. Such a beautiful card!! love the background and the holly!Thank you for sharing your art with us on Word Art Wednesday! Ginny M, DT

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  12. Oh my, Sara, what a festive, elegant and an absolutely beautiful card this is! I love your golden stripes, your wonderful use of mixed media Thinlits die and that amazingly beautiful colored holly stamp! It's a feast for the eyes, my sweet friend! Sending all my hugs to you! Branka xx

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  13. this looks so beautiful, thanks for joining us at Allsorts, xxxx

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  14. Amazing card with so many wonderful details. I really like that background and the touches of snow on the holly. A Christmas delight. Thanks for joining Time Out

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  15. Hey Sara Emily, this is a beautiful card and I always love what you do with the very cool embossing powders from Emerald Creek - I must check those out... I love all of the shimmer on this card and that's a very pretty rubber stamp! The gold stripes are awesome - just the right background for that gorgeous holly :-) That was a smart idea to use a fine paint brush with the emboss-it dabber - never would have thought of that! Thanks for the inspiration, as always! I also wanted to thank you for the love you left on my blog yesterday - it's very much appreciated and I always love hearing from you :-)

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  16. What a beautiful card Sara!! It's vintage and elegant at the same time. Love the striped background, the gold is so beautiful and eye catching! Wonderful sentiment, such a perfect fit for your focal piece! Gorgeous and festive! sending hugs :)

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  17. That really is a lovely stamp - and I love the gilded holly in the background too - a fabulous card! I know I must have missed lots of treats here, but I'm looking forward to some proper catching-up time over the festive season.
    Alison x

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  18. How rich and regal, Sara! Loving the white capped gold holly leaves, and the beautifully done green tones. I especially like your gold horizontal lines! Beautiful! hugs, de

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  19. Wonderful Sara Emily - gorgeous use of the stamp and your colours with the gold are just perfect! xxx

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  20. This is an utterly delightful card Sara. I adore the gold touches that gives it such a regal feel and the fabulous green and red holly stamped, coloured and cut to perfection sits beautifully over the top. Love it xxx

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  21. This is glorious! Really beautiful and so artsy! Loving all of that gold accent and beautiful Holly! Thanks so much for playing along with us at the Double D Challenge Blog, Donna DT Member.

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  22. This is stunning with some fabulous techniques! Thank you so much for joining us at Addicted to Stamps and More.

    Emma - DT

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  23. Rich, festive and lovely, Sara ... such fantastic detailing! Thanks so much for playing along with us at Time Out! Anita :)

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  24. Very beautiful card, love at the details and the gold! Thanks for joining us at Your Next Stamp!

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  25. This reminds me of a retro vintage Christmas and it's awesome sauce! Wonderful use of the holly stamp and I can't believe how much time went in to the embossing. Talk about details dearie! Gorgeous and that gold lined background adds such a lovely element to the design. Fantabulous and Wowzers! Hugz to you muffin! ~Punkin

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  26. This is a beautiful and elegant card. Love the gold and your coloring on the image. Thank You for playing along with Addicted to Stamps and More!

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