Lovely As a Tree (Believe it or not, it's NOT retired!)

My card for today is an oldie but a goody. And still current, after all these years! My set says 2001, and it's still going strong!

 

 

I hope my trees turned out icy, cold, and wintery looking, because that's what I was aiming for. In fact, I was going to put a "Warmest Wishes" sentiment on it, but I really need a card to send to a friend in Houston, so 'Thinking of You' won out instead!

To make my trees look icy, I started with watercolor paper, and inked up my stamp with Baja Breeze ink. Then I took a tissue and dabbed the ink off the tree trunks and grass, then sponged on some Chocolate Chip in its place. I then took a fine mist water sprayer and sprayed them quite a few times. Since the mist was very fine and I was using watercolor paper, it actually took quite a few spritzes to get the ink to soften and start running. As soon as it did, I blotted the entire image with a tissue, and I ended up with the soft image above.

Next, I used a sponge dauber to add some Versamark ink to the tree tops, sprinkled on Heat and Stick powder, heated it just until it glistened, dumped on some Irridescent Ice glitter, tapped off the excess and heated it again. Whew - that was one run-on sentence! Then I thought there was too much glitter covering my trees, so I brushed off a bunch, and voila! Fourteen easy steps and you're done! :-)

After that, I just layered it onto cardstock & DSP using the two colors used on the trees, Chocolate Chip & Baja Breeze, and jazzed it up a bit.

Recipe -

Stamp Sets: Lovely As a Tree, Sincere Salutations

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, watercolor paper, Urban Garden DSP

Ink: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Versamark

Accessories: Irridescent Ice Glitter, Heat & Stick Powder, sponge dauber, Vintage Brads, 5/8" grosgrain ribbon,Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

Hope you like it - now go forth and COPY!!

Comments

[Stephanie]

Melinda-
What a beautiful card! I live in Houston, can I be your friend?? :) I'm sure the recipient will be so happy to see this in her mailbox. I too love this set and I hope it NEVER retires. Every year I cringe when I look at the retiring list, hoping that it won't be there! Thanks for sharing your awesome work. I'm so glad I stumbled upon your blog after seeing your Mr. Twigster card in the SCS gallery!

[Tracy]

I posted a comment twice this AM - I don't know what happened, so I will try again. This card is genius. Would have never thought to do this. Is is a perfect "Montana" type card!

[PrincessKelleK]

Oh My Gosh! That is so beautiful! I love the sparkle! (But you knew I would, right?) Great work...so talented! Can you come to Montana and teach me in person? ;-)