Hi, and welcome to my blog.
I’m back with another Christmas card for the 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown challenge, where I am the hostess for the month of August, and this week I have set a colour challenge for you.
I thought quite a lot about what colours to use for the challenge. Should I go for traditional reds and greens, or maybe a more contemporary look with pastel blues and pinks? My mum would have hated that – she was a complete traditionalist when it came to Christmas. If it wasn’t in red and green then it wasn’t Christmas! I, on the other hand, love both. So for my colour challenge I chose silver and gold together with white and cream – colours I wouldn’t normally mix together (probably something else I picked up from my mum!) I wonder what she would have made of my card …
Recently, I found a book by Anna Griffin in a secondhand bookshop called “Paper Crafting with Elegance”, and I was inspired by her use of layers and mixed patterns. I love how she uses traditional patterns, often found in wallpapers and textiles, and uses them in her card making. I applied some of her techniques to my card for this week. I stamped the background with the bella toile stamp in metallic silver encore ink – it looks grey in the photograph, but is really pretty in real life, and shines as the light hits it…
For a Christmassy touch, I stamped snowflakes from the festive flurry stamp set in craft white ink onto brushed gold cardstock, giving a subtle effect, which I quite liked.
The centre layers were stamped with the layered labels stamp set, and heat embossing in silver and gold, then cut out by hand.
I finally got to use some poinsettia dies by Marianne Designs, which were a present from my friend, Debs (thank you Debs!) I inked through the stencil with gold metallic encore ink while the cardstock was still in the die, to show the detail on the petals…
So, lots of patterns and lots of layers in an Anna Griffin style. I hope you like my card for this week. Now it’s time to see what the rest of the Design Team have been up to at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown.
cardstock: naturals white, whisper white, very vanilla, brushed gold, brushed silver, metallic gold;
stamp sets: teeny tiny wishes, layered labels, festive flurry, bella toile;
inks: versamark, craft white, silver and gold metallic encore;
punches & dies: modern label, window frames collection, poinsettia (by Marianne Designs);
accessories: stampin’ dimensionals, whisper white organza ribbon, mini glue dots, silver and gold embossing powders, heat tool.
All supplies from Stampin’ Up unless otherwise stated.
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Thanks for dropping by today.
Lily-by-Gilly 
I think you have done Anna Griffin proud, this is indeed so like her style, I LOVE love love it. So very beautiful.
Hi Faith. That is so kind of you to say. I am so pleased that you like it – it means a lot to me xx
Gill, you did an amazing job capturing Anna Griffin style here with all those elegant layers and the lovely ribbon bow. Your card is stunning!
Thanks Patricia. I loved making all the different layers – it was fun putting different patterns together xx
Totally stunning! Love these gorgeous colors! Have a great weekend! Mynn xx
Thank you Mynn. I love the look of the silver and gold together. I’ll definitely try it again xx
I think I have that book! I’m gonna check, this is her style in your style, love it xxx
Thanks Peg. The book is fab – I really admire her style. Glad you like my card xx
Gill, Your card is elegant and very Victorian looking…. something your Mum would have loved. It is so beautiful and I just love the added detail of the poinsettia 😉
Much love Debs x
Awww thank you Debs! And thank you again for my lovely present – the dies are the perfect size for adding as embellishments to cards. Love you lots xxx
I think your mother would have loved this card Gill – it’s absolutely beautiful and so elegant too! I love all the layers! Great challenge x
Hi Deborah. That’s so nice of you to say. I loved all the layers too – such fun and gave great dimension to the card xx
This is a master class in elegance, Gill. I think your mum would have loved it. Going to look up Anna Griffin, vintage is a style I find so hard so it would be great to have done snip ration, especially if I could craft something as beautiful as this
Louise xx
Hi Louise. I love how Anna Griffin puts lots of different patterns together and yet makes them work. I love her vintage style, and the book gave me lots of ideas and inspiration, so I hope to bring more of this into my crafting xxx
wow Gill, comme toujours tes créations sont si chic et classe, c’est une merveille pour les yeux, biz
Merci beaucoup Fabiola. Vous êtes très gentil xx
WOW! Gill this is simply amazing. I love everything about this card. You are one talented lady!xo
Elegance personified Gill, a truly beautiful Christmas card! You definitely captured the Anna Griffin style! I love your layering and the use of the gorgeous Bella Toile stamp – one of my faves!
I’ve got to be honest I was daunted by the colour combo at first but I ended up really loving it, thanks to you I’m a convert now!
Ruth x
This is gorgeous – love it, much better than Anna Griffin too (although I’ve been a fan of hers for years!) xx
I DO love your wonderful layering on this most elegant card! So beautiful!! Great challenge. Hugs D