Lily-by-Gilly

Hello and welcome.

I have set a monochromatic colour challenge over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown this week – to use just blue and white.  Although the challenge allows neutral colours in addition, such as black for the sentiment, I kept mine true to the monochrome theme.

I got some stamps and products from Lavinia Stamps for my birthday and was excited to use them to create this wintery scene…

I first masked off a circle for the moon on a piece of multifarious card, also by Lavinia. This card is beautifully smooth and a heavier weight than the rest in my stash, and it really takes a lot of ink well, so is perfect for ink blending.  Next I created a mask by tearing a piece of copy paper for my snowy hill, and inked up the top half of the card using 2 shades of distress oxide ink – tumbled glass and faded jeans.  I think it could have done with being a bit darker towards the top of the sky, but I don’t own many distress oxide inks yet, so I may have to ask Father Christmas for some more 🙂

Once I was happy with the blending, I removed the moon mask and spritzed the card with water, waited a moment or two before blotting off with a cloth.  I loved how the ink reacted with the water to create a soft and interesting look to the inked sky.

Next, I stamped the trees in night of navy ink, using first and second generation inking and masked off some areas at the bottom to stagger the height of the trees.  I added a little shading beneath the trees and ‘snow’ splatters using a white posca pen.

I just love the words of this wintery verse which I stamped over the moon – it seemed to sit beautifully nestled in the top of the trees.  I stamped a sentiment by Stampin Up, then mounted the panel in the centre of an 8in x 8in base card. This is bigger than my usual size cards, so I had to use a flat lay to photograph it!  Finally, I used a quickie glue pen along the outline of the moon and the top of the snow bank, and added some dazzling diamonds glitter for a little sparkle.

The hardest part of making this card was knowing when to stop – I was having way too much fun inking and stamping! This is the type of card that can be reproduced quickly, and definitely one that you could produce assembly line fashion, although this particular one is a specially made for my daughter and her family.

I hope you’ve been inspired to join our challenge this week – there is still time to make a few more cards before Christmas! And the ladies on the design team have been making some beautiful cards for your inspiration, so do hop on over and take a look.

Enjoy your weekend