Winter Flurries

Good morning folks, I want to share a different style of card I made a while ago using Lili of the Valley's clear stamp sets called 'Christmas Icons'. I love the beautiful stamps in this set, and I actually use the snowflakes from it quite often on other projects, especially for backgrounds. There are so many different styles in different sizes that it's perfect for creating your own patterns. 

A little about how I made the card... I cut some snowy drift shapes from sticky notes freehand and used them to mask off areas of snow drifts. I carefully sponged white pigment ink to create the highlights, and the dark paper showing through became the shadows of the snow. Totally opposite from what you would do on white paper. 

Next I stamped a lot of pretty snowflakes in the same white pigment ink (this is the quick drying kind like Fresh Inks from Impress Stamps, A|Muse Studios, Papertrey Ink, etc. etc.). Then stamped and embossed the gorgeous swirly tree.

To create the 'falling snow' effect I took an old toothbrush and spattered white acrylic paint over the entire thing. Takes a bit of practice, but this technique is one of my favorites from my days of decorative painting. You simply apply a dab of white paint onto your palette, wet an old toothbrush with water, shake off the excess, then dab the bristles into your paint until it's slightly watery, but not too wet. Getting the right consistency takes a bit of playing around, so test it on scrap paper before spattering your final project. You just run your finger over the bristles while aiming it at your paper. Depending on how wet or dry your paint is will determine how fine a speckle you get. 

The banner was made from a long strip of double sided pattern paper, notched on the ends with a square punch and scored/folded in two places. The sentiments are from 'set 26- Simply Spohisticated'. 

And there you have it, a beautiful scenic Christmas card! Hope you like it, have a great day!

Supplies: White embossing powder, white pigment ink, sponge dauber, white acrylic paint, old toothbrush, satin ribbon, baker's twine, silver bell charm, 1" square punch, Scor Pal