Merry, Merry Christmas!

Hey there crafters!  I'm making a mad dash to finish my Christmas cards and I think I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!  While some of my cards won't make it to their destinations in time for Christmas, they'll be out the door before then and I'm happy about that!  Heck, it's kinda fun when I receive a card in the mail after all is said and done!  

I created this card using some Cranberry Bliss ink on my Gel Press and then I rubbed a bit of water on top of it with my finger.  Since it is an oily ink, the water and oil didn't really want to get along but I pushed them to "LOVE ONE ANOTHER".  Once they were "blended", I used a tissue to blot some of the really juicy areas so that my cardstock wouldn't get too oversaturated.  I layed the cardstock onto the Gel Press and rubbed it a bit then lifted it off to reveal the fun textured surface.  I opted not to add any stamped impressions this time because I wanted to apply the "texture" using my sewing machine.  

I machine stitched some meandering lines onto the cardstock then applied some Silver Sparkle scalloped washi tape and a thin scrap of Candy Apple Red cardstock.  I stamped the alpha letters (to spell Merry) using the Outline Bet stamp set and Black Licorice ink then fussy cut them using my Pro Shears.  While this stamp set does have an available coordinating die set, I tend to love my cuts a little closer to the line.  I opted NOT to use the diecuts this time so I could get pretty crisp and close to the stamp line.   I love these little scissors for super fine and precise fussy cutting.  After they were cut out, I used Sparkle Silk to paint over the letters for some shimmer and shine.  I also flicked a bit onto the cardstock panel.  

Assembling the festive "swag" and adding snowflakes was next.  I threaded a wooden heart button onto some Natural Thread and then draped it across the page.  I adhered the button to the Snow Blooms Snowflake diecut (colored with Liquid Color on the Gel Press) on the right with a foam square.  The red/white bakers twine was tied off in a bow (around the foam square) and draped in the same manner.

To finish the card off, I assembled the "Merry" sentiment and added some styrofoam snowballs and a few punches of silver cardstock, added some pearls and mounted the whole panel onto a Kiwi Slice piece of Cardstock.

Such a fun card and I'm one more card to the finish line!  WOOP WOOP!