Christmas in October + DT Farewell

Hello Crafty peeps, 

"I am here with Mirella today !! Bidding farewell to our beautiful and super crafty lady. Let’s wish her all success with love and hugs! Here is the last post for this term from her, with some pretty Christmas Inspiration Cards... 

- Varshitha"

Hi Everyone,

Mirella here - today, I am going to share some Christmas projects with you. I have slowly started making Christmas cards, which feels totally fitting even though it's only October - here in Helsinki, we already had our first snow! Eek! The snow put me in the right mood for Christmas cards, however, so at least something positive came out of it! ;o)

CARD 1 - JINGLE BELLS

1. I stamped the bells image with gold Delicata ink all over a while panel. I stamped the "Jingle Bells" sentiment on top, with black ink. 

2. Next, I used a rectangular die with some stitching detail, and cut the panel in two pieces - one is the smaller front panel, and the other one the "frame" around it.

3. I matted the smaller panel with some red mirror paper and adhered it to the "frame" part, making sure that the stamped images were well aligned. 

4. I adhered all of the layers to a red top folding card base.

5. I also stamped, coloured (with alcohol markers) and fussy cut the bells image, and adhered it to the card with some foam tape for additional dimension.  

6. As a final touch, I added some Wink of Stella glitter pen all over the coloured image, and used Glossy Accents on some of the elements. 

CARD 2 - A SNOWY SCENE WITH HEAT EMBOSSING

1. This time, I went for slightly less traditional Christmas colours, but to keep the card festive, I opted for some golden elements. 

2. I started with inking up my card panel, using Distress Oxide Inks (Wilted Violet and Cracked Pistachio). I sprinkled the inked up panel with water, to create an illusion of a snowy scene. 

3. Once the panel was completely dry, I stamped the Christmas tree image and the gorgeous Christmas sentiment with Versamark Ink, and heat embossed them in gold. 

4. To make the scene look even more snowy, I watered down some white gesso, and sprinkled it all over the panel using an old toothbrush - this allowed me to get a very fine mist of white colour on the panel. Since the paint also partially covers the tree and the sentiment, the falling "snow" looks more realistic. 

5. I matted the panel with some gold mirror paper, and adhered everything to a matching light purple card base. 

CARD 3 - A MORE TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS CARD

1. I stamped the lovely poinsettia image a few times, and coloured them with ZIG markers. Once dry, I fussy cut them all, covered them with the Wink of Stella glitter pen, and added some gold Liquid Pearls in the centers. 

2. I stamped more poinsettia images on the navy card panel, using Versamark Ink - this way, the background has a bit more interest, but at the same time it's not too busy and doesn't compete with the sentiment or the coloured images. 

3. I adhered the coloured images to the card panel - some of them are glued directly onto the panel, and some have foam tape for additional dimension. I made sure that some of the leaves were sticking out slightly from the navy panel.

4. I die cut the sentiment from gold mirror cardstock and adhered it to my panel.

5. Finally, I adhered the whole panel to a white card base. 

I think the third card is my favourite, but I am honestly happy with all of them! Which one do you like most? Be sure to let me know in the comments!

Mudra products used to make these cards:

Today is your last chance to enter our current challenge - Festive Colours. Have you entered your creations yet?

The Craft Shop

Hndmd

Crafters Corner, India

Crafts Need

Anandha Stationery

Hindustan Trading Company

Kat Scrappiness

Art and Craft Store - Noida

The Craft Store, Srilanka

Papercurves, UAE

Scrapbook Boutique, Australia

A LITTLE ANNOUNCEMENT BEFORE I GO:

Sadly, this is my last post here as a Mudra Creative Team Member - with my pregnancy due date quickly approaching, I am afraid that my hands will soon be full of less crafty projects ;o) I had loads of fun over the past few months, and I hope that maybe some time in the future I will be able to come back, even if only as a Guest Designer. I am very grateful to Varshitha and Sathya for giving me this opportunity, and I am delighted to have met so many wonderful crafters whilst cooperating with Mudra. 

Have a wonderful day, and stay in touch!

Mirella