Hello craft friends.  I’m still ploughing through my demo pieces from the weekend (I told you I’d been busy!) and wanted to share this  one, which was a happy discovery when I was prepping with the Woodland Scene stamp set. 

I didn’t get step-by-step photos of this one as I was just testing out the process, but it’s pretty straightforward. I started with one of Clarity’s 4×4 pieces of companion paper in a dark colour and used a square embedder to emboss a frame onto it. I masked off the frame with low tack tape to keep it clean, then inked up one of the small birch trees from the Woodland Scene set with ‘tattered rose’ Distress Oxide and planted onto the companion paper. At this point I didn’t know how it would turn out but I was pleased with the effect so carried on, adding the moon and bird. I needed to create the ground, so took a piece from one of the 6×6 landscape masks, laid it across the base of the trees and used a sponge to drag the ‘tattered rose’ across it. Now, the companion paper is less porous than stencil card, etc, so the oxides take longer to dry and I wiped out the bottom of the trees when I sponged over them. Having said that, the effect is OK and I like the soft ground from sponging the oxide too. I then added a sentiment from the I Am Essential – Christmas set and simply popped the topper onto a 5×5 card blank.

And here’s a few more that I made over the weekend in various colours, some with the ‘tattered rose’ and others with ‘antique linen’. You need the Distress Oxide ink for this technique as the chalky opacity sits well on the companion paper – Distress Inks won’t show up.

I’m playing along with a couple more challenges with this card. Addicted to Stamps & More are asking us to ‘make your mark’ and Stamping Sensations are looking for ‘the magic of Christmas’.