...More Compliments

Well we're packing envelopes and writing up shipping lists but I just wanted to pop up this card that I didn't get a chance to show you in the run up to Friday's release.

Just in case you missed it we released 8 new sets on Friday, you can see them in the post under this one. One of those sets is Compliments of the Season TWO. I love eclectic Christmas greetings and I wanted another little bunch of randomly vintage sentiments with which to make this years crop of cards.

I particularly love this stamp 'A joyous Christmas Wish'. It is flamboyant enough to make a statement all on it's own, just back it up with some nice patterns and the card practically makes itself!

I stamped the sentiment onto a specially shaped panel that I had cut out with my Cameo - you can get the exact same cut file here - there is a little parcel of cut files to match this stamp set, all available as freebies on the store.

I created a mat for it directly from the software on the Cameo and cut that out of black card. I should mention that immediately after I stamped the sentiment in Versafine black ink, I sprinkled on some clear embossing powder and heat set it. This ensures a lovely glossy finish with the added benefit that the versafine ink does not run when I go in to colour portions of the image with copics.

I added a little red around the frame with a copic to help pick up on the ribbon I wanted to use. It's a spotty ribbon from M&S, they're selling it this year as gift packaging and it has little raised dots on one side. I found the reverse of the ribbon far more interesting and that is the side that you can see on my card. The little negative spaces where the thread goes through to the top side to create the dots was the ideal place to set some bling. I also coloured the miniature Christmas tree and added a golden glow around the star.

I used some striped paper from Graphic 45 on the centre panel and made myself a panel of festive background paper using the Vintage Christmas Backgrounder stamp - just released on Friday and already nearly out of stock! See this post for help using large background stamps.

Below you can see how easy it is to line up the stamp on the cut file shape. Working on a mat that is a contrasting colour to your card really helps you to see what you are doing.

Hope it tickles!