Believe

Tim introduced a new product this month called "Frosted" during his December tag tutorial.  It looks interesting and I hope he demonstrates other uses for it in future posts.

I substituted old-fashioned drafting vellum for my background and text by using the Falling Snow stencil (Simon Says Stamp) and a section from Tim's Christmas Words stamp along with some embossing ink and powder to create a similar effect.

The reindeer was embellished with Perfect Pearls and you may recognize the leaves from Tim's Wallflower paper stash. The number 25 is an Idea-ology Plaquette.

I'd like to share an embossing technique seen on the leaves as it comes in handy when you want fine details and better control.

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I used a gel pen to draw in the areas I wanted to emboss. In this case, it was the veins on the leaves.

The ink stays wet long enough to apply embossing powder. I used various pen colors and clear powder in this example.

Murmuration

A flock of starlings is called a murmuration and they gather at dusk in great numbers to perform an incredible ballet before resting. I didn't know about this (starlings don't inhabit the Americas) until I saw a You Tube video (gone viral) and my tag made me think of it so I gave it this title.

I was inspired by Emma Williams' post over at Simon Says Stamp where she shared a technique for creating a moonlit sky as part of this week's Monday blog challenge which is To the Moon.

I got a bit hung up during the rendering of clouds so I improvised thanks to the painterly quality of distress inks. I used a stamp called Winter Ledge by Penny Black.

I thought I'd share my own tip for getting a mask to stay put while you are inking around it:  Martha Stewart's ballpoint tip glue pen creates a permanent bond when used wet but if you let it dry it creates a temporary bond (says so right on the pen). So I just dab a little on the back of the mask, let it dry, then stick it to my artwork knowing that it will be easy to peel off and will leave no residue behind.

Also, applying Antique Linen as a first layer helped a great deal with blending-in the Dusty Concord. It's probably because that first layer of ink (still somewhat wet) provides a slick surface for adding the second layer.

And now, if you've never seen a murmuration, prepared to be amazed!

Duchess

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My post is titled "Duchess" because it is the name of the scrapbook paper (by Kaiser Craft) that I used to make this greeting card. There's no sense providing a link to it as I bought it awhile ago and it is now out of production.

But I can show you what the paper originally looked like:

I cut out one of the design elements and pasted it to metallic bronze card stock after creating a border with a paper punch. Then I went to task embellishing it with colored pencils, Stickles and Scribbles (a 3-D paint). I mounted it to olive green card stock which was folded for use as a greeting card.

I plan to use it as a Christmas card and have linked it to the Monday blog challenge at SSS where the theme is ornaments.  I will admit, I'm getting excited about the upcoming holiday season because there's no better time to use my Stickles and I do love them so!