#TGIF221 Christmas in July

It's Friday and time for a brand new challenge at TGIF.  This week for #TGIF221 the theme is Christmas in July.  The great thing about stampin' Christmas cards now is that you've got time on your side.  Time to make really pretty, over the top, showstopping cards with stunning details.

For this Christmas in July themed challenge I made one of those cards that could never be repeated. It was one of those let's try this, now a little of this, or a bit of that and so on.  I went from inking to blending to reembossing to more ink smearing to heat embossing.  Oh the steps I took to create this one of a kind look were many, but so satisfying and fun.

I started with a piece of Perennial Essence Vellum and I embossed it with the 3D Seasonal Wreath.  I was hoping that the vellum would change color a bit after going through the folder.  You know when you fold or emboss vellum it gets a little lighter because of the nature of vellum cardstock, that's what I was going for but it didn't do that.  So, I added some Crumb Cake ink into the leaves of the folder and reembossed the vellum.  Once I had shadowed darker ink in the crevices I was ready for some Whisper White ink highlights.

To give the wreath a bit more Christmas style and expression I embellished it with a reindeer.  My deer is super thin.  I was going for a furry look so I broke down the fibers of a small piece of Crumb Cake cardstock with a bone folder to split the paper in two.  Once I had that done I used the Dashing Deer Die to cut my leaping reindeer.

For the greeting I cut the "happy holidays" from Cherry Cobbler Cardstock using the Merry Christmas Dies.  With one of the images from the Artisan Textures Set I stamped the bottom half of each word with Merry Merlot Ink.  Once I glued the stamped greetings to the card I used teeny amounts of Fine Tip Glue in place of ink so I could add White Embossing Powder to look like snow.  I used a heat tool to melt the powder and finish my card.