Thursday 20 November 2014

O Little Town Of Bethlehem

I have made today's card taking inspiration from two challenge blogs. Firstly from the challenge at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown. This week it is the November Theme Challenge {Christmas Window}. I was inspired initially by Gill's DT card that uses a window, but not an actual window!

I also decided to use embossing with metallic EP to fit into challenge 19 at Time Out. Week three of their monthly rota is a theme with a twist which this week is embossing with the optional twist of sparkle. I also thought it would make a change to be one of the first to post a card instead of being one of the last! The idea for the card is one from my back burner that I've been meaning to make for a while and I'm so glad I did as I'm quite pleased with the way it's turned out.


It uses the 'O little town of Bethlehem' carol stamp and silhouette nativity scene both from Clarity Stamps. Firstly I stamped the carol in Versamark and embossed with gold EP (I think I need to buy a finer grade EP as the words are not as crisp as I'd like and I'm sure it's not the fault of the stamp!) I masked the carol and then stamped the nativity scene, making sure to mask off the star and remembering to take the tape off the stamp first - nearly forgot! I then stamped the star in Versamark, masking off the rest of the stamp, and embossed that also with gold EP. I didn't wait quite long enough for the stamped silhouette to dry as some stray specks of EP landed on the roof of the stable and wouldn't come off. But I decided that it was a happy accident as it actually looked quite good that way and wouldn't have thought of doing it otherwise!

I put the mask back over the carol and masked off a circle around the stamp. Using two Distress Inks, Stormy Sky and Antique Linen, I gently sponged some colour into the sky and sandy areas. Finally I matted and layered the image onto a matching piece of cardstock using the best present I got for Christmas last year, my Perfect Layers rulers!

Well, that's another Christmas card made! Thanks for visiting today.
Stef x

9 comments:

  1. This is beautiful! I love the circle window looking into the nativity. Great work. Thanks so much for playing along with 52CCT this week! Good luck with the DT Call.

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  2. Lovely card. I like the simple design and a lovely scene. I like it. It can be a perfect Christmas greetings this coming holiday season. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  3. Great to see you one of the first to enter at TIME OUT! And the embossing here is great. The design is perfect, great masking. Thanks for joiningus at TIME OUT x

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  4. I love this - so clean and classy and very festive. So glad you were inspired by my card.

    Thanks for sharing your lovely card with us at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown this week.

    Hugs,
    Gill xx
    52 CCT Design Team

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  5. What a gorgeous scene :) love the softness

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  6. Love how you used the traditional images and the 'idea' of a window! Thanks for joining in with our window challenge this week
    Louise from 52 CCT xx

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  7. Such a lovely Christmas card!

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  8. Sweet card! Thank you for joining us at the Time Out Challenge.

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  9. Wonderfully festive :) Thanks for taking the TIME OUT and joining in on the challenge. Hugs Bev x

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