(click on the photos to see them closer)
Let's start with creating the sparkly snowman beginning with the body; from a sheet of A4 white card (you can use a standard 8 1/2x11 US size) cut a couple of strips 3 1/4 tall (8.5cm) across the width of the card - you should be able to get three snowman bodies from each strip with a little left over. Cover the card in 'Marshmallow' Rock Candy Embossing Powder and heat set. You'll find there are much larger 'rocks' in the powder which are fabulous for adding dimension but since we'll be die cutting this card those can be allowed to fall away when you remove the excess powder before heating. If preferred you can give the card a second coat of embossing powder depending on how well the first has covered. It's hard to capture here but there are sparkly bits (not glitter) and mixed grain sizes in the powder which give the heated results a beautiful shimmery textured finish.
Allow the powder to cool properly before picking it up and die cutting the snowman figures from chunks of card that are 2 1/4 inches (6cm) wide. Since Eileen's 'Box, Snowman' Die is a big one it will cut through the embossed surface easily. You'll see below how you'll also cut the triangular 'nose' section at the same time. Save these for the next step.
To give the nose bits a more traditional 'carrot' colour use a drop of 'Butterscotch' Alcohol Ink on each - this will keep the embossed shine evident in the finish.
Cut a strip of black card 1 1/2 inches (6cm) tall and cover with a single coat of 'Licorice' Embossing Powder. Use this to cut the 'hands' and eyes for the snowman - I find it's easier to cut an initial sample of the hands from scrap paper and use this as a guide to cut appropriately sized chunks from the card which can be placed over the relevant sections on the die.
Back to the white card and you'll need to cut a strip and a half across the card that are 1 1/4 inches (3.5cm) tall. Cover the strip fully with embossing ink - you'll need to ensure there's plenty of ink on the card to capture the textured embossing crystals. Sprinkle 'Peppermint' Embossing Powder across two thirds of the card, tap off the excess, then cover the remaining one third with 'Butterscotch' Embossing Powder. It's ok if the two powders blend a bit where they meet. Heat set before cutting the strips into 1 1/2 inch (4cm) sections, then cut the bobble hats using Eileen's die.
With another full strip of white card, this time 1 1/2 inches (4cm) tall, repeat the process of covering it in embossing ink before covering with two colours of the Rock Candy Embossing Powder. For the scarf I used 'Cotton Candy' with 'Butterscotch' as seen below. This time cut the heat set strip into 1 1/4 inches (3.5cm) wide and cut the scarves using Eileen's die. You can now 'build' the snowman by adding the scarf, bobble hat, hands and eyes to the main body piece using strong wet glue. I found it helpful to place the snowmen under a heavy box to flatten them until dry.
Moving on to the background I took some of the tissue Gel Print pulls from my latest journal project and tore them into strips. To recreate the look use a mix of 'Rosy', 'White', 'Buff' and 'Heather' Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints.
One piece was stamped with Wendy Vecchi's 'Register' Background Stamp using some pale grey Archival Ink.
Another piece was stamped with Wendy Vecchi's 'Tiled' Background Stamp using a deeper pink shade of Archival Ink.
I stamped one of the decorative strips from Tim Holtz 'Ornate Trims' Stamp set on one side of pieces of tea stained copier paper and blended brown ink around the edges.
Finally cut pieces of kraft card slightly smaller than your card blanks (A6 UK, 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches US) and run through with the Kath Breen 'Jeweled Snowflakes' 3D Embossing Folder - I find lightly misting the card with water before embossing gives a deeper impression. Dry brush the surface with a little White Gesso.
To finish the card I stuck the various torn strips of tissue and pieces of tea stained paper onto the background, drawing stitch lines around some with a white gel pen. Machine stitching with black cotton around the edge of the kraft card creates a border for the card and the sentiment came from Tim Holtz 'Yuletide' Stamp set. Finally the snowman can be mounted on top of the background using more wet glue.
Thanks for visiting to catch today's Saturday Showcase tutorial featuring Eileen Hull's 'Box, Snowman' Die and Pam Bray's Rock Candy Embossing Powder.
There's still plenty of time to enter the current Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog challenge 'A Time to be Grateful' which runs through Tuesday, December 8th at 11.55pm. We look forward to seeing your amazing creations.
Jenny
Products used to create this junk journal are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.
Wendy Vecchi 490 Background Stamp - Register
