My christmas card production line is growing.  Here’s the second of my ATCs which features a reindeer and Goosebumps spray.  Have you tried Goosebumps yet?  I may be a late convert, but I love it.  It is basically a resist product, so whatever colour you spray it onto, it seals in that colour and when dry you can add more layers of colour.  There is a matte and a shimmer variant literally just arrived in the webshop so I’m looking forward to trying those out too.

Here’s how this one was made:

1. Spray Goosebumps over an ATC.  (I usually line a few up and spray them all at once.)  Put aside to dry – half an hour in a warm room should do it, but it depends how thick it is.
2. When dry, colour with Distress Stains – I used Aged Mahogany, Fired Brick and Barn Door in that order from bottom to top.  The Goosebumps resists the colour and really shows up if you wipe it back with a piece of kitchen towel.
3. Colour a mini tag with Distress inks using Cut ‘n’ Dry foam.  I used Tumbled Glass, Old Paper and Scattered Straw.  Stamp the word Joy from Steampunk Christmas using the same colours for a subtle background.  Add a little ribbon to the tag and stick it onto the ATC with foam pads.
4. I found these sweet little wooden reindeer recently and couldn’t resist getting a few for the shop.  I knew they would be perfect for one of my favourite techniques which I often use on laser cut shapes like this.
5. I covered the reindeer with gold Encore ink and then covered the shape with Halloween embossing powder, which is a rich sparkly bronze colour.  I heated it up, then while hot, dipped it into regular clear embossing powder.  I don’t use thick powder on intricate shapes like this, the regular is better.  I heated up the clear and gave it another coat which really gives it a nice gloss finish and ‘encapsulates’ the glitter below, enhancing the sparkle like a glass paperweight.
6. Stick onto the tag and you’re done!

Here is the finished card that I made with the chocolate and blue snowflake ATC.  I have used a paper from the Season’s Greetings CD and layered it with another from the old Guild printed paper pack.  Punches and pearls just give it a bit more interest, but it’s pretty simple and quick to do.

I’ll be back soon with the details of another ATC in this colour palette, then I’ll be switching to a very traditional red, green and gold.  I managed to make 18 ATCs in one afternoon last weekend and they feature an interesting mix of products including (hold your horses) new stamps!  Yes, we have three new sets coming out very soon.  No they’re not Christmas, but both sets could easily be used for Christmas cards.

I’m hoping I will find even more inspiration next week as I’m taking a day off to visit the Knitting and Stitching show at Harrogate.  It is always full of the most amazing and inspiring textile work and I’m really looking forward to soaking up the visual treats in store.   Anyone else visiting the show?  I think I’ll be there on Thursday, so if you see me wandering around aimlessly, do say hello.

Earlier today I sent out an email where I mentioned that I am making ATCs as the starting point for my Christmas cards.  I explained that using pre-cut ATCs saves a lot of paper trimming, the small format is economical and I get results quickly which is important from both a time and instant gratification perspective.

I make a batch, then decide how I am going to put the cards together later.  Sticking to a limited colour palette means I can gather papers, inkpads and embellishments in those colours and have everything to hand.  Any that don’t make it onto a card can be used as gift tags when wrapping my presents.

So if you’re not on the Chocolate Baroque mailing list (which is a different list to being a subscriber of this blog, by the way) then here’s the low down on how this ATC was made.

1. Use a small piece of Cut ‘n’ Dry foam to apply Sea Breeze Versamagic ink to the bottom of the ATC, fading it out as you move up.  With the same inkpad, stamp the large snowflake from Damask Reindeer a few times, stamping off the edge.
2. When dry, overstamp with Agean Blue using the large snowflake again and the smaller star snowflake.  Rub a little Agean Blue around the edge of the card and add a touch of Crystal Stickles to one of your snowflakes and leave to dry.
3. To make the snowflake embellishment, cut Crealies Flowers 18 from silver mirri card and Flowers 22 from pale aqua card (use the second largest of each and keep the others for future projects).  Add a touch of shading to the tips of the aqua flower with Agean Blue.
4. On the silver flower, add Lagoon and True Blue Stickles, starting with Lagoon in the middle and fading to True Blue at the tips.  The Stickles will shrink back from the edge of the shape and leave a lovely silver border around the edge.  This is a really cool look and Stickles will do it on most shiny slick surfaces.  Put plenty on and leave overnight to dry out thoroughly.  If you find you have any patchy bits, just put some more Stickles on.  These two shades of blue are close enough together to blend beautifully – again, it looks so much better in real life.
5. When dry, stick to the aqua flower and finish with a brown button in the centre.  Add a strip of brown ribbon near the bottom of your ATC and stick the snowflake on top.

I am busy making more ATCs and will be sharing them, and the finished cards they end up on over the next few weeks.  At the moment my palette is a rather non traditional one of shades of aqua, deep red and brown.  At some point I will venture into the traditional red, greens and golds because I just found some gorgeous holly ribbon.

And talking of Christmas, I confess to feeling a little frisson of excitement this evening.  Adrian and I went to a preview shopping event at Raby Castle Tea Rooms after work today.  We were invited as we are tenants of the Raby estate and they had laid on lovely refreshments for us.  The shop was sparkling with delicious ornaments and fancy lights and we did manage to do some of our Christmas gift shopping.  Last year was the worst Christmas of my life so this year I am making a concerted effort to fall in love with the magic of Christmas again and rekindle that feeling of joy and celebration that I believe Christmas is all about.  We don’t have an official Thanksgiving day here in Britain, but I always feel that a big part of Christmas is about celebrating all that we have to be thankful for.  This year will have a sharp grief and sadness of course, but that is all the more reason to ensure that we have as much joy as possible to get us through that.

I reckon if I start now, I might just have enough time to have the house gleaming by the time my Mum comes to visit!