Hi everyone! As Christmas can really sneak up on you, it is always helpful if you can ‘cut some corners’ when cardmaking. With the two Penguin Tree cards I’m showing today, I applied two time saving ‘hacks’ to get them done quicker than I normally would without making them look rushed or unfinished.
I also created these cards as inspiration for the current Cloud9 Crafts challenge: hot foil. Head over to Instagram to see how you can participate and be eligible to win a prize!
Tip 1: Use colored cardstock as a base
To make it myself easy with creating the backgrounds for the cards, I started with colored cardstock and only ink blended the edges to give it more depth. This is so much faster than having to ink blend a whole A2 panel, and the effect is just gorgeous!
- Teal version: Mermaid cardstock, Distress Oxide Peacock Feathers, Distress Oxide Black Soot
- Pink version: Ballet Slippers cardstock, Distress Oxide Worn Lipstick, Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry
After ink blending, I wanted to add a wow factor to the background using a hot foil gel technique which I showed in my foil technique video. For the teal version, I used the Starry Sky stencil and Prism foil. For the pink version, I used the Snowy Sky stencil and Blush foil.
Tip 2: No blending!
As focal points for the cards, I went for the Oh Penguin Tree from Mama Elephant which I stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Perfect Colouring paper. As this is quite a big image, it would take me quite some time to color it like I normally would. So I decided to try something different, and not blend at all. This is a style you can see in the designs of Art Impressions, and I thought it was a great way to color this Penguin Tree without spending a ton of time on it. So what I did for the penguins is, I put down a base coat of BG72, then colored the shadow areas with BG78. And that’s it! No blending! And that is how I colored all the elements of the image.
The Copic markers used on the teal version:
- Penguins: BG78, BG72, N3, N1, N0, R30, YR24
- Accessories: R81, R85, Y11, Y18, BG18, BG10, E77, E43, E42, E41
Copic markers used on the pink version:
- Penguins: R81, R85, N3, N1, N0, R30, YR24
- Accessories: BG13, BG11, BG000, Y11, Y18, BG15, E77, E43, E42, E41
After coloring, I die cut the images with the coordinating dies and adhered it on the backgrounds with foam squares. As embellishment, I added Stickles Frosted Lace, and Nuvo Crystal Glaze to a number of elements. The sentiment I stamped on a white strip of cardstock, and adhered it with a foam strip at the base of the Penguin Tree.
As a final touch to the background, I heat embossed snowflakes with white embossing powder on vellum. To give them dimension, I adhered them with silicone foam tape, which you don’t notice behind the vellum.
I hope you like these cards, and the tips were helpful. Thank you for stopping by and see you next time!
Supplies Used
Click here for the list of supplies directly at Cloud9 Crafts.
