I am thrilled that Ellen will be carrying the new Cosmo Cricket lines in the 6" x 6" pads that are being introduced at Summer CHA! When Ellen mentioned that the July newsletter had a Christmas focus, I asked if I could share some of the new Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly line.
I chose one of the CHF Kim Hughes images from Heart Warmers to paper-piece for my focal image. The really tiny prints are from the cover sheet of my 12" x 12" paper collection, but since these are being produced in 6" x 6" pads, the scale is 1/4 what it is on the 12" x 12" papers--you won't need a cover sheet to get small patterns.
Next I stamped various trees on the small patterned paper pieces, and the tree trunks on a fifth paper piece.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch. . . For my focal image base, I stamped the tree image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Natural White cardstock and used my Copic Airbrush Systemand a BG15 Copic marker to airbrush the sky, with a Classic Plain Rectangle die as the mask. I did not mask the snow because I was using white felt to cut snow. (I think Ellen carries the BG13, but that would work the same--just a bit more subtle.) The Claudine Helmuth canvas would be nice for this too--more opaque. I used felt because it had more loft.
With my trimmed paper scraps, I pieced the trees and trunks, tucking the trunks behind my felt snow.
One thing bothered me about my sky and snow, however: it was too white and clean to coordinate perfectly with the patterned paper. A bit of airbrushing with a Copic E31marker took care of that little problem, giving my scene a gently aged look more suitable for the paper. (I could have used distress ink on the cardstock, but I wasn't sure how else to get felt snow toned down besides with my airbrush.)
I zig-zag stitched the two papers together and straight-stitched a border around the entire background to give a subtle mat effect.
Here is a close-up of my finished card, with a twill bow, button, and tag to complete it. So, what do you think of the Jolly by Golly? Mmmmmm--just what I was hoping for this Christmas! Thank you for visiting the CLASSroom today.
