I struggled a bit with the newest prompt at Jingle Belles - "primarily feature the color red." I'm not sure why, but nothing inspired me until I watched someone sponge two colors onto a piece of foiled designer series paper. I used one color, a different piece of paper, and a brayer instead of a sponge, but it was definitely the inspiration I needed:
stamp set - Brightest Glow; ink - Really Red, Versamark; Stampin' Emboss powder - Gold; designer series paper - Most Adored (Sale-A-Bration); card stock - Real Red; Stampin' Cut dies: Thoughtful Expressions
I can't decide whether I wish I'd worked harder to get the background color more even, or if I like the variegated look better - I stopped with a variegated look, so let's say that's my preferred look. Either way, I really enjoyed the process with the newest Stampin' brayer! I have both the softer rubber brayer and the sponge brayers we used to offer, but this one was much easier to work with.
I was cleaning up a bit yesterday and found these die-cut letters I hadn't used last month. They would have looked stunning on a white background if not for the hint of green peeking out from the underlayer. The pine boughs die cut I've had for a few years provided some green for the background, but then I needed a "buffer" so the word didn't disappear. I decided my newest dies would be exactly right for a vellum layer, pulling together something old and something new for the current Jingle Belles challenge:
After painstakingly weeding out the pinecones and boughs, I remembered why I don't use that die set more often, but it's worth it for a special card
