I did it. Very under the pump towards the end there, but I finished my entry into the Coloring Virtuoso category for the MFT Superstar contest. And I’m so happy with how it turned out. Looks like an ordinary landscape A2 card, but when you open it up, there’s more fun on the inside.
I stamped a couple of penguins running into the scene to assist the little mouse decorating the tree. The sky that you see at the top is actually the inside.
In this photo the card is half open. I used the die with the snowbanks and trees from a coordinating die set to cut the top of my front. I traced on the back and used a knife and scissors to fussy cut a mirrored version of the die cut line for the the inside.
And this is it. Another Christmas tree, a couple of bunnies, a few more penguins and the rest of the sentiment. I had so much fun coloring this, and kept everything else very simple. I used the new Sending Christmas Joy die to die cut the letters for Christmas twice from Blue Breeze card stock. I glued the two layers together for each of the letters and added it below my horizon line. I’d planned this out carefully so there would be room between the stack of presents on the penguin’s head and the bunny’s ear on the right. I stamped the word Cheer from the Christmas Cheer stamp set in light blue ink right over my coloring. I’m glad I didn’t mess that up!
I thought I’d include some close ups. I wasn’t sure which color to choose for the sweater on this little mouse. I didn’t want it green, because it was next to the tree, and I didn’t want red, because there’s already enough of that. I figured why not go for the same “gold” color as I used for the baubles and the string on the tree. I think it worked out pretty good. I also wanted the tree to be a different green than the green I used for the clothing on the other animals, so I added some YG90s to the tree as well as the BG90s I’ve used elsewhere.
I love adding textured fur to my penguins. Penguins are usually lighter towards the underside of their “arms” (Flaps? Wings? What are they, really?), so I tried to mimic that a little in these ones. A lot of them also have yellow on their bellies. I couldn’t decide between gray or orange feet and beaks, so I went gray with a hint of orange. I think it turned out pretty good.
More gold, red and green. I never thought I’d use these colors on a Christmas card, they’re so not me. Adding texture on the fur of that tiny penguin was a challenge, but you can definitely see it, at least on his head.
I had no idea which colors to choose for my little fox, there are so many to choose from. In the end I think I ended up with a total of 6 colors for his fur, 8 if you include the lighter parts. I went with a warm gray ribbon on his present. I obviously couldn’t choose red or green, I already had those right next to it. The same was true of the E40s (his belly). I used warm grays on the last bunny as well, so it all ties together.
Speaking of – here he is. Warm gray fur, with a hint of E43 here and there. He’s holding a tiny candy cane, and I somehow managed to get 5 different red shades in there. I wanted it to look like he was entering the card from the right, so I made footprints behind him in the snow.
I used three different stamp sets and two die sets for this card, as well as an obscene amount of Copics.
Sweet Holiday Penguins stamp set.
Merry Wishes stamp set
Christmas Cheer stamp set
Christmas Cheer die set
Sending Christmas Joy die
Blue Breeze card stock
A total of 57 Copics. It’s actually 58, because for the sky I also used B90, which is a color I’ve created myself.
This is a small, but mighty one. It may look very unassuming as a 2-3/4″ square shaker card, but there’s a secret. It opens up to be quite big in the end. The shaker itself is filled with sequins, gems and a few die cuts in colored cardstock die cut using one of the dies in the Tag Builder Blueprint 5 set. I cut them down a little with my scissors and cut the ends off so they wouldn’t get tangled inside the shaker.
The gorilla from the Picture Perfect Party Animals stamp set covers the entire front, but there’s a magnetic flap on the back, and once you undo that, more is revealed.
Flip the gorilla over, and you’ve got more animals ready to join the party. I used the yellow polka dot pattern from the Party Patterns paper pad for even more fun and a way to get even more happy color into my card. These three panels are flaps that open to the sides (two to the right and one to the left) to reveal even more…
The last three (technically four, since there are two parrots in that one selfie) animals are ready to party. They’re tucked inside pockets, and I’ve stamped a couple of the sentiments that come with the stamp set onto Razzle Berry heavyweight cardstock from MFT and heat embossed them. That pink really packs a punch. I die cut my sentiments using the largest of the Fishtail Flag Frames dies, and cut down another patterned paper from the Party Patterns paper pad to strips that included the yellow, green and pink colors that I have throughout my card. I also added some die cut streamers from the Tag Builder Blueprint 5 die set using Razzle Berry, Pineapple and Limelight cardstock, all from MFT.
You can pull the selfies out of their pockets, and there’s room to write a personal message to the birthday boy or girl on the back of the selfies. The best thing about this card is that no specialty dies are required, this is all done with a paper trimmer, score board, bone folder, craft knife and a steel ruler. I prefer the craft knife and steel ruler over the paper trimmer, but that goes way back to my days of creating architectural models. Those knives are handy!
There you have it, my entry for the Innovation Master category for MFT’s annual superstar contest.
Papirmølla 