Kylie's Winners Hop - Watercolour/Snow Thank You Card

Wow, thank you so much to all of you who voted for my card, and helped me to win first place!!! Woohoo! I am so excited to be in the Top Ten again, with such artistic people. If you didn't see my card, there is a photo of it at the bottom of this blog post. 

This time around, I am able to participate in the Top Ten Winners Hop! I have been on a watercolour kick lately, so I am using one of the techniques I learned for the background of this card.  

For my winning card (see the bullrushes silhouette card below), I used an acrylic block watercolour smoosh technique. This time, I spritzed Shimmery White cardstock until it was fairly wet. Here's a handy tip: spritz the back of the cardstock too, and it will lessen the curling of the paper. Once the paper was wet, I added ink refill drops to the Shimmery White paper with a Water Painter, and just let the colours blend. I started with the lightest colour, and then added the darker ones. I used Balmy Blue, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point, and Highland Heather. Set this layer aside to dry--it's important to let the paper dry thoroughly before doing the next step. You can use a heat tool to speed up the process, if you like (or if you're impatient, like me).

I stamped the sentiment (from Snowflake Wishes) onto the dry background with Memento ink. The watercolour background was glued to a piece of Highland Heather cardstock with Stampin' Seal+ (which works really well to make the layer hold smoothly and completely--sometimes there can be issues with paper that was wet). I then adhered the card front to a Pacific Point card base with Dimensionals. 

The beautiful silver foil stitched frame was cut with Rectangle Stitched Dies, using the two largest rectangles, nested on my brand-new Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine (LOVE it!!) and cut in one step. I used two more favourite dies to cut some silver foil pieces to complete the card--Christmas Layers Dies for the snowflakes, and Stitched Stars Dies for the flourishes. Before I cut the silver pieces, I added an adhesive sheet to the back of the foil. This is a huge timesaver! Not only is it super-easy to glue the finely-detailed diecuts to the background, but when you lift the foil from the backing paper, the "bits" separate easily from the snowflakes and flourishes!! Easy-peasy!!!

I made one more version that's very similar. The matting is slightly different (I used the leftover silver foil from the inside of the first card's stitched rectangle, and cut again using the next smaller die), and I added white snowflakes this time, instead of silver. Which version of the card do you prefer?

This card is not only a great Thank You card ("Thank You Snow Much"--heehee! 😊), it would make a lovely Christmas card, as well!! Just choose another sentiment from the stamp set, such as "Snowflake Wishes for a Merry Christmas" or "May Your Season Sparkle".

Here is the card that allowed me to participate in today's International Highlights Top Ten Winners Blog Hop. Thank you again for voting! I really appreciate your support!!

Please be sure to check out the links below, to see the other cards made by the Top Ten Winners. They are all very talented! I am so honoured to be grouped among them!! Please leave a comment below, before you look at the other gorgeous cards.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

❤️ Kim

tams# 50723

Product List

Snowflake Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set [153444]	Christmas Layers Dies [150654]	Stitched Rectangles Dies [151820]	Stitched Stars Dies [150653]	Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [101910]
Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [147168]	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [131156]	Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [111840]	Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [147167]	Water Painters [151298]
Highland Heather 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146986]	Pacific Point 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [111350]	Stampin' Seal [152813]	Stampin' Seal+ [149699]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]