Blended Summer Tree Christmas Card

 

So I decided to make another blended tree christmas card to go with my engineering tree christmas card. This time I wanted to use little stamp images that matched a summer theme. The reason being that I live in New Zealand and we have christmas in summer. To add motivation to the cause I decided to also try and complete the card fast enough so I could enter this month's CAS christmas card challenge, a link to which you can find below...

https://caschristmascardchallenge.blogspot.com/2020/11/cas-christmas-november-2020-challenge.html

To make sure I tied into this month's challenge, I went with a blue blended/ombre background for the tree. Unfortunately, I did make a mistake with my stamping so to cover it up I added another piece of card on top of the original card front. It only adds one layer so hopefully still within rules of the challenge to have minimal layers; anyway, happy to have another card finished and sharing this design.

If you want to see a video on how I make these kinds of cards click the link below for the video below:

https://youtu.be/Sjdd-1c5JW4

 

Just like my previous blended engineering tree christmas card, I used a triangle cut out to mask around which makes the 'tree' shape on the card front. My card front is an A6 notecard and I tape it down to my stamping platform.

I use Altenew crisp dye inks in, sea glass, ocean waves and dusk to blend a blue ombre background within the triangle tree using my blending brushes.

Blue ombre blended background

I then gather all my summer themed stamp sets and select the small image stamps and arrange as many as I can fit onto/within the masked triangle. After this I close the door on my stamping platform to grab the stamps.

Arranging all the little summer themed stamps inside triangle tree

I used gina k designs amalgam ink in jet black to ink and stamp the images onto the card front. I ink and stamp a couple of times to make sure I get a good stamped images.

Then I clean my stamps using a baby wipe. I take the small heart stamp and using an acrylic block along with the same black ink as before, I ink and stamp the small image multiple times in various orientations to fill in the gaps in the triangle tree.

Stamped images

Using an acrylic block I once again inked and stamped  a 'merry christmas' sentiment stamp  below the triangle tree image to portray a stump of the tree.

Unfortunately, I didn't stamp it very well and it looked horrible. So, to cover it up I took another piece of A6 sized cardstock, cut out the triangle and overlaid it on top of the card front hide the poor stamping.

I then stamped the 'merry christmas' sentiment stamp using StazOn saddle brown ink onto this piece of cardstock using my stamping platform. I also, grabbed a black sharpie marker and colored in the inner edge of the triangle frame to give it a bit of definition.

 

Frame overlay with stamped sentiment and colored frame

Next step was I used double-sided tape to adhere this new frame to the card front, making sure to frame lined up with the triangle tree shape. Then trimmed off any excess.

As usual, I then adhere the card front to a card base this time a silver card base.

Frustratingly, I realised using a sharpie to color the edge of the frame was not a good idea because the ink bled and made the framing look untidy. To fix this I grabbed a black gel pen and a ruler and drew  black lines along the edge of the frame over the top of the bleeding ink. 

Unfortunately, I already sent the card by the time I got around to typing up posting this blog post so I don't have a photo of the final 'tidied up' card, just a photo of before I fixed it but after the card front was adhered to the card base.

Finished card (before I fixed the bleeding ink)

I enjoyed making this card and I like the final design better than the previous versions. I also like that I can change the theme of the little stamps I use to fill the tree triangle to suit a certain genre or interests of the person I intend to send it to.

Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you found something useful or interesting.

Happy crafting!

Mel Crafting

 

Blended Engineering Tree Christmas Card

 

I previously did a basic engineering tree christmas card which was a single layer card and I did it mainly to enter a CAS christmas card challenge. However as part of the creative process, I wasn't fully happy with it and as I mentioned in my blog post, I honestly felt it could be improved. So, I decided to try and improve the card. As you'll see below, the main change is adding a blended background to the tree but I think it improves the card a lot.

For the process video showing how I made the improved engineering tree christmas card, click on the following link or watch the video below:

https://youtu.be/Sjdd-1c5JW4

The first step in making this card was to make a cardboard mask. I spent a lot of time getting a nice triangle to arrange my engineering stamps into and I liked the size and shape so to save time, I cut a piece of card that covered the 'tree triangle' on the original card.

Making a triangle mask

I then used that triangle cut out as a template to mask around on the new card front. I used 300gsm white card stock cut to A6 size for my card front taped to the inside of my stamping platform, which is a We R Memory Keepers precision press. Quite simply, I placed the triangle where I wanted my tree shape and taped around it with washi tape. Now I know where to arrange my engineering tool stamps and I can ensure that I get a crisp triangle image for my tree. The bonus of creating the triangle cut out is that I can now create other christmas cards with a similar design and tailor the theme of the tree to different genres, crafts or industries depending on who the recipient will be.

Washi taping around triangle mask

After masking it was time to create the blended background. I stuck with the traditional green hue for the tree and used three Ranger archival inks, "Olive,"Leaf Green" and "Sap Green." To do the blending I used a blending brush I bought off Aliexpress.

Colour blending the tree

Next step is to stamp the engineering tools inside the triangle tree shape to make this an engineering tree christmas card. I arranged stamps from Altenew's Engineers Rule stamp set inside the triangle with slight overlap over the edge to try and fill the triangle as much as possible. Then I closed the door on my stamping platform to collect all the stamps. 

Placing small engineer tool stamps in triangle

 

Using my Jet Black Gina K Designs Amalgam ink, I inked and then stamped the stamps. I ink and stamp the stamps a few times to make sure I get I good image. I also pressed down hard on my platform and rubbed it with my sleeve to ensure even contact across all the stamps. To make sure I didn't accidentally stamp onto areas outside the triangle, I strategically placed a couple of post-it notes.

Placing post-it notes to protect card front outside of triangle

Used gina k designs amalgam ink in jet black to stamp images in triangle

Grabbing a baby wipe, I clean the stamps and then grab the smallest image (a screw) and placed it onto an acrylic block. I then tried to fill the gaps inside the triangle using this little stamp.

 

Using small stamp and acrylic block to fill in the gaps

 

To finish off the card front I decided to stamp "merry christmas" under the triangle (this stamp is from a stamp set I bought off Aliexpress). I chose this particular stamp because the size and arrangement of the text meant I could stamp it under the triangle to symbolise the stump of a tree. I stamped this sentiment stamp using a Stazon ink pad in 'Saddle Brown' and an acrylic block.

Stamping 'merry christmas' below tree

Used StazOn in Saddle Brown ink for sentiment

As I wanted a border or mounting for the card front, I decided to trim down the card front.

Trimming the card front to fir card base with border

Finally, I use double sided tape to attach the card front to a dark green A6 card base. I used 180gsm card but I should have used a card base with more weight as it did feel a little floppy.

Using double tape to adhere card front to card base

And that's another finished card!

Finished blended engineer tree christmas card

Here is another card I made using the same technique. Instead of engineer tools stamps I used summer themed stamps to give it a warm summer christmas feel. I'll link to the blog post of how I made that card here too once I complete the post.

Summer Christmas Tree Christmas Card

 

If you are interested in my original engineering tree christmas card, click on the following link: https://craftyepicurean.com/cas-engineer-xmas-card/

 

If you want to see the process video for the original card click the following link or watch the video below: https://youtu.be/un6lx4D1nJI

Happy crafting!

Mel Crafting.