The little things that make me happy here on Bliss Road~~Emily Keaton

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Pinecone Christmas Ornament

This past week when my mojo was severely lacking, I visited, revisited, and revisited some more an idea for a card I wanted to enter in Flourishes' Timeless Tuesday Challenge #139: to make a Christmas card that features an ornament. It took forever for this to come together--I couldn't decide which approach I liked better for several aspects of the design, so I tried them all! By the time I finalized everything, I had completed four versions of this card. My stack of Christmas cards that I can mail to friends and family in December is growing!!
Flourishes also sponsors a Christmas Spirit Challenge over at SplitcoastStampers. The October challenge is to make something on your card shine like fresh candy! I decided to make this vintage-style pinecone ornament from Flourishes' All That Glitters set look
shiny just like a an old-fashioned mercury glass ornament. I figured some shiny pearlescent paper would be perfect, but didn't have any the color I wanted. Hmmm. I thought this over for a while and did some experimenting. I think I've come up with a way to make my own pearlescent paper!

All it takes is a piece of cardstock in the desired color and some white nail polish. To make my pearlescent paper, I simply painted on a somewhat uniform layer of polish on the cardstock and let it dry completely.
Then I was able to stamp directly on my pearly surface just as I would any other glossy surface, allowing plenty of time to dry. (**Because of the flammable nature of acetone, the active ingredient in nail polishes, do not attempt to use a heat tool with nail-polish-treated paper, neither for drying nor heat embossing.**)
Finally, I experimented with ways to add "snow" to my pinecone ornaments: coloring with a white gel pen or adhering glitter to carefully selected areas primed with glue.
Although it was a long process to finally complete these cards, I just love how they turned out! Kind of a clean and simple design meets shabbily vintage details. Yup, that's my little slice of happy for today!

Thanks for dropping by!
Emily

Card Recipe: 
Stamps: Flourishes All That Glitters, Flourishes O Christmas Tree 
Paper: K&Co Tim Coffey Fall Pad patterned paper, kraft CS, hazelnut tan CS
Ink: Versafine vintage sepia, Ranger tea dye distress
Accessories: white gel pen, Pink Paislee glitter, glue pen, sewing machine, foam tape, hemp twineTechniques: machine stitching, ink distressing

28 comments:

Erin (Homemade Cards by Erin) said...

I'd never known your mojo was missing, fabulous cards.

Pam said...

Love your Christmas cards Emily! And what a neat trick using nail polish! Now you can pearl up anything!!
Pam

Marisa said...

You clever girl you :) Love the sparkle on the pine cones and BG DP.

Jen W. said...

This is gorgeous, Emily! I love everything about it - the warm colours, the stripy, crackled background, the pine needles peeking in from the top and, of course, the fabulous ornaments!

Emily (stampingout on SCS) said...

What a beautiful set of card, Em. I just love that pinecone ornament. I have one I hang on the tree every year that was my husband's grandmothers. Made me think of that very special ornament. :)

Kristie W. said...

Beautiful cards! I love the pinecone and your card design is great!

Debbie Carriere said...

Oh my, Emily!! These are absolutely gorgeous!! Love the earthy feel and the touch of sparkle - truly beautiful! And, I do believe you found your mojo :)

~amy~ said...

Emily...my new fav design by YOU...I love them! nail polish...would never of thought of that...very fun...those pinecones remind me of the vintage mercury glass ornaments!

lisa arana said...

Soooo creative. I love how you created your pine cone and how you turned it into an ornament! beautiful.

Anita said...

Gorgeous Christmas cards Emily. I love how your pinecones turned out and the clean design is perfect for cards that need to be mailed.

Unknown said...

What a beautiful Christmas card..
Your pine-cone looks wonderful.. Goes so well with the background you chose..

Hope you are having a nice weekend..

Hugs, Linda

Meg said...

Wow, that homemade pearlescent paper turned out so cool! Definitely an awesome shabby/vintage/shiny result. Love the stamped and sewn accents on the final card, too.

Auntie Em said...

Your pinecone cards are so pretty! I love the idea of trying some nailpolish. Who knew? The pretty striped background and the little touch of branches at the top are so nice.
Smart you getting your cards all ready ahead of time!
Thanks for sharing! :)

nwilliams6 said...

Emzi, this is so wonderful. I love all the details you shared - but it looks way too hard for me. Where do you come up with these great ideas? I have never heard of people using fingernail polish to make a card - but from you it doesn't surprize me.

Silke Ledlow said...

Emily, check it out...these are two gorgeous CAS cards! The ornament is fabbo too...you know I love the sparkles..hugs ~S~

Benzi said...

I really love this card, Emily. First, I love pinecones for Christmas and also like the crackled paper...such an old look. Good idea with the nail polish. I think that means your mojo is back. LOL

Mona Pendleton said...

Beautiful card Emily! Love the shimmer pine cone ornament!

yyam said...

These are fabulous Emily! Love the glittered "snow"! :)

Looks like the mojo's back!

Kary said...

Wow, Emily, these cards are beautiful!! Fabulous design, and I love the glitters on the pinecone. A wonderful set of Christmas cards!

Jocelyn Olson said...

Ha ha! Your process for making cards sounds like mine. :) I LOVE how your final cards look. The pinecone ornaments look fantastic!!! Thanks for sharing all your steps. I've used a heat gun on nailpolish before (on paper, not my nails--LOL!), and it bubbles up....I never thought about its flammability. Yikes!

Bonnie said...

Such lovely cards with the sparkling pine cone ornaments! The background is perfect with them. Painting with nail polish sounds interesting. Did you use that itty, bitty brush?

Jessi Fogan said...

Super cool - I especially like the idea of the nail polish. Lots cheaper, and you can get it anywhere. If I try it, though, I'm going to be imagining your voice in my head "Don't use the heat gun. Hey! Put those matches down!" lol
I love all the different takes - and all the different 'snows' you tried :)

Colleen Dietrich said...

Nail polish - now that's what I call creative! I really like how these cards turned out, with the frosty snow adorning the pinecones. Also, the placement of everything, and the earthy tones are top notch. ;) And now you've got more for your stash!

Dawn B. said...

Wow this is gorgeous. I love love love the earthy feel to this card. Great job Emily.

WinterBerry Glen said...

love your card and seeing your creative process at work. i'm a follower now!

Carol Hurlock said...

Nail polish??? Is there no end to your creativity Emily. I am in love with this pretty card. I like how vintage looking it is. Great job on those pine-cones too.

Bear Hugs,
Carol

Carol Hurlock said...

Nail polish??? Is there no end to your creativity Emily. I am in love with this pretty card. I like how vintage looking it is. Great job on those pine-cones too.

Bear Hugs,
Carol

Crafty Math Chick said...

So soft & pretty! I love the sparkly snow details on these rustic pinecones.
~Meredith