Hi, and thanks for visiting my guest designer post for Maker Forte! I have a snowy shaker card for you using the “Oh What Fun” stamp set. It’s a collaboration with Maker Forte and Alex Syberia.
I love this stamp set; there are so many possibilities and holiday projects you can create. This time I wanted to use the ornament shapes to make a card that I could quickly reproduce with minimal coloring.
Once again, I’m using the limited edition Rebellion Red from Maker Forte. I’m also using the Maker Forte glitter “Snow Flurries”. They have so many embellishments on their site to do amazing projects. You can get this stamp set, paper, and glitter to make this snowy shaker card at www.makerforte.com.
I wanted a card that would be easy to reproduce and I didn’t want to do a lot of coloring. Embossing is one way to add color and texture to your projects. I started by making a mask for the main ornament and the focal point for my card. I knew that I wanted to make an arrangement of multiple ornaments; making a mask is one way you can show dimension on your projects.
Once the mask was in place, I heat embossed an ornament on either side of my mask. I really like red and gold together. It gives that classic holiday feel to a project, don’t you think? So, I used gold embossing powder, and heat embossed the two ornaments on the side of my card’s focal area.
I felt that the ornaments in the background needed to stand out more. So, I used some of the smaller stamps from the set (the stars and snowflakes) to add interest.
First, though, I drew a line for the stars. I wanted to make sure they’d be straight when I stamped them on the image. I just eyeballed the snowflakes in a random pattern on the other image.
Next, I decided instead to just emboss another ornament in the middle in a different color. Then, I’d be able to create a shaker out of it. So I used two circle dies, one slightly smaller than the other, to create several rings. I also wanted to add something to the inside of the shaker. I opted for the Christmas tree with a star on top (I know coloring, but I didn’t think it was a difficult coloring job, and it adds to my project).
Without the Christmas tree, I think my card would be pretty flat without a lot of interest.
I glued all the rings together before adhering them to the card front, just in case I was a little messy with the glue. This process doesn’t have to be perfect, but you want to make sure that the rings are stacked together nicely, or your shaker will be misshapen.
I adhered the single stack of circles to the card, making sure to line up with the string and bow so the ornament isn’t hanging in the air. Then, I used my anti-static powder tool inside the circle to ensure that the glitter would move around once I added the acetate. I then glued the Christmas tree in place and added the Maker Forte’s “Snow Flurries” glitter to my shaker.
This can be a messy process. Usually, I have a piece of paper under a project to catch any excess glitter for easy cleanup. I ended up adding just a few stars to the glitter because I thought it needed a little something extra. I may have put a little too much glitter in the shaker, but in the end, I liked the way it looked.
Next, I glued a piece of acetate, cut from the larger circle die. The final ring was embossed with sparkly white embossing powder and then glued to the acetate. I put a clear acrylic block on top, gave the glue a little time to dry, and added weight to the rings so they didn’t come apart.
Finally, I cut my card front down to 5 ¼ X 4 and cut a piece of gold card stock to 5 3/8 X 4 1/8. I then glued it onto a Red Rebellion card base, added the “Merry Christmas” sentiment to the bottom half of the card, and done.
I really like how this snowy shaker card turned out, and I can’t wait to send it out to friends and family this holiday season.
It’s been great being a guest designer for Maker Forte. Make sure to check out all the great products available on their site to do your own projects for the holidays. I wish you the happiest and joyous of holiday seasons.
