It's Friday and that means, time for another Guest Designer post at So Suzy Stamps.  

Today, I'm featuring the Vintage Sleigh stamp and the sentiment, Dashing Through the Snow, which can coordinate with the "Happiness Is" series of stamps.

 To begin, I directly inked my embossing folder, on the raised part, then inserted a piece of watercolor paper and embossed with my Cuttlebug.  After embossing, I used my waterbrush pen to distribute some of the color onto the white parts of my paper.

 Be sure and let your paper dry thoroughly before proceeding to the next step.  

You'll need:

I use the Tim Holtz Picket Fence Distress Paint dabber, and just dab onto my acrylic block, then spritz with a bit of water.   Dip the wet toothbrush into the mixture and spray with your thumb.  Use a small paintbrush to add larger dots on your project.  Let dry completely.  Since waterpaper sometimes buckles or warps after painting, I like to run it through my Xyron 9" Creative Station to get full edge to edge coverage.  It makes such a big difference when adding it to cardstock.  A craft iron would work as well, to smooth out the warping.

For the sleigh, I used the same ink as I did for the trees.... Colorbox Saddle archival dye ink.  I wanted to keep the color scheme with the same earth tones.

Once I fussy cut my image, I trimmed off the "rails" on the sleigh and ran it through my Xyron sticker maker so as not to tear it, then applied it directly to my card.  I popped up the sleigh bed itself, with foam squares to give it added dimension. 

I even made a cozy blanket for riding in the sleigh, cutting up a May Arts Ribbon Rosette and adding some mini pom pom trim.  The snow was made with Flower Soft in Polar White and Flower Soft glue, purchased from Suzy's shop.  I love that she has so many great accessories for cardmaking.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention.... I took a craft knife to those sleigh rails.  Initially, I wanted the wooded background to show through the sleigh at the bottom, but then I went with snow.  Still, I think it gives it a more realistic look, to cut out those intricate spaces.  What do you think?

Lastly, the sentiment was stamped on vellum with the same ink and embossed with clear embossing powder, then embellished with DoubleClick Skittles Bubble embellishments, also available on Suzy's website. 

This was so much fun to make.  I hope you learned a new tip or trick and got a good dose of inspiration from these amazing stamps!  Stop by back by next Friday for my last Guest Designer post for January.  Thanks again for having me, Suzy!

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