Okay, don't faint ladies! Yes, it's Saturday and I've done my Bah!Humbug! challenge ALREADY this week. YEEHAW! I knew immediately what image (or at least which group of images) I was gonna use for the Baby's First Christmas challenge. 4 Crafty Chicks is also asking for a baby theme, as is Designed to Delight, WooHoo! I have the whole Santa's Nice List set from ADFD and chose this cutie in the stocking cap. The current ADFD challenge is "Flock Together" so I printed the image (flipped) 3 times so I could cut it apart and flock the pieces individually by running them face down through my Xyron and then reassembling them on the base image. (Does that make sense?)
Tell me this isn't the sweetest baby EVER! Well actually there are 3 other singles, a set of triplets, and a stocking just filled with a teddy and sweets in this set, but the stocking cap really did it for me because I could add a mini pompom. What little coloring there is is done with my Copics. The red part of the stocking is colored as well, before running through the Xyron and flocking, so the coverage is deep and even. The little dots on the toe and heel are mini adhesive beads I applied AFTER running through the Xyron but before adding the flock. The flock would have obscured the dots had I just colored them, and I was afraid of bleeding if I tried to touch them up after. The adhesive on the beads doesn't stick well to the flock, either, but applying glue after the fact is pretty messy so this solution worked well for me.
Besides the flocking, I wanted to add some additional texture for the Cardmadfairy's Texture Challenge and the Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday Challenge which is Embossing. I chose a Sizzix folder because the scallops echoed the Nestie scalloped mat but look what happened when I ran it through my Cuttlebug. I've had this happen with quite a few of the Sizzix folders, including those by Tim Holtz, and I was really bummed at how it actually cracked and ripped my cardstock because of the deep embossing.
Lucy McGoo's Wonder Goo to the rescue! Honestly, this stuff has been on my crafting table for MONTHS! I bought it at a Scrap Expo (I think) because it's supposed to help get a better impression when using those old embossing plates (rather than the folders) so I thought I'd give it a go and WOOHOO! A little spritz on the card stock, in the folder, and through the Cuttlebug and VOILA! No more cracking! I do, however suggest you leave it in the folder until the thing dries because it does have a tendency to curl more, but hey, small price to pay. I'd been getting kind of discouraged with these folders lately so I'm happy as a clam to find a solution. That link is the only place I found this stuff online, but I hate to mention a product with no link to where you can get it sooo... I also apologize for such a long post for such a simple card, but I finally seem to be coming out of my funk so I'm back to my old wordy self. LOL Anyway, I'm off to get boofy for the first holiday party of the season at my BFF's. Have a great rest of the weekend and go check out all of these fab challenges, if for no other reason than to oooohh and aaaahh at the DT inspiration.
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