Christmas Blueprint Accordion and a card

Hello and welcome! Karen Burniston's November designer challenge is to do a project using red and the new Stitched Framelits. I made a Christmas Blueprint Accordion album, as well as a card.

 

This is a quick and simple accordion card, using just a few inks, stamps and of course paper. I used red kraft-core cardstock for the frames and watercolour paper for the main panels. Tim Holtz Blueprint stamps fit perfectly together with the 3-D Accordion Flip die, and I have used this combination before (check out this Valentine's card), but not for Christmas.

 

I always photograph the different panels before assembling the accordion card, but I finished this late at night and totally forgot. It is so much easier to photograph them before the accordion is assembled. The panels were die cut from watercolour paper with the Labels & Stitched Frames die, which coordinates with the Accordion Flip die. The four blueprint stamps were stamped with Archival Ink Jet Black. Since I was planning to watercolour them, I had to use a waterproof ink. 

I smeared Distress Inks (Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Barn Door, Iced Spruce) on my craft sheet, misted once with water and picked up the ink with a paint brush. The images were watercoloured, making them darker where the crosshatching is.

After watercolouring the images, I felt that the surrounding area needed something extra. Biscotti Perfect Pearls was misted on my craft sheet and painted around the images, covering all the blank watercolour paper. The effect is so hard to photograph, but looks really shimmery in real life. Antique Linen Distress Paint was rubbed into the sentiment on the word band.

This ice skate is my favorite image. I used Iced Spruce for the blade. The edges were inked with Gathered Twigs.

I sanded the frames and stamped them with snowflakes and sentiments, using Jet Black ink. The snowflake stamp comes from the Tim Holtz special edition set which is included in the Simon Says Stamp Holiday Card Kit inspired by Tim Holtz.

Hearts were die cut from grungeboard with the Flower & Heart die and coated with Fired Brick Distress Glitter.

I rubbed a little bit of Antique Linen paint into the token and sanded the top.

After adhering the panels to the frames, I realised that I had forgotten to do the stitching. Luckily, I hadn't joined the panels together yet, so I could easily run the whole thing through my Big Shot with the stitching die. The new magnetic platform makes this so easy, no more shifting of the paper. Love it. I used the Bracket, Frame & Label die to cut a red frame for the front of the card, you could also leave it kraft.

 

I need more Christmas cards, so I made a quick card too:

 

Red kraft-core cardstock was used for the card base and embossed in the Swirls folder. I sanded and inked it. The banner was die cut from watercolour paper, and watercoloured with Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap. For an extra layer, I used the kraft back of the Bracket, Frame & Label leftover when I die cut the frame for the front of the accordion card. It was stamped with the snowflake stamp.

 

The focal panel was done exactly the same way as for the accordion card, adding the stitched border before adhering it to the card.

The stitched border adds such a nice touch and is super easy.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Happy Christmas crafting!!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Tim Holtz Core'dinations Kraft-Core cardstock; Canson Montval watercolour paper; Tim Holtz Idea-ology Grungeboard
Dies: Sizzix: 3-D Accordion Flip Album, Labels & Stitched Frames, Bracket, Frame & Label, Banners & Borders, Flower & Heart,
Embossing folder: Sizzix: Trellis & Swirls set
Stamps: Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous: Simple Sayings, Christmas Blueprint 2, Holiday stamps included in the Simon Says Stamp Holiday Card Kit inspired by Tim Holtz
Ink: Distress Ink: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Gathered Twigs, Barn Door, Iced Spruce; Archival Ink: Jet Black
Mist: Ranger Perfect Pearls: Biscotti
Glitter: Distress Glitter: Fired Brick
Paint: Distress Paint Antique Linen
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Christmas Muse Tokens, Christmas Word Bands; pearls