2018 #22 C&S Christmas: Whimsical Cards with Zinski Art {by Josefine Fouarge}

 2018 Topic 22: Clean and Simple Christmas Ideas

It's so satisfying when you can make your own coordinating papers from scratch. Josefine shares how with her Frescos and wonderful Zinski Art stamps with a dress-a-bear brief...this would keep the kids quiet at Christmas too!!!! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, Josefine here and I'm super excited to share my "clean & simple" Christmas cards with you. Clean and simple usually means one layer and white space. I stretched this a little bit. The project is still clean & simple (for me)!

Usually, I add a lot of layers of paints and patterns to my projects, so it was exciting to try something different and challenge myself. Even though, my cards have a few more layers, they are still simple designs. Enjoy!

I started by coloring my characters from the Zinsky set ZA35. 

But instead of just stamping and coloring them I decided to paper-piece them. To do that, I prepared a variety of scrap pieces of paper and brayered paint onto them. 

One in a brown tone using Taupe (FF60), Caramel (FF75) and Stone (FF59)

One in green using Hey Pesto  (FF49), Winter Green (FF118) and Green Patina (FF126)

One in red using London Bus (FF37), Peach Nectar (FF144) and  Lemon Meringue (FF142) 

And one in pink (using Blah-Mange (FF140), Vintage Lace (FF18) and  Eggshell (FF138).

Next, I stamped the bears. Not just once, but several times onto the differently colored paper.

Now I cut out all the pieces. The entire bear once, then just the trouser or the hat from the other colored pieces.

Once I had all the pieces cut out, I adhered them together. It's important to cut the main piece entirely, so all the smaller pieces have a base they can be adhered to.

Now I prepared the background of my card. First, I blended some Lemon Meringue (FF142) to the card stock.

... and then I used PS116 to add a Christmas tree with Green Patina (FF126) and Taupe (FF60).

Then I moved the stencil just a bit to the right and blended the tree again, using Winter Green (FF118).

Finally, I added a few snowflakes with Snowflake Color Fresco Paint (FF15) and the bear and adhered everything onto a card base.

I did the same for the second card.

The only difference is that I stenciled "Merry and Bright" from the PS117 stencil.

Aren't these bears just adorable? The good thing is that they can be used for so much more than just Christmas cards. The one with the glasses is the perfect California bear ;)
It's so easy to "color" them and put the individual pieces together.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoy this topic and checkout all the other posts from the design team.

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There will be no challenge for this topic as we know you are super busy in the lead up to Christmas! So kick back and enjoy the inspiration from our designers instead!