A change of colors

As addicted as I am to all things papercrafting, I rarely buy individual rubber stamps anymore. They're typically more expensive (per stamp) than a set, and sometimes it's hard to find other stamps that coordinate. But once in a while I fall in love with a stamp, and I can't pass it by. That's what happened a couple of weeks ago when I was shopping with a friend and noticed a stamp of a cardinal sitting in winter trees, surrounded by snowflakes. It was such a peaceful image, and it was different from anything I already had. So I bought it, and today I used it to make two Christmas cards.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamp: Cardinal in Trees (Paper Source)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Smoky Slate
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Real Red, Smoky Slate
Accessories: Snowflakes embossing folder (Sizzix), Real Red 1/8" taffeta ribbon, rhinestones, Dimensionals

I used the same layout for both cards and just changed the colors of the image and card base. I love how just that one difference changes the feel of the card. For the card on the left, I used markers to color directly on the rubber of the stamp; it was a bit tricky with all the little tree branches and snowflakes, but it was worth the effort. For the card on the right, I used an ink pad to cover the whole rubber stamp with Smoky Slate ink. I used a small piece of cardstock to rub the ink off the cardinal portion of the stamp and then colored it with a Real Red marker.

But wait, that's not all. I decided to make one more version of this card:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamp: Cardinal in Trees (Paper Source)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Real Red, Crushed Curry
Accessories: Woodgrain embossing folder, Real Red 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Dimensionals

Again I used the same basic layout, but with a few different colors, I changed not just the feel of the card, but also the season! I colored the "snowflakes" with Crushed Curry to turn them into falling autumn leaves and used Always Artichoke for the ground. I did use Crushed Curry cardstock for the mat instead of Very Vanilla because I wanted to pull out the color of the leaves. The texture from the Woodgrain embossing folder makes the perfect finishing touch.

Now maybe I'll make a card with the ground green and the "snowflakes" blue ... would they look like raindrops? Thanks for stopping by!