April Christmas cards: Polar bear parade

For this month's Christmas cards, I decided to pull out an old favorite stamp set I haven't used in awhile and finish up a partially used pack of Designer Series Paper (DSP) from a few years ago. The result was a polar bear parade.

Supplies:
Stamps: Polar Bears (Stampin' Up!), Christmas Sampler (Paper Smooches)
Paper: Whisper White, thick Whisper White card stock (Stampin' Up!); All Is Calm Specialty DSP (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Pretty Peacock, Basic Gray (Stampin' Up!); Pretty Peacock, Old Olive, Mint Macaron, Smoky Slate, Blush, Bronze Blends/Blendabilities markers (Stampin' Up!); W1 Sketch marker (Copic)
Accessories: Large and Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables dies (Lawn Fawn), white rhinestones (Taylored Expressions), foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute)

I used a very simple layout, with one piece of DSP covering the card base, another piece across the middle (either horizontally or vertically), and then the stamped image and sentiment on a panel of white card stock in the middle of the card base. I was able to make 12 card bases, so I used each polar bear image for four cards.

I used alcohol markers to color the images, but I didn't have the same colors as those that were in the DSP. So I tested some similar colors and found several good substitutes: light Old Olive instead of Pear Pizzazz, light Pretty Peacock instead of Lost Lagoon, and light Mint Macaron instead of Soft Sky. (I actually do have the old Soft Sky Blendabilities markers, but the color did not look right with the DSP; Mint Macaron was actually much closer.) If I'd had to color larger images, these substitutions might not have worked as well, but for the little bit of coloring on these cards, they were perfect. It also helped that the colors in the DSP had a watercolor look with variations in the shading, instead of one solid color.

I finished the cards with a few white rhinestones for just a little sparkle. I even managed to use up that pack of rhinestones, too!

With these twelve cards done, I had a few bigger scraps of DSP left, so I pulled out some other dies and punches and made two additional cards.

Additional supplies:
Paper: Lost Lagoon, Smoky Slate card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Big Peace Sugar Script die (Birch Press Design), Hexagon punch (Stampin' Up!), Perfect Pines Frame dies (Stampin' Up!), Snowflake Confetti die (Taylored Expressions), rhinestones (Stampin' Up!), shimmer spray (Avery Elle), leftover pieces from Paper Pumpkin kit (larger snowflakes)

I think these two cards were harder to make than the polar bear design because I was trying to figure out how to most efficiently use the DSP scraps. But I think I was pretty successful because I only threw out a few small pieces. And I have fourteen more Christmas cards done!

Thanks for stopping by!