Hi everyone! Because it’s never too early to start making Christmas cards, today I am back for the first one I created this season using Mama Elephant stamps and dies.
I used the A Beary Christmas stamp set, and, because it has the image of a bear holding a candle, I decided to challenge myself and create an outdoor night scene with the candle as the only light source. As a coloring medium I picked Spectrum Noir markers, and as a very first step I arranged the stamps as I wanted them to be in the final card and took a picture with my phone. This way, at every step during the coloring, I knew exactly where all the images were going to be positioned with respect to the light source.
I then stamped them all with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink on Neenah Solar White 110 lb cardstock and started coloring them. I first blocked the highlight areas with a light yellow marker and then added shading with my colors of choice. Here is a color chart I created for you to use as a reference, in case you’d like to try to reproduce this card.
Once I was done coloring the images I cut them with my EK Success Cutterbee Scissors. I ran a Memento Tuxedo Black marker along the cut edges, so that they look nice and clean.
For the background of my scene I die cut two hillsides using the Mama Elephant Landscape Trio Dies and the panel for the sky. I chose Bristol Smooth cardstock by Strathmore because I wanted to do some ink blending with Distress Inks.
As a first step I determined where the candle was going to end up on the final card, and from that point outwards I blended Mustard Seed Distress Ink using a finger dauber and circular motions. I then blended the inks I chose for my sky around this yellow light glow, following a circular pattern. I used Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot. I added stars using the Yellow Gold color in the Gansai Tamby Starry Palette. I masked the area around the yellow glow because there the stars would not be visible through the light of the candle.
For the hillsides, I extended the yellow glow in the areas where I thought it would fall, and then added shading to the lower portions of the hills using Tumbled Glass, Shaded Lilac and Weathered Wood.
I then assembled my scene, gluing everything down with Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive.
I also decorated the inside of the card, where I decided to have my sentiment. It comes from the Mama Elephant Cross My Heart set, and I stamped it with Memento Dew Drops. For the word “together” I layered Danube Blue and Elderberry, and for the saying “is a nice place to be” I used Love Letters. And I think this is a lovely sentiment to go with this cute and cozy card, which is perfect to wish Merry Christmas to your family members. ❤️ As a final step, I stamped a few images from the A Beary Christmas set with London Fog ink, and that completed my card. 
And if you want to see exactly how I made it, you can watch the video down below or directly on my YouTube channel
And that’s it for today! I really hope you guys liked this card and enjoyed this post.
I will be back soon with another fun project and in the meantime I wish you all a great day!
List of Supplies
Mama Elephant A Beary Christmas Stamp Set
Mama Elephant Cross My Heart Stamp Set
Mama Elephant Landscape Trio Dies
Lawn Fawn Large Stitched Rectangle Stackables
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Spectrum Noir Markers
Gansai Tambi Starry Colors
Neenah Solar White 110lb Cardstock
Mondy Color Copy 300gsm White Cardstock (card base)
Strathmore Bristol Smooth Cardstock
Distress Inks – Mustard Seed, Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot, Shaded Lilac, Weathered Wood
Memento Dew Drops – Love Letters, London Fog, Danube Blue, Elderberry
Ranger Mini Ink Blender
Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
Memento Tuxedo Black marker
Memento Tuxedo Black marker
EK Success Cutterbee Scissors
Tonic Studios Maxi Guillotine Trimmer
WeR Memory Keepers Score Board
Sizzix Big Shot Express Die Cutting Machine
Comments
This is a stunning piece of artwork! I love how you arranged things ahead of time to locate the light source (candle)…you do beautiful work! Thanks for sharing the colors and the video.
An absolutely charming, delightful card, Laura! The critters are darling and using the candle as your light source adds such a warm, toasty glow. I'd love to step into this scene and help with the decorating! I'm not sure how you could giveaway this pretty work of art…I'd be so tempted to keep it as part of my Christmas home decor. Again, your video is awesome!
hugs~carol
Beautiful card.