"One Stamp, Five Ways" - SSS December 2019 Card Kit "Gnome For the Holidays"

Today the December card kit called Gnome For The Holidays was released from Simon Says Stamp. I have a "one stamp, five ways" post to share with you today using the kit. I try to always focus on the stamp set, but I did also use the Lil Gnome die and the Christmas Gnome Home stencil in the kit. I didn't use any of the papers though as I went with a very different color theme (kept with my preference of bright colors). Here is an image of the kit:

The stamp set is also called Gnome For the Holidays and it is sold alone if you want to purchase it by itself. The Lil Gnome die is sold alone and the Christmas Gnome Home stencil is sold alone. There is also a die set that goes with the stamps OR you can buy the stamps and dies as a bundle - so many purchasing options! Here are my five cards with LOTS of details. Let me know if you like all this detail because if no one says they do, I will stop typing so much haha. If just one person says to continue, I will happily do it. haha

CARD 1:  Merry Christmas

I went a little crazy on this one - well, actually on all of them this time! I primarily used the stencil in the kit on this card. I started by using a regular old pencil to trace inside the lines of the stencil for the trees and the house and all the details on the house (windows, door, chimney, etc.). I overlapped the trees behind the house. I then outlined them with colored pencils (over the pencil) and then colored them all in with Copic Markers. I used Tonic Moonstone Glimmer Paste over the ground to look like snow. I stamped the snowflakes from the stamp set with Hero Arts Unicorn white ink. I used a white Uniball over any areas that didn't show up enough. I added snow to the trees and the roof and then dots on the sky with several things (any of them work, but I like using them all!): Ranger Diamond Glitter Glue, Ranger Frosted Lace Glitter Glue, and White Blizzard Nuvo Drops. Then when they were all still wet, I poured some Nuvo Ice White Glitter over the top. 

Next, I went a little crazy decorating the house with Nuvo Drops. I used Metallic Silver Lining around the windows and it spread out as it dried making them look very messy. I decided to embrace the messy and not let it bother me! I used Metallic Copper Penny as dots along the bottom of the house and for the doorknob. I used clear Morning Dew for the insides of the windows so they look clear and shiny. I stamped the trees and the packages on white cardstock with MFT Natural Ink. I colored them with a silver Uniball and a gold Uniball gell pen. I used some more glitter Nuvo Drops over the tops of the packages. I used colored pencils on the trees and added branches coming down from each branch. I then covered those with glitter Nuvo Drops in Emerald City. Besides the snow, I added Bottle Green drops to the trees in the background. I used Antique Gold Embossing Powder for the sentiment on a small banner across the top. I used some more of the Metallic Copper Penny drops around the sentiment. 

CARD 2: HO HO HO

This card uses my usual "random stamping" technique. I stamp all of the images using MFT Natural Ink on a rectangle of white cardstock. I then colored them all in with colored pencils. I used Glossy Accents on their noses. I die-cut this piece with a rectangle die and attached it to a bright pink cardstock base.

I stamped the "ho, ho, ho" stamp on white cardstock with the same Natural Ink. I colored over it with colored pencils and then I used Sherbet Shimmer Nuvo Drops over the letters. I cut around the edges and mounted it on the same color of cardstock. I used Kaiser Craft Glitter Pens over the snowflakes and added details to the gnomes with them. I love this set for holiday cards as they work so well to add details and shimmer or to outline things. I used Jewel Nuvo Drops (transparent) over the clothing and noses on the gnomes. 

CARD 3: Wishing You A Very Happy Christmas 

I started this card by embossing the trees and snowflakes using WOW Puffy White embossing powder on white Ranger watercolor paper. I've recently purchased all 11 colors of the Tonic Shimmer Powders and I am so in love with them. I used a couple for the background of this card - Blue Blitz and Meteorite Shower. I put the powders on my watercolor palette and then I add a little water and mix them in. I then mixed the two colors together and dropped color over the background of the card which was very wet. I also flicked some of the color (more saturated with less water) over the background. You can see both of the colors in the background separately and mixed together. There are also flicks in both colors. That stuff is addictive and I can't play with it enough! I used Pixie Dust paint over the entire area which is very shimmery water based paint that you can use like shimmer pens with a brush. It's a must have product. I used Moonstone Glimmer Paste over the bottom of the card for snow. 

The next thing I did on the background is add all those droplets. I used white paint for the white drops. I then used Diamond Glitter Glue by Ranger for the glittery ones. I used White and Oyster Nuvo Drops for the others. I love this messy background, but I will admit that it is much prettier in real life - soooooo shimmery! I was planning on covering it with stamped images, but once it was done, I just wanted to leave it like it was.

I stamped the sentiment with Intense Black Ink on a banner from the SSS Sentiment Banner dies (second largest). I used White Blizzard Nuvo Drops over the Christmas Letters. I attached it to the background over foam tape which fit under it perfectly. I stamped the snowflakes with the same MFT Natural Ink and then outlined over them with a Silver Uniball or a silver glitter gel pen from the Kaiser Craft set mentioned earlier (I use this one for finer lines as the Uniball has thicker lines). I cut them out and then used PPP Silver Jewels in the center of each. I added some pearl white Jewels around the sentiment banner.

CARD 4: Gnome For the Holidays

This card is CRAZY - so so busy, but I love it. I used a slim-line card size so I had enough room for all these funny little creatures in the stamp set. The card base is 7" wide x 8.5" long and then folded in half. I made the front panel with a 3.5" x 8.5" piece. I used the stencil and Distress Oxide Inks for the background. First I cut out a house and used it to block the area the house would be. I also blocked the snowy ground with scrap paper. I used Tumbled Glass ink for the sky. I used Worn Lipstick and Abandoned Coral for the house and the details on the house (the roof is hidden by snow, but it is the darker color). I used Mowed Lawn and Lucky Clover for the trees.  

I then went crazy adding snow to the ground (Moonstone Glimmer Paste) and snow to the trees and roof (White Blizzard Nuvo Drops and white glitter), and white paint drops to the sky and over the house and trees (Hero Arts White Watercolor Paint). I used Ivory Seashell Nuvo Drops around the windows. 

I used white embossing powder for the sentiment over the door. I stamped all of the stamps on white cardstock and colored them in with colored pencils. I cut around the images and attached them over the background using foam tape behind them so they stood out. 

I also added jewell drops over the noses and dots on the hats of some of the gnomes. 

CARD 5: I Love You Gnome Matter What

I was excited to use the new Gnome die in the kit, so use it I did (over and over and over!). I have a bunch of sheets of white mixed media paper painted with my new Tonic Shimmer Powders. I use these to die-cut things. The Shimmer Powders have multiple colors in them and add such amazing texture and shine, that they look so good cut out. I thought it would be fun to use them for my gnomes. I arranged them over a piece of white cardstock using different colors for each part of the gnome. I pretended i was making a puzzle and put them all this way and that and then cut off the areas that were hanging over the edges. 

believe it or not, this card was probably the easiest of them all even though it took a while to arrange them all over the card front. Aren't the colors just so pretty? You can see how each color has multiple colors in it and when you leave areas of the powder thick, it makes cool little darker shimmery areas. If you want to try these shimmer powders out, I recommend getting Catherine Wheel which is a coral that has lots of golds and other colors in it. Or my other favorite is Meteorite Shower which is a navy blue, but has pinks and turquoise in it as well. It is perfect for night skies. I'll do a blog post on these soon showing all the different colors. I stamped the sentiment on a pink stitched rectangle with white embossing powder. I resisted adding anything else to the card to try to keep it focused on those amazing little gnomes!

Do you see why I said this would be a very wordy blog post? Whew, I am finally done! Did anyone get through it all? Winter skies are really my favorite thing to make and I am collecting so many different glittery products to use for snow this year. I can't stop - it's a problem for my wallet. And did I mention the shimmer powders? haha I also just ordered the Tonic Dream Drops so I"ll be using those soon as well. I really should figure out a way to get commission on Tonic products as I'm a bit addicted to them! Have a great week friends and I hope you enjoyed this "one stamp, five ways" post. I'll be back soon, but if not, Happy Thanksgiving to all! xoxox (so grateful for all my blog readers!). Suzy

Comments

[Erin]

Thanks for adding the details on how to make these magical cards!

[Lynn]

Can you tell me what products you used to create that great dimensional look for the gnome’s noses?