Peaceful Forest Window Card

When you sit down to create, where do you begin? My creative process almost always starts with stamps. They’re my one true crafty love and can completely inspire a design. But sometimes, it’s good to get out of your comfort zone — and that’s how today’s card came about! I made it using a new holiday stencil, a few dies, and only one tiny stamp.

The square design features a circle window on the front and a soft, ink blended winter scene inside.

To get started, I die cut a white cardstock circle and sponged Aquatic ink fairly heavily through the Forest Scene Stencil, covering the entire piece. Then I added Green Apple towards the top of the circle and Orchid towards the bottom. By overlapping/layering the inks, you can get new entirely new colors. It’s a great way to stretch your supplies.

Here’s how it looked when I removed the stencil. Not exactly like the finished card in the photo, right?

That’s where the Unicorn magic comes in. Unicorn White pigment ink, that is. :) It’s one of my favorite tricks. Simply sponge the ink evenly all over the piece. You’ll end up with much softer colors and a super smooth, velvety finish. (Just be sure to heat set or allow plenty of drying time, as this is a pigment ink we’re dealing with here.) Take a look at the dramatic difference…

While the pigment ink is drying, you can create the frame for the front of the card. It’s an easy three-step process: 1) Cut the window using the second largest circle from the Circle Infinity Dies set; 2) Cut one Paper Layering Pine Tree; 3) Adhere the tree as shown and trim away any overhanging branches.

This piece can then be adhered to a square card base with a circle window cut to the same size. All that’s left is the glittered die-cut sentiment from the Peace Stamp & Cut set. Here’s a closer look at the window opening…

Creating this card was so much fun, I think I may have to step out of my comfort zone more often. I hope you enjoyed today’s project and photo tutorial. Thanks for stopping by!

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