resolved: all baubles should be SPARKLY!!!

it's no secret that i love christmas, colorburst, and sparkly things.* so here's a card that's all of the above. oh and i should warn you that i realllllllllllly like this one, so i might get a bit obnoxious. sorry. (well, kinda sorry.) :)

patterned paper: glitz design + a bit of vintage sheet music and half a doily; watercolor paper: strathmore; colorburst pigment powders: fuchsia and alizarin crimson, by ken oliver crafts; glitter embossing paste: viva decor, in "champagne"; stencil: flourishes by tim holtz/stampers anonymous; pearl bling strips: eyelet outlet; seam binding: paper anthology; adhesives: elmers brand tape runner, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine

you may well be thinking, "hey lauren, haven't you made a few similar cards this year, with colorburst-ed baubles that also have modelling paste on top and some eyelet outlet bling?" and the answer is: YES!!! i've made a few, in fact, and i might make a few more. because it's just so fun, and so easy, and the variations are nearly infinite! if you either draw a few basic bauble shapes, or print out some bauble shaped clip art onto cardstock, you will have a little set of patterns you can use over and over. i recommend a heart shape, a classic bauble, and a sort of elongated tear drop. and of course circles are always awesome!

for this particular card, i used the little heart and the classic bauble shape. i traced them onto water color paper painted with fuchsia and alizarin crimson colorburst, respectively. i painted on a messy layer of each color, and before it was dry i sprinkled a little more colorburst powder on to each, so i'd get some little flecks of more concentrated color. when they were completely dry, i cut them out with scissors. and then i applied some glitter embossing paste (viva decor in "champagne") through a stencil (in this case tim holtz's flourishes) and let that dry completely, too. seriously, the hardest part of this whole process is waiting for the various media to dry. though you can use a heat gun, actually, to speed it up. i wish i had taken a photo of the ornaments at that point to prove that my next step was ENTIRELY optional, because really, they already looked good! but i wanted the flourishes to show a bit more, so yes, i outlined them with a black extra-super-fine faber castell pitt artist pen. yes, i am crazy. honestly, you do not have to do that part, as you can see from the photo above, more than half of my other baubles haven't been outlined and they still look totally cool. but so do these, lol:

i've done quite a loose take on this week's atlantic hearts sketch challenge (#188) so i promise not to be insulted if i'm disqualified. it totally got me going, though, and it's quite fab as you can see:

the current simon says stamp wednesday challenge is anything goes, and i'm pretty sure i qualify, lol, so i'm linking up there! oh and just a reminder that you can still post your holiday greetings at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ until christmas eve. while you're there, why not click on a few links and make your fellow card-makers' day?

*not necessarily in that order** though!
**and dark chocolate eaten during a daniel craig movie still beats all of them!