This year, I was walking through JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores and stopped dead in my tracks, right in the middle of the papercrafting aisle. I saw this deer punch from EK Success and I knew it had to be mine!

(Side note: I’m a little fascinated by deer heads. I also have been stalking silver deer heads like this one for several weeks now. Can’t explain it.)

But I digress.

I was really drawn to the Burlap Paper and Adhesive Cork Paper that I reviewed last week, and I thought silver and blue would pair nicely with them. And when I found some American Crafts Silver Fine Glitter Paper, I also had a little heart palpitation.

(What can I say, crafts do that to me.)

SO. I had an idea about color and texture and motif. But how to put it all together???

Well, that’s where working in a series comes in. Let me take you through the different versions.

UPDATE: I was asked for a supply list, so here you go! (Links are Amazon affiliate links.)

• EK Success Deer Punch 
• DCWV Burlap Paper
• DCWV Cork Paper
•  Forest Stamp with Deer by Hero Arts Crafts
• May Arts Twine
• Stampendous Frantage Embossing Powder, Shabby White
• Xyron Adhesive

In this first one, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to use silver glitter paper or blue (which I have a stock of on hand.) I also used the round Spellbinders Nestabilities die. Nice enough, but that blue glitter put me off.

In this next version, I changed out the colors- the silver glitter was THE way to go. I also swapped out the circles for the Labels die, and matted it with some more blue cardstock- this time in a darker navy color.

I shared this version of the card on Facebook, but I got mixed reviews on it. Many folks thought I should add a face to the deer- not my style- or add some more white to break up the blue and sand.

So I moved the deerback over to the LEFT side and embossed the winter trees with some white. And I added a bit of jute twine to balance the design. Oh, and I changed the shape behind the deer head, too, to reveal more of the blue behind it.

SOOOO Close!! I really loved the addition of the jute ribbon from May Arts, too. And the little bit of rhinestone/pearl action. But it still needed a little more white. So I added some Stampendous Frantage chunky embossing pieces to get that “falling snow” effect. I also swapped out the white embossing on the trees and instead used a black sparkle.

And that leads us to the final card design!!

I’m really happy with it. The deer has a small embellishment, but it’s still clean and simple and graceful. There is a nice bit of white snow to balance out the black sparkly woods, and the textures of shiny glitter, sparkling rhinestone, rough cork/jute play so nicely together on the kraft base. I love it.

I also wanted to try it with a different focal- so I made a Hanukkah card using the same colors and design.

While I used a different shape to mat the focal image, I still think it works on the whole.

OH! I had also gotten a comment as to how I made the background. I included it in this video review of the Craft Mat by Imagine Crafts, and I also used the Letraset Markers I reviewed this week, too.

So that is how I work, folks! Lots of trial and error and playing and changing and experimenting. But finally I have a design I like for our cards, and a few extras I’m happy to hang onto for Operation Write Home next year.

Thank you again to great companies like May Arts Ribbon, Imagine Crafts, Stampendous, Spellbinders and DCWV who sent me fun products to review and share with you! 

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About Jenny

Chief Craft Test Dummy, Craft Evangelist, Founder, Editor, bottle-washer, trouble-maker, and creative whirlwind.

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• SAI Japanese Traditional Watercolor Brush Markers- Review & Demo - February 23, 2018
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