Candle in the snow

It's a theme week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown this week, and the challenge is to make a card featuring candles or lanterns.

I knew straight away which stamp I was going to use as I only have one that fits the challenge! It's a candle stick stamp from the ClarityStamp New Design Club - the first one I got when I joined last year. (I do have some chinese lanterns, but they're not really Christmassy, or I could make candles quite easily, but I went with the stamp.) A couple of other people on the challenge have used this stamp too for the same reason.

I started by stamping on Clarity stencil card in gold pigment ink, so I could see the outline clearly, then coloured the flame and candle stick with a versa mark pen. I then heat embossed with gold, giving a solid fill for the flame and stick, with the candle left white.

I painted the candle with peacock feathers distress ink, and stamped a few sparkles in the background with the gold pigment ink.

I cut an oval frame from gold card, then cut the candle image to fit behind it. The base of the candle stick nested nicely onto the frame. I used foam pads to lift the frame above the image.

For the background I started with card a similar colour to the peacock feathers distress ink. Having admired an embossed background on another card in last week's challenge, I wanted to use one myself this week. I'd had an embossing folder in mind, but then thought to use the snowflake stencils from Clarity (another Christmas present).

I covered them in the gold pigment ink before embossing, then ran them through the Grand Calibur.

I repeated to fill in the last corner, then added gold mica powder, which clung to the pigment ink on the snowflakes. I love this effect, and the combination of the turquoise and gold.

At this point I had a "learning experience". I thought I'd blend a little peacock feather distress ink round the edge of the background to edge it and tie in with the candle. However, when I did this, I wiped off the mica powder from the edge! Oops. Next time I'll know, colour the edges first. So I had to go over the snowflakes with versa mark end and add the mica again.

I had thought about adding a sentiment, but I like the background so much I don't want to cover more of it. I just added thin strip of the gold card as a ribbon, mounting that and the candle on foam pads, and more gold card as a matt behind (I meant to cut something out of the centre first to be frugal, but forgot!) then mounted on a 5x7 card base.

I wasn't sure how this would turn out, the image isn't one I'm particularly drawn to, but I do quite like the simplicity of it used like this, and the colour. But it's the background that really makes this card for me. It isn't exactly what I had intended, but I think it looks gorgeously rich and opulent.