Christmas Card Making Ideasusing stamps from theMichael Strong Cloisonne CollectionAll of the Christmas Card making ideas shown on this page were made with 3 stamps from the Michael Strong Cloisonne Stamps Collection, the Cloisonne Christmas Tree, Ornament and Circle to make my Holiday Stamps. These are all simple variations, with a few minor changes to make each card different. Here is the link to
Michael Strong's
web site, and another to the
Michael Strong Yahoo group
that posts other examples and tutorials.
All of the stamped images were done the same way. Using a technique that Michael has come up with, the images were stamped on shiny paper from an old magazine or catalog with a Versamark stamp pad and then embossed with either gold or silver embossing powder.
This card with the red tree and red round ornament show another unique feature of Michael Strong's Cloisonne stamps. Michael Strong Multiple Use Stamp Images
Some of the other Christmas Card Making ideas and images like these below were mounted instead on a card front that had some background images made with a child's toy Spirograph. The ultimate in going Green and trying to recycle. 
Both of these Christmas Card Making Ideas were basically the same with both using the background of Solar Gold "Glimmer Mist" applied to the card stock with a paint brush while in the Spirograph. The Glimmer Mist will add a little sparkle to your cards, just the thing to accelerate your Christmas Card Making ideas to a more professional look. Keep looking for more on Glimmer Mist and a link to their website. One card is on black glossy the other on white glossy cardstock. Both cards were scored about 1/4 inch from the outer edge of the cards to "frame" the background cardstock, although it is hard to see in the scans. The placement of the trees were different to show the background, with the one tree placed off the background slightly.
This card background was done on the Spirograph using Ocean Wave "Glimmer Mist" applied with a paint brush to make the swirl and then sprayed directly onto the background for the lighter effect. Also, to accentuate some of the card front, the card was scored using a Scor-it Tool along the outside border of the card. Here's a link to more information on the Scor-it tool and how to use it. Also here's a link to more information on the spectacular addition of the glimmer and sheen added by using the "Glimmer Mists" at the Glimmer Mist Turorial Page or check out the Glimmer Mist examples page with a bunch more options for Glimmer Mist.
The background on this card was made on the Spirograph using Poppy Red "Glimmer Mist" with a combination of paint brush and direct spray application to the cardstock.
The background on this card was made on the Spirograph using Iridescent Gold "Glimmer Mist" with direct spray application to the ivory cardstock.
This card background done on the Spirograph using Oyster "Glimmer Mist" with paint brush and direct spray. The background was placed to the side of the white glossy card, and score lines made around the card and 4 score lines on the right side of the card for an artistic element. 
The background on these two cards was made using the Spirograph and Ocean Wave "Glimmer Mist" applied with a paint brush to make the swirl and then sprayed directly onto the background for the lighter effect. This shows the difference between White cardstock and Ivory cardstock. 
For the left hand card, the ornament stamps were glued directly to the Black glossy cardstock. The for the right hand card, the ornaments shapes were glued to an Ivory cardstock. The background image was made in the Spriograph with Iridescent Gold "Glimmer Mist" added with a small paint brush.
The background for this card was done one White cardstock, sprayed directly with Green Tea "Glimmer Mist" while in the Spirograph. I really hope you enjoyed these New Christmas Card Making ideas. I used to try to plan out my cards and try to figure out how many I will send, multiply that by all the elements I need, and then try to pull all of that together so I come out will all matching cards. Now I just make the images, play with the backgrounds and put them together - not all alike, but each with its own personality. And so much more fun than all that calculating. Here's a quick Tutorial on Rubber Stamp Embossing
For your card backgrounds, check out the Bargello Design Tutorial
Here's a link to more information about Rubber Stamping
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