SSS30 Christmas Candle

Here we are with another Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge. For this week's challenge, I'm using a Sweet N' Sassy digital image titled 'Christmas Candle' -- illustrated by Leah Cornelius.

It was very difficult to 'capture on camera' all of the layers I used for the poinsettia of the main image...I printed the image 3 times, coloring the poinsettia of each. From the extra images, I cut out 'sections' of the flower and added them to the main image by gluing just the 'inside edge' of each section....curling the outer edges in an upward direction...the 'center' of the poinsettia is attached using a 'tiny glob' of Zip Dry glue (allowed to dry slightly). You can see just a hint of the layers with this side-view picture, but it is so much more evident IRL! For a touch of sparkle, I've added just a 'hint' of red stickles to a few of the floral petals. A little 'highlighting' using a White Inkssential Gel Pen completes the image.

The 'Candle'..... Diamond stickles were added to the main portion and then for dimension, I've added 'Crackle accents' (Inkssentials) to the top 'melted' portion of the candle and also to the flame. Crackle accents is similar to Crystal Effects but once it dries you get a bit of a 'crackled' effect...similar to the 'cracked glass' technique.

I had planned to use 'shimmery gold' cardstock for the layers of this card, but because I am totally 'organizationally challenged', I couldn't find it! So....I resorted to versamark ink, gold embossing powder, and my brand new 'Heat It' Tool (Ranger) to give a similar 'sparkle' for this card...it worked out OK but if I could have found it,the gold cardstock would have been better. Oh well.....

If I were to make this card again, I would add the 'gold element' to the top right corner, rather than leaving it 'white'....

As always, I encourage you to visit The Sweet Stop and play along with this newest Sketch Challenge. And be sure to check out the other Sugar Baby Design Team blogs....the ladies are super talented and never cease to AMAZE me with their awesome talent!

Links for the Sweet Stop Sketch and Sugar Baby Blogs on posted on my side-bar.

If you decide to play along, please post a link to your creation on the Sweet Stop Blog .... We'd love having you join us and will look forward to viewing your creative designs!

On Another Note

This last couple of weeks, I've not been able to keep up with all of you who 'follow' my blog...well, not nearly as much as I would like...but I do hope to be back to a more 'normal' schedule after next weekend....at least, that is my goal. In the meantime, please know that I'm not ignoring any of you on purpose and I do appreciate your patience as well as your loyalty....not to mention all of the sweet and kind comments many of you have left on my blog! I certainly don't feel deserving of such praise but do appreciate each and every one of you who take the time to share your thoughts and encouraging words with me. I cannot begin to tell you how much of a blessing you are in my life.... I'm so very grateful to God for every one of you!

This weekend...share your time with family and friends....and then,

Make time to create but remember to have fun and enjoy the experience!

Barbg(WV)

Edited to add: I'm having trouble with the spacing for my blog...I either end up with way too much space between paragraphs, or all of the paragraphs run back to back and the whole post looks cluttered.....grrrrrrrr!