Stempelglede Card Contest

This is the card I made for the "Stempelglede" blog card contest. I picked up the light blues, silver and ivory colors that were in the pictures that they gave us for color inspiration. I used the one and only stamp I have that Stempelglede makes. Her name is "Maribel" and I just love her. She stamps really well and she has such a striking face. I was going to put a title on the front of this card that said either "Snow Queen" or "Winter Dreams & Wishes Granted by Maribel" but then I decided against it. I used the same flowers on this card that I had used on that first card I started on and then forgot to leave room for the stamped image(see post a few back). However, this time I dyed the flowers so that they would match the whole blue color scheme I have going on. It's hard to see but I stitched around the inner area of the panel using silver thread, up close it looks really pretty. I used white and silver velvet leaves but I did also brush over them with some blue metallic ink and some Distress Ink in Vintage Photo. Up close the chipboard flourish at the top of the card has Crackle Picket Fence paint on it and then it has some blueish/green metallic ink brushed over the crackle paint. Then on top of that I tapped it with VersaMark ink and finished it off with some Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. I used several different types of ribbon on this card. I used the velvet ribbon and the detailed trim ribbon on top of that for the bottom portion of the card. For the bows I used a white sheer ribbon with silver sides and I also used a silver metallic seam binding ribbon. I personally love seam binding to use for bows and such because it's just really easy to use and it lies flat when you need it to and so on. I also used a beaded silver ribbon to add to the middle of the bow. I realize that there's a lot going on with this card, but I wanted it to be that way. You can't really see them but I have these clear snowflakes on the card in and around the flowers and leaves. I added Maya Road pearl stick pins and also a crystal/bling flourish. There's a bit of silver Stickles glitter glue on the flourishes at the bottom of the stamped image.

I noticed when I was looking at all the different entries for this contest that all the woman in Holland, Finland, Germany and so on, they all have very intricately folded cards. So many of the cards I looked at opened up to be these very detailed folded cards. I would need a PHD just to learn how to fold them back up. They also focus on every detail of the card, they don't stop at just the front and back of the card. So many of the cards I looked at have these beautifully decorated insides as well. After looking at all of those I felt like I desperately was in need of a card lesson from these obviously very talented woman overseas.

Lastly, I wanted to mention that I had a really hard time getting a good picture of this card. I think because of all the iridescent pieces and embellishments, the glitter and bling, it gave off a glare when I was photographing it. So I compiled the pictures I thought turned out the best and I am going to try and do a slide show with those. I've never done a slide show before so who know if that will work, but I guess I will soon find out? I just want the people who are deciding on the winners of this contest to be able to see a good photo of the card and also to see the different angles of all the embellishments.