CYCI#136 - A Little Christmas Spirit

I've been watching for an opportunity to use a stamp set which I bought several years ago but haven't used because I've been sticking to Stampin' Up! posts.  Well, as I'm cleaning up the stashes and piles in my Crafting Room in order to make room for myself and allow more ease in creating, I'm coming across more and more wonderful products that I've bought and haven't used.  That ends now.  This sketch challenge posted by Can You Sketch It is the perfect opportunity to do just that.

For the image which I decided to use, I had to turn the sketch on its side but that's one of the things I love about sketch challenges.  As long as the sketch is recognizable, it can be turned any which way.  I used the Heavy Whisper White as my base and then added a layer of Garden Green cardstock.  For my next layer I turned to the Shimmery White specialty cardstock since I love the results of watercolouring on that paper.  

I stamped the image of the two cardinals on the paper using my archival inks and then proceeded to use my AquaPainter to add colour.  For the cardinals I used the Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze and Basic Black inks.  For the holly, I used a combination of Garden Green, Almost Artichoke, Crisp Cucumber, Watermelon Wonder and Cajun Craze inks.  And then I added a wash of Marina Mist for my background.   The sentiment (which was harder to decide on than anything else) came from my new Star of Light set.

After I added a couple of rhinestones and drew a few tiny holly clusters, the card was done.