Birch Tree Christmas

Hi everyone.  Today I'm playing along with the Merry Monday #159 - Non-Evergreen Tree(s) Challenge.

I used a birch tree die that I've had a long time, but never used before.  There are quite a few NBUS items in my stash.  :)

I sponged the sky with three colours of distress inks.  Then I sprayed the card front with shimmer mist.  Once dry, I added some embossing paste through a falling snow stencil, and sprinkled a mix of white and glitter embossing powders over top.  Once the paste was dry, I heat embossed.

Added a few snowdrifts at the bottom, and the birch trees which I coloured with some diluted soft gray ink.  The little birds were added to finish the design.  I wanted the sentiment to match the colours of the sky, but because they were blended, I tried out a few inks and found that if I inked the sentiment in Bermuda Bay and then tapped it onto Marina Mist, the colour seemed to match! :)  Always good to try new things. :)

I'm also going to add this to the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge where they want stenciling added to the entries.

Stamps:  Christmas Sampler (Paper Smooches)

Paper:  White (Neenah)
Ink:  Distress Inks: Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean (Tim Holtz); Bermuda Bay, Marina Mist, Smoky Slate, Island Indigo (SU!)
Accessories & Tools: Sponges, Falling Snow Stencil (Simon Says), embossing paste (Dreamweaver), white embossing powder, ice glitter embossing powder (SU!), heat tool, birch tree dies (Impression Obsession), Snowdrift dies (My Favorite Things), shimmer mist

Challenges:

Merry Monday #159
Simon Says Wednesday - Stencil It!