The January Stampendous Challenge is here!

I love Stampendous and all of their luscious glitter, mica flakes, embossing powders, and stamps!  I can let my vintage style run wild with a bit of bling added in!

Speaking of which, this month's challenge is to add

Bling!

   I started out by using a black card base.  I love throwing in a colored base on occasion to give my cards that glamorous look.

   I chose my background paper and cut 1/2" smaller than the front of my card.

   Then I decided what type of paper I wanted to stamp my image onto.  In this case, I chose a textured Bazzill cardstock in an ecru.  I cut that just 1/2" smaller than my previous background paper.

   The stamping was the best part! I stamped "Songbird" onto the cardstock in "Bamboo Leaves" by Momento, applying clear embossing afterward.  It looked very pretty at that point. But I needed more pop and bling.

   So, I touched the areas of the bird that I wanted glitter to adhere to with just a tiny bit of glue. Sprinkled it with blue glitter, and then a bit of Stampendous' magical Frantage "Shabby White Embossing Powder". This is, by far, my favorite of all the powders!  It was set by heating from the underside of my cardstock. This is Fran's Encrusted Jewel Technique. Watch the video here!  I also added it to the bottom 1 inch of my black card base.

   I added the "hello" from the Stampendous "Happy Messages" set.

   Now my card is ready to asssemble. No, not quite yet!  I needed a border at the bottom. I cut a 1 1/2" strip of musical note paper that would extend to the edge of my card base and scallop punched it.

   I then used my Zutter Dis-Strezz It All to rough up all the sides of my background paper and stamped image. 

   NOW it was ready to assemble!  I glued down the background paper, then the musical note strip. Then added the finished image.  I carefully placed little rhinestones along the border strip and added the little black double-bow ribbon and rhinestone.

P.S.  The card details are all straight.  When photographed, the bottom appeared crooked, but it was due to the slight warping of the cardstock when I applied the heat.  It will flatten as it sits.

I hope you have enjoyed walking through the steps of how I made my card. I know it got a bit lengthy, but the actual production is much simpler than it sounds!

This card will be posted on the Stampendous Photo Gallery, too! 

Go there to see more fantastic ideas!