Partial Embossing for Christmas

I love the look of partial embossed pieces.  This first was done the way I've done them previously:

1. MASKING - Starting with a white piece of white card stock the size of your card or a bit smaller, mask all but the large circle (I created a mask from acetate so it's removable).  Mask the small round moon.  Cut a wavy line from post-it notes to serve as a mask for the hills.
2. FOCAL - with masks in place, color in the upper area (sky) with a dark blue ink (I used distress inks - Salty Ocean & Chipped Sapphire combined).  Stamp "trees" (using tips of larger trees, leaves, foliage stamps, etc.).  Move landscape mask only & repeat - twice.  Stamp deer and add touches of white gel pen for snow/stars.
3. BACKGROUND - Using an embossing folder (Darice "5 x 7 Damask)", emboss the background, using a shim with the circle cut out (I made mine from chip board - be sure to line the circle of the shim up with your focal circle).  Using a blending tool, lightly add color - starting with the lightest color (Salty Ocean in this case) and then moving to the darker (Chipped Sapphire in this case) - keeping the darker more to the edges.
   
4. SENTIMENT BORDER - Wrap a wide ribbon around the panel to form a border for the sentiment tag.  This tag was die cut with a Spellbinder's die (Fancy Tags) & inked while still in the die.  The sentiment itself was cut using dies from "Piece by Piece" - a die set that came in a paper crafting magazine.
5. FINISHING - With a narrow-tipped marker, draw a thin line around the focal to help it stand out even better from the background.  Add Sparkle Paint (Spectrum Noir) to the moon, snow, and white parts of the sentiment piece.  Mat the whole with dark blue card stock before attaching as shown to the card base.

Inside:

For the inside, I used the same inks for a similar effect, but just used a rectangular piece of card stock.  Once again I matted with the dark blue before stamping the sentiment (using stamps my Mom has).

Card #2:

This card was made in a similar way as the last one - except that I used a stamp (Great Joy - Divinity Designs) in the center of the large circle rather than creating rolling hills, and used a glossy card stock for the panel.  I stamped it with StazOn, then dried with a heat tool.  Once dry, I used a yellow die ink with a sponge applicator to swirl the yellow around the inner edges of the large circle.  The rest of the colors added were my Scroll & Brush markers - often adding a bit near the darkest areas and spreading it from there with my finger.

This time I used card stock for the sentiment border - with peel off sticker borders on either edge.  The sentiment was stamped using a JustRite stamp from Noel Christmas Ornaments set and another Spellbinders Fancy Tags die - cutting from both gold & white - and trimming the white as you see here (after the message was stamped).  Also, I cut a narrow circle frame (nesting circle dies) and glued it around the focal - as well as a rectangular frame (Spellbinders 5X7 Matting Basics) around the whole card front.

Inside:

Once again, I used one of Mom's stamps for the inside sentiment.