Christmas Pinecones

 Hey there.  Back again with a Christmas card to share today.  I love the Painted Christmas Designer Series Paper and thought it was time to make another card using the gorgeous prints.  After looking through them, I decided on the print with the small pinecone and pine needle clusters all over it.  With that picked out, the rest came together pretty easily.

The card starts with a base of Soft Suede cardstock cut at 11" x 4 1/4", scored at 5 1/2" and folded in half.  I wanted to make the sizing of the layers a little different than the usual, so the Crumb Cake cardstock is  cut at 4 3/4" x  3 1/2".  This way more of the card base shows up to frame the main images.  The DSP print is cut down to 4 1/2" x 3 1/4".   

There's a band across the card that measures 3 1/4" x 1 1/4" and is cut from Evening Evergreen cardstock.  Inside this band is a panel of another print from the same Painted Christmas DSP.  In fact, it's the back side of what I just used on the card front.  I love these two prints together.  I have a feeling I'll have used up all of these two prints before I make much of a dent in the other prints in this package.  Do you find you gravitate to certain prints in each package of Designer Series Paper and tend to use them up before you get to all the others?  Or is that just me??

At this point, the DSP has been attached to the Crumb Cake cardstock with adhesive.  The second print has been attached to the Evening Evergreen band, and this has been attached to the DSP layer with adhesive also.

I didn't want to cover up all the DSP and band, so I chose a smaller sentiment from the Tidings & Trimmings stamp set.  This was stamped on Basic White with Evening Evergreen ink.  It was punched with the Label Me Fancy Punch.  It didn't stand out from the background enough, so I used a Blending Brush and the Evening Evergreen ink to define the outside edge a little.  It was then attached to the card front using Dimensionals.

The pinecones were stamped from the Christmas Season stamp set.  They were stamped on Crumb Cake cardstock using Crumb Cake ink for the bottom layer and Soft Suede ink for the detail layer.  They were die-cut using the coordinating Seasonal Labels Dies.  When trying to get the placement right, I thought it needed a touch of gold to enhance the look.  The berry branch from the Christmas Trimmings Dies was used to die-cut a couple branches from Gold Foil Paper.  These are just tucked in around the pine cones and brighten the whole card up.  The large pine cone was attached with adhesive, but the smaller one was popped up with Dimensionals.  There is a small knot of the 3/8" Open Weave Evening Evergreen Ribbon to accent it.  That's attached with a couple of Mini Glue Dots to hold in place.

The sentiment on the inside was from the Inspired Thoughts stamp set.  It's stamped in Evening Evergreen ink onto a Basic White cardstock piece cut at 5 1/8" x 3 7/8".  The edges of this were also accented with the Blending Brush and Evening Evergreen ink.  It's then attached to a 5 1/4" x 4" layer of Crumb Cake cardstock. Finally it is then attached to the inside of the card, and the card is finished.  One more card down, ready to get addressed and sent out in the mail.  How many more of them do I need to make yet?  Who knows, but I think it's a great, big bunch of them!  Got to keep making those cards...

Hope this card layout gives you some ideas and gets you creating.  It's a similar layout to cards I did earlier in the October, but this time I used DSP instead of stamping underneath the band.  It's a great layout to use when you're stumped for ideas, and you can quite literally come up with hundreds of ways to use it with whatever papers and stamps you have on hand.  The sky really is the limit with this layout.

Just a reminder that if you're placing an order, I'd appreciate you using my Current Host Code tucked at the top right corner on my blog page.  Also, if you'd like to purchase a gift card for a friend or family member for Christmas, I'd be happy to make one up special for you.  Please do it soon, so I can make it and get it to you in the mail in time for Christmas!  We wouldn't want your gift sitting in the Post Office somewhere on Christmas Day.  So let me help you make someone happy for Christmas! 

Thanks for stopping by today.  It was a good day for stamping and sharing.  I need to get in as many ideas as possible before the time runs short.  Keep checking back often to see what's new.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon