Friday, November 26, 2021

Christmas Pines Card

 Hello dear friends.  Hope you had a wonderful, meaningful Thanksgiving.  Did you have a turkey with all the trimmings?  We did, and I think I'm still stuffed.  I might only have enough energy today to type up a blog post, and that's about it.  Today's card is a mix of several die-cutting sets.  Seems like I've been doing that a lot lately.  I start out thinking I will focus on this one set today, and next thing I know I'm pulling out other stamps and/or dies to add to the card.  So I guess you just take my ideas and work with them however it works for you!  That's what usually happens with me.  I see something on my computer upstairs.  By the time I get downstairs and start pulling out stamps and paper, I've totally forgotten just what it was I saw and work out something else entirely.  CASE - Copy And Share Everything is a way of life when it comes to stamping.  We all share, and everyone's ideas seem to come together just a little differently.  And that's part of the magic.

Today's card starts out with a base of Cherry Cobbler cardstock cut 5 1/2" x 8 1/2".  This was scored and folded in half.  

The first layer is Basic White cardstock that was embossed with the Merriest Frames Hybrid Embossing Folder.   This layer had actually been embossed over a week ago.  I had already used the Blending Brushes with Soft Succulent and Evening Evergreen inks to softly color the embossed images.  And I tried to do something with this off and on for the past week with absolutely no success.  How frustrating!  But today my creative muse must have been sitting on my shoulder because the ideas just flowed and here we are!

The coordinating dies have a stitched rectangle that fits inside the embossed frame with some extra room. I die-cut it in Basic White for the sentiment.  Then cut a very thin frame around it with Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  I wanted a specific sentiment for this card, and unfortunately the sentiment is from a retired set - Peaceful Boughs.  I love the wording and use it for my cards each Christmas.  So it was stamped on the white using Cherry Cobbler ink.  Using adhesive, it was attached to the Cherry Cobbler cardstock then set aside until needed.

In the picture here, you can easily see the soft color on the embossed images.  So pretty as is, but I wanted more.

Ok, the next step is where things get a little off the wall.  I wanted to add some greenery under the sentiment layers, but wasn't sure what I wanted to use.  I ended up die-cutting some of the pine needles from Evening Evergreen cardstock with the Christmas Pinecone Dies - the more detailed one.  (2nd die set)  It was too much greenery and covered up the embossed layer, so I cut it apart and attached just sprigs of pine needles behind each corner of the sentiment.  When I added more along the sides, it got overpowering.  So those came off to be used at a later date.  The Christmas Trimmings Dies have some small holly leaves that I die-cut from Soft Succulent cardstock and tried those.  (3rd die set!)  Yay!  Looks like I had a winner!

After attaching the pine needles to the Cherry Cobbler layer, I attached the whole layer to the card front with Dimensionals.  So far it was looking good.  The holly leaves were tucked around the design and attached with a Mini Glue Dot each.

I wanted a bow under the sentiment.  Both the Evening Evergreen and Soft Succulent 3/8" Open Weave Ribbon would work, but I liked the softness of the Soft Succulent color best.  The ribbon was tied into a bow and attached with two Mini Glue Dots.

Now we come to the options of bling or no bling.  And if yes on the bling, which one?  I almost left it plain, but it seems I'm turning into a bling-aholic!!  Oh No!  So after trying several options, I settled on the Holiday Rhinestone Basic Jewels in the Cherry Cobbler tone.  I couldn't stop at my usual three and ended up tucking in five around the design.

Whew, one stamp set, but three different sets of dies to complete this card.  But I love how it turned out!  So it's all worth it, right?  Now I need to get down to my work table and get everything put away again so I can find the top of my table.  What a mess!

Hope you like my card and got a chuckle from my foibles with making it.  I'm sure your card making efforts go much more smoothly than mine.  By the way, my son's down visiting from Michigan and today is his birthday.  Happy Birthday Michael!!!  Man, is he ever getting old!  😏  Oops, I guess that means I'm getting even older!!  ha ha

Hope you're having fun going crazy with all the Black Friday sales.  I'm happy to be tucked in here at home and spending my time creating.

Blessings and love,
Sharon

No comments:

Post a Comment