Hello Friend! Hope you're having a great week. Our weather here started to look a little bit like autumn, then the temperatures started creeping up into the mid 90's again. Yup, that's just way too hot for autumn! I feel sorry for my grandson running cross-country in this heat. I get worn out just thinking about it! Whew! So, let's think about the up-coming winter weather instead, and Christmas in particular. I've been sharing a few card ideas with you and have another one to share. When I saw the set called Decorated with Happiness in the 2022 July - December Mini Catalog, it just called to me. It's a fun Christmas set with sketch-y style designs that I thought would be fun to create with. I wanted a crisp, clean look to the card that would be easy to replicate in multiples. But I didn't want it to be boring. Here's what I came up with for you.
It definitely has a crisp, clean look to it, but with the off-set layers it isn't too boring as far as I can tell. Let me know what you think about it!
The card starts out with a base of Basic White Thick Cardstock that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half to make a side-opening card. The first layer here is the regular Basic White cardstock that measures 5 1/4" x 4". The card is built up onto this piece.
I liked the idea of a layer of Real Red cardstock but just didn't want the same look as usual. So, this piece is cut 2" x 4 1/4". It's attached with adhesive flat to the white layer about 1/2" from the left side. Before attaching, I ran it through the embossing machine using an old, retired folder - the Subtle Embossing Folder from a couple years ago. I still love the 'subtle' texture this embossing folder gives.
The next Basic White layer measures 3 1/4" x 2 3/4". I used the Decorated Pines dies to cut a large pine bough from Garden Green cardstock. After figuring out the placement on the small white layer, I used the Stamparatus to stamp the sentiment with Real Red ink. The sentiment is from the For Unto Us stamp set. Oh dear!! My mistake - I thought it was still available in this year's catalog, but it isn't. Which is too bad because I really like it. So sorry!! Obviously other sentiments would work here. Just make sure it fits in the spot.
For the ornament, I backed a piece of Gold Foil with the Foam Adhesive Sheets found on page 127 of the Annual Catalog before die-cutting. This made it nice and thick for the card, and you just peel off the backing just like Dimensionals to add to your card. Easy peasy. I tied a piece of the Gold Simply Elegant Trim through the ornament and tied into a knot for "hanging" on the tree. A Mini Glue Dot was placed under the knot to hold it in place.
At this time, I used Dimensionals to attach the larger white layer to the card base. Then the smaller white layer was attached over the Real Red and the white layers with Dimensionals. This was placed more to the right side of the card front about 1/2" from the open edge.
After trying to decide what to use for the bling on the card, I settled on the retired Gold Glitter Enamel Dots that I had left over. I much preferred the gold of these which matched the Gold Foil of the ornament the best. I wish Stampin'Up! held onto the embellishments for more than a year. It never gives me enough time to use them up and they are always way too lovely to get rid of.
So there you are, three retired things used on this card which I thought would be all new items when I started out. As Winnie the Pooh would say, "Oh bother!" Now I'm going to have to go and remake the card with all current items just to prove I can! Hrrumph!
Hope you're finding time to get your fingers inky and have some fun. It's always a good day when I can get creative.
Happy stamping and creating,
Sharon
The foam-backed foil worked beautifully. I like the off-set look with the Real Red card stock - lovely card.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Barb! Even though it's simple, I think it's pretty awesome.
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