Decorated with Happiness Idea

 Welcome friends!  Hope you've been out to vote today, or maybe you did the early voting thing.  There was construction and a detour on our way to voting.  Guess it was our day to do a little back-roads exploring.  We got to go through an area we hadn't been in before, probably won't be going back again either.  LOL  Oh well, at least we made it out to vote!  Now on to the fun stamping stuff.  Today I have a card, well two cards, that I want to share with you that uses the Decorated with Happiness Bundle that's found on page 27 of the 2022 July-December Mini Catalog.  I saw a card that Wendy Lee made that sparked my imagination.  I just had to give it a whirl, and of course put my own spin on it.  Then I started making changes to my changes and overthinking the whole thing.  So I have two cards with minor changes between them.  You can let me know which you prefer or maybe the changes really don't make much of a difference.

Here they are, and I must say that I'm having trouble picking out the changes in the pictures.  In real life, they're more obvious.  Oh well, here goes.  The card base is Basic White Thick cardstock that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half.  There is a Basic White stamped layer that measures 5" x 3 3/4".  This is backed with a layer of Mint Macaron that measures 5 1/4" x 4".

The stamped layer has the pine branch stamped multiple times around the outside of the card.  It was off-stamped after inking for each branch.  (This is the right-side card) One of the sentiments from the set was stamped with Mint Macaron ink (full strength) tucked in the pine branches.  On the left-side card, the pine branches were off-stamped twice for each stamping to give it a lighter look.  Again, the sentiment was stamped full strength.

This is a closer look at the right-side card.  The pine branch was die-cut from Mint Macaron ink for both cards.  One change on this card is using a Blending Brush and Mint Macaron ink to darken the edges of the pine needles on this one.  It was needed to show up better on the darker stamping of the background.  The branch was attached to the card front with Tombow Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.

The stamped ornaments on both the cards used the same colors - Fresh Freesia, Sweet Sorbet, and Orchid Oasis.   The Fresh Freesia was stamped full strength, but the other two were off-stamped on the outline.  The center fill-in stamps were all off-stamped before stamping.  They were all die-cut with the coordinating dies.

A light brushing of Wink of Stella was added to the ornaments.  Then I spattered some Wink of Stella over the whole card.  Lastly, the bling was added on this card.  I used the lovely Iridescent Rhinestones.  I really like how they sparkle and twinkle on the card like Christmas lights on a tree.  

A closer look at the left-side card also has a few changes.  I used the smaller 'sparkle' stamp and Balmy Blue ink to add them around the evergreen area.  With the lighter off-stamped green tones, these showed up nicely but weren't overpowering.

The layout and coloring of the ornaments is a little different here.  It really is only to make the balance of the ornaments better, and to fit on the card.  It really wasn't intentional, just worked out that way.

On this card I used my favorite standby bling of the Clear Rhinestone Basic Jewels.  Also, there's just a light brushing of Wink of Stella on the ornaments for some added glitz.

The inside of both cards has a sentiment from the Hope & Peace stamp set.  It's stamped with Mint Macaron ink.  There are also pine branches added on the edges to carry the theme inside of the card.

There you have it - the left or the right card.  Which do you prefer?  Or doesn't it really make a difference at all?  The changes do really stand out in person, but the camera just doesn't do the cards justice at all.   I don't think I should tell you which one I prefer.  You'll just have to guess!

Thanks for hanging out with me again today.  I so appreciate you taking the time to stop by to see what's been happening.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon