Love Those Wreaths

 Hello and welcome on this beautiful Monday.  It seems like the weekend went way too fast and it's time to get back into the groove.  As promised, I'm actually sharing Christmas cards today.  I loved the Wishes All Around Bundle when I saw it in the Mini Catalog.  Especially the snowflake wreath die!  Woo Boy - it's just gorgeous.  So of course, that is the first item from that bundle that I'm sharing with you.

I've got to admit, I used a retired Season of Chic DSP to play around with the die and get a feel for how it cuts, etc.  I thought they turned out beautifully, so I had to share them with you.  So that's why there are 3 cards in the picture.  We are going to focus on the Night of Navy version first because all the items used are current.  Then we'll touch on the other two cards for a little bit at the end.

Aren't the three cards lovely though?  I wish you could see them in person and touch them.  They are just so pretty!! I like how airy the snowflake wreath looks!  It really is easy to cut and get all the little pieces poked out of the snowflakes.  Usually, I only had five or six little 'chads' to poke out after cutting.  Like I said, so easy.  I can't wait to play with the other dies to see what else I can create.

For this card, I decided to work with my favorite Christmas card color scheme - navy, white, and silver.  The base of the card is Night of Navy cardstock that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It's scored and folded in half as usual.

The DSP that I chose to frame the snowflakes is from the Countryside Inn Designer Series Paper pack.  Yes, I know - that's not Christmas paper!  But I thought this print gave a feel of snowflakes falling with the Balmy Blue dots all over the design.  This measures 5 1/4" x 4".  It's attached to the folded navy card base using adhesive.

The snowflakes are die-cut from a piece of Basic White Thick.  I added a layer of the Adhesive Sheets cut to fit.  You can find this on page 138 in the Annual Catalog.  It's a great tool when die-cutting intricate pieces and trying to attach them to your card.  The adhesive is already there, so you just peel the backing and attach.  It's attached near the top of the card to leave lots of room for a sentiment.

There are single snowflakes dies in the Wishes All Around set also.  I cut three of these out of Silver Foil paper to add to the design.  It added a nice bit of shine to it.  They are each attached with a Mini Glue Dot in the center to hold in place.

The sentiment also comes from the Wishes All Around set.  This is stamped on a strip of Basic White that is about 3/4" wide.  It's stamped with Night of Navy ink close to the left side.  Then the right end is flagged with the Banners Pick a Punch.  It's then attached to the card front with adhesive at the left edge and a Dimensional under the right edge.  I liked it kind of lifting off the card as it went across.

A bow was made using the Silver & White Sheer Ribbon to highlight the extra silver snowflakes.  The bow is attached with Mini Glue Dots near the bottom of the wreath.

After looking at the finished card, I thought some small Clear Rhinestone Basic Jewels would add a touch more sparkle. They are added to the centers of the snowflakes that you can see, so only six were used.  But it does add a pretty touch.

Let me tell you about a problem I ran into so maybe you won't have the same problem.  Or maybe you will come up with a better way of doing this.  This was the first incarnation of the snowflake card idea.  The snowflake was still made of Basic White Thick cardstock, but I added a layer of the Foam Adhesive Sheets under this since I wanted some dimension.  After going through the cutting machine 4 times, it finally cut through the outer edges.  But when you look closely, you'll see that most of the inner chads on the snowflakes were absolutely impossible to remove.  Lots of poking to just get the outer circles empty.  So, that was just too thick.  Maybe it would work better with regular cardstock.  I don't know, I didn't try that.  I really liked the thickness of the snowflake wreath, but I don't think that out-weighed the hassle. 

The sentiment is from the Brightest Glow stamp set.  Same ribbon and silver snowflakes added and a few Rhinestone Basic Jewels to sparkle.

On this card, the retired White Velvet Specialty Paper was used on the snowflake wreath.  Love this.  The sentiment is from the Wishes All Around set and just fussy cut around it.  It's popped up with a Dimensional.  

For the bling on this one, something new was used.  These are the Adhesive-backed Glitter Sequins.  Oh my, they are so pretty and sparkly!  Again, the silver snowflakes were added along with the Silver & White ribbon bow.

Ok, there you have it - snowflakes in three versions.  I really love each one of these.  I wish that velvet paper was still current because it made lovely snowflakes.  But now that these are finished, I really need to make some cards using the wreath made from little trees.  I think that will be adorable.

Thanks for hanging with me for a little bit today.  Have fun trying out these creations as is or add your own special touch to the idea.  If you have an idea for something different to use for the snowflakes, let me know.  I love new ideas.  If you order, please use the Host Code shown at the top of the page.  Thank you!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon