Shining Brightly Truly Shines

 Hello my friend!  Hope you're having a blessed and productive day.  A couple days ago, I finally got around to creating with the Shining Brightly Specialty Designer Paper that is in the Mini Catalog.  This paper is so gorgeous that I didn't want to cut into it until I had a good idea of what I wanted to make with it.  Do you get that way?  Almost frozen with indecision?  I finally decided to cut a 3" wide section from the 12" x 12" paper and just work with that.  That turned out to be a perfect solution for the first cut into that paper.  I've only used just one the navy and gold designs, but I'm so happy with the two cards that I'll be using it again soon!  Hope you like these ideas too.  They're similar but still different enough that I'll share them both.

Here's the first card I made.  The card base is Night of Navy measuring 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It's scored and folded in half.  The 3" wide strip of DSP was trimmed up to 5 1/2" to fit top to bottom.  Next a strip of Gold Foil (found in the Annual Catalog) was cut to 3 1/4" x 5 1/2".  This gives a pretty frame to the DSP without being too overpowering.  The layering pieces were all attached with adhesive. 

Next, I decided on the sentiment to use.  This one is from the Night Divine Bundle on page 16 of the Mini Catalog.  I love both the words and the font of these sentiment stamps.  For this card, the Nested Essentials Die set was used.  I thought the rounded edges and stitching line made it a little more elegant than a plain square piece.  The sentiment is stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock a little higher and to the left of center.  Night of Navy ink was used for this.

To add some interest to the side, two of the dies from the Magical Meadow Bundle were used.  I love all the different bits of greenery that can be added wherever it's needed.  The leaf and berry stem is cut from the same Gold Foil, and the evergreen stem is cut from Night of Navy cardstock.  First the gold foil and then the navy pieces were attached to the sentiment label to the bottom right.  They were attached with a little 'green glue' down the center of the stems. 

A double strand of the gold Simply Elegant Trim was used to make the small bow.  This is attached over the stems with a Mini Glue Dot that's rolled to fit under the bow.  Even though the bow is small, it adds a touch of elegance.

The sentiment label was then attached to the card front using Dimensionals to raise it up and give it some definition.

After debating with myself, I didn't add any extra bling to the card.  With the gold accents on the framing layer, the DSP and the leafy stem, I thought any extra bling would either get lost on the card or would detract from the elegance of the card.  So, no extra bling on this one.

This is the 2nd version with several changes.  The first change is the Gold Foil layer was cut wider so more would show on each side.  It's cut to 3 1/2" x 5 1/2".  They're attached together with adhesive and then added to the card front with adhesive too.

The sentiment label is Very Vanilla cardstock cut with the Scalloped Contours Dies.  I used another one of the lovely sentiments from the Night Divine Bundle and it's stamped with Night of Navy ink.  It's attached to the card front using Dimensionals.

Because this label was bigger than the last card, I felt there was room for a bow.  The ribbon used is the retired Shimmery Gold Ribbon.  After the bow was made, it was attached to the label with a Mini Glue Dot.  

I liked the idea of adding just a little more gold bling on this card.  There was that whole open corner that was just calling for something pretty.  The gold Neutrals Adhesive-backed Sequins were the perfect touch.  I usually add embellishments in groups of three or five, but it seemed like only two were needed for that corner, so that's what I used.

Hopefully you enjoyed these two versions of card using many of the same products.  With a few changes, each of them has their own distinct look.  Can you come up with more ideas using just these same products?  I'd love to see what you make!  Thanks for stopping by and sharing your time with me.  Come back again soon to see what I get into next.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon