Shepherd's Care in Blue

Hello, my stamping friends!  This has been a busy week getting back to normal around here.  Hubby and a neighbor are replacing a wooden fence between our properties that was ruined in the hurricane.  They've been working all day for the last 4 days hauling lumber, cutting wood, digging fence post holes, screwing pieces together.  These guys have been working so hard they can hardly make it into the house for dinner.  And then it's lights out.  I think I'm exhausted just watching them!  Thank God that by tomorrow they should be done with this project.  Wonder what they'll think to do next?  

I can tell you what I decided to make next.  I got the Shepherd's Care stamp set and kept putting it aside to get to later.  Well, today was the later.  I have several ideas rolling around for this set, but I decided to start easy without too many layers and such.  Here's my first attempt.

I know I've mentioned I love the colors of navy and white on my Christmas cards.  That's what I started out with for my first card.  I had envisioned the shepherd being stamped on a Countryside Corners die-cut piece.  He fit on the 2nd largest piece very nicely.  It's die-cut from Basic White cardstock and the shepherd is stamped with Night of Navy ink.  He's positioned to the left and down near the bottom, so part of the stamp is off the layer.  The star that is part of the set is stamped with navy also.  It's stamped in the top right corner right near the edge.

The card base is Night of Navy cardstock.  It measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and is scored and folded in half.

The next layer is Misty Moonlight.  That was enough to brighten up the card somewhat.  The layer measures 5 1/4" x 4".  This is embossed with the Snowflake Sky 3D Embossing Folder.  It's found on page 129 in the Annual Catalog.  This adds a very subtle design to this layer.  

Next, an 8" length of the Silver and White 1/2" Sheer Ribbon is attached around the Misty Moonlight layer.  This ribbon is also available in the Annual Catalog.  The ribbon is a little more than 1/2" in from the left edge.  I used two small strips of Tear & Tape to hold the ribbon in place around the back side of the layer.  Then the layer was attached to the Night of Navy card base.  For this I used "green glue" to hold in place. 

I attached the shepherd layer over the ribbon.  For this card, I used "green glue" to attach it.  Looking back at the finished card, I think I might attach this layer using Dimensionals next time instead.

I wanted a sparkly star in the sky instead of just the navy.  I didn't have anything current that had a star die, so I went in my retired stash and found the Stars at Night die set.  This set has several star dies, and it had a die that matched the star already stamped so I used that.  

I liked the idea of sparkles, so I hit my Specialty DSP stash and found a Silver Glimmer Paper that was just what I was looking for.  I cut one star from a scrap and attached it over the navy star using a Mini Dimensional.  Just the look I wanted!  

The sentiment is from the Shepherd's Care stamp set.  I've been using this a lot on my Christmas cards lately.  I love the wording and Peace on Earth is so needed these days.  It's stamped with Night of Navy ink onto a 1/2" strip of Basic White cardstock that was available.  It's trimmed to fit and attached to the card front with Mini Dimensionals.

I was hoping to find a gem that reminded me of stars in the night sky.  After trying several that were so-so, I tried the Iridescent Facets Gems.  Oh my, yes!  These can be found on page 115 in the Annual Catalog.  The picture in the catalog just doesn't do these gems justice.  They are so pretty and eye-catching.  Loved adding them for my nighttime stars.

One last picture of this lovely card.  For being so simple to make, it sure looks dramatic.  If you don't have this particular star die, use what you have.  And if I didn't have silver glitter paper, I would have used silver foil paper.  

I hope you give this idea a try.  I know I'm making some of these cards for my own Christmas cards this year.  I love sending out a card that follows a Christian theme for Christmas.  I know there are plenty of gorgeous and fun cards available, but for myself, I try to have a Christian theme.

Thanks for sharing some time with me today.  And I hope I can inspire you to get creative!  It's good therapy, or so I've been told.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon