Elegant Pine Snowflakes Card

Hello, my stamping friends.  Have you gotten a head start on your Christmas cards yet? I've only made a few of them so far, but I was thinking ahead to the cards I'll need for the shut-ins come December.  I know I have lots of time yet and Thanksgiving cards to make, but it's never too early to plan Christmas cards.  Right?  I have to tell you that I'm in love with the Elegant Pine Snowflakes DSP.  It's different and I think the colors and prints are all fabulous.  Especially the DSP prints that are on the dark backgrounds.  Truly scrumptious!  So, the card I'm sharing today needed to be easy to make but look eye-catching and very Christmas-y.

The card turned out a dark, rich blend of colors that were chosen to match the print.  I started with a base of Cherry Cobbler that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It's scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half to make a landscape style card.

Next is a layer of the Shaded Spruce cardstock that measures 5 1/4" x 4".  

There is a layer of the Elegant Pine Snowflakes Designer Paper cut to 5" x 3 3/4".  This DSP can only be found in the Online Exclusive section in the store.  It's definitely worth it to spend the time looking for it! This layer is attached to the Shaded Spruce layer with adhesive.  Then both of these layers are attached to the folded card base with adhesive also. 

Next the Everyday Arches Dies were used to cut the sentiment pieces.  The 2nd smallest die cut a piece of Basic White cardstock.  The 3rd smallest die cut a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock.

On the white piece, a small snowflake cluster from the Snowy Delights stamp set was stamped with Soft Sea Foam ink towards the curved end.  Then the sentiment - Joy to the World - was stamped with Cherry Cobbler ink right over the snowflakes.

The white layer was attached to the Cherry Cobbler layer with adhesive.  Then both layers were attached to the card front with Dimensionals to make it stand out more. 

I made a mistake.  I thought the ribbon I used on this card was from this year.  Unfortunately, it must be retired from last year.  Oops.  It's Cherry Cobbler with gold edging and it worked here.  So, I guess this means go through your stash and fine something that works!  It's attached with a Mini Glue Dot to hold in place.  

The glittery dots are a fun addition here.  They are from the Traditional Sparkling Sequins that are found in the Sept-Dec Mini Catalog.  I've used the green ones here and the red ones on another one of these cards.  I think I prefer the green ones that tend to show up a little better.

TIP:  I considered a gold bow and gold gems of some kind for the bling.  I think the gold would be very elegant!

So far, the inside is a layer of Basic White with a 1/2" strip of the DSP along the bottom edge.  I just haven't decided on the wording I want to use yet.  That will come later as needed.

Well, there you have it.  Just a nice, quick, and simple card if you're doing multiples for Christmas.  Of course, you'll want those fabulous show-stopper cards for special people, but these work out well when you've got stacks of cards you need to mail out and you're running out of time to get them done.

Thanks for stopping by to see what's new around here.  There will be both Thanksgiving and Christmas cards coming in the near future.  I've got lots of ideas in my head.  I just need to get downstairs and get the creating part done.

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Amber Autumn Dies

 Hi all!  Have you been seeing all the wonderful projects made with the large coverall leaf die in the Amber Autumn bundle?  It seems these awesome ideas are cropping up all over the place.  I haven't seen anything quite like what I want to share with you today.  Hope this is new to you and you love the idea.

Can you see what I did here?  I started with a quarter sheet of Cajun Craze cardstock which measured 5 1/4" x 4".  The die was placed in the center of this keeping the edges even all around as much as possible.

It was run through my die cutting machine twice to make sure that all the detail in this die was cut properly.  Then I took the time to make sure all the little cut pieces were cleaned out from the design.

Now comes the fun part.  Find a nice 'pathway' up through the middle of the die to sort of cut it in half.  When you look at the two cards above, if you turn the one on the right upside down the two pieces mesh together.  I love that you can easily cut the two sections apart and then make two cards instead of one.

The card base for both of these cards is Basic Beige cardstock.  It measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  It's scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half.

There is a Basic White layer that is cut to measure 5 1/4" x 4" for each of the cards.  To give the cards lots of texture, both white layers were embossed with the 3D Exposed Brick Embossing Folder.  I thought this was a good background for the leaves.  

Before attaching the white layer to the card base, the Cajun Craze die cut leaves layer was added to it.  I used Tombow MultiPurpose Liquid Adhesive (green glue) around the edges and small touches on some of the more solid leaves to hold this in place.  Make sure you don't use too much where it would ooze out from the leaves.  Keep a light touch!

The same "green glue" was used to attach the white layer to the folded card base.  This gives a really good bond to hold in place.

The sentiment is from the Amber Autumn stamp set.  It's stamped onto a Basic Beige piece using Cajun Craze ink.

Then a label is die-cut around this using one of the sentiment dies in the Delicate Forest Bundle.  I love the shape of this die with the corners squared off nicely to give a different look.

The sentiment layer is attached to the card front with Dimensionals to make it stand out.

The extra oak leaf is from the Amber Autumn set and matches the background die perfectly.  It's die-cut from Cajun Craze cardstock.  I used more of the "green glue" to attach it to the card front.  It looks like it's just floating down from a tree.

The lovely bit of bling on this card is the Cajun Craze & Gold Dots.  I wasn't sure if I'd like these until I saw them in person.  They are really pretty with the flecks of gold in the transparent coppery dots.  They are just the perfect addition to this card.

The sentiment inside the card uses another of the Amber Autumn sentiments.  It has five of them and I've used each of them already.  So often there are only one or two sentiments in a set that I really like.  This time I like (and use) all of them!

I also die-cut a few extra of the single oak leaves that ended up gracing the inside of these cards.  This was a quick and easy way to make two cards at the same time.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Hopefully I'm on the mend and back on my feet again.  It's been a rough month.  But it should all be behind me now. (fingers crossed)

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Autumn Wishes for You

Hello, my lovely creative friends!  I just love the look of the easy autumn card I have for you today.  Do you have the Gathering Together DSP yet?  If not, you really need to get this gorgeous autumn themed paper pack.  There isn't a print in the whole pack that I don't really like - a lot!  The fine gold detail accent lines just make this DSP pack over the top.  Let me show you the simple, but elegant, card that I recently made to share with you.

My card starts out with a Basic Beige cardstock base that matches the background of this particular print.  It measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and is scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half.

Next there is a layer cut of the same Basic Beige.  This measures 5 1/4" x 4".  On the bottom right corner, a sentiment from the Amber Autumn bundle was stamped.  Early Espresso ink was used for this so it's nice and dark.

Then the layer is embossed with the Exposed Brick 3D Embossing Folder to add extra texture.  I think this really adds to the overall look of the design.

After embossing, the layer was attached to the front of the card base.  I used "green glue" for this to get a really good bond.

I think you can get a good look at the texture the embossing adds in this picture.

Next a 3" x 3" piece of the Gathering Together DSP print was cut.  Since it's got an all-over print, I had to decide which way I wanted to be up.  I chose to focus on the brown mushroom for orientation.

A layer of Cajun Craze cardstock was cut to frame the print.  It measures 3 1/4" x 3 1/4".  I love how the Cajun Craze really makes this print really pop.  I was planning on using a smaller layer to give just a small frame of color to the DSP, but I liked the bolder look of this.

It was then attached to the card front with Dimensionals to make it stand out nicely.

This is where I kind of went off the rails a bit.  I was working on some cards for the church shut-ins right before making this card.  I try to use up some of my retired supplies while making these cards.  One of my favorite colors recently has been Copper Clay.  Remember that one?  Well, I had cut several leaves from an Amber Autumn die from the Copper Clay cardstock.  I seemed to have a few left over when I was finished with the cards.  So, one of them meandered right onto this card and decided to stay.  I really could have cut one from the Cajun Craze, but why not use what was sitting right here?  It's attached with just a few touches of "green glue" to hold it steady and keep it from "falling" any further.

Lastly was deciding what bling this card needed.  Just plain gold to pick up the gold details?  No, I chose to use the Cajun Craze & Gold Dots for the card instead.  There are three of them sprinkled on the design and I think they're the perfect accent.

Hope you liked this idea.  It is a wonderful layout when you want to make the most of those fabulous DSP prints.  If you need multiple cards of the same design, you can get 16 pieces of 3" x 3" DSP from just one sheet.  That gives you the wow of the DSP just in smaller pieces.

If you happen to be reading this between October 6th and 8th, you're in luck!  Did you hear that Stampin'Up! is offering all their kits at a discount of between 10 -30% these 3 days?  You can get your favorite kits on sale.  Yes, you heard me right.  I'm sure there's a kit or two that you've been eyeing and now's the time to get them.  Plus, there are several new kits that have just been added to the line-up.  Make sure you check this out and don't miss your opportunity.

Thanks for spending time with me today.  Hope you have time to get creative and crafty and have some relaxing fun.  And then make sure you send your fabulous creations out to family and friends to put a smile on their faces too.  That just makes everybody happy!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon