Cottage Wreath Christmas

Hello all!  I have to know, does the weather affect your frame of mind?  I never thought it made all that much of a difference to me.  But the last week or two opened my eyes to how much it really does make a difference.  We've been having cold and dreary, rainy days every single day for over a week, and it really started to get to me.  Today I woke up to sunshine and blue skies and my attitude has changed immensely!  All of a sudden, I have inspiration to get things done and energy to do it!  So let's get started with sharing a Christmas card.  This might be the last Christmas card I share as it's getting so close to Christmas.  I just got my pre-order delivered with all the new products I ordered from the new mini catalog that goes live on January 5th.  If you haven't gotten your catalog in the mail yet, let me know so I can check on it's whereabouts.  I'm so excited to sit down and play with the fun things that came in that box.  I guess Christmas came early for me!!  But back to this last Christmas card...

It's not only Christmas themed, but a fun fold card too!  That makes it just about perfect in my book.  The card starts out with two quarter pieces of Mint Macaron cardstock that measure 5 1/2" x 4 1/4".  These are the front and back panels of the finished card.  Also cut a piece of Mint Macaron cardstock that measures 5" x 1 1/2" for layering later.

A Basic White piece comes next.  This measures 5 1/4" x 11".  It's scored at 1 3/4", 3 1/2", 7 1/2", and 9 1/4".  Fold the two outer score lines to the back and fold the two inner score lines in towards the center.  This gives you almost a gatefold card that doesn't meet in the middle.  Are you with me so far?  Correction:  Thanks Kathy for finding the mistake I made in measuring.  These figures should now be correct.

I think from this picture you should be able to tell where the folds are and how they're folded.

There are two pieces of the Splendid Day Designer Series Paper that are cut next.  I used the Soft Seafoam and Basic White pearlized print for this. They measure 5 1/4" x 4" and 4 3/4" x 1 1/4".  The larger DSP piece gets attached to one of the Mint Macaron quarter pieces for the front panel using adhesive.  The smaller piece is attached to the smaller Mint Macaron strip.  

There is a Shaded Spruce layer cut that measures 4 1/2" x 3 1/2".   A Basic White piece measuring 3 1/4" x 4 1/4" is cut for the stamped images.  The leafy wreath from Cottage Wreaths stamp set found on page 59 was stamped on this using Mint Macaron ink.  Over this, multiple evergreen stems were stamped with Shaded Spruce ink to fill it in nicely.  

Shaded Spruce ink was also used to stamp the sentiment along the bottom.  The sentiment comes from the Peace to You stamp set found on page 41 of the July - December Mini Catalog.  Another sentiment from the set was used to stamp inside the scored and folded card as shown.  

Putting the card together, start with the back Mint Macaron panel.  Centering the folded white panel, attach it to the Mint Macaron in the center.  Using adhesive only on the left folded panel, attach it to the back of the front Mint Macaron and DSP piece.  This should be lined up with the back panel, so you only see a card front and no extra edges peeking out.  The skinny strip of DSP should be attached to the skinny Mint Macaron strip with adhesive.  This is attached to the folded panel on the front right side of the card.  Check above photo for placement.

The stamped white cardstock piece was attached to the Shaded Spruce piece using adhesive.  This was attached to the card front using Dimensionals.  A retired sheer white/ iridescent ribbon was tied into a bow and attached to the card front between the wreath and sentiment using Mini Glue Dots.  An assortment of small green iridescent Seasonal Sequins were scattered around the wreath to give it some sparkle.

Hope you like this card idea.  If you have questions about this fun fold and how it's put together, just call and I'll be happy to help.  If you're totally done making your Christmas cards, start thinking about using this fun fold to make some cute birthday, or even Valentine cards.  Oh my goodness!!   Did I really just mention Valentine's Day?  I didn't mean to jump ahead of myself so far.  I'm not thinking that far ahead myself yet.  I've still got Christmas cookies to make and gifts to buy and decorating to do!  Oh my!  So it's time I leave you and get back to work on my lists.

Until next time, keep at those Christmas cards.  Get them finished and in the mail.  Your family and friends will love getting them so it's all worth it!

Happy stamping and creating,

Sharon

Peace to You Christmas Card

Greetings on this lovely day!  My sister made it here safely and we've been chatting about everything under the sun for the last bunch of hours.  Dinner is out of the way, everything is cleaned up, and now we're just chilling.  So I thought I'd quick get this card posted for you.  It's a clean and simple look that seemed perfect for this stamp set.  This set really appealed to me as soon as I saw it in the July-December Mini Catalog.  It wasn't the first or second set I bought, but it was right up there near the beginning of that initial spending spree.  Oh dear, did I just admit to going on a spending spree?  No, I'm sure you must have mis-heard me?  😉😏

Here's the Peace to You set shown with the two cards I made right away.  It's too bad that there is not a die set to go along with this, but I managed to make do without one.  I liked the idea of pairing Very Vanilla with Evening Evergreen together on this card but keeping it very clean looking.

The card starts out with a Very Vanilla card base that measures 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored at 4 1/4" and folded in half.  The first layer is 5 1/4" x 4" of Evening Evergreen cardstock.  

The next layer is Very Vanilla again that measures 5 1/8" x 3 7/8".  This gives just a skinny band of color under the Very Vanilla as an accent.  On one of the cards, I embossed this Very Vanilla layer, but on the other one I left it plain.  Either way it works out nicely.

The Very Vanilla layer that is stamped on measures 4 1/8" x 3 1/8".  I set up the stamp on the Stamparatus to be positioned near the top and centered between the sides.  The church was stamped with Evening Evergreen ink at least three times to get good coverage.  Anytime you have a large fairly solid stamp, it really pays to set it up on the Stamparatus so you can do repeated stampings. 

After the church was stamped, I used the other grid plate and stamped the sentiment which is from the Peace to You set also.  It's stamped near the bottom of the layer and centered.  The stamped layer is attached to the card front with Dimensionals to give it some definition. 

For a pretty accent, a small bow was made from the 3/8" Open Weave Ribbon in Evening Evergreen.   It's attached with Mini Glue Dots right under the church doors.  Two of the Gold Holly Leaves are tucked in under the bow and attached with Mini Glue Dots also.

That's it for tonight.  Connie and I need to get back to chatting and then decide what we're going to start making tomorrow.  Can't wait!!  Hope this doesn't mean I'll be thinking about stamping instead of sleeping tonight.  LOL

If you're ordering sometime yet this month, please consider using the Host Code at the top of my blog.  It's very appreciated!  Thank you!

Have fun dreaming your creative dreams tonight!

Sharon