So the Year-End Closeout has started and the majority of items in the Stampin’ Up! August to December Mini Catalogue are retiring. All retiring items are only available while stocks last. In fact some may have already sold out by the time you read this. Stamp sets generally last longer as they are manufactured by Stampin’ Up! but there’s no guarantees. It makes my job of creating projects a little more challenging as I don’t want to show you something that you can no longer buy. I think I’m pretty safe today though with a simple card using the retiring Joyful Holly Stamp Set.

JOYFUL HOLLY FRAME

The Joyful Holly Stamp Set has two different holly sprigs with additional stamps to add colour to the leaves and berries. I decided to use the larger image and thought I could create a kind of frame with them. To do this I pulled out my Stamparatus stamp positioning platform to help me.

I placed a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Whisper White Card onto the platform and laid the clean outline stamp on the card. Then I closed the hinged plate to pick up the stamp and inked it up using Tuxedo Black ink. Finally I closed the plate to stamp onto the white card.

Leaving the stamp on the hinged plate I then turned the card around so I could stamp in the opposite corner. All I had to do was ink up the stamp again and close the plate. With that I removed the stamped piece and set it aside.

I still had more images to stamp so I left the stamp image on the hinged plate. Then I placed a fresh 4 x 5-1/4″ piece of Whisper White Card on the platform and stamped the holly in one corner of that. To finish I stamped the holly on the front of a Whisper White Medium Envelope too.

With the outlines all done it was time to colour in the images using the coordinating solid stamp in the Joyful Holly set. So I placed one of the Whisper White pieces back on the platform and laid the clean solid stamp over the outline. Then I inked up the stamp using Old Olive ink and stamped onto the outline image. Now because I hadn’t moved the outline stamp for each of the pieces I knew every time I stamped the solid image it would be in exactly the right place.

FINISHING HOLLY TOUCHES

That just left the berries to stamp using Poppy Parade ink. Each of the large holly images in the Joyful Holly set has eight holly berries, in two groups of four. So the solid holly berry stamp is designed to stamp four berries at once. I chose Poppy Parade ink for the berries and stamped each set in turn.

For the sentiment I chose “May your season be merry & bright” from the Joyful Holly Stamp Set. I used Tuxedo Black for this and simply stamped it inside my holly frame.

To complete the project I used my Paper Trimmer to cut and score a piece of Poppy Parade Card. Then I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

Using Multipurpose Liquid Glue I fixed the holly and sentiment layer to the front of the card. Then I glued the other Whisper White layer on the inside.

Once I was sure everything else was done it was time to pull out my Shimmery Crystal Effects. I carefully put a drop on each berry on the front of the card and set it aside for a couple of hours. When they were dry each berry had a clear glossy dome and I could finally say my project was complete.

CLEARANCE RACK UPDATED!

As well as the Year-End Closeout, Stampin’ Up has also updated the Clearance Rack today. Here you’ll find older retired products at up to 60% off. Make sure you check it out in case there’s something there you wished you’d bought. As with the Year-end Closeout, Clearance Rack items are only available while stocks last.

PRODUCT LIST

Here’s the list of all the products I used to create today’s project. Just remember that the Joyful Holly Stamp Set is only available while stocks last.