With all the lovely products available in the Stampin’ Up! August to December Mini Catalogue it’s easy to overlook older products. So yesterday when I came across the Christmas Layers Dies I put them on my desk to remind me to use them. Little did I know that would be just the start. By the time I’d finished, I’d used two stamp sets and two sets of dies from the Annual Catalogue.
CHRISTMAS LAYERS
As I said, this project all started with the Christmas Layers Dies. From the three larger dies in the set I chose the leafy one. Then I attached some Adhesive Sheet to the back of a piece of green foil from the Red & Green Foil Sheets. With that done I die-cut the foil and set it aside.
Next I spent a little while deciding on the background for my card. I tried various colours of cardstock but none of them seemed right. So instead I looked through my stash of Designer Series Paper (DSP). In the end I found the perfect subtle ‘watercolour wash’ background in the Snowflake Splendor pack.
I cut three pieces of the DSP starting with a 2-1/4″ x 6″ piece that I fixed to the flap of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope with Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow). Then with Paper Snips I trimmed the DSP using the edge of the flap as a guide.
The second piece I cut 3/4″ x 4″ and glued that along the bottom of a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Very Vanilla Card. My plan was to use this layer to line my card base.
Finally I cut one last piece of the DSP 3-7/8″ x 5-1/8″ to use as the background of my design.
Finally, before I finished with my Paper Trimmer, I cut a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Pool Party Card. I’d need this for underneath the background layer, but first I had to do some stamping.
WORDS AND IMAGES
It was at this point I decided to include the large bird from the Toile Christmas Stamp Set.
Using Merry Merlot ink I stamped the bird image onto Thick Very Vanilla Card. Then I cut it out using a coordinating die from the Christmas Cardinal Dies. After that I coloured in the image using Real Red and Mango Melody Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers.
While the Toile Christmas Stamp Set does have sentiments I had something simpler and larger in mind, and I knew exactly where to find it. I wanted the beautiful “Seasons greetings” sentiment from the Peaceful Boughs Stamp Set.
Using VersaMark ink I stamped the sentiment onto the DSP I’d cut for my background layer. Then I sprinkled it with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. After removing some stray specks, I melted the rest of the powder using my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).
LOVELY LAYERS
Finally I was ready to put all my prepared layers together.
Going back to my Paper Trimmer I began by cutting and scoring a piece of Thick Very Vanilla Card. Then I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create a card base.
Next I used liquid glue to mount the DSP background to the Pool Party cardstock layer. Then I peeled the backing off the Adhesive Sheet on the foil piece before pressing the foil firmly onto the background.
The cardinal came next, attached with Stampin’ Dimensionals. Then I attached the assembled layers to the card base with more Stampin’ Dimensionals.
Finally all I had left was to glue the prepared Very Vanilla layer to the inside of the card and my project was complete.
I really love how this project turned out. That delicate DSP background adds interest without overpowering everything else. Then the embossed sentiment and Christmas Layers die-cut piece add a touch of luxury to make this a very special card. I’m so glad I went back to products from the Annual Catalogue for this project.
For some other projects created using the Christmas Layers Dies see these earlier blog posts:
Oh, and in case you were wondering, Christmas Day is 16 weeks today.
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