Holly Leaves At Last

Did you know that when I post a new project I aim to only use products that you can actually buy? From past experience I know how frustrating it is to fall in love with something only to find it’s no longer available. So I try to never do that to my followers. This makes writing my blog posts challenging as I have to reschedule projects when something is temporarily unavailable. Today though is a good day as the Holly Berry Dies used on this design are back in stock.

Create this glittery folded Christmas gift tag using the Leaves of Holly Stamp Set and coordinating Holly Berry Dies from Stampin' Up!

LEAVES OF HOLLY BUNDLE

The Leaves of Holly Stamp Set and Holly Berry Dies bundle was the first thing I ordered from the July to December Mini Catalogue. I love holly, and since emigrating to Canada I miss having it growing in my garden. So this project was all about the layered leaves and berries.

I began by picking out the pairs of dies for the two different sized leaves and the berry cluster. After setting aside the fancier dies for the top layers I pulled out the new Glimmer 12″ x 12″ Specialty Paper. This pack contains two each of three different coloured sheets; Evening Evergreen, Very Vanilla and gold. So for the leaves I cut some of the Evening Evergreen Glimmer Paper using the outline dies. Then, given the choice between gold and Very Vanilla Glimmer Paper for the berries, I opted to die-cut them from the Very Vanilla sheet.

Now I needed the top layers and I chose Evening Evergreen Card for the leaves. It was only after I’d die-cut them that I thought about how I was going to stick the card pieces onto the Glimmer Paper. So before die-cutting the top berry piece I fixed some Adhesive Sheet to the back of the Real Red Card.

That just left the sentiment to do and I chose “Christmas wishes” from the Leaves of Holly Stamp Set. First I stamped it onto a scrap of Basic White Card using Evening Evergreen ink. Then I cut it out using one of the label-style dies in the Holly Berry Dies set.

FOLDED TAG BASE

I was almost there but still needed to create the tag base. So I cut a 3″ x 6″ piece of Basic White Card, then scored it at 3″. After folding it along the scored line I sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create a mini card. Then I opened up the card and placed it under the slot option on the Very Best Trio Punch. Finally with the fold to the right of the centre line I punched the slot in the back of the mini card.

For the background layer I turned to the Lights Aglow 6″ x 6″ Specialty Paper. From the pack I chose a Soft Succulent sheet printed with four gold foil frames. This sheet is designed to be cut into four 3″ x 3″ pieces and having done that I chose one of the square frames. Then I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue to fix the paper to the front of the folded tag base.

CUSTOM HOLLY BERRIES

Now it was time to start assembling the die-cut pieces starting with those holly leaves. Because there was no adhesive on the back of the card pieces I used Mini Glue Dots under to attach them to the Glimmer Paper layers. Then I fixed the assembled leaves onto the tag background with liquid glue.

Next, as I looked at the berry pieces I decided I didn’t want Very Vanilla berries, I wanted red. So I flipped the Glimmer Paper over and coloured the back using a dark Real Red Stampin’ Blends alcohol marker. By saturating the white card backing I was able to change the colour of the glittered side but without damaging the marker tip. Once that was done I picked up the berry piece cut from Real Red Card, peeled the backing off the Adhesive Sheet and pressed it onto the custom-coloured Glimmer Paper.

NOTE: It was only afterwards I noticed the Stampin’ Up! does have Real Red & White 6″ x 6″ Glimmer Paper in the Mini Catalogue.

I finished off the front of the tag by using Stampin’ Dimensionals to add the layered berries, followed by the sentiment. Then I cut 6″ of gold cord from the Simply Elegant Trim pack and tied it through the hole in the back of the folded tag. With that my holly berry project was complete.

This gift tag is so representative of my creative process. I could have added Adhesive Sheet to the back of some more Evening Evergreen Card and re-cut those leaves Instead I found an alternative way to attach the original ones to the Glimmer Paper. I also remembered a way to change the colour of Glimmer Paper without damaging my pens. That’s a trick I will definitely be using again. Now I’m off to make some Christmas cards with this bundle.

Meanwhile, for some more projects using the Leaves of Holly bundle see these earlier blog posts:

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Leaves of Holly Stamp Set in a bundle with the coordinating Holly Berry Dies. Buying the two items using the single “bundle” item number saved me 10% off the cost of buying them separately. Also available in a discounted bundle is the Very Best Trio Punch with the Very Best Occasions Stamp Set (not used today). I’ve included links to both bundles in case you want to explore these options for yourself.