And just like that it’s the 24th of the month again. No longer do I have six months, or even five months to get all my Christmas crafting done. Nope, suddenly it’s only four months to Christmas Eve, and I’m starting to worry. Two months ago I’d planned to make at least one Christmas project every week but needless to say that never happened. I have the products and materials so there’s really no excuse. So now I really do need to make a definite plan for how I’m going to get everything done. So while I do that, here’s a card featuring holly leaves and shiny red foil berries.

SIMPLE BACKGROUND

I started today’s project by choosing the background for my card. This tone-on-tone holly pattern comes from the ‘Tis The Season 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper (DSP).

First I cut a piece 2-1/4″ x 6″ and with Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) attached it to the flap of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope. Then using Paper Snips I trimmed the DSP to shape using the edge of the flap as a guide.

Next I cut the remaining DSP into two, one piece 3-3/4″ x 5″ and the other 3-3/4″ x 1″. Using liquid glue I first fixed the larger piece to a 3-7/8″ x 5-1/8″ layer of Shaded Spruce Card. Then I glued the smaller piece towards the top of a 4″ x 5-1/4″ layer of Very Vanilla Card.

Finally, I used my Paper Trimmer to cut and score some Thick Very Vanilla Card. Then I folded the card along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create my card base. On the inside I used liquid glue to fix the Very Vanilla Layer, while I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to add the mounted DSP layer to the front.

HOLLY LEAVES & FOIL BERRIES

With the layers and coordination done it was time for me to start stamping. For this I chose the Poinsettia Petals Stamp Set, and while the images are primarily poinsettias, I love that there’s holly leaves included too.

I started by stamping the two different sized holly leaf images using Shaded Spruce ink on Soft Sea Foam Card. Then I coloured the leaves with Shaded Spruce Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. Once I’d finished colouring I cut out the leaves using dies from the coordinating Poinsettia Dies.

To add shine I chose the red foil sheet from the Red & Green Foil Sheets pack. I cut out the foil just once, using the berry sprig die that’s also included in the Poinsettia Dies.

After cutting out the leaves there was a lighter edge outside the stamped image where the Soft Sea Foam Card showed. This wasn’t quite the look I was going for today so I went all around the edge of each leaf with the light Stampin’ Blends marker. That was much better.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Next for my sentiment I chose the simple but elegant “Merry Christmas” from the Poinsettia Petals Stamp Set. First I stamped it onto a 1″ x 3-3/4″ strip of Very Vanilla Card using Shaded Spruce ink. Then I mounted it onto a 1-1/8″ a 3-7/8″ piece of Shaded Spruce Card with liquid glue. Finally I attached the assembled sentiment to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

That just left the holly leaves and foil berries for me to add.

I began by fixing the large leaf above the sentiment with liquid glue. Next I took one of the small leaves and overlapped the first leaf, using Stampin’ Dimensionals. Finally below the sentiment I attached the two remaining small leaves with liquid glue, but with part of one leaf overlapping the edge of the sentiment.

At this point I decided that the whole foil berry sprig was too much. So I took my Paper Snips and cut it up into smaller pieces . Then, after I tucked the berries between the leaves and the sentiment and secured them with liquid glue, my project was complete.

I really love the size of these holly leaves and of course having dies that cut them out is a big plus too. I have a feeling you’ll be seeing more of these in the weeks and months to come.

In the meantime I’ve made a couple of other projects using the Poinsettia Petals Stamp Set and/or Poinsettia Dies. You can see them in these earlier blog posts:

• I wonder why this surprised me
• Starting off a wonderful season

CHALLENGE ENTRY

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Poinsettia Petals Stamp Set and coordinating Poinsettia Dies using a single ‘bundle’ item number. This meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I’ve included links for both options below so you can explore these further if you wish.