Peace On Earth Without The Angels

We’ve made it to the end of another month and another promotion. Today marks the end of the most amazing joining offer I’ve ever seen from Stampin’ Up! If you’ve been undecided about whether to join my team of Crafty Canadians, or want to check out the offer, see my Join Stampin’ Up! page for all the details. Just remember the deadline is 11.50pm MT tonight. Tomorrow sees the launch of the Last Chance promotion featuring retiring products from the July to December 2021 Mini Catalogue. Items on the Last Chance List, like the Angels of Peace Stamp Set, will only be available while stocks last. So before it’s gone for good I wanted to create one last card. This design has a vintage vibe that’s not my usual style but it just seemed to happen.

MERRY MELODY

I began my project with a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Very Vanilla Card. After placing the card inside the Merry Melody 3D Embossing Folder I ran it through my Cut & Emboss Machine. Then to bring out the detail and ‘age’ it a little I decided to colour the surface using Blending Brushes. First I went over the embossed piece using Crumb Cake ink, making it a little darker towards the edges. Then I added Merry Merlot ink around the edges just to lift the colour a bit.

Once the inking was complete I cut a 1″ x 4″ strip of Merry Merlot Card. Next using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I fixed the strip across the embossed piece 1″ from the bottom. Then I cut a 4-1/8″ x 5-3/8″ piece of Evening Evergreen Card and glued the embossed piece onto it. Finally I wrapped some gold 3/8″ Fine Art Ribbon around the Merry Merlot section and secured it on the back with Tear & Tape Adhesive.

I was really pleased with the look of the embossed and inked piece and decided that would be the coordinating feature for the project.

Inside of vintage style card with embossed strip created using the Merry Melody 3D Embossing Folder from Stampin' Up! #papercraftwithme

So I cut another 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Very Vanilla Card and embossed a 1″ strip down the right-hand side. Then I embossed the flap of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope too. As before I inked the embossed sections with Crumb Cake and Merry Merlot ink using Blending Brushes. Then I set the card and envelope aside while I got to work on the focal point for the card.

CHRISTMAS PINECONE DIES

There’s something very traditional about pine cones and branches at Christmas. Perhaps because that’s what people used before modern materials took over. Anyway I decided that would be perfect for this project and I reached for the Christmas Pinecone Dies. These pieces would be quite delicate so before cutting each one I made sure to cover the back of the card with Adhesive Sheet.

First, from Evening Evergreen Card I cut the very large pine background. I wouldn’t need all of it, but I could trim off what I did need and save the rest for another project.

Next from Crumb Cake Card I cut two small pine cones and one large one using the solid dies and the decorative ones. Then I assembled the pine cones with the decorative pieces on top of the solid ones, however I wasn’t completely happy. So I grabbed my Blending Brushes and added Crumb Cake and Merry Merlot inks to the surface. This was so much better and would also tie in well with the embossed background.

Now the pine cones were done I found a section of the die-cut background with three pine cones (one large and two small). Then I snipped this section off, keeping some of the pine branches attached. With that done I fixed the pine cones to the die-cut background and set it aside.

PEACE ON EARTH

Before I could assemble the card I still needed a few more pieces, most importantly the sentiment. I wanted something that reminded me of a Christmas carol and had a pretty good idea where to look.

So from the Angels of Peace Stamp Set I chose “Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men”. Using Early Espresso ink I stamped the sentiment onto a 1-1/2″ x 2″ piece of Very Vanilla Card. Then I aged the card in the same way as the embossed pieces with Crumb Cake and Merry Merlot ink.

For the card base I used my Paper Trimmer to cut & score some Merry Merlot Card. Then I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

Using Stampin’ Dimensionals I mounted the main embossed layer onto the card front. Then on the inside I glued the Very Vanilla layer with the embossed strip.

Next, using Stampin’ Dimensionals I added the sentiment over the ribbon. This was followed by the pine branch and cones.

While I liked the effect I just felt it needed a little something extra, and I searched through my embellishments but nothing seemed quite right. Then I had an idea… I took some of the Gilded Gems and coloured them using the brush tip of a dark Crumb Cake and dark Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Blends alcohol marker. I gave these a minute to dry and then scattered them on the card front. Finally my project was finished.

I must say that I’m really delighted with how this card turned out. Vintage is really not my style at all but it seems to have worked. I’d love to know what you think, so do please leave a comment below.

For a reminder of all the other projects I’ve created using the retiring Angels of Peace Stamp Set see these earlier blog posts:

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE DISCOUNT ENDS SOON – I bought the Christmas Pinecone Dies in a bundle with the Christmas To Remember Stamp Set (not used today). Placing my order using the single “bundle” item number meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the same two items separately. Please be aware that while the Christmas Pinecone Dies and Christmas to Remember Stamp Set will not be retiring, the bundle discount will end on January 3rd.

Due to ongoing global supply issues Stampin’ Up! will be changing it’s policy so that with effect from tomorrow (December 1st) orders can only be placed for items actually in stock. I’m not currently seeing any of the products I used today in my low inventory report but that can change without warning. For information about this important change to the ordering process see my blog post Harvest Dies make the cut.