While I love creating projects every day for my blog it’s not without its challenges. Sometimes I’ll sit at my desk and all that’s rolling round my brain are dust bunnies. So when that happens what do I do? Well, I start something. Anything. I might cut and prepare some card bases. Or I may stamp some images and start colouring. Even tidying my craft supplies works. Last night I spent a peaceful evening simply cutting images from my patterned paper stash. Then an idea magically popped into my head.
PRETTY POINSETTIA
Not all patterned paper lends itself to cutting out individual images but I like to do it when I can. The Bough of Holly Designer Series Paper (DSP) is a case in point. There’s some gorgeous sheets covered with poinsettias but they’re so tightly packed together it’s hard to separate them. No so another sheet in the pack that had individual sprays of poinsettias, leaves and berries spread over a white background.
So that’s what I drew me in. Using my trusty Paper Snips I roughly cut around one of the images and then began to trim away the excess background paper. By the time I was done I has a gorgeous piece that was begging to be used.
Having just spent time cutting the image from its white background my first thought was to create a something white to stick it on to. So using my Paper Trimmer I cut a 3″ x 6″ piece of Basic White Card. Then I folded it along the scored line before sharpening the crease with a Bone Folder. Now I had a little 3″ x 3″ card.
As I started to think about where to place the poinsettia piece I decided that the white was too stark. So I grabbed a Blending Brush and Balmy Blue ink pad. Then I simply brushed a light layer of ink over the front of the folded card. I wasn’t after a really blue background, just a hint that would make the poinsettia stand out.
By this point I’d decided to turn the mini card into a folded gift tag. So next I opened up the card and placed it under the slot option on the Very Best Trio Punch. Then I slid the card over over until the crease was just to the right of the slot printed on top of the punch. Finally when I pressed down I had a hole punched in the back of the card close to the crease.
PEACEFUL SENTIMENT
While I was pleased with how the project was coming together I still wasn’t quite ready to attach the poinsettia. Instead I simply rested it on top of the tag so I could see how much room I had for a sentiment.
In fact I had a couple of options. I could stamp something onto a separate piece of card and then add it over the top. Or I could find a sentiment that would fit into the space around the poinsettia. It was after looking at the Peaceful Deer Stamp Set that I went with the second option.
I chose “sending love & peace this season” and taking my cue from the fussy-cut image selected Evening Evergreen ink. There are other Christmas sentiments in the Peaceful Deer Stamp Set however this one was just the right shape. Once I’d stamped the sentiment in the bottom right corner of the tag front I was almost done.
I could have simply glued the poinsettia to the tag front but I really wanted to make it stand out. After all this was the piece that inspired my project. So instead I put lots of Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals on the back. Now after adding it to the tag my simple piece of patterned paper it really did look special.
Finally I cut 6″ of gold cord from the Simply Elegant Trim pack and threaded it through the hole in the back of the tag. Then after tying it in a simple knot my project was complete.
I love how easy it is to create something beautiful using really basic products and techniques. I hope this week’s simple Sunday project inspires you to try something similar.
For other projects using the Peaceful Deer Stamp Set see these earlier blog posts:
PRODUCT LIST
BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Very Best Trio Punch in a bundle with the Very Best Occasions Stamp Set (not used today). Using the single ‘bundle’ item number to order meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying these two products separately. I’ve included a link to the bundle in case you want to explore this option.
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