Today when I sat down I planned to make a simple Christmas card. One stamp set, with two colours (plus white), coupled with a little two-step stamping and stamping off. Everything came together as expected and I was very happy with it. Until I began the final assembly. Then I decided to add a little embellishment to my #simplestamping project. In a matter of seconds a few Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels really added a wow factor.

JOYFUL HOLLY
It all began with the Joyful Holly Stamp Set and two ink colours, Shaded Spruce and Real Red.
On a layer of Whisper White Card I stamped one of the two holly sprig outlines with Shaded Spruce. Then I stamped the same image across the bottom right corner of another layer of Whisper White Card. After that I stamped the image across the bottom left corner on the front of a Whisper White Medium Envelope.
Next I selected the solid holly leaf image that coordinates with the outline. This time after inking up the stamp with Shaded Spruce ink I ‘stamped off’ onto some scrap paper. By removing some of the ink this way, when I stamped it again onto the holly outline the leaves were a lighter shade. Then I re-inked the solid image, stamped-off and stamped onto the second holly outline, before repeating the process on the third outline.
The stamp set also includes a small stamp with four small berries designed to perfectly align with the berries on the holly images. So I inked up the berry image using Real Red ink, stamped off, then stamped onto one of my leaf images. I repeated this a second time so all eight berries on the holly sprig were coloured. As before I repeated the process until all three holly sprigs were done.
Now I needed just one final stamp from the Joyful Holly Stamp Set, the sentiment “A joyful Christmas to you”. I inked this up with Shaded Spruce and stamped it beside my main holly image. Then I was ready to begin assembling my project.
RHINESTONE REACTION
Staying with my original colour palette I opted for Shaded Spruce Card for my card base. Using my Paper Trimmer I cut and scored the card, then folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.
Next I cut a layer of Real Red Card and attached my main panel to it using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow). With that done I mounted the assembled panel onto my card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
That just left the second Whisper White layer which I fixed inside the card base using liquid glue.

At this point my card was essentially finished, but I wondered if I could step it up just a little, while still keeping it a #simplestamping project. It was then that I remembered the Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels I’d bought months ago.
I soon discovered that each rhinestone was sized perfectly for the berries in the Joyful Holly Stamp Set. It was obviously meant to be. So I attached eight self-adhesive rhinestones onto the front of my card and immediately knew I’d made the right decision. My quick and easy card really packed a punch. What’s more it’s a design that could easily used to create cards in bulk, not a bad thing with Christmas fast approaching.
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