Don’t you just love it when you can get more out of your crafting tools. When buying stamp sets I try to think about how they might be used in different ways, for example as Christmas trees. Rooted in Nature was one that appealed to me for a number of reasons. The images can be used for masculine and feminine projects, and they vary in scale. They also compliment other stamp sets that I have, like Lovely As A Tree (and now Winter Woods too).
Of course one of the challenges is remembering what I have when I’m designing a project. Today, it was a look down my stamp set shelves that reminded me of Rooted in Nature. There in the set were some pine trees, perfectly sized for a gift card envelope.
THE GIFT CARD ENVELOPE
I began by creating the gift card envelope using my Envelope Punch Board. As you can see I’ve added a sticker to the board to remind me of the cutting and scoring measurements.
Today I used Thick Whisper White Card, cut as usual at 5-1/2″ x 5-1/2″, and with the first scored line at 2-3/8″.
Once I’d punched and scored the envelope I rounded the corners with the reverse punch on the board. Then I assembled it using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) and added a Mini Glue Dot to the top flap.
If you haven’t seen the Envelope Punch Board in action or need a reminder, here’s a short video from Stampin’ Up!
THE BACKGROUND
Do you recognise the background design on the front of my gift card envelope? It’s a piece from the Tropical Escape 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper Stack. Yes this DSP is perfect for winter projects too!
I cut it to 2-1/2″ x 3-3/4″ making sure that the lines would run horizontally on the finished piece. Then I used some Stampin’ Sponge to add a little Pool Party ink over roughly the top half of the piece. The rest of the piece was painted using a dry Aqua Painter and some Frost White Shimmer Paint. Then I set the background aside to dry.
CHRISTMAS TREES
In the Rooted in Nature Stamp Set there’s a single small pine tree, and an image with a pair of small pine trees. I decided to stamp both images onto Thick Whisper White Card using Shaded Spruce Ink.
Then using my Big Shot and Magnetic Platform I cut out the trees using the coordinating dies from the Nature’s Roots Framelits.
The twin trees image is cut out in one piece, but I actually wanted them closer together, so I cut between them with Paper Snips.
To complete the winter look I painted the three trees with dabs of Frost White Shimmer Paint, then set these aside to dry too.
THE SENTIMENT LAYERS
Rooted in Nature doesn’t have a Christmas sentiment, so I needed to look elsewhere. I also decided to deliberately avoid my newest stamps, and use one from an older, but still available stamp set.
I found the perfect Merry Christmas sentiment in the Star of Light Stamp Set. This set is see-through photopolymer, so stamping it onto a strip of Thick Whisper White Card with Shaded Spruce ink was easy.
Layered underneath the strip I wanted something, plain but not stark. In the end I opted for Thick Whisper White Card punched out using the Pretty Label Punch. I would soften the white with a matching piece of Vellum Cardstock.
Now I was ready to put it all together.
ASSEMBLING THE PROJECT
I began with liquid glue, fixing the sentiment across the centre of the vellum. Then I flipped them over and added liquid glue to the back of the vellum where it would be hidden by the sentiment. I could now attach the vellum to the white punched piece and add these layers to the centre of my background.
Next came the Christmas trees. I fixed one tree to the background layer with liquid glue, coming in from the left side. Then I flipped the piece over and trimmed off the excess part of the tree with Paper Snips. I then attached this ‘excess’ piece to the right-hand edge of the background.
To provide a little interest, the last two Christmas trees were attached, overlapping the first ones, with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
Finally the background and assembled layers were fixed to the gift card envelope with more liquid glue and I was done.
Although I used a Merry Christmas sentiment today, this simple design could work for lots of different occasions. Instead of leaving the bottom of the DSP white, you could sponge it with green ink. The sentiment could be changed for just about anything. It’s also a gender-neutral design so would be perfect for those times you have no idea what to buy for the guy in your life.
OTHER ROOTED IN NATURE IDEAS
Here’s some other projects I created using the Rooted in Nature Stamp Set:
Lone pine tree thinking of you
BUNDLE BONUS – I purchased the Rooted In Nature Stamp Set and Nature’s Roots Framelits using a single ‘bundle’ item number. This meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. You’ll see that I’ve included both options in the product list to you can compare the two options if you wish.
How perfectly lovely! No, I didn’t recognize the DSP at all (from the Tropical Escape) … I thought you had made the background yourself, but love how you’ve used the Shimmer Paint for the “snow” … (and the trees); the Merry Christmas font and size is perfect too. Think I might just be CASING this one for my brother! Thanks Tracy!
Thank you Geraldine. Designer Series Paper called Tropical Escape is not the first thing that comes to mind for Christmas or winter projects. Also in the same pack there’s a white design with tiny black dots that would work as falling snow.