Although I was trying to design and make cards quickly during my recent World Cardmaking Day challenge I still wanted them to have impact. So I found myself using just one or two techniques or tools on each design. At number 12, today’s project marked the halfway point and was all about the heat embossing. With all six ornaments on the one stamp image this was much easier to create than it might seem.
SIX ORNAMENTS
This project really did start with that six ornaments image from the Ornamental Envelopes Stamp Set.
Using VersaMark ink I stamped the image onto a layer of Very Vanilla Card. Then I sprinkled it with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. After removing a few stray specks of powder I melted the rest using my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).
Next I took the sparse branch/swag image from the Ornamental Envelopes Stamp Set. Then using Shaded Spruce ink I stamped it at the top of the layer so the ornaments appeared to be hanging from it.
For my sentiment I turned to the Poinsettia Petals Stamp Set. I chose “thank you for making this a wonderful season” and stamped it using Shaded Spruce ink. Then I set the layer aside while I got on with the rest of the design.
SIMPLE ACCENTS
I could have decided to use the big six ornaments image as my coordinating feature, but instead chose a simple decorative element. After all this little corner is another stamp from the Ornamental Envelopes and designed for this very purpose. To make sure I got the placement exactly right I opted to use my Stamparatus stamp positioning platform to help me.
First I placed a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope front side up on the platform and held in place with a magnet. Then I placed the stamp on the envelope where I wanted it in the top left corner. This was a really simple job as the stamp set is made from see-through photopolymer. Next I closed the hinged plate to pick up the stamp and inked it up with Shaded Spruce. Then when I closed the door again the image was stamped in exactly the right place.
With that done I lifted the hinged plate so I could rotate the envelope on the platform. This time I had the bottom right corner of the envelope where the top left originally was. Without moving the stamp I inked it up again and closed the plate once more. Now I had diagonally opposite corners on my envelope front stamped beautifully.
After that I decided to stamp the same image in the same way on a layer of Very Vanilla Card to go inside my card base. So I cleaned the stamp with a Simply Shammy so I wouldn’t get inky fingers. Then I placed the piece of Very Vanilla Card on the platform, set up the stamp in the right place and repeated the process I’d used for the envelope.
SIMPLE ASSEMBLY
Finally I was ready to start putting my card together.
Using my Paper Trimmer I cut and scored a piece of Shaded Spruce Card. Then I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create a card base.
Next using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I fixed the corner-stamped layer on the inside. I followed this by mounting the main stamped and embossed layer on the card front.
To finish I added a single Red Rhinestone Basic Jewel to the centre of one of the embossed ornaments. With that my project was complete.
This card has a very simple layout but the gold embossing and red jewel really make it stand out. While I chose to use a seasonal thank you sentiment it would work well with lots of other Christmas sentiments too.
For some other projects using the Ornamental Envelopes Stamp Set and Envelopes Dies see these earlier blog posts:
PRODUCT LIST
BUNDLE BONUS – I bought a the Ornamental Envelopes Stamp Set in a bundle with the coordinating Envelopes Dies (not used today). I also bought the Poinsettia Petals Stamp Set in a bundle with the Poinsettia Dies (not used today). Buying bundled items using the special ‘bundle’ item number saves 10% off the cost of buying the same items separately. I’ve included links to both bundles in case you want to look at these in more detail.
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