December 4, 2015

Hang a Shining Star

Amy Jasper As You See It Challenge, Christmas alphabet rotary stamp, As You See It, card, challenge, Christmas, embossing, envelope punch board, lighthearted leaves, sketch, spider web doily, Stampin' Up, star framelits 8 Comments

My favourite thing about a song, especially Christmas songs, is when someone says something in normal conversation and it sparks a song in your mind that you absolutely MUST sing out loud. As it was said in the movie, ELF, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”

My hope is that my card today will cause a Christmas song to be placed in your mind when you read the words. (Basically, I’m working on developing my talents in mind-control.)

Don’t forget to check out my previous post, Fleecy Caribou and Blog Candy, for a chance to win a stamp set! Winner will be announced on Tuesday!

Here’s today’s sketch from the As You See It Challenge blog:

The card I have to share with you today is a 3″ x 5.5″ card. The elements that I chose simply demanded to be on a narrow card design. Seriously, the cards should just make themselves if they’re going to be so demanding!!

It begins with a 3″ x 5.5″ Mossy Meadow card base and the layer of patterned paper from the Merry Moments Designer Series Paper. The next layer is a Spider Web Doily that has been trimmed and turned around to show the white side rather than the black side of the doily. This, of course, was adhered with the Fine-Tip Glue Pen.

Next, the leaf image from the Lighthearted Leaves stamp set was stamped with Old Olive Ink onto Old Olive cardstock. This was then die cut on the Big Shot, using the Leaflets Framelits. I happily sponged away on the edges of my newly cut leaf using Stampin’ Up Sponges and Old Olive ink. Before adhering the leaf, I took a moment to gently curl and shape its edges.

The star on this card is die cut from Silver Foil paper, using the Star Framelits. After using my Embossing Buddy to remove static, dust, and finger prints from the Silver Foil paper, I used the Alphabet Rotary stamp to create the words and stamped them on the star with Versamark Ink. Then they were heat embossed with Silver Embossing Powder and a Heat Tool.

I saw my crooked words and decided to go for it anyway. I think it adds an authentic, kind of, stamped metal look.

The star is adhered with Stampin’ Dimensionals to pop it up off the page. The Silver Sequin Trim and the Real Red 1/8″ Striped Ribbon were attached using a Mini Glue Dot.

Because I had an unusually-sized card, I needed to make a custom envelope to go with it. The Envelope Punch Board is the perfect tool for just that very thing. Unfortunately, the envelope sizes available on the punch board still didn’t match what I needed. I played around a bit, changing the starting size of the paper and the different positions for scoring and punching and determined this:

To create an envelope for a 3″ x 5.5″ card, start with a piece of 7.5″ x 7.5″ paper (Red Envelope Paper, in this case), using the Envelope Punch Board, punch and score at 2 7/8″. Then carry on with the punch board as you normally would until your envelope is complete.

I also took the time to trim one of the side flaps on my envelope to give it a professional finish. I just drew a pencil line where I wanted to cut, then used my paper trimmer to remove the unwanted bit of paper.

This sketch is simple and cute. You should give it a try and share it with us on the As You See It Challenge blog. We love to see your take on our challenges!!

Did my card make you sing out loud? The words on the star are from one of my favourite Christmas tunes, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”.

Do you have a favourite Christmas song? Leave a comment and let me know!