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Using Layering Leaves stamp set for simple, elegant Christmas cards
Hello & welcome to my blog,
My name is Alison & I live in beautiful Melbourne, Australia. For those of you who have previously visited my blog & are now returning, thank you. For those of you who are here for the first time, welcome!
Here's a little bit about me. I love creating cards & gifts for my loved ones & this blog will show you how to create something special for those you love. I blog twice a week, once on a Sunday where I mainly showcase a stamp set or dies, embossing folders, projects & sometimes special DSP and Wednesday evenings when I highlight a technique, fun folds or tools & tips. I would love to hear from you if you have any questions or suggestions & my email address for that is craftedbyalison@gmail.com.
Stampin' Up® launched their new Annual Catalogue in May & it's a beauty! It's set out quite differently to previous catalogues but there are benefits to that. They now have sectioned it to have beginners, which is a step by step collection of materials in kits, then there is quick & easy where you select base materials & packs of pre-printed or diecut materials plus some stamp sets then there is create your way where you choose all the materials, stamps etc yourself & create your way! In the quick & easy section Stampin' Up® have also provided some inspiration with a colour wheel & information of various ways to use colour combinations. There is a section explaining 4 different ways to vary your colours - Monochromatic, Complementary, Analogous & Triadic. It's a wonderful tool to help with creativity & I shared my first post using it in my midweek blog of 29/5/24 & also in my midweek blog of 24/7/24 but it's not what this week's post is about, that is something I will explore more in future blogs.
I have 2 cards for you this week that were made using the Layering Leaves stamps & co-ordinating Bough punch. The twist is that both are designed for Christmas. I hope that you like this alternative use of a very pretty but simple stamp set.
Both of these cards are simple in design but very pretty & elegant. Here's how I made them.
For my first card I started with a Basic White base & added a matte embossed with the Cane Weave embossing folder.
I then stamped lots of leaves in Old Olive & Pear Pizzazz (I wish it wasn't retired, it's one of my favourite greens) then punched out with the Boughs punch. I used a Deckled Circle in Mossy Meadow as the base for the wreath & placed all of the sprigs of leaves around the edge to create a wreath. Once I was satisfied with their positioning I carefully glued them into place. I wanted a bright red bow for the top of the wreath so I dove into my ribbon stash & found some Real Red Double Stitched satin ribbon that was perfect for a double bow.
Next was the sentiment. This was taken from the Greetings of the Season stamp set, stamped in Real Red & diecut with the Christmas Labels dies. The 'Merry' was stamped in Tuxedo black, fussy cut then sponged with black around the edge to make it stand out more on the white 'Christmas'.
Once I was happy with the wreath I added dimensionals & mounted it on the base.
Finally, I used some red pearls that I had on hand, made with Pearlised Enamel Effects & the card was finished. Here's a closeup of the sentiment & pearls.
I love it. Simple but elegant. Now for the second card.
Another simple card, this time monochomatic in greens.
On a Basic White card base I added a Mossy Meadow matte. I then stamped the same leaves used on the wreath card around a traced circle in first & second generation Old Olive & Pear Pizzazz. This time I also stamped some in Mossy Meadow & Old Olive plus a few single leaves in Mossy Meadow that I blended the centres of as there was no infill stamp for the leaf.
The sentiment is from Greetings of the Season also & has been diecut using the Deckled Circles dies but this time I cut it slightly off centre so that there was a straight edge. There is a little bit of Mossy Meadow blended over it too for some depth. Two of the larger leaves are curled with a bone folder & adhered down on the matte, the third one along with the darker sprig is adhered to the back of the sentiment circle, giving a nice 3D effect. The circle is then mounted with dimensionals for a little more 3D depth.
The last addition was some Drusy adhesive backed embellishments. Such a simple card but I love the clean elegance of it.
NEWS & REMINDERS:
- Stampin' Up®'s newAnnual Catalogue is a beautiful piece of artwork as well as an amazing resource for crafting. As mentioned before, it's very different to any other catalogue that I've seen from Stampin' Up®. They have changed the front cover from featuring cards or supplies to a casual stamping picture as well as a radical change to the layout of the contents. There are still lots of beautiful pics of the products & ideas aplenty, it's just set out differently. I think you'll love it. If you would like a copy of the new catalogue then send me a message at craftedbyalison on Facebook or email me at craftedbyalison@gmail.com & I'll send you one.
- The new Mini catalogue was launched on 4th September! There are lots of gorgeous items ready to inspire your creativity. If you would like me to send you a copy, send me a message on my facebook page or email me.
- Some of you may know that Stampin' Up® purchased a quantity of scrapbooking materials when Close To My Heart folded. They have taken on any CTMH demonstrators that wanted to cross over & have slowly been including scrapbooking products into our supplies. They now have a dedicated digital mini catalogue, exclusively devoted to scrapbooking products available here at my online shop. There are a number of kits available if you'd like to start your scrapbooking journey or if you already scrap then check the kits out!
- Don't forget the Online Exclusive products with new products added and available now. Check out my online shop here. Stampin' Up® release a new items regularly. The next release date for a new selection of products will be November 5th which is just next week! Eek, so many lovely new products will be waiting for you to browse. As a demonstrator I was able to order in a pre-release which is a great perk of being a demonstrator.
Calling all plant lovers! The Happy Houseplants Kit is an adorable home decor crafting kit! This kit comes with four 6" x 6" (15.2 x 15.2 cm) white frames and pre-cut paper pieces for you to curl and assemble inside the frame. You’ll end up with four coordinated houseplant decor pieces. They can stand by themselves, or you can hang them on your wall. Either way, your houseguests will be amazed that you created it yourself!
If you would like to purchase any of my creations that I feature in my blogs they can be found in my FaceBook shop at craftedbyalison or you can order something unique.
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