Inspiration: Mojo Monday #540
So I was not planning on making a Christmas card today but I recently stumbled unto die-cut pieces I was gifted last year when I took part in an international Christmas card exchange. One of the ladies was nice enough to slip a little cello envelope in her card containing pieces die-cut out of white cardstock using the Santa Bear in Pot from The Scrapping Cottage, and she added a colour picture of the assembled piece for reference on the bag. I found the bag again during my recent scrap room cleanup and ended up at the top of the pile when I put everything away last week. Today, I wanted to craft but had trouble getting the ball rolling so I decided inking up my little bear pieces while watching the latest Tim Holtz video on Facebook would get me in the groove (and it did). I picked random Distress Oxide colours and they kept reminding me of an old paper pad from many years ago. I didn't take me long to find it - it's Handmade Holiday from Simple Stories. (I never realized it was from Simple Stories as it was before I started following their releases closely, so it must be one of the first collection I purchased from them.) The darker colour and shabby look worked with the bear really well. I was trying to decide which colour to use for the pot and I decided to glue the die-cut on the back of a piece of polka dot patterned paper and handcut it instead. I inked the edges for depth.
For the design, I was eager to use the latest Mojo Monday sketch, as I love long narrow cards. This seems to be the new rage, as slimline card dies are popping up everywhere lately. This one was sized perfectly to work with 6" x 6" patterned paper. (Julee includes the measurements for each pieces on her sketches, so you can quickly see how to keep the right proportions.) I used a piece of kraft paper with a snowflake and poinsettia border but it looked a little lost of the card, so I matted it with Bravo Burgundy cardstock. I was wondering what to add to the card background to make it less boring. Because of the size, background stamps and embossing folders would have been tricky, so I pulled out my stencils. I picked the Sparkle stencil from Tim Holtz and it worked out perfectly.
For the two pieces, I used a scrap of paper and layered one of the die-cuts over it (cut down slightly smaller than it's original size). I added Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla cotton twine tied in a bow, which filled the space nicely. I backed my bear with plaid paper die-cut with a stitched circle and inked the edges so that the plaid paper would blend better with the darker burgundy cardstock. On a whim, I decided to pull out my Dymo and emboss "Happy Holiday" on a strip of Crumb Cake cardstock, which I also inked. It doesn't stand out that well, so I was tempted to repeat the same step using Core'dinations cardstock, but it looked nice enough that I just decided to keep what I had. I pulled out the Home for Christmas enamel dots and added a few around the card.
I knew I had to handmake an envelope, but couldn't use the 6" x 6" patterned paper, so I pulled out my cardstock stacks to find a suitable colour. (Those stacks were bought at Michaels specifically so that I would have affordable cardstock in a variety of colours when I needed to make an envelope and didn't have patterned paper to match on hand.) I picked a vanilla cardstock, made my envelope and inked the edges to have a matching antique look. I added a few die-cuts from the collection, and I used the scraps from the cardstock to add a rectangle inside the card, which I like to do when I am using a dark colour for my card base.
Supplies
Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Bravo Burgundy (Stampin' Up!);
Vanilla Cardstock (Recollections)
Patterned Papers: Handmade Holidays (Simple Stories)
Inks: Vintage Photo, Aged Mahogany, Fired Brick, Iced Spruce, Peeled Paint,
Antique Linen Distress Oxide (Ranger); Mellow Moss Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Festive Farm Cotton Twine, Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board,
Home for Christmas Enamel Dots (Stampin' Up!); Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studio);
Sparkle Stencil (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous); Label Maker (Dymo);
Circle Double Stitched Dies (Art Impressions); White Gel Pen (Gelly Roll);
Santa Bear in Pot Dies (The Scrapping Cottage)
Oh, this is so darling! Thanks for joining me for Mojo Monday!
Posted by: Julee Tilman | July 07, 2020 at 11:08