This card came about in such an unexpected way. I've made quite a few creations using the Comfort & Joy collection from My Mind's Eye this past few months, trying to use it all up. I really thought I was finished with it after I put together four tags and was down to incredibly small pieces. On a whim, I grabbed a few die set and die-cut generic images out of whatever paper I had left.
One of those images were the gifts from Tim Holtz's Santa's Helper set. I was really liking the look of them, so I kept those aside to see if they could be mounted on something, possibly another tag. That was put aside and then I moved on to the box where all of my idea-ology items are kept in. I don't really remember what I was looking for exactly. I *think* that maybe I wanted a paper doll to go with it. I got sidetracked, though, as a couple of my paper doll sets had been organized in pockets and the rest was not, so I decided to get this rectified. I also transferred the flair from their packaging to a tin box and as I was about to throw the packaging away, I looked at the backing paper and realized the brown distressed colour would make a really neat background for my gifts, so I tested it and loved the results.
That was enough to get the wheels rolling, so I went back to all of the little bits I had previously die-cut out of the remaining papers and I started arranging the half-circle and the little stars, the band and the tag and it was already looking like a really decent design. Because I had just seen the mirrored stars in my stash, I went back for them and sprinkled some around.
I knew I wanted a die-cut sentiment since the label I was using was too busy for stamping. I have those lovely sentiment dies from Stampin' Up! (dating back from a few years ago) that are gorgeous but also quite big. I thought the size would work with this label and sure enough, it was perfect. I used Cherry Cobbler glimmer paper and to finish the sentiment, I found the word "Happy" in another stamp set, inked the word I needed and I actually went back to my recycling bin to fish out a tiny piece of seafoam paper to stamp the word on. I used the Waffle Flower Sentiments dies to cut the word out. What's funny is that the brown packaging piece I was using had a hole for hanging the package at the top, which I initially was just planning to hang ribbon from to make it look purposeful, but the word strip was actually the perfect size to hide it. Remembering the flair I had just organized, I went back looking through the tin and I picked two of different sizes that I added to the bottom of the scene.
I was really pleased with the result and started thinking about how I would get this mounted on a card base. In my tool organizer, I have two chipboard pieces that were cut out to reflect an A2 card front and a mini slimline card front and I always use those to test images on when I'm trying to decide on a card size. I've noticed that in recent years, rather than force a design to fit on a regular card size, I work the other way around and decide what size the card will be based on what I'm working with. This was the case here as the repurposed packaging was fitting too snuggly on an A2 card for my liking. So I found a piece of white chipboard and I cut some additional card sizes I'm likely to use and I tested my piece on them. I realized 4½" x 6" was giving me perfect borders all around.
I created a Crumb Cake card base and wanted patterned paper to go between the two layers. As I was out of the Comfort & Joy paper, I pulled out some Tim Holtz Christmas paper, but then I remembered that I also had the Reminisce Book 3 from Elizabeth Craft Designs and I found just what I needed in there. I picked the polka dot paper, inked and distressed the edges, and I was still finding the card a little too boring, so I also used one of the burgundy paper to add a strip in the center.
I used some of the other die-cut images I had from the leftovers inside the card and then I went through my patterned papers that are organized by colours so that I could find one to make an envelope out of. I found this absolutely perfect vintage paper that I'm pretty sure dates back to my very first online order in the early 2000's when I discovered scrapbooking (before the hobby reached Eastern Canada stores). I know that it's old paper because the backside is white. I used the rest of the burgundy paper to add a stripe and fussy cut an address block from the Reminisce Book to add to the center of it.
Looking at the final creation, I cannot believe this is the result of paper scraps and packaging. This is arguably one of my favorite Christmas cards I've done this year. Now, this has to be the last Comfort & Joy creation I share with you... right??
The leftover pile...
Supplies
Stamps: Moments lumineux (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!)
Glimmer Paper: Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Comfort & Joy (My Mind's Eye); Reminisce the Book 3 (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Ink: Soft Suede (Stampin' Up!); Antique Linen Distress, Vintage Photo Archival (Ranger);
Dies: Santa's Helper (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); Tasteful Labels, Joyeux Noël (Stampin' Up!);
Sentiments Die (Waffle Flower)
Accessories: Flair and Packaging, Mirrored Stars (Tim Holtz for idea-ology);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board, Mini Stapler, Distressing Tool (Stampin' Up!)
Comments