Well, the Christmas bug has bitten me for sure…and this elegant card is so lovely and soft. I love the pale greens and beautiful gold elements together. There are some easy touches to this design too that offer texture and depth as well.
The paper cuts are fairly simple too:
| Pcs | Measurements | Description | |
| Stampin’ Up Soft Succulent cardstock | 1 | 4-1/4” x 11” | Scored on the long side at 5-1/2” |
| Stampin’ Up! Lights Aglow DSP | 1 | 4” x 5-1/ 4” | Large mat on the card face. |
| Stampin’ Up! Basic White cardstock | 1 | 4” x 5-1/ 4” | Inside of card. |
| Stampin’ Up! Evening Evergreen Cardstock | 1 | 2-3/4” x 5-1/4” | Smaller mat for card face. |
| Stampin’ Up! Basic White Cardstock | 1 | 2-1/4” x 5-1/4” | To be embossed with the evergreen branches from the Wintry 3D Embossing folders. |
| Stampin’ Up! Evening Evergreen Cardstock | Scraps | To die cut several of the tree branches from the Decorated Pine Dies | |
| Stampin’ Up! Gold Foil Sheets | 2 | 1/8” x 5-1/4” | |
| Stampin’ Up! Gold Foil Sheets | Scraps | Enough to die cut a few ornaments, also in the Decorated Pine Die set. |
I will tell you that I CAS’d this card from Andrea Sargent at Valley Inspirations. This lovely soft card is so elegant!
Once you follow the cutting and scoring instructions above, the assembly is very simple. I embossed the smaller Basic White panel using the Wintry 3D Embossing folder as the chart indicates. Then I lightly brushed Soft Succulent ink over the embossed image to tone the Basic White down a bit. I love using the Stampin’ Up! Blending Brushes to get this light hint of color.
With the center panel inked, I assembled it by gluing the evergreen panel to the Evening Evergreen panel. The small gold border was created from 1/8” strips of Gold Foil and glued along the evergreen panel. (Why waste Gold Foil if it isn’t going to be seen?)
Then I glued that completed panel on the Lights Aglow DSP and completed the cardface by gluing it to the Soft Succulent card base.
Before I arranged the pine boughs, though, I used a Sponge Dauber to lightly and randomly pounce Whisper White ink on them to tone down the dark Evening Evergreen. It not only tones it down but almost makes the boughs look like they have a very light dusting of snow.
Then the pine boughs were arranged and glued and the ornament were hung in the greenery with care! I made a double bow from the Simply Elegant Trim and used a few Gilded Gems to complete the green and gold color scheme.
The sentiments on both the card face and on the inside are from the Decorated with Happiness stamp set. I embossed the Christmas Greetings sentiment on Evening Evergreen cardstock using White embossing powder. The inside greeting is from the same set but I used Gold embossing powder for that one.
I decided to step up the inside of the card with both the gold heat embossed sentiment and the pine bough stamped images. Using Evening Evergreen ink, I stamped the first bough and then adjusted the stamp to create a second press that is quite a bit lighter. I think that it mimics the card face design well without overpowering it!
Once the inside of the card was mounted to the cardbase, this one is done and ready to send!
This card has a number of smaller pieces and may not be the best candidate for a large batch of cards…but I will certainly be doing several of them so that I can send these to some of the very special people on my Christmas card list.
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Just beautiful Susan! Love the layering, great colors too! 🙂
Thanks so much, Amy! I love my greens and golds!
Gorgeous paper – gorgeous pines! Love everything about this card!! 🙂
Just now seeing your card “Every Christmas Tree should be decorated with happiness”. I have everything I need but the Lights Aglow DSP paper and cannot find it. Do you have a sheet or so I can purchase? I would love some Gilded Gems too. I just love evergreens and pines. Thanks. I am new so just subscribed but not in your data base. Thank you.
Hi, Shirley – I am so sorry in the delay to my response – my family and I met in Las Vegas for Christmas and mostly to celebrate my son’s 30th birthday! It was an awesome, sparkly time!
I’m afraid that I have used up most of my stash of Christmas DSPs…but I suspect that there may be a substitute for the Lights Aglow – although it is really pretty. I just put the search on my to-do list and I will get in touch with you asap when I find a reasonable substitute. And remember – a metallic gold gel pen can make up for any embossing that isn’t on a particular DSP and give it sparkle and shine.
As for the Gilded Gems…I can’t believe that we have retired them! These are some of my go-go embellishments…However, Stampin’ Up! also has Festive Pearls which have a gold metallic version and the Brushed Metallic adhesive backed dots that would also be a reasonable substitute. I remember considering the Brushed Metallic dots when I was making these cards because the gold foil had almost acquired a brushed metallic look because of the scratched up condition of my embossing machine plates.
I’ll look to see if I have any of these as well. My stash does get out of control here and there…so I might have some of those left!