Stampin’ Up! Deck the Halls

I hope you all are having a Wonderful Wednesday, unless of course you are in Texas or Louisiana and dealing with Hurricane/tropical storm Harvey. If that is the case, I am sure you have had better days! I cannot imagine what you are going through down there, but many of us are praying for your safety and the strength to deal with everything.

My card for today looks ahead to brighter days, happier days, days where we can sing again. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. Yes, this is my Deck the Halls card, using elements from the Carols of Christmas stamp set as well as some others.

The mat for the music is from the Petal Garden Designer Series Paper stack. The music is from the Merry Music Specialty DSP.  I love this paper! These were liquid glued together, and Linen Thread wrapped around three times and taped on the back. This was then glued to the Basic Black card base on an angle.

For the sentiment, the Deck the Halls, from Carols of Christmas, is stamped in Basic Black with a stamped-off-once Old Olive pine branch and Soft Suede pine cone from Christmas Pines. All this is on a panel of the white Wood Textures DSP. This was liquid glued to a Basic Black mat, then glued to a scalloped Old Olive mat cut from the Layering Squares framelits.

“But it isn’t a square”, you say. You are correct. I only ran the square about halfway through the Big Shot, then turned the paper and moved the die to the opposite end of the needed rectangle and finished cutting it. If you carefully place the cutting ridge in some of the previously cut scallops, it will hold the die in place to finish the cutting. A magnetic plate helps also.

Next it is time to do a dry assembly with the sentiment mat and all the pieces of the pine and holly. Two of the pine boughs and the holly leaves are cut from Old Olive. One pine branch is cut from Always Artichoke. The pine cone, stamped in Soft Suede on Soft Suede card stock is from the Pretty Pines thinlits, as are all the pine boughs.

The holly leaves and berries are from the Holly Berry Happiness stamp set and cut with the Holly Berry Builder punch. The berries are in Real Red ink on Real Red card stock. After all, the halls were decked ‘with boughs of holly’, so I thought the card should reflect the song. I just added the pine because I like it.

After dry assembly, I used glue dots to hold the pieces in place and adhered them to the music with Stampin’ Dimensionals. The sentiment panel is also adhered with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

I made a bow from the Linen Thread and added it to the front with a Stampin’ Dimensionals. This completes the front of the card.

On the inside another panel of the Wood Textures DSP was stamped with a Soft Suede pinecone. Using a mask of the pinecone I had cut previously, I laid it over the stamped pinecone and stamped the Old Olive Pine branch, all from Christmas Pines. A bow, stamped in Real Red on Real Red card stock was punched using the Holly Berry Builder punch.

The sentiments, also from Christmas Pines, were stamped in Basic Black. This panel was liquid glued to an Old Olive mat and into the Basic Black card base.

The envelope front also was stamped as the inside with an Old Olive pine branch and Soft Suede pinecone. A leftover piece of the Wood Textures DSP was glued to the envelope flap. No naked envelopes here, no siree!

I hope you like this card.

Thought for today: Today will never come again. Be a blessing. Be a friend. Encourage someone. Take time to care. Let your words heal and not wound.

Card Cuts: Basic Black: card base 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ scored at 4-1/4″, sentiment mat 2-7/8″ x 3-11/16″; Old Olive: scalloped rectangle 3″ x 3-13/16″, inside mat 4″ x 5-1/4″; pine branches, holly leaves 2″ x 3″; Wood Textures DSP: front sentiment 2-3/4″ x 3-1/2″, inside sentiment 3-3/4″ x 5″; Petal Garden DSP: mat for music paper 3-1/2″ x 4-3/4″ ; Merry Music DSP: 3-1/8″ x 4-3/8″; Soft Suede: pine cone 1-1/2″ x 2″; Real Red: holly branch and berries 1″ x 2″, bow 1″ x 1-1/2″; Always Artichoke: pine branch 1″ x 2″

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