The creativity that stampers have never ceases to amaze me.  I’m sure you’ve seen cards that have Christmas wreaths designed using the Painted Harvest stamp set.  The design is simple brilliance.  I’ve added a little twist with Designer Series Paper (DSP) and inlaid embossing to the final card.  Take a look below.  This is the second card that I am sharing featuring the great Painted Harvest Suite!  To see the first design, click here.

If you’ve followed my blog over the last few weeks, you know that I’ve been having a great time using DSP in my cards.  I’ll confess that I haven’t been a huge DSP fan for very long.  But, I am now and will be taking advantage of the great October DSP sale that Stampin’ Up! is having.  Take a look at a recent post to get a preview.

Now, let’s talk about this card.  I bet you love to make and send Holiday cards to your friends and family.  If you’re like me, you like to have cards that make the receiver think “How did she make this card?” but you don’t have a lot of time to design and make the cards.  Let’s face it, our lives get even busier around the holiday season.  Cards that don’t take a lot of time to make but still have that WOW effect are definitely appreciated.  That being said – You are going to love this card!

Here are the steps I used to make this card.

• The card base is Whisper White cardstock cut to 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ then scored at 4 1/4″ on the 8 1/2″ side.  Whisper White is such a clean starting point for a simple card.  It provides a great, elegant backdrop for the card.
• The frame is Cherry Cobbler cardstock cut to 5″ x 4″.  This is one of my absolute favorite colors for Christmas cards.
• You can see that the next layer is a piece of Be Merry DSP collection, cut to 4″ x 4″.  I cut this size intentionally since I can get nine pieces from a 12″ x 12″ piece of DSP.  The random design in this piece of DSP is perfect for inlaid die cutting.
• The wreath is made from the two-step flower stamps in the Painted Harvest stamp set.  The bottom, larger flower was stamped with Old Olive ink.  The top, smaller flower was stamped with Garden Green ink.  The berries are made with the dot stamp from the Painted Harvest stamp set and Cherry Cobbler ink.  The wreath is stamped onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock.
• The stamped wreath is die cut using the second largest square die in the amazing Stitched Shapes Framelits.  I absolutely love these framelits and use them quite often.  To finish the wreath piece, I used the smaller end of a Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Write Marker to add faux stitching.
• Before you put any pieces of the card together, die cut the bow and the word “hope” from the Cherry Cobbler piece.  Make sure you cut the pieces in places that won’t be seen when you put the piece of DSP over the Cherry Cobbler piece.  This trick is a great way to save paper, and nobody will ever know your secret!  The bow die is the smaller bow in the Pretty Pines Thinlits collection, and the “hope” die is from the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits collection.
• You’re also going to die cut “hope” from the piece of DSP centered underneath where the wreath piece will be attached.
• Inlaid embossing is a great technique that allows you to put a die cut piece into an opening cut for that die cut.  It’s as if you are putting a puzzle piece into a hole designed for that piece.  For this card – the Cherry Cobbler die cut “hope” is going to fit into the die cut opening in the DSP piece.  To complete the inlaid embossing – Cut a piece of the same DSP used for the card to a size that will just fit behind the opening you made in the DSP when you die cut “hope”.  Attach this piece on the reverse side of the DSP piece using tape.  At first, this is going to look a little strange because you’re going to see the same DSP inside the die cut and outside the die cut area.  Now, take the Cherry Cobbler die cut piece and lay it down inside the opening.  It will fit perfectly!  Your inlaid embossing is done!
• Adhere the Cherry Cobbler piece directly to the Whisper White card base.  Adhere the completed DSP piece with the inlaid embossing directly onto the Cherry Cobbler frame piece.  Use Dimensionals to add the wreath piece onto the DSP piece.  Use a Glue Dot to add the die cut ribbon to the wreath.  If you find the glue dot is too wide and will show behind the bow, roll the glue dot in between your fingers to make it into a small ball.  Then, use it to adhere the bow.
• For a final sparkle, you can color the bow and the die cut “hope” using a Clear Wink of Stella pen.

The message is simple yet powerful as is the final card.  Give the card a try!  Make it yours by changing the colors, using different DSP as a base, adding a ribbon bow, or making it just as pictured – I would be flattered!

The main products that I used to make the card are shown below.  Click on any picture and you’ll go to my on-line store.

Happy stamping!
Laurie

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