Merry Monday #255 {Joy to the World}

 Hello and welcome to a NEW Merry Monday challenge!! I am so excited to have been asked to be a part of this amazing Design Team! I was feeling really sad when "The Challenge" ended and I am so glad for this opportunity and you ALL know how much I LOVE Christmas!! I really hope you get a chance to play along! Nothing says "Happy Labor Day" like sharing a Holiday Design! LOL!
                   
You can read all about it HERE! I just love this inspiration photo and as much as I wanted to take an absolute literal approach, I resisted so I could challenge myself as well as try some new ideas! As soon as I knew what the challenge would include, I  searched online stores for a  "JOY" stamp set because I wanted something new. There are a TON of fabulous sets out there, but I ultimately decided on Concord and 9th's JOY stamp set and coordinating die. I really like the style as well as the many possibilities that it holds. 

 During the design process, I also decided to use Fair Isle Motifs to enhance the word JOY and the Spruce and Sprigs stamp set as well as the coordinating DIES. It's a potpourri of products, but I love how they all work together!

To begin, I die cut 5 of the JOY words from Kraft cardstock so that I could stack them up for a nice focal point. 

 Once they were all cut, I placed one of the words BACK into the negative space in my MISTI. I placed the fair isle image that I wanted directly onto the center of the "O" so I would have proper placement. Now, you might be wondering why I didn't just stamp it first and then die cut it? Well, I knew that I was going to be doing some heat embossing and I didn't want to run the embossed piece through my Cuttlebug. I didn't want to run the risk of smashing the raised detail or tarnishing the shine. So...I stamped it like this and then sprinkled gold embossing powder over each piece and used tweezers to heat them so I didn't burn my fingers or smudge the intricate design.

Once that was done, I was able to glue all 5 of each letter on top of each other using Tombow Mono Multi for a strong bond. While those were drying, I created a die cut circle piece as a base for the die cut JOY. I stamped the same image as I did for the letters and heat embossed it using gold as well. Once that was done, it was very easy to line up the letters over the top for perfect alignment. Even though the letters are so thick, I also popped them up using foam squares for even more dimension. I just love how they look floating above the circle. The inspiration piece used a snowflake in the center, but I thought this fair isle pattern was a perfect alternative!

 I like the wood of the sign on the inspiration piece as well, so I thought a wood background would be nice as well. I used the Wood Grain Impression Plate on a piece of green paper for some nice texture. I cut it into two pieces and adhered it to a base of white flecked paper. It is super old from SU! and I can't remember what it is called...rustic something or other, maybe? It is my last piece and I am sad. I also used this same paper for the circle detail. The "to the world" sentiment is gold embossed onto a strip of the same green paper and then glued over the top of "JOY".

 The gold embossed lined strip uses another image from the "JOY" stamp set and I adhered that to the card in between the two green pieces, but I popped it up. I can see lots of possibilities with those lines. I almost left the card just as it was, without the sprigs of greenery. It felt done with the design in a CAS way, but felt it needed something else.

I added a few sprigs of greenery as well for a festive touch. Each of the pieces were spritzed with just a hint of shimmer spray and then some Wink of Stella on the holly leaves. The trio of berries got a nice coating of Nuvo Crystal Glaze for some added shine. I arranged them in a little cluster and then added them to the card front using foam squares. Of course, I just HAD to add some Bright Gold Nuvo Drops for some fun detail! I had so much fun with this challenge and I hope you will all find some time to play and get a head start on your holiday cards! Thanks for fluttering by!