The Greetery {T.G.I.F.} Merry and Bright

Hello and welcome! It's my turn for this week’s TGIF feature! I’m shocked that we’re nearing the end of October and heading into the holiday season! As a card maker, I’m often inspired by store-bought and pre-printed Christmas cards! I’ll see one that catches my eye and say to myself,” I have stamps or dies that would work perfectly to recreate that look or feel”! Do you do the same thing? For today’s card, I saw a beautiful Christmas card featuring a large dove gracefully flying above a cluster of flowers and a central sentiment! I knew for certain the new Peaceul Doves die and the Winter Doves Details stamp would make an appearance and for the flowers, I chose the beautiful Pine Blossom stamp set. This is one that I haven’t used for awhile so it was fun to pull it out and give it some love!

To begin, I die cut the main bouquet using the Pine Blossom die and used the step-by-step stamps to bring the image to life. I set it aside and got to work on the background; I don’t know about you, but I can’t get enough of the arches! I used the beautiful Elegant Arches stamp and stamped it onto a panel of Aqua Mist cardstock using Speckled Egg Distress Oxide ink. I also blended a bit of the same ink around the corners for some dimension. Since I love layers so much, I decided to add even more depth by adding an Aqua Mist arch that was die cut using the A2 Arches Die with a hint of ink around the edges. I layered it on top of the background using foam squares.

The card I used as inspiration used a Peace on Earth sentiment, but I opted for the Merry and Bright sentiment from the Arched Holiday Stamp Set. I like to die cut all of the different sentiments at once and then stamp them using my MISTI so I have them on hand for other projects! I die cut the sentiment using the Arched Holiday Sentiments die and then stamped it in black. I have been saving all of the bits and pieces from my projects for quite some time now and my plan is to sit down and make a bunch of tags with the leftovers! Can you believe that I haven’t made a single Christmas tag this year? My packages will be bare if I don’t get going!

I placed the Pine Blossom bouquet at the bottom of the arch leaving enough room for the sentiment. I used foam squares for both the bouquet and the sentiment; using double thickness for the sentiment so it would rise above the bouquet. I placed the two doves that had been stamped with the details, on either side of the sentiment.

I felt like the card needed just a little something more, so I die cut the little sprigs and flowers using the Winter Medley die and colored them using finger daubers and Distress Oxide ink. These particular dies leave all of the pieces intact when they are cut, so I simply left them in place and colored them all quickly with the finger sponges. I added the tiny flowers using liquid glue and then had fun tucking them here and there until I was satisfied with the arrangement. I added some white paint splatter for a snowy look and then I added some glitter to the doves, the flowers, and the extra dies for that holiday sparkle I love so much! I layered the entire panel onto a top-folding A2 white card base using liquid glue. Once it was done, I was so happy with the depth and dimension that was certainly not on the pre-printed design!! Ha ha! I hope you get a chance to let something spark your creativity and pull out some fun combinations of products! It’s fun to get your mind working in new and different ways, especially if you’re in a rut (we’ve ALL been there}! Thanks for fluttering by!