Love and Joy

Would you like to experiment with a design like this? You'll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencil I used from A Colorful Life Designs . Follow the link and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

Let’s Get Started:

Card Base: 5.5 x 8.5, scored and folded at 4.25

Card Face:5.25 x 4 black cardstock

Vellum: 4.75 x 3.5

Small Scrap of Cardstock tree (x 2 )

Card Face:

• Using Mint Tape, I secured the stencil to the card face and applied a DIY embossing paste with a palette knife

• I removed the stencil carefully, to avoid smearing the paste, and put the card face aside to dry.

• Once dry, I used a die to cut a circle from the center: I wasn't certain if I wanted this on top of the vellum or not - if I didn't like it I planned on gluing it back in place. ( In the end, I did like it on top of the vellum.)
  

Other:

• 
  I taped together two circlular dies that were very close in size on a piece of silver cardstock, and ran it through the Big Shot. This gave me the silver border.

• I die cut two white trees, but trimmed off the top and bottom of one to use as the bottom layer. By doing this I was able to give the tree support in the center, to allow it to be the same depth as the silver circle. Otherwise it would have sagged in the middle

Assembly:

• 
  I glued the black card face to the card base.

• I centered the vellum on the card face, and secured it with tiny glue dots. (liquid glue makes vellum warp badly, and runner tape shows through the vellum... glue dots are a good solution as they can be hidden behind an embellishment.

• I used several more glue dots on the back of the black circle before putting it in place to cover up the opening left in the center of the card face. (runner tape would have worked here).

• I used liquid glue to attach the silver border to the front of the black circle.

• I used liquid glue sparingly on the back of the stacked trees - and then I blotted it on scrap cardstock to remove any excess. Then I put the tree in place, centering it in the black circle.

• I glued the sentiment down directly on top of the tree.

• I added a tiny gem to each corner of the vellum - this added a bit of extra sparkle, but most importantly covered up the glue dots.

Final thoughts:

This is such a fabulous stencil, and I was really anxious to put it into play. I had been wanting to have a play with some of my embossing paste, but when it was done I felt that it was just "too much". Vellum to the rescue! By adding this awesome transluscent material I was able to blunt the effect of the embossing paste, but still have it just visible enough... and I was happy with the final product.

Supplies: (and links where possible)

I have listed which products I have used, and where they were purchased. It's a huge marketplace and in most instances there are multiple sources and many alternatives to choose from.

Stencil:Script, A Colorful Life Designs

Stamps: Simple Strips Christmas - Taylored Expressions

Dies: Simple Strips die, Taylored Expressions

Mint Tape: Scrapbook.com

Palette Knives: Scrapbook.com

Adhesive Dots: Zots. Michaels

Liquid Adhesive: Tombo Aqua, Michaels

Vellum: Stampin' Up!

Card Base: Accent 100 lb., Amazon

Black Cardstock: Stampin' Up!

Discover Exciting Cardmaking Techniques for Stunning Designs