Hello to my regulars and welcome to those who are stopping by as part of the Collected Craft Collab Hop! You probably hopped here from the amazingly talented Charlotte at The Joyful Soul Creates. If this is your first time checking out this hop, let me share a little background with you. Chatting with Karen, Anna, and Marie, we discovered a few things:
- We all love squirrels, but can also be just as easily distracted as the fuzzy little friends. Hence the squirrel in the logo and our affectionate name for our group, The Squirrel Girls.
- That we wanted to create a hop series to help us use the supplies we've been "squirreling" away.
- We wanted to bring more attention to blogs, still a vital part of the crafting community.
As it turns out, there are other bloggers out there just like us, giving us the chance to create a great monthly hop series! Each month, we will focus on a theme and supply type. We can decide whether we wish to use one or both. This month's theme gave the option to use either patterned paper, an outdoor scene, or both. Always wanting to be the overachiever, I opted to use both!
This card makes me smile every time I look at! Let's talk about how I got here!
I will start by admitting that this was feeling truly like a challenge to me. I tend to be unsure of how to reliably work patterned paper into my cards. I seem to rarely strike the right balance between simplicity and overwhelm and as I started flipping through my paper collection, I was struck with that same sinking feeling. Until I stumbled on this pretty pattern! This is a 12"x12" piece of lightly patterned paper from an older Christmas paper pad from Michael's and I knew it would make the perfect backdrop to one of my favorite outdoor scenes: trees! I promptly busted out the Enchanted Forest stamps and matching die cuts from Papertrey Ink, as well as my usual 4.25"x5.5" card base, and got to work.
First, I stamped all the more fantastical trees on a piece of white cardstock. This set provides a lot of versatility since you can layer the stamps or stamp each tree individually. With a name like Enchanted Forest, I couldn't help but lean toward unusual colors. The neutral patterned paper also gave me that leeway.
It was then very quick and easy to die cut these. I trimmed off a piece of patterned paper that measured 4" x 5.25" and started arranging my trees. It didn't take long for me to decide that I wanted just a few more stars and some bling. I referenced my stamp organizing system (that I'll share one day) and discovered I had the perfect little retro starbursts in a Hero Arts set (Retro Christmas Messages). Using clear embossing ink and Ranger silver tinsel embossing powder, I added a little more shine to my starry background.
After that, it was simply a case of gluing down the patterned paper with a glue runner and attaching the trees with liquid glue. I decided I wanted to skip a sentiment. I have already designed my Christmas cards for this year, so despite the fact that pretty much everything I used was from Christmassy sets, I am obstinately stating that it's not definitively a Christmas card and is so cheerful it could show up in your mailbox at any time for any happy reason! I haven't totally convinced myself though....
Thanks for reading! I definitely encourage you to check out everyone else's work in the hop! There are so many immensely talented people participating. Now it's time for you to check out Lisa's fantastic creation!
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