Aloha, all!
Here we are with the second Stampin' Up! Only Challenge for this Winter Holiday Season. Last time the challenge theme was Holiday Cuteness. This time we're going in another direction, towards Holiday Elegance. So I couldn't dig out the Cookie Cutter cuties or the various snow people, foxes and bears, oh my! No, I had to get something a bit fancier out onto my work table.
I bought the Delicate Ornaments Thinlits set a few weeks back, and immediately put it away with some other Christmas dies that I wasn't quite ready to use this year (too much else to do to take the time?). But with this challenge, it seemed the perfect set to break out and finally make a card with it. Actually, I made TWO cards with the set, and had to choose between the two cards once I got them both done. It came down to "eeny-meeny-miny-moe." This one won. But the other one has its merits, too, so I'll share it with you in a couple of days.
I really wanted a Real Red and Very Vanilla card, and I also wanted some texture to the card. That's why I broke out another set I've not yet used this season, the Wondrous Wreath Thinlits dies. With the two words – Noel and Joy – that are more on the elegant side, I thought they'd go perfectly with the theme. And the texturizing with the Holly Textured Impressions Embossing Folder I think made the perfect background for this whole set.
I recently read a tip for applying adhesives to these delicate dies that has made all the difference in how I approach them. To begin, I really like the Tombow Liquid Glue that Stampin' Up! sells. I find it really sets up as a good adhesive, especially in the humid tropical rain forest environment in which I live. But it can be messy and frequently squishes out from the edge of the die cuts. Anyway, what I read is to use the teensy brushes that some people use to apply false eyelashes. So I bought some, and they're perfect for doing this kind of glue application. I just put a couple of dots of liquid glue on various parts of the die cut cardstock and then use the teensy brush to spread it around. No mess on my fingers and no extra glue squishing out to mess up the background.
With everything glued on just like I wanted it, I tied the project together with some of the yummy Very Vanilla 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon. Love that stuff!
