Aloha, all!
My Saturday blog posts for September will all be Christmas cards. Yes, I know it’s going to be fall before long, and that fall comes before winter. But, if you’re anything like me, by the time December comes, I just do not have enough Christmas cards done. Enough for me is about 100. So, if I don’t keep going on them all fall, there just won’t be enough come winter! I’m kind of like the squirrel stocking up on his acorns before winter, huh?
Love Those Triangle Dies!
I rarely take the time to show you a picture of a whole die set. But for this set you just have to see all the triangles there are to play with. Yes, there are three cute little triangle-themed dies to finish the set off. But will you look at the triangles – 16 of them!! There are 4 Right Triangles, 6 Equilateral Triangles, and 6 Isosceles Triangles. You can mix and match or layer these cuties in so many different ways.
So I Ended Up Using Just One
There is a stamp set in the current Stampin’ Up! Mini Catalog that features Christmas trees in triangle shapes. But at the same time that I brought the triangle products out to my work table, I had a challenge to make a card using a color blocking technique. Not only that, there was another challenge in a different group to use both the positive and negative of a die in one card.
Color Blocking With Printed Papers
For today’s card, I started by laying out, on a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of paper, five 5-1/4″ wide by 5/8″ high strips of paper from the Most Wonderful Time Product Medley. And no, I didn’t take a picture. Take it from me that I started with the middle strip and then added two strips above and below that. Here are the steps I then took to create the card front:
- Center the triangle die top to bottom and left to right on the sheet with the glued-on strips and run it through the Stampin’ Cut and Emboss Machine. The triangle I used was the isosceles triangle that cuts a shape 2-5/8″ high.
- Trim a card with printed gold stars (from the Product Medley) to 5-1/4″ wide x 4″ high.
- Die-cut a triangle 5/8″ up from the bottom and very near the left edge and right edge of the card with the printed stars. “Very near” is just a bit over 1/16″. Basically, just do not let the dies cut through the edge of the card.
- Adhere the printed card with the die cuts onto the sheet with the strips. The center of the printed card will cover the hole made when you die-cut the triangle in step 1. I suggest Multipurpose Liquid Glue so you can easily add adhesive around the triangles.
- Adhere the tree that you die cut from the strips of paper between the two trees that show through the printed card. I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to give the card some more texture.
- Add a gold star from the Product Medley to the top of each triangle tree
Finish the Card
The easy way to finish this card would be to mount it onto a 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ card base made of Real Red or Old Olive cardstock. Then simply add a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Whisper White cardstock on the inside for writing a note.
A more complicated way is to mat the card front using a 4-1/8″ x 5-3/8″ piece of one of the colors of cardstock. Then mount that onto a card base made of Whisper White Thick Cardstock. It’s more complicated because you have to layer everything very carefully as the borders are only 1/16″ wide. Slip a little, and one side or another has no color showing.
The Bottom Line
The Most Wonderful Time Product Medley is so very versatile. Besides what I’ve shown you today, there are also a stamp set, die set and ribbon to make some beautiful cards with lots of gold accents. BUT you can just buy the Product Medley Refill and get everything that I used to make today’s card (except the basic cardstock that you probably already have on hand) PLUS several sheets of die-cuts and stickers. What a deal! Click on one of the icons below to read more about this fun Stampin’ Up! Product.
And whatever you make this coming week, have fun with it!
