Golden Happy Holidays Card

Well, I have to tell you...for as simple "looking" this card may be, it sure took me a heck of a long time to complete it. I was completely inspired by this card I saw on the I{heart}2 Stamp blog. It was created by Becca Feeken of the Amazing Paper Grace blog. Isn't hers stunning?  Well, here is my version...note I said inspired this time, not copied.

First off, I stamped the image in Brilliance Galaxy Gold pigmented ink by Tsukineko, but quickly determined it was just a little too soft to really stand out. So, I thought I'll just heat emboss it with gold embossing powder. Looked all around for it and came to realize I don't own any gold ep! Well, okay then, I found some Pearl ep and decided to use that. Then I had problems getting even coverage and somehow some black flecks of embossing powder got into the jar. Ugh. Finally got a decent image and decided to cut the tree out. Well, I messed that up, so it was back to the drawing board. Let's say I stamped and embossed this image many times! I finally used some ultra fine clear embossing powder and called it good.

The little strip of dp you see is from Martha Stewart (Michaels just set up the Christmas display and, oh my heavens, I could go broke if I bought even half of what appealed to me). There are a couple of new paper packs available and this one is called Golden Woodland paper pack. There are some really pretty designs in it. Well, that little strip is from a page that looks like this:

See that border at the bottom? I cut that off and used the lattice border punch from Martha Steward. I then attached it to the gold cardstock (which I bought separately from the paper pack, in the scrapbook papers aisle). Well, that didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped. I cut the first strip too small, then when I was punching the new strip, I couldn't get it lined up right! Sigh.

But I hung in there and wanted to use gold ribbon. Guess what? Yep...I don't own any gold ribbon either! Deep sigh.

But, in spite of (or maybe because of) all the hassle, I think the card came out pretty well. Let's just say...if I was thinking of using this design as my holiday cards this year...I have definitely changed my mind! LOL

This is the first card I've tried to create today, let's hope any others come together a little more smoothly (and quickly).

Thanks for stopping by and giggling along with me over the making of this card.

Jeanne

Stuff I used:

Stamp:Clear Christmas Tree stamp (Martha Stewart)

Paper: Golden Woodland paper pack (Martha Stewart), gold cardstock (??)

Ink: Galaxy Gold (Tsukineko)

Accessories: ultra fine clear embossing powder (Ranger). gold brads, white organdy ribbon (stash), pop dots

Tools; heat gun, Lattice border punch (Martha Stewart)