Merry Snowflake - Stampin' Up! Snowflake Wishes

   My card for today is one that I had thought out in my head and included a Christmas tree and a different orientation.  Once I started to put this imaginary card together it became clear that what I had in mind was looking terrible when put to cardstock!  Sometimes that happens and I've learned after many years that if I don't like it as I'm putting it together I probably won't like it any better once it's finished.  And if I don't like it when it's finished it usually doesn't get mailed out.  So what's the point??  Sometimes you just need to scrap it and try something else. There's no shame in abandoning a few pieces of cardstock that aren't doing it for you!  Put the card parts aside and see if they might work on a different project another day.

  I'm sharing my cards with the CAS Christmas Card Challenge which is to make a card using non-traditional Christmas colors and also with the Global Design Project which is to use Coastal Cabana, Smoky Slate and a color of your choice.  I choose Shaded Spruce as the third color.  While all the colors on their own or mixed with traditional red/green combos are kind of Christmas-y I thought that paired up they were non-traditional at least for snowflakes.

  From my original idea I kept the "Be Merry" letters, the Whisper White panel embossed with the Winter Snow folder and the Smoky Slate card base.  The letters are cut with the Playful Alphabet dies and a nice Coastal Cabana pattern from the retired Let It Snow DSP.  The Foam Adhesive sheets are fantastic for making stand out letters.

The rest got re-vamped into what you see here.  Instead of a Christmas tree I stamped a large Coastal Cabana snowflake, cut it out and then layered it with 2 more snowflakes for a nice detailed look while still keeping it clean.  

  Under the embossed panel I wanted to add a layer but also wanted to add some interest so I used a piece of the retired Mercury Glass acetate that I wish we still carried.  It's gorgeous!

  After I got all the letters and the snowflake lined up I added a few embellishments to finish the card.  A white/silver baker's twine bow went on the center of the snowflake and a few silver sequins with colored rhinestones in the centers sprinkled on the sides.  The rhinestones were colored with the dark Shaded Spruce Stampin' Blends marker.  The Blends are a great way to customize rhinestones and pearls for perfect matches to your project.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Snowflake Wishes

Ink: Coastal Cabana

Blends: Shaded Spruce dark

Paper: Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Shaded Spruce, Mercury Glass acetate (retired), Let It Snow DSP (retired)

Accessories: Stitched Rectangle dies, So Many Snowflakes dies, foam sheets, Playful Alphabet dies, Winter Snow embossing folder, baker's twine (retired), sequins (retired), rhinestones