Snowman Wonderful Christmas Gap Card

Really, it was inevitable that I'd create a snowman gap card!  I've really enjoyed making a few Christmas gap cards and it just wouldn't have been right to not include a snowman card in the collection!

This card measures 7" x 5" and I used a colour combo of Island Indigo, Pool Party, Night of Navy and white.  The patterned paper is from the SU! 'Floral Boutique' DSP pack - I thought the dotty navy and white paper looked quite snowy!  I stamped the snowman twice using Night of Navy ink, fussy cut one snowman, inked the edges with Pool Party ink and popped him up.  I stamped part of the image again using Island Indigo ink and I fussy cut the hat and glued that in place.  I decorated the panel at the bottom of the card with some Pool Party ribbon, attached a snowflake charm with some silver thread and added a rhinestone jewel to the centre of the charm.  I added more jewels to the image panel.

Here's a closer look.

Here's the inside and the envelope.  

Yay, another Christmas card added to the box - I've just got to keep it up!

Supplies:
Stamps: Inkadinkado 'Holiday Sentiments' set, Hero Arts 'Wonderful Christmas' set, Imaginisce 'Be Merry'
CS: SU! Island Indigo, Night of Navy, Pool Party & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Floral Boutique' DSP
Ink: SU! Island Indigo, Night of Navy & Pool Party
Tools: Sizzix 'Banners, Fancy' Framelits die set, circle punches, X Cut corner rounder punch, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: silver thread, snowflake charm, SU! Pool Party ribbon, rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals

Pear Pizzazz Tealights Gift Box

Just a quick post to share the gift box I've made for 12 Crisp Melon and Rhubarb scented tealights.  I used SU! Pear Pizzazz CS to make the box and some pretty Bazzill patterned paper.  I chose colours from the patterned paper as accent colours, opting to use Rose Red and Marina Mist.  I inked all the edges with Pear Pizzazz ink applied with a sponge dauber and I added a Rose Red frame around the aperture.  I used the Decorative Label punch plus circle punches to create the tag and I tied it to the ribbon bow with some white baker's twine.

Here's a top view.

I've loved making a few of these tealights boxes, they're easy to put together and they make a lovely little gift - I know I'd be very happy to receive one, I do love my candles!  I followed the excellent instructions provided by Sam over at Pootles on this blog post.  The blog post also has a link to a fab video tutorial so do check it out if you want to make these yourself.

I'm going to give the tealights gift boxes a little rest - just for a while!  I have lots of crafty bits and pieces that I've started but which need finishing.  I've organised them today into a tidy pile and I'm going to concentrate on those next before starting anything new!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Best Yet' set
CS: SU! Pear Pizzazz, Rose Red & Whisper White
Patterned paper: Bazzill 'Vintage Lace' 6" x 6" pad
Ink: SU! Pear Pizzazz & Rose Red
Tools: SU! Simply Scored, SU! Decorative Label & circle punches, rectangle Nestabilities die, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Marina Mist grosgrain ribbon, SU! white baker's twine, SU! Dimensionals

Floral Boutique Tealights Gift Box & Cutaway Front Birthday Card

A few days ago I made this tealights gift box following Sam's excellent tutorial.  I've now made a second box to hold 12 pale pink Wild Lavender and Rose scented tealights.  I also made a matching birthday card with a cutaway front.  My colour combo is Pink Pirouette, Night of Navy and Whisper White and I inked the edges of almost everything with Night of Navy ink applied with a sponge dauber.  Jan came over today to make this ensemble and she really loved it!

Here are my card, envelope and tealight box together.  There's something very satisfying about having made a matching ensemble!

Here is a top view of the tealight box.  This time I did punch an aperture in the top of the box using the Decorative Label punch.  I punched the label again on a separate piece of Pink Pirouette CS and cut around the negative label shape using a rectangle die so that I got a frame to go around the aperture.  I wrapped Night of Navy solid baker's twine around the box, attached the tag and tied a bow. I used the Petite Petals stamp set and matching punch to make the three flowers and I sprinkled on a few rhinestone jewels to finish the tealight box.

Here's the front of the box.  When you punch the aperture from the top of the box you also punch a half label shape from the front of the box which makes opening the box easier.

When I'd decided I wanted to create a matching birthday card an idea popped into my head.  The idea of  using the Detailed Floral die set to make a cutaway Night of Navy front with a panel of Pink Pirouette CS showing through from behind.  Once the idea had popped into my head I just had to get it out of my system so to speak!  I made an A6 sized Night of Navy card base and cut out the detailed design from the bottom of the card using the larger detailed floral die only - WITHOUT using the cutting edge die.  I then cut a piece of Pink Pirouette CS to the size of the bottom portion of the card and attached it in place with temporary adhesive.  With the card open and the edger die in place I cut through both layers (the Night of Navy card front and the Pink Pirouette piece) - I used a shim and rolled back and forth a couple of times to make sure that both pieces of CS would be cut through completely.  I cut off the top portion of the card front and glued the Pink Pirouette edged piece behind the Night of Navy edged card front.  Because of the fold in the card base I needed to trim a tad off the Pink Pirouette piece before gluing it in place so that it would fit neatly inside and so there would be no pink bits peeping above the navy edge. 

I layered a strip of patterned paper onto a larger strip of Pink Pirouette CS, covered the inside of the Night of Navy card with a panel of Whisper White CS. adhered the strip and popped up the sentiment label.  I then rounded the top corners.  I decorated the envelope by covering the flap with patterned paper.

Here's the cutaway front card open.  I stamped another sentiment inside and added a trio of Petite Petals flowers.

Jan made a cutaway card to go with her tealight box but while making the card she had an idea.  I said she should go for it and make a card with her idea!  Her idea was to use both floral detail dies to cut floral detail at the top and bottom of a Night of Navy A6 sized card and to adhere a panel of Pink Pirouette CS behind.  Here's a photo of Jan's tealight box and her second card - she had a very good idea, what a lovely card!  As you can see, Jan used a different 'Floral Boutique' DSP patterned paper, opted to ink the edges of the aperture rather than adding a frame and used a different flower from the 'Petite Petals' set for her projects.

Wilko also sell Crisp Melon & Rhubarb scented tealights but we don't stock those in our store so I had to order them online.  I got a phone call this morning to say they'd arrived in the store and as I was busy with Jan today Owen collected them for me.  They smell so nice and are a lovely green colour - a very good match to Pear Pizzazz!  No prizes for guessing what I'll be doing later!

If you want to have a go at making the fab tealight gift box check out Sam's excellent tutorial blog post over at Pootles - the blog post includes a link to a YouTube video tutorial.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Birthday Blooms' & 'Petite Petals' sets, Hero Arts 'Scrummy Treats' set
CS: SU! Night of Navy, Pink Pirouette & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Floral Boutique' DSP
Ink: SU! Night of Navy
Tools: SU! Simply Scored, SU! 'Detailed Floral' Thinlits die set, SU! die brush, SU! 'Decorative Label' ,'Petite Petals' & various circle punches, Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Night of Navy solid baker's twine, SU! rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals

Blues, Burlap & Butterflies

Just recently I came across Loll Thompson's Ghosting Technique video tutorial which is fab.  I didn't realise ghosting was the same as water stamping and is also called the faux bleach technique.  I've done water stamping a few times but I'd never thought about using a stencil instead of a stamp so I felt the need to have a go!  I bought the Tim Holtz Burlap stencil many months ago but hadn't got around to using it so I decided to use that for this technique.

I applied Salty Ocean, Evergreen Bough and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks to a panel of white CS using ink duster brushes, laid the stencil down and spritzed it with water.  Following Loll's instructions I immediately removed the stencil, let the panel sit for a few seconds and then I blotted the panel with some paper towel.  What a lovely effect!  I trimmed my panel so it would fit onto a black A6 sized card base, daubed the edges and stamped a few random speckles using black ink.  I applied the same colours of Distress Inks to another piece of white CS, stamped the butterfly and fussy cut it.  I used a black Sakura Glaze Pen to add shiny detailing to the butterfly.  I die cut the flourish, glued it in place, stamped the sentiment and attached the butterfly.  To complete the front I added two black die cut butterflies and embellished them with rhinestone jewels.

Here's a closer look at the burlap stencil ghosting.

I wasn't sure how I was going to decorate the inside of the card and the envelope but I knew I wanted to keep it fairly simple.  I remembered I had an SU! 'Baroque Border' wheel stamp that I'd unmounted from the wheel so that I could use it as a border stamp.  I dug that out and was so chuffed to see what a great match it was to the die cut flourish I'd used on the card front!  I inked the edges of the white panel before adhering it inside the card and I added a butterfly.

Supplies:
Stamps: Penny Black 'Social Butterfly' set, SU! 'Gorgeous Grunge' set, Clearly Besotted 'Brushed Greetings II' set, SU! 'Baroque Border' 
CS: SU! Basic Black & Whisper White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Tim Holtz Salty Ocean, Evergreen Bough & Peacock Feathers Distress Inks
Tools: Tim Holtz 'Burlap' stencil, Penny Black 'Flourish' die, Memory Box 'Cascadia Butterfly Trio' die, Inkylicious ink duster brushes, sponge dauber, water spritzer bottle
Embellishments & accessories: Sakura Black Glaze Pen, SU! rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals

A Trio Of Flourishing Phrases Thank You Cards

Today I'm sharing three thank you cards I made using the SU! 'Flourishing Phrases' stamp set and 'Flourish' Thinlits dies.  I wanted to make my version of a card in the SU! catalogue and originally I planned to make all three cards the same but then I decided to make each one a bit differently.

Here are all three cards together.

The first card is my version of the card on page 49 in the SU! catalogue.  I LOVE how the tone on tone stamped flourish looks!  The card in the catalogue has a strip of Peekaboo Peach ribbon underneath the sentiment banner.  As I don't have the ribbon I used a distressed strip of Peekaboo Peach CS instead.  I cut the strip of CS, spritzed it with water, crumpled it up a fair few times and then dried it with my heat tool.  I really like the texture this gives!  Instead of a button embellishment on the banner I added a die cut flower.  I sprinkled on a few rhinestone jewels to finish.

Here's the second card.  I made a landscape oriented card again, also included the tone on tone stamped flourish and a flagged sentiment banner.  I stamped the flower twice using Peekaboo Peach ink without re-inking and stamped the leaves in Pool Party ink.  I fussy cut the flowers, die cut the leaves and arranged them on the card, popping up the flower shapes.  I used two dies from the 'Flourish' set to embellish and added rhinestone jewels.

Here's how I decorated the insides and the envelopes of the two landscape oriented cards.

For the third card I chose to make a portrait oriented card using mostly the same elements as for card two but changing the placement of the elements.  This time I used full strength Peekaboo Peach ink for both flower shapes, I didn't flag the end of the sentiment strip and I placed a White Perfect Accent circle in the centre of the flower.  It's fun to change things up just a little!

Here's how I decorated the inside and the envelope for card three, the portrait oriented card.

I had such a happy time in my craft room making these cards!  Actually, I've had lots of very happy time in my craft room this past week as I was on holiday from work and I took advantage of the spare time and energy that I had!  I've returned to work today though so it's back to normal and back to snatching some crafty time as and when I can!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Flourishing Phrases' set
CS: SU! Night of Navy, Peekaboo Peach, Pool Party & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Night of Navy, Peekaboo Peach & Pool Party
Tools: SU! 'Flourish' Thinlits die set, SU! 'Banner Triple' & circle punches
Embellishments & accessories: SU! rhinestone jewels, White Perfect Accents circle, Dimensionals

Tealights Gift Box

Sam over at Pootles is an amazing crafter who makes beautiful projects.  Sam,very helpfully, also has a YouTube channel where she shares papercrafting videos.  There are so many to watch and be inspired by!  Sam makes a lot of boxes and other packaging projects and I particularly loved the tealights box she shared in this blog post.  I went shopping for appropriate tealights and found some where I work - Wilko - which come in a variety of fragrances and colours.  I just had to get the Tropical Passion Fruit and Blueberry scented tealights 'cos they're a match for Pool Party!

I used Pool Party CS and 'Birthday Bouquet' DSP to make my box and opted not to have an opening in the lid.  I sponged all the edges of the box and DSP with Pool Party ink using a sponge dauber.  I wrapped sparkly Pool Party ribbon around the box and tied a bow.  I stamped the sentiment in Old Olive ink, cut that out with a 1 1/4" circle punch, daubed the edge with Old Olive ink, punched a Pool Party 1 1/2" circle, daubed the edge with Pool Party ink and popped that up onto a 1 3/4" Old Olive scalloped circle that I'd edged with Old Olive ink.  I then popped up the sentiment element by placing a Dimensional at the top and bottom of the circle so that the ribbon can be released easily when the bow is untied.

Here's a closer view of the top of the box.

Here's the box open showing the 12 tealights inside.  I used a circle punch to cut a semi circle out of the front flap to make the box easier to open.

Unfortunately, I'd made a mistake with a friend's SU! order and so I gave this to her by way of an apologetic peace offering!  I also bought some Wild Lavender and Rose scented tealights which are pale pink so I'll make a box for a dozen of those in the next few days.  Huge thanks to Sam for sharing and inspiring!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Best Yet' set
CS: SU! Pool Party, Old Olive & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Birthday Bouquet' DSP pack
Ink: SU! Pool Party &amp Old Olive
Tools: SU! Simply Scored, various circle punches
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Pool Party Glitter Ribbon, Dimensionals

Poinsettia Joyful Christmas Wishes Gap Card

This is the third Christmas gap card I've made this week.  Jan came round yesterday to make one and I'd made a bet with myself that out of the three cards I'd designed Jan would choose to make the poinsettia card - and I was right!

I made a Cherry Cobbler 5 3/4" card base and the plaid paper is from the SU! 'Merry Moments' DSP pack.  Jan opted to use a lighter plaid patterned paper on her card.  I stamped the 'Joyful Christmas Wishes' sentiment on the inside white panel in Mossy Meadow ink.  The poinsettia was made with the Creative Expressions Sue Wilson 'Shaded Poinsettia' stamp set and the 'Classic Poinsettia' die set.  I stamped the poinsettia flowers and leaves on Whisper White CS using Cherry Cobbler ink for the flowers and Mossy Meadow ink for the leaves - I stamped three of the larger and three of the smaller flower shapes.  I applied Spun Sugar Distress Ink to the flowers and Peeled Paint Distress Ink to the leaves using ink duster brushes.  I die cut the shapes and inked the edges of the flowers with Cherry Cobbler ink and the leaves with Mossy Meadow ink using sponge daubers.  I die cut two Cross Stitched Frame rectangles, attached the six stacked flower layers together with a gold brad, fluffed up the layers a wee bit, glued the leaves down and popped up the flower.  I added a strip of Cherry Cobbler ribbon to the bottom of the card and glued a strip of Gold Glimmer Paper over the top.  A sprinkling of red metallic nailheads completed the card front.

Here's the inside and the envelope.  I glued a strip of the plaid paper to the inside of the card at the bottom, added a line drawn with a Cherry Cobbler marker pen and stamped the sentiment.  For the envelope front I matted a strip of paper onto Cherry Cobbler CS, glued the strip in place and popped up the die cut name label.  Jan chose to decorate her envelope with a couple of poinsettias instead which looked lovely.

Supplies:
Stamps: Creative Expressions Sue Wilson 'Shaded Poinsettia' set, sentiments from SU! 'Joyful Christmas' set
CS: SU! Cherry Cobbler & Whisper White, SU! Gold Glimmer Paper
Patterned paper: SU! 'Merry Moments' DSP pack
Ink: SU! Cherry Cobbler & Mossy Meadow, Ranger Tim Holtz Spun Sugar & Peeled Paint Distress Inks
Tools: Creative Expressions Sue Wilson 'Classic Poinsettia' die set, Memory Box 'Cross Stitched Frame Border' die set, Spellbinders 'Grommet Tags' die set,  Inkylicious ink duster brushes, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: red & gold metallic nailheads, gold brad, SU! Dimensionals

Snowflake Merriest Wishes Gap Card

I'm getting in as much crafty time as I can this week as I'm on holiday from work!  I thought I'd enter into a Christmas card challenge as it's been ages since I've done that.  There's a snowflakes theme challenge over at Sparkles Christmas Challenges and I'm entering this snowflake gap card.  This card was made on one of the hottest days of the year, I hoped working with snowflakes would take my mind off the heat!

This card measures 5 3/4" square and I used SU! Bermuda Bay CS for the card base and the snowflake paper is from the SU! 'Season of Cheer' DSP pack.  I cut a 2" wide gap 1 1/2" from the top of the card.  I used Bermuda bay ink for the larger snowflake and Night of Navy ink for the smaller one.  I stamped and fussy cut the small hexagonal piece and glued it in the centre.  I popped up both the larger and smaller snowflakes and some rhinestone jewels completed the card front.

Here's a side view of the gap card.

Here's the inside and the envelope.  I stamped the snowflakes in stamped off once Bermuda Bay ink and stamped the sentiments in Night of Navy ink.  I used my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to stamp the snowflakes repeatedly to form the border at the bottom.   A stamped and die cut snowflake decorates the envelope flap.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Festive Flurry' set, Hero Arts 'Very Merry Christmas' set, PSX 'Snowflake Medley'
CS: SU! Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Season of Cheer' DSP
Ink: SU! Bermuda Bay, Night of Navy
Tools: SU! 'Festive Flurry' Framelits dies, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig
Embellishments & accessories: SU! rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals

Ornament Noel Gap Card

This week Jan is coming over one afternoon for a crafty play and she'd like to make a Christmas gap card.  I'm hoping to make a few designs before our get together - to give Jan more choice and to add a few Christmas cards to the stash!  This design features the beautiful SU! 'Embellished Ornaments' set and the 'Season of Cheer' patterned paper.

The A6 sized card base was made with Cherry Cobbler CS and I cut a 2" gap 1 1/4" from the top of the card.  I glued a panel of white CS inside the card and stamped the sentiment.  I stamped and die cut the ornament elements and added a separately stamped and fussy cut poinsettia.  I used an inverted corner rounder punch on the white panel and glued that to the Old Olive mat layer.  I added a gold cord bow to the ornament hanger, popped the ornament up and sprinkled on a few rhinestone jewels.

Here's a side view of the card.

Here's the inside and the envelope.  I stamped the holly using Old Olive ink and went over the berries with a Cherry Cobbler marker pen.  The envelope flap was simply decorated with the pretty holly paper.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Embellished Ornaments' set, Hero Arts 'Noel'
CS: SU! Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Season of Cheer' DSP
Ink: SU! Old Olive & Cherry Cobbler
Tools: SU! 'Delicate Ornament' Thinlits dies, Woodware inverted corner rounder punch
Embellishments & accessories: gold cord, SU! rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals

Balloon & Clouds Birthday Card

New SU! goodies were awaiting me when I arrived home from work a few days ago and as it was the afternoon I had some time to head straight to my craft room and get inky!  I decided to make a quick and simple card using the 'Celebrate Today' stamp set and matching Framelits dies.  

The Pool Party card measures 5 1/4" square.  I lightly sponged the white square with Pool Party ink, edged it with Island Indigo ink and stamped the hot air balloon basket and the sentiment.  I then stamped and die cut the balloon, snipped off the knot at the bottom so that it looks like a hot air balloon rather than a party balloon and inked the edges with Island Indigo ink.  I used the SU! 'Sprinkles of Life' stamp set and matching 'Tree Builder' punch to create some clouds - perfect to go with a hot air balloon, I love it when different items work so well together!  I sponged the clouds with Pool Party ink, edged each one with Island Indigo ink, glued two shapes in place and popped up the third cloud.  I popped up the balloon and added silver Candi Dot embellishments to finish the front.

Here's the inside and the envelope.  I used the bunting stamp from the 'Celebrate Today' set to decorate the inside and the envelope flap.  D'oh - forgot to ink the edges of the white panel!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Celebrate Today' & 'Sprinkles of Life' sets, Clearly Besotted 'Happy Birthday' set
CS: SU! Pool Party, Island Indigo & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Pool Party & Island Indigo
Tools: SU! 'Balloon' Framelits dies, SU! 'Tree Builder' punch
Embellishments & accessories: Craftwork Cards Regal Silver Candi Dots, SU! Dimensionals

Magnolia Bloom Happy Birthday Card

After making THESE CARDS I said I'd have a go at fussy cutting the leafy stem from the Clearly Besotted Magnolia Blooms stamp set.  Well, I did it - hmmm, quite fiddly but not TOO bad!

My vibrant colour combo is Emerald Envy and Melon Mambo.  The card measures 5 1/4" square and I used a stitched square die to cut my white layer.  I stamped and cut the flower twice so I could fussy cut the smaller part of the flower and pop it up over the larger fussy cut flower.  Once I'd done that I popped up the whole flower.  To finish the card front I sprinkled on a few rhinestone jewels.

Here's the inside and the envelope with simple stamping.  I do love that leafy vine image!

Supplies:
Stamps: Clearly Besotted 'Magnolia Blooms' set, Hero Arts 'Yummy Treats' set
CS: SU! Emerald Envy & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Emerald Envy & Melon Mambo
Tools: Memory Box 'Stitched Square Layers' die set
Embellishments & accessories: SU! rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals

Coral & Navy Roses Birthday Card

While the Euro football tournament was on I spent a lot of time in my craft room, some of the time was spent using my two step stamping sets. This is the last of those cards featuring a firm favourite - the absolutely gorgeous SU! 'Stippled Blossoms' set.

Inspiration can be found everywhere!  I work in a busy shop which means I see a lot of people during a shift.  I'm sometimes struck by the pretty clothes the ladies wear and think how I could incorporate the designs and/or colour combos into my card designs.  Just recently a lady was wearing a beautiful, floral, summer dress in shades of coral and navy - very eyecatching - and I resolved to make a floral card using those colours.  The patterned paper is from the SU! 'Floral Boutique' DSP pack and I added a Calypso Coral Grosgrain Ribbon die cut strip above the paper.  I stamped the solid flowers in Peekaboo Peach ink (stamped off once) and the outline flowers in full strength Calypso Coral ink.  For the solid leaves I used Dapper Denim ink (stamped off three times) and full strength Night of Navy ink for the outline leaves.  I stamped the sentiment and then fussy cut the flowers and leaves.  I arranged the images, popping up the large rose and one of the smaller roses.

Here's the inside and the envelope.  I'm not generally a fan of orange but I can make an exception with Calypso Coral and I love how it looks with Night of Navy!

The Euro football tournament is over but I'm planning to schedule dedicated crafting time so I get a regular fix of inky therapy!  I'd like to start making some Christmas cards - it's never too early to be prepared with those!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Stippled Blossoms' & 'Butterfly Basics' sets
CS: SU! Calypso Coral, Night of Navy & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! 'Floral Boutique' DSP pack
Ink: SU! Peekaboo Peach, Calypso Coral, Dapper Denim & Night of Navy
Tools: Memory Box 'Grosgrain Ribbons' die set, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Dimensionals

Three Ferns Easel Birthday Card

Today is my hubby Owen's birthday and this is the card I made for him.  I saw a lovely card a long, long time ago using the Hero Arts 'Three Ferns' stamp - one of my all time favourite stamps - and saved it to Pinterest as a card to CASE.  It's taken a while but finally here's my version of THIS CARD made by Tina.

I inked the stamp with Peeled Paint Distress Ink, spritzed it with water and stamped onto a piece of watercolour paper.  I inked the stamp again with Peeled Paint ink and added Gathered Twigs and Fired Brick inks to the stamp with sponge daubers.  I then spritzed the stamp with Perfect Pearls Pearl mist, stamped the image on a separate piece of watercolour paper and die cut the larger squares.

Firstly, I did try one small Nestie square die to cut out several squares but after I'd stamped on the squares I was struggling to position them evenly over the top of the image underneath.  So I used a grid die that cuts several larger squares at once.  It was much easier to line up after stamping first and then die cutting the squares!  I do think Tina's original design with the arrangement of the smaller squares looks nicer - but I was happy to cheat and go with the quicker, easier and less frustrating option!

Once I'd got my ferns panel sorted I decided to mount it on an easel card - using Early Espresso, Old Olive and Cajun Craze as my CS colours.  I went rootling in my stash for some suitable patterned paper and chose the green and white diagonal stripe design which is from a pack of SU! Christmas paper.  I popped up three fern squares plus the sentiment banner and I added a few silver nailheads to complete the card front.

Here's another view of the ferns panel so you can see the pearly shimmer.

Here's the bottom of the card.  I stamped the partial ferns image onto the Whisper White panel using the same colour Distress Inks and added just a light spritzing of the Perfect Pearls mist.  I stamped the sentiment which is from the same Hero Arts set as the sentiment I used on the card front so that ties together very nicely!  

A fourth fern square was left over as I only popped up three squares on the card front so I used that to decorate the front of the envelope.  Very gratifyingly Owen absolutely loved the card!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts 'Three Ferns', Hero Arts 'Messages With Flourish' set
CS: SU! Early Espresso, Old Olive, Cajun Craze, Whisper White, watercolour paper
Patterned paper: SU! 'Season of Cheer' DSP
Ink: SU! Cajun Craze, Ranger Tim Holtz Peeled Paint, Gathered Twigs & Fired Brick Distress Inks
Tools: Sizzix 'Grid Works 1 7/8" Squares' Thinlits die, MFT 'Fishtail Flag Stax' die set
Embellishments & accessories: Perfect Pearls 'Perfect Pearl' mist, silver metallic nailheads, SU! Dimensionals