Simon Says Stamp All the Joy Release: Branching Holly Corner and Greenery Swag Dies

When I received my All the Joy release from SSS, I was intrigued by two dies called the Branching Holly Corner Die and the Greenery Swag Die. I had no idea how to use them, so I sent a message to Susan Opel and she kindly showed me a couple cards she and Beth created with them. I then went to work to use them in abundance! Here are images of these two dies:

And here is my card. Let me tell you now - this is one of the most favorite cards I've ever created. I love it. It is going to sit on my mantle with my holiday decorations. But unfortunately it was not easy to photograph because the silver metallic cardstock I used reflects light and gives you dark areas and washed out areas. But here goes:

I didn't even want to show the first photo of the card straight on because of this problem I mentioned. So I'll just start the directions here after the second photo which I prefer. This card took some time - I'll be honest - a lot of time haha. But it was worth it. I had recently gone crazy making A2 size card backgrounds with Tim Holtz Mica Sprays. I love them, but rarely use them, so I pulled out all of my holiday ones and went crazy. I made about 15 backgrounds with lots of splatters of multiple colors and white paint on all of them. Oh my goodness, they are all so pretty. It occurred to me as I looked at these dies that they would be pretty cut out of some of my backgrounds. I used one sheet of red, one of white, and two of green. I made the red with Yuletide Mica Spray with Frozen Fog lightly misted over it and then splattered on it. It gave the red a silvery/white overcast that is so pretty. For the white, I used Frozen Fog which is a light silvery white color with Yuletide lightly sprayed and splattered over it (the opposite!). For the two green, I made one with Specimen with some splotches of Frozen Fog and one with Tree Lot. 

I die-cut both of the dies (one has two pieces) from all of the 4 sheets I had sprayed. I die-cut the All the Joy Die from white cardstock x 4. I glued them all together and then sprayed them with the same mix of Yuletide and Frozen Fog with some white paint splattered over it. I sprayed the sides too. I cut a piece of Silver Matte Cardstock to be 5x7" as I wanted to make a big wreath. I then cut a piece of white cardstock to be 4.75" x 6.75". I die-cut a circle die from the top center of the white cardstock so I could build my wreath around it. I used the outside piece of the Shimmer Wreath die, but you could also use the SSS Thin Circle Dies or any circle die that is the size you want. I cut apart some of the larger pieces of the dies for the wreath. 

I built the wreath around the circle. I only adhered the center of each of the sprigs and then just the edges of the leaves. I glued a lot of the smaller berries and items to the top of the branches. I made several of the flowers by layering them and added them to the bottom center. I just kept layering and gluing and layering until it looked full. The leaves and berries aren't connected - just the bottoms or centers of each item, so they all bend upward making it look really full. I used Glossy Accents and white embossing powder for the snow. The Glossy Accents made the embossing powder bubble up and look really realistic (learned this from the talented Caly Person!). I then added some Unicorn Glitter with Glossy Accents as well here and there. I used silver gems from the Honeybee Back to Basics Gem Stickers in the center of the flowers. I added the sentiment to the center of the circle over the silver paper. I stamped another smaller sentiment from the Festive Bouquets stamp set with black ink and die-cut it out with the matching die. I attached that to the bottom of the card. And then I just stared at it for a while appreciating my artistic creation haha.

I enjoyed making this card as it was so out of my comfort zone. Using Mica Sprays on cardstock and die-cutting out of them was a first. Using white embossing powder as snow was a first. Creating a really full wreath out of all kinds of greenery was a first. And no coloring? Definitely not my usual! I'm glad I was drawn to these two dies - the Branching Holly Corner Die and the Greenery Swag Die from the All the Joy release, as I really enjoyed working with them. Thanks so much for visiting and please excuse my bragging. It's not often that I like a card this much! xoxox 

Comments

[Beth Opel]

Holy amazing! xoxo

[Patti Brunter]

What this card is stunning! You should be so proud of all your hard work and I would never had figured out that this was out of your comfort zone! One of a kind card! Thanks for sharing!

[Jen Timko]

Brag away! This is extraordinary!