Thanksgiving Wreath

Stampin' Up!™ has been doing something fun for all the demonstrators the last few weeks- a Stampin' Santa has been leaving us little gifts, including ideas for cards. One card idea used the Autumn Days set from page 92 of the Current Idea Book and Catalog. Our friends at Stampin' Up! headquarters made an adorable wreath using the elements available in the stamp set. It turned out pretty cute so I had to try it out for my make and takes for my recent November 5 Open House. Here is my version of the card design:

For my card, I chose Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Soft Suede, Old Olive and Whisper White. The trick to producing the image is to stamp the design in a layered circle. I started with the Wheat Shaft stamped in Crushed Curry Stampin' Pad. I did this "free hand" without any type of masking technique as I did not want to cut off portions of the image. This allowed me to preserve the wreath like feel. Then, I repeated the technique using the berry branch and Soft Suede Stampin' Pad. I finished off the design with the maple leaf image stamped in the Dusty Durango Stampin' Pad. This same technique can be done using the berry branch in three different colors- Real Red, Garden Green and silver for example- to create a Christmas design.

After tying Old Olive grosgrain ribbon onto the card stock, I layered the wreath image onto the Dusty Durango card stock and then adhered to my Crushed Curry card stock. To complete the card, I added a piece of Soft Suede to the bottom. Prior to adding to the card, I embossed the Soft Suede using the Texture Plates Kit #4. From Teeny Tiny Phrases, I stamped the Happy Thanksgiving phrase to a piece of Whisper White and then punched it out using the Modern Label Punch. I layered this on top of the Soft Suede piece. My final touch was to stamp a maple leaf onto a scrap piece of Crushed Curry card stock, cut it out and adhered it to my card.

I'll be using this or a similar design on my personal Thanksgiving cards this year. I hope this inspires you to create your own Thanksgiving cards.

God Bless and Happy Stamping!