Boughs of Holly

This holiday card was made using techniques and sketches from two different card challenges:

Joy of Stamping Tic Tac Toe #010 for which I chose the diagonal starting at the upper left down to the lower right (leaves, watercolor smooching, embossing).

- and -

52 Christmas Chard Throwdown #37-19 which specified the sketch.

The card base is Stampin' Up! (SU) Island Indigo cardstock. The top panel of my card was created using watercolor smooching on watercolor paper, with three different colors of re-inkers and a water spray bottle. I did the "smooching" on a silicone craft mat. The bottom panel is a piece of SU Tranquil Tide cardstock.

The embossing was done using the SU "Petal Burst" embossing folder. I first embossed a piece of SU Tranquil Tide cardstock, then using the circle die, cut it out. Similarly, I used the next size up circle die and cut the silver frame from mylar cardstock.

The holly sprig was cut using a free downloadable file on my ScanNCut. The leaves are cut from SU Tranquil Tide, and the berries from SU Real Red. I used my embossing stylus on a rubber embossing mat to create the veins in the leaves, and the larger end of the stylus to "cup" the berries to make then 3D round. I then covered both the leaves and berries with Crystal Effects since traditionally both are glossy.

The sentiment was created using my Brother ScanNCut with the universal pen holder and an ultra fine Sharpie marker. This was the first time I'm used the writing feature of my CM350, and I was REALLY happy with how it turned out!

The final assembly was done using foam strips behind the sentiment to raise it up off the card surface for dimension. The holly leaves were attached using glue dots that were rolled to form a log. The berries, which were cupped, had two rolled up glue dots placed inside the cup so that when attached to the leaves, they would maintain their 3D round shape, even in the mail!

I am rating the difficulty level of this card as a "3" out of a possible "5" simply because of all the techniques that were used to create it. None were particularly hard, but the smooching and use of Crystal Effects did require patience while the paper and glossy covering dried sufficiently to handle.

Paper: Watercolor Paper, SU Whisper White, Real Red, Tranquil Tide, Island Indigo, Bazzill Silver Mylar

Paper Size: A2

Ink: SU Island Indigo, Bermuda Bay, Tranquil Tide, Sharpie Ultra Fine Black Marker

Accessories: Sizzix Circle Dies, SU Petal Burst Embossing Folder, Brother ScanNCut 2 Digital Cutter, Crystal Effects, Embossing Pad & Tool, Glue Dots, Tombow Multi Liquid Glue, Adhesive Foam Strips

Techniques: Watercolor Smooching, Embossing, Die Cutting, Digital Cutting