Well, after making this card, I realized it’s a good thing I have only one best friend!    I wouldn’t spend this time for just anybody, but then again, as one of my stamps reads, "this ain’t no stinkin’ off the rack kind of card either." 

Some people may not feel that brown belongs in any collection of Christmas colors.  Recall last year, that our Christmas wrapping paper combined iced blue with chocolate chip, which is a great color pair!  My favorite color combination pairs my favorite color, which is green, with brown,  so when you add my second favorite color, red, to the mix, it’s certainly a hit with me! The designer series collection I used to make this card is called Holiday Treasures.  Since it uses the same combinations of colors,  I realized why I have been so drawn to the Bella Rose collection of papers since their release!  Believe it or not, the entire card was built around using the very vanilla frame and brads from the Hodgepodge Hardware collection.  That was the first component, and the rest just fell into place. 

This card base starts with a 10" x 5" piece of very vanilla card stock, folded in half the long way, and scored.  I used a 2.5" x 5" piece of the striped paper adhered to the bottom of the card base, and a 2.5" x 5" piece of Riding Hood Red adhered to the top of the card base.  I used a 1.5" x 5" piece of olive green cardstock adhered over the seam between the two.  Then I even added one more pattern to the mix from the Bella Rose collection.  I adhered the .75" x 5" piece of  polka dotted piece of chocolate chip over the olive green.  I stitched the entire square perimeter of the card, as well as across the card at both margins of the olive green. 

Then I started building the layers for the for what started as my focal point, the very vanilla frame.  I made the first layer from Riding Hood Red cardstock, punched with the label punch.  I punched a circle from old olive cardstock for the second layer, which was popped up with dimensionals.    The next layer was the Merry Christmas stamp from the Curly Label Punch Bundle stamp set.  I stamped it first in chocolate chip and again in old olive.  I cut the middle part, "Christmas" from the green image, and adhered it on top of the chocolate chip image.  I cut out the oval, and adhered it with stampin’ dimensionals on top of the old olive circe.  I cut two small pieces of our beautiful new Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon.  I cut the two ends inwards, like a banner.  I inserted the very vanilla brads through the card top.

I cut out flowers and leaves from the poinsettia paper, and layered them on top of each other with stampin’ dimensionals.  I used the versamark marker’s brush end to "paint" the middle section of all of the poinsettia flowers, and embossed with irridescent ice embossing powder.

To finish the card’s interior, I placed another piece of Riding Hood Red cardstock, cut 4 7/8 x 4 7/8 and adhered it over the inside of the card’s top, covering the threads and the brads.  I dislike having any messy ends or hardware showing on the inside of my cards, so it’s just a last finishing touch.

Even though I have only one best friend, I consider myself really lucky because we met in the 7th grade, spent every day together for years, got married the same year, and were pregnant at the same time.  When I moved to FL in 1996, I only saw my best friend at Christmas, when my family would make the long trip up north and visit with everyone.  Four years ago, my best friend and her husband moved to Lake St. Charles in Riverview, FL.  Wow, what a surprise!  Now, we don’t need to wait until Christmas to see each other, and it’s as though we never were apart.  I’ve known Laurie for 35 years, and the best part is that she still likes me!  lol

You can see what I made for Laurie’s new home office last year for her Christmas present at my Stampin’ Up! gallery. It took two pictures to get the entire collection of desk accessories I made her.

I hope she likes her card.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: Bella Rose dsp, circle punch, Curly Label Punch Bundle, Holiday Treasures dsp, label punch, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, sewing on cards, Very Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware

Tags: Bella Rose dsp, circle punch, Curly Label Punch Bundle, Holiday Treasures dsp, label punch, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, sewing on cards, Very Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware