HOW TO STAMP AN EASY AND PRETTY FALL WREATH

The other night, I looked at Stampin' Up!'s Colorful Seasons and Painted Harvest stamp sets and tried to create a Fall wreath with a couple of the images.  I tried a variety of ink colors, and I didn't think I really loved any of my creations--even the one that became the card that I'm sharing today.

I picked up the white cardstock tonight that had my "wreath" stamped on it, and I started to throw it in the trash.  I'm glad I stopped myself, though, because all it needed was a little enhancing.  Do you love this wreath as much as I do?  Let me explain how I made it.  I started by drawing a circle that would serve as a guide for stamping.  I then stamped the leafy stem detail image from Painted Harvest stamp set using Soft Suede ink (a pad that really needs to be re-inked).  Next, I used Pool Party ink to stamp the solid leaf and Early Espresso ink to stamp the twig--both images from Colorful Seasons.

Seeing the stamped images, can you understand why I almost considered it trash?  To jazz it up, I punched three shapes with the Sprig punch from Copper Foil and three shapes with the Leaf punch from Vellum Cardstock.  I gently bent the sides of the punched leaf stems and then adhered all of the punched shapes on top of the stamped wreath.  It still didn't look fabulous, but it was looking pretty promising.  An Early Espresso 2-1/4" punched circle placed in the center of the wreath made a big difference!  I really wanted to use that sentiment (from Country Home stamp set), and I gave myself permission to place rectangle layers on top of the punched circle.  I ❤ it!!!  It's hard to tell, but the sentiment was stamped with VersaMark ink (I remembered to use the Embossing Buddy first) and heat-embossed (with Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder to coordinate with the Copper Foil punched sprigs. You can see that my finishing touches were the Corrugated Elements tag (retired), small punched heart (retired punch), Rhinestone Jewel, and Linen Thread.  Because the Whisper White layer still looked a bit plain at the top and bottom, I chose to place a cut of Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon (love, love, love this ribbon) along the bottom.  Cardstock colors used on this card are Whisper White, Early Espresso, and Pool Party.

Sooooooooo . . . what did we learn?  We learned that if something doesn't seem worthy for a card, it might just need a little embellishing.  Some might say that the finished card doesn't even look like a wreath, but I know that's what it is and I LOVE that three stamps and three punches brought it to life.

I have provided links in this post to the products used to create this card, and I'd love to send you a handmade thank you card for shopping with me!  Or just leave a comment and tell me what you think about it.