Merry and Bright

Hi all,

One more post today. Since I'll be gone Monday through Friday this week, I wanted to get a card made for the new Paper Players challenge. Laurie is hostess with a bright, and interesting, color combination. So Saffron, Poppy Parade and Smoky Slate. I'm not sure this is a color combination that I would have used on my own, however, once the cards were made, they look pretty darn good.

While these are not traditional holiday colors, that is exactly how I used them. Also, I've been trying to come up with something different to present for make & takes at my craft group meeting coming up on Dec. 1. I was cruising Jennifer McGuire's blog and came across this Double Z-Fold technique and decided to give it a try. I pulled out some Concord & 9th holiday sets and got busy. These are NOT quick cards to make, LOL.

I started with a Whisper White card base per the dimensions in Jennifer's video. Using the Stripes & Sayings set, I stamped the stripes using So Saffron. The ornament die is cut from Smoky Slate using the outline die, then embossed with the inside dies. I also cut a the inside die from Poppy Parade card stock and used the tiny pieces to glue onto the Smoky Slate ornament. The top of the ornament is cut from silver glimmer paper.

On the white Z fold piece, I stamped the Deck the Halls Turnabout stamp using Smoky Slate ink on the top portion and some greetings on the inside folded pieces. Here's what that looks like.

Merry & Bright is stamped using SU Poppy Parade ink. Unfortunately, the stamp pad has "oxidized" and it's pretty funky. I definitely need to order a replacement. Because it looked so bad, I stamped over the Poppy ink with VersaMark and heat embossed it with clear EP to smooth it out some.

So, because I had cut the second ornament to use the little pieces, I decided to make a second double Z card. I cut the outline of the ornament from silver glimmer paper to place behind the Poppy piece. The card base is Whisper White, again stamped using the same Turnabout stamp, stamping two turns in So Saffron and two in Smoky Slate. The white Z piece is stamped with images from the ornament die stamp set using Memento tuxedo black, and Smoky Slate. The open images are colored with yellow, gray and red Copics.

Here is the inside of this one:

Here's a side view showing the Z folds. Check out Jennifer's video linked above for the best views.

Those are the details. They are really fun to make, but do take time. Jennifer also has instructions for a single Z fold card in another video. Those may be what I end up with for my craft group. I'm still deciding.

Thanks again all,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: All Concord & 9th
Deck the Hall Turnabout, Stripes & Sayings set, Ornamental set, Merry & Bright set, Cozy Christmas set
Paper: SU Whisper White, So Saffron, Poppy Parade, Smoky Slate, SU Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink: SU So Saffron, Smoky Slate, Poppy Parade, VersaMark, Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: Ornamental, Concord & 9th dies, Misti, Gemini Jr, liquid glue, foam tape, SU mini glue dots, gray Baker's twine