A Knot of Christmas Trees!

The 2014 Holiday Stampin' Up catalog has a new set of Christmas trees to make using the Festival of Trees stamps and the new Tree Punch, but I decided to resort to an old Stampin' Up stamp set, Pennant Parade, that I had never used and its coordinating Pennant Builder punch.  I gathered various green papers that would blend with Garden Green cardstock, which would be one of my layers. 

Notice the groupings of trees with the same paper.  I like to think each paper color represents a stand of the same species of tree, like Douglas firs, Scotch Pines, etc. as we often see in the forest.  My center tree represents the one that is to go home for the Christmas holiday!  I added a little sparkle to this tree with rhinestone ornaments and a little star to perch at its tip.  Then, of course, I needed to compliment this sparkle with a layer of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper.  I also added an off-center ribbon knot at the top of my card to give it more color.  I had seen this ribbon idea used at a card class given by my Stampin' Up upline, Liz Thayer.  I liked the look of it and thought I would lift the idea to use on my card.  (Thanks, Liz).  

I chose the beautiful calligraphy sentiment Merry Christmas from the Stampin' Up Greetings of the Season stamp set (retired) and stamped it with Cherry Cobbler ink.  This card is probably the closest I'll ever get to clean and simple. . .LOL. . . as I'm just not a clean and simple gal, but I loved the look of it when I was all done.

I made a complimentary inside to fit the exterior design, and I decided this one would go to my husband's sister and her husband in Kansas.  I hope they enjoy their card as much as I enjoyed making it.

 Recipe:  SU Paper - Cherry Cobbler cs, Garden Green cs, Whisper White cs, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer.  Trees - SU Papers: Wild Wasabi cs, Polka Dot Parade dsp, Twitterpated dsp, Burthday Basics dsp, SU Petals-a-Plenty Embossing Folder, SU Petite Pennant Builder punch, SU Pennant Parade stamp (retired).  SU Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso.  SU sentiment: Greetings of the Season (2012 Holiday).  SU 1” Stitched-Edge Cherry Cobbler Grosgrain Ribbon.