The Wonders & Blessings of Christmas! (Joy of Sharing Kit Alternatives #1 & #2)

I purchased this Joy of Sharing Christmas kit back in December 2020, plus a refill kit several months later, but I never got around to doing anything with it. My Mom sent me a Christmas card last year made from this kit...a bit of an alternative design...and it was so pretty. It gave me incentive to get the kit out and take it with me on my 5-day craft retreat in early September.

The kit + refill included (16) 5"x7" pre-folded Mossy Meadow cardbases with the front and back both green. I decided to cut them in half and mount them to white cardbases, now making it possible to have 32 cardbases with green fronts...way too many probably! I finished four different cards at my retreat using the kit pieces. Because the foil rectangular pinecone die-cut frame, the die-cut poinsettias and the die-cut pinecones were pretty much all the same, each card, though different, didn't really look that different; therefore, after working with the kit almost all of one day, I got a bit tired of it and moved on to other things.

 
For the first two cards made, I used a different sentiment stamp than the one provided in the kit, because I wanted my sentiment to have a vertical placement (the kit stamp was horizontal). This stamp was from the 2020 Dove of Hope stamp set. I also decided I would ink distress ALL edges of cardstock and die-cut pieces to give my card a more vintage and aged look.

Card #1...
My first card has a vertical orientation, and I used two of the green cardbases provided. I adhered one full 5"x7" Mossy Meadow panel to a white cardbase totally covering the white and making it now appear as a green base. I cut another Mossy Meadow panel to a smaller mat layer and popped it up off the green base leaving a small border showing around the bottom layer. I then adhered the gold metallic framing to this top layer. Next, I cut and added a red petite dotted dsp panel to host the stamped sentiment label.  I added layers of poinsettia die-cuts to the top right and lower left of the gold metallic frame, leaving the frame pinecones exposed on the other corners. I dressed up the center of the poinsettia with gold metallic gems.  Take a peek at my Alternative Card #1 using a different sentiment than provided by the kit...Dove of Hope stamp set:

Card #2...
My second card has a horizontal orientation. I used one green 5"x7" panel to form my cardbase as in Card #1. I cut an Early Espresso brown mat layer for this card instead of green as in the first card. I used the red double fishtail flag strip placed horizontally under my vertically stamped sentiment label. I added poinsettia die-cuts on the top left and bottom right, leaving the gold metallic pinecone of the frame showing on the opposite corners. Once again, I added gold metallic gems to the centers of the poinsettia. Take a peek at my Alternative Card #2 using the same sentiment as Card #1 from another stamp set...Dove of Hope:

Ingredients: Stampin' Up products-- Cardstock: Card #1/#2--Mossy Meadow, Real Red; Card #2--Early Espresso. Joy of Sharing Card kit pieces (2020-21 AC). Stamps: Dove of Hope (2020 Aug-Dec Mini). Other (Card #1/ #2)--Jolee's All That Bling: Golden Circle Wedding Bling. Colorbox Cat Eyes: Chestnut Road (ink distressing). Chatterbox inside verse. Size: 5" x 7".  Card #1 only: Patterned Paper: October Afternoon/ Holiday Style PP743 dsp (tiny red dots).