My post today is part of the Creative Card-iology Team Monthly Blog Hop, where we are celebrating and saying “so long, farewell” to some retiring favorites! When you've finished here at my blog, please hop on over to my friends' blogs by clicking on the links toward the bottom of this post.
There are so many beautiful sets that I’ve enjoyed stamping with over the last few months, starting with stamps that celebrate Autumn and all the reasons we have to be grateful, on to Winter and the wonder of the holidays.
But there were a few stamp sets that really captivated my
creative spirit over the last few weeks as I have been remembering one of my
greatest reasons to celebrate and be grateful – the birth of Jesus, the reason
we have a Christmas holiday.
One of the traditions that has been around for many years in
the Christian faith is the celebration of Advent. I’m really just beginning to personally discover
and appreciate all the nuances and implications of Advent, but this time of
remembrance and reflection has been such an encouragement to me these past few
weeks as I focused on the promises in Scripture regarding hope, peace, joy and love that culminated
in the birth of Christ.
One of the ways that the Advent season is celebrated is with an Advent wreath and candles. I made two Advent themed projects over the last few weeks, one a 12"x12" sampler and the other an easel card, both featuring an Advent "wreath" and candles.
I used the Sweetest Time and Poinsettia dies to make my wreath and candles. I first stamped the candle image from the Sweetest Time stamp set twice in Memento Ink on Whisper White cardstock and cut out the candles individually. I colored 3 of the smaller sized candles with a Light Highland Heather Stampin’ Blend, and the other smaller sized candle with the Light Rococo Rose Stampin’ Blend. I used Tear and Tape adhesive to adhere one of the Highland Heather candles and the Rococo Rose candle to either side of the taller white candle. The other two Highland Heather candles were layered behind and off to the side of these two candles.
I used the Poinsettia Dies to die cut and emboss leaves from Mossy Meadow cardstock and a berry sprig from Real Red cardstock. The candle flames were punched from a scrap of Bumblebee cardstock using the Whale Builder Punch. (Big thank you for this tip for the candle flame goes to Melissa Robb for your menorah card post in the Demonstrator Planning Place Facebook group!)
I adhered the leaves to the bottom of the candles so that the ends covered the candles and almost met in the middle. I cut some of the berries from the sprig and adhered these over the center point where the leaves almost met. And the candle flames were adhered to the top of the candles with the Fine Tip Gle Pen. This Advent wreath and candle display was the focal point of both my card and my sampler.
The sampler uses the Snowflake Splendor and Plaid Tidings Designer Series Papers, as well as a few other stamp sets or bundles that are retiring in the Year-End Closeout. A full product list for the sampler is listed below. I don't have time or space to go into all of the details for the rest of the sampler, but you can request tutorial information here.
My easel card uses a Sale-A-Bration Designer Series Paper that will be available soon with the start of Sale-A-Bration in January, and it is a “free with $50” purchase item.