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You Will Need:
a large white card blank (ours was 5 1/2 X 9 3/4)
3 contrasting paper colors for background mats (we
used forest green, brick red and beige Christmas scrapbook
papers)
green paper scraps in various shades
small multicolored paper scraps
small piece of paper to make tree trunk (we used more
of the forest green paper we used for the background
mat)
lace design border
punch (Fiskars)
round photo
corner punch (Fiskars)
round
hole punch
bare branch tree
paper punch (EK Success)
paper trimmer
adhesives
(we used spray mount and glue sticks)
small
quilled paper bow
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1. |
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| Step 1. Photo 1 shows the paper elements
needed to make this card, along with the small gold ink pads
we used. We started with a large white card blank. Cut the forest
green mat 1/2 inch smaller than the card blank. We used Fiskar's
lace border punch along all four edges of the forest green mat
to create its intricate, lacy edge. We cut our brick red mat
1/2 inch smaller than the green mat, then used Fiskars round
photo corner punch to round the four corners of the paper. We
cut the beige mate 3/8 of an inch smaller than the red mat,
so that it will neatly fit inserted into the punched corners.
Punch a bunch of small circles out of different colors of paper
scraps -- these will make your tree ornaments. |
Step 2. Use the EK Success bare branch
tree punch and your green paper scraps to punch a lot of trees.
It's easier to punch with the punch upside down, as in the
photo, so you can see exactly where you are punching. This
allows you to punch closer together and get more punches out
of your paper.
For this particular project, you should punch
some trees entirely, and some with the tree trunk edge of
the punch off the paper, so you end up with a tree without
a trunk. This latter shape is good for the top layer of branches.
How many punched trees you need will depend on the size of
your card.
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3. |
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| Steps 3. and 4. Take a metallic gold ink
pad and lightly dab it along the outside edge of the white card,
to give it a little interest. You don't have to be too precise
about this, just get some of the gold color on the paper so
you don't have just a plain white background (unless you like
that look, in which case, just skip this step). |
Step 4 final. |
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Step 5. Lightly spray a thin film of
spray mount over the entire back side of border punched forest
green mat (you
can also use a Xyron machine to make the mat into a sticker).
Apply the forest green mat to the center of the white and
gold card base.
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Step 6. Slip the beige mat (ours has
a Christmas lettering design on it) into the punched corners
of the brick red mat.
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7. |
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Step 7. Apply spray adhesive to the entire
back side of the brick red mat (or run it through a Xyron
machine) and apply it to the center of the forest green mat.
Take a pencil and ruler and lightly trace a large triangle
on the beige mat -- this will be the general shape of your
Christmas tree. Don't worry about the pencil marks, they will
be covered when the card is finished.
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Step 8. Starting at the top of the tree
and working your way down the outline of the triangle, begin
applying the small punched trees to the card. To do so , apply
a small drop of white glue or glue from a glue stick to the
bottom part of the punched tree only. Keeping the top part
of the punches free of adhesives will give your tree a 3 dimensional
look.
Tip: You can give your tree even more
dimension by using a pencil or even your fingers to slightly
curl the branches of the punched trees before applying glue
and sticking them to the card.
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9. |
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Step 9. Continue placing tree on the
card. To get a realistic look, place the punched trees at
a slight upward angle. Outline the edges of the tree and fill
in towards the center. Use some the punches without the bottom
trunks to fill in the top layers of branches.
After you have filled all the branches, randomly
glue the colored punched dots onto the tree for decorations.
Tip: For gluing tiny pieces, like the
small dots or even the punched trees, try using your glue
stick to "pick them up," thereby transferring some
of the adhesive to the paper, while being able to move and
place the piece.
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Step 10. To make the base or trunk of
the tree, fold a small piece of paper in half and freeform
cut a small, flat topped triangle piece of paper. Open the
fold and glue this to the base of the tree, hiding any ragged
punch ends in the process.
Step 11. Glue a small quilled
bow to the center of the base of the trunk using a glue
dot or other adhesive.
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Shop
for Paper Punches at Amazon.com.
More Greeting Cards!
Click here for our hand made Greeting Cards home page with lots
of tips, tools and techniques for card making, along with fabulous
Greeting Card Projects.
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