Time is always so short this time of year. I saw Tina Zwick make a very similar card, and had to give this a try. I’m going to make seven cards in seven days that are fast and easy to make in bulk.

I started by using the Woodlands Textured Impressions Embossing Folder from Stampin” Up and white cardstock that is 5 1/4″ by 4″ tall. I used Marina Mist ink from Stampin’ Up and rubbed the ink pad across the front inside of the embossing folder (the side that says Stampin’ Up at the bottom)….color the folder until you’ve inked it almost completely. The part that’s closest to the fold needs inked, and the portion at the opening not so much, as your paper isn’t as large as the folder. The folder is right side up if you look at it holding the fold at the bottom (closest to you)….so you’ll need to make sure you stamp your trees with the fold of the embossing folder toward you. I used a stamp set called Definitely Decorative Pines (retired, but you might find it on Ebay) There’s an even better pine tree in their set called Lovely as a Tree that I own, but couldn’t find…I used Handsome Hunter Stampin’ Up ink (retired), but you could also use Garden Green Ink from Stampin’ Up for the same effect. I inked one of the trees and stamped the tree on top of the ink that’s already on the folder (making sure you have the fold of the embossing folder at the bottom closest to you)… I stamped three trees on mine, then took the white paper and laid it toward the center of the side I’d stamped on, and ran it through my Vagabond.
Once you have the embossed image out of the Vagabond, take a brayer (mine is from Speedball and here’s a link to it so you know what you are looking for http://tinyurl.com/yddn4zos ) Run it across the ink pad in one direction several times to ink the entire brayer. I used a Stampin’ Up ink called Soft Suede to do this technique. Gently rub it across the embossed tree image until you get the color you want. Make sure you do this with scrap paper under it, as it’s pretty messy.
I took a retired punch from Stampin’ Up called a Designer Label Punch (here’s a link to one I found on Ebay http://tinyurl.com/ydd5422k ) and punched a white piece of cardstock. Normally I would stamp my sentiment and then punch out the cardstock, but for some reason, did it in the reverse this time…It is much easier to stamp it first and then punch it out by placing the sentiment upside down in the punch and looking through the window until you see the sentiment is where you want it, then squeeze it a little bit to hold it in place, then punch it out. I used a stamp set called Lights4Xmas from Stamps of Life for a sentiment “Christmas Wishes”..(I had to cut the sentiment in half to make it fit in the punch). I put the sentiment in the MISTI and used temporary adhesive from Glue Dots (link: http://tinyurl.com/y8chxpzb ) to put on the back of my punched designer label and laid it in the MISTI so the sentiment fits inside.
I inked it with the same Soft Suede ink several times. I took a piece of 3/4″ high organza white ribbon that was about 7″ long and wrapped it around the tree image and glued it to the back..I chose to put it near the top, but you could put it wherever you choose. I ran tape runner from Glue Dots (extra strength) on the back of the tree image, and then put a small amount of wet glue under the ribbon where the sentiment would be to hold the ribbon in place, then put foam dots under the sentiment and laid it over the glued ribbon. I added some pinecones to my envelope with soft suede ink.  The pinecone is from pegstamps.com and here’s a link to it. https://pegstamps.com/pinecone-large.html
Before I finished, I wanted to see if there’s an alternative to using a brayer for those of you who don’t own one….I used the ink pad first and I got ink everywhere, so tried a foam dauber for my finger tip and it didn’t work as well as a brayer either, but would probably work in a pinch….

If you don’t have a Stampin’ Up representative and would like to order the embossing folder or any of the Stampin’ Up products I used in the video, I just met a really nice Stampin’ Up representative who was kind enough to give me one of their card kits for our kit comparison….His name is Brian King and you can order directly through him using this link http://www.stampinup.com/ecweb/default.aspx?dbwsdemoid=2104107

If you have any questions, you can also email him at stampwithbrian@gmail.com. The products I used from Stampin’ Up! are:
Woodlands Embossing Folder
Lovely as a Tree stamp kit (it has the larger pine tree that you’d want to use).  The stamp I used is discontinued.

Inks:  Marina Mist (retired)
Handsome Hunter (retired)
Garden Green Ink would work great in place of Handsome Hunter and it’s still available
Soft Suede

I hope you enjoyed our first in the series of seven simple Christmas cards….

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