Modern Holly in disguise

One of the things that I enjoy about crafting and cardmaking around the holidays is getting to play with all the stamps, dies, and papers that I don't use the rest of the year. But it's also fun to find non-holiday uses for some of those products to extend their life. That's what I did with the Modern Holly Layering stencils from Taylored Expressions.

Supplies (all supplies Taylored Expressions unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Simple Strips Background
Paper: Pineapple, Peapod card stock; Whisper White, Basic Black card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Pineapple, Peapod; VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Modern Holly layering stencils, Mini Bloomers dies, "thanks" die, Simple Strips die, black enamel dots (Eyelet Outlet), white embossing powder (Hero Arts), blender brushes (Picket Fence Studios), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute), Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

The Modern Holly layering stencil set has three stencils. The first one makes the base of the holly leaves (yellow here), and the second makes the leaf details (green here). But when you use the stencils with non-holiday colors, the patterns makes a great background that can be used all year. The third stencil in the set makes the holly berries. I didn't use the berry stencil for this card, but I think it would have made a fun detail used with clear glitter embossing paste.

I layered the stenciled background panel on a black card base. For the sentiment I die cut the word "thanks" a few times from black card stock and then glued them on top of each other. This is a great technique for adding dimension to die-cut words without having to cut tiny pieces of foam tape to fit behind the narrow letters. I adhered the sentiment near the lower right corner of the card front and added a sentiment strip right below it.

For the final touch, I die cut three yellow flowers and added green die-cut details and black enamel dots for the flower centers. Using Dimensionals, I adhered the flowers around the sentiment.

I'm excited to tr this stencil again using multiple colors for the base layer of the leaves. Maybe a blend of soft pastels for a pretty spring card or reds and oranges for bold fall leaves. So many possibilities!

Thanks for stopping by!