by Alison Heikkila

I sure do! Hello, this month the Imagine Artists in Residence are featuring the color Evergreen. I decided to create a shimmery evergreen wreath as a centerpiece to this “Christmas Wishes” holiday card and I am going to show you how.

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 30 minutes + dry time

Directions

Step 1

I started off with a piece of Mixed Media White Paper and covered it with Emerald Green Delicata ink. You can see the pretty shimmer this ink has. Although this is a pigment ink, it does dry quickly. But if you’re a little impatient, you can use a heat tool to speed up the process.

Step 2

Using the “Build A Wreath” die set from Stampendous, I die cut several evergreen boughs from the inked paper. I also die cut the largest circle from the set with a colored piece of green cardstock.

Step 3

Using a deep shade of green colored cardstock, I tapped the surface with Golden Glitz Delicata ink to give it some sparkle and depth. I then die cut the evergreen boughs out of this color too.

Step 4

I was satisfied with how these two layers looked, but it definitely needed some embellishing. There is a trio of berries in the die set, so I colored another piece of Mixed Media White Paper with Ruby Red Delicata. Then I die cut the berries. The berries looked good, but I love bows on wreaths. So I repeated the ink to paper process again with Golden Glitz Delicata and cut the pretty bow.

Step 5

Now it’s time to move on to the card base. I used Neenah Desert Storm for my base, cut to 4 1/4″ x 11.” Then I sprayed it with Sheer Shimmer Spritz in Gold. This gold works perfectly with the Golden Glitz Delicata.

Step 6

Now it’s time to assemble the wreath. I glued down the wreath base first. I used On Point Glue for all of the assembly. This adhesive is perfect for these small, detailed pieces. I started with the darker, colored green cardstock pieces. As I glued each piece down, I placed a heavy acrylic block on top to weigh the pieces down as the glue dried.

Step 7

Next, I moved on to the Emerald Green colored pieces and repeated the same process with the glue and the block. Then I added the berries and the bow. I completed the card with a simple “Christmas Wishes” sentiment from Lawn Fawn stamped in Emerald Green and by adding “ornaments” with Silver Irresistible Pico Embellisher. I love the additional texture the ornaments added.

Here’s the completed card. It’s fun to create your own colored paper using inks. I hope you’ll give it a try! Thanks for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!

Supplies

Imagine

• Delicata – Emerald Green, Ruby Red, Golden Glitz
• Sheer Shimmer Spritz –  Gold
• Irresistible Pico Embellisher –  Silver
• On Point Glue

Other

• Stampendous – Build a Wreath Die Set
• Mixed Media White Paper
• Cardstock
• Lawn Fawn – “Sprinkled with Joy”