Yesterday I was inspired to pull out some retired products to create a batch of these cards. I had 6 of these laser cut card bases left over from a few years ago and I wanted to put them to use and get them out of my (ahem) hoard of retired products. I looked on Pinterest for some ideas for the Sweet Candy Canes stamp set and found something that had a cluster very similar to what I have here. I love using Pinterest as a source for inspiration! I really try to make adjustments to make something my own, but it is frequently very helpful to see what others have created as a jump-off point. Pairing that cluster with the fancy laser-cut card bases seemed just right to me.
I also pulled out some retired ribbon to finish off the look of the card. I only have a short piece left, so I came very close to my goal of using up some of my retired stash. I have to say that I really loved that ribbon, especially for Christmas card making, and I wish they would bring it back again. I did consider using the gold Simple Elegant trim but decided that I would double-down on using some retired products. I think that the gold trim would also work wonderfully on this card and if I had run out of the gold ribbon I would have used it.
I used a piece of Soft Sea Foam cardstock for the light green background behind the laser-cut card. When I started out I found that the green was too light to show up very well against the pretty vanilla colored laser-cut card front. Blending Brushes to the rescue! With my handy-dandy Blending Brushes I was able to darken the cardstock a little bit adding some variation in darkness. I really like how this turned out! I did try a darker green backing but then it didn’t have enough contrast with the focal element. The slightly darkened Soft Sea Foam background looks like a perfect solution to me. If you haven’t tried out the Blending Brushes, I definitely encourage you to get a set and try them. They are an amazing tool to have on hand!
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