Christmas Card in May with Memory Box

Good morning everyone.  Yes, I know, it's May.  Not December.  Not even November.  But I think holiday cards should be made every month.  Most card makers get to November, realize they have yet to make a card and start stressing over getting them done in time.  Well, if we can make at least 1 or 2 per month, we could have up to 24 cards by December 1.  Maybe this very easy card will get the creative juices flowing!!

This all started the other night when I was on Facetime with Justin while he was with Renee at Scrap-A-Latte.  He was showing me some of the samples of Christmas cards in her store and I realized that Renee is really a great scrapbooker but she needs some help in the card making area (and she is the first to admit it too).  Justin made me show her the card and Renee was just gushing and squeaking. That night I showed the same card to my BFF Sue and she could not believe that i made it in less than 15 minutes!!

So, this post is going out to Sue, Renee, and Justin. Unfortunately, Memory Box is no longer making these dies. I had no idea about that until I started this post.  But you can find them online at the links below, for which I do not get a kickback!  But they are reputable sites that I have ordered from.  And, if you have the dies, I hope you get to make this.

Cutting the La Rue Die -

There are 2 ways you can cut and adhere the pieces in the La Rue die.  No matter which method you use, you will start with 5 pieces of cardstock cut 3.25" x 4.25".  Two of the black cardstock and one each of the red, gold, and green glitter paper.  

The first method is to lay the La Rue die on one of the black cardstock and the 3 glitter papers and cut using your die cut machine.  You will also cut one of the Drop Ornament from the other piece of black cardstock.  The pieces will probably fall out so make sure you keep them all together. With this method you will adhere the pieces with glue like the Zig 2 Way fine tip or chisel tip glues.  

The other method is to adhere double sided tape to the back of the pieces of cardstock and then die cut with the La Rue die.  Do NOT remove the outside layer until later.  With this method, as you remove the piece from the die cut, you will just remove the backing to that piece and fit into the larger piece.  You will understand a bit further down.

Putting It All Together - This is like a jigsaw puzzle. No matter which method you choose above, the steps are the same.  The only difference is that you will either use glue or you will remove the tape backing.  

Step 1 - Adhere the outline of the ornament from the La Rue die to the solid piece of the Drop Ornament.  

Step 2 - I like to start with the "heart" from the center of the red glitter piece and adhere those pieces into the black cardstock ornament.

See how this comes together now?  From here I just take pieces of the gold and the green glitter ornaments and glue them into the main piece.  Until the whole ornament has been put together.  I make sure to cut the ornament topper from a piece of the gold glitter and adhere to the top.

Now to adhere to the card front.   I wanted a bit of texture to the card front so I cut a piece of white cardstock - 4" x 5.25" and embossed it with the Swiss Dots embossing folder. Then I cut the Pine Needle die - twice - from green textured cardstock.    I cut the branch twice to make it look fuller when I glued it down.  

Note - when you cut the branch, you want to lay the die as close to the top of the cardstock.  If you put it in the center of the cardstock, the top portion will not pop out of the paper without you cutting it out.  Just an FYI.

Glued the branch to the top of the embossed white cardstock.  Then I adhered the ornament to the center as it was coming out of the leaves.  Finally I cut the Noel die from the Wonderous Wreath Bundle from Stampin Up and adhered that to the bottom of the card front.  Oh, and I adhered some Green Stickles to the branches!  

Now, what's cool about doing this project is - you will be left with all the pieces from the 3 glittered die cuts.  If you go back and cut the dies again from black cardstock, you will be able to make 2 more of the ornaments.  Because you used the red for the heart in the first one, you will have to use the gold and green for the heart in the other two.  

Well, I hope you enjoyed this bit of Christmas in May.  Let me know what you think!  

Hugs from Brasil -

~Michael

Supplies Needed To Make This Card -

Memory Box Dies Used - 

La Rue Ornament Die (98377)

Drop Ornament Die (98378)

Pine Needle Border Die (98467)

Ornament Hooks and Caps (98958)

Curled Ribbons (98936)

Curly Q Border (98768)

Papers Used - 

Black cardstock

Green from Bazzill Basics Paper Dotted Swiss

Green, Red, and Gold Glitter Papers from American Crafts 

White cardstock  

Note - I like to use the glitter papers with the ultra fine smooth glitter.  American Crafts makes a nice line. The papers sold at Michael's also work well.  I find that when I used a thicker glitter paper with a die cut or punch, they tend to crack.  Just another FYI.

Other Supplies -

Wonderous Wreath Bundle from Stampin Up

Tweezers

Zig 2 Way Glue Fine Tip and the Chisel Tip

Swiss Dots Embossing Folder

Double Sided Tape

Green Stickles