Christmas Wreath

Hi everyone.  Today I'm entering a DT call for a new challenge blog called "Inkspirational".  Don't you just love the name??!!  Mynnette is looking for a design team to work with her new challenge blog that will go live the first Wednesday in January, 2013.  The DT challenge is to create four different cards ... one each for the four different types of challenges that Mynnette will be rotating.  The four challenges are:  CASE, Color, Photo, Sketch.  Today's card is for the "Photo Inkspiration", and I drew from the branches and colors in the photo.  Christmas cards are my favorite cards to make, and I still need a dozen or so for the upcoming season, so you'll be seeing lots of them in the weeks ahead.  Hope you like.

Here's the photo:

Stamps:  Handy Christmas Greetings (Amy R)
Paper:  White (C.C. Designs); Basic Gray, Cherry Cobbler (SU!); Light gray (unknown)
Ink:  Real Red (SU!)
Accessories & Tools:  Pine Branch punch (McGill), Circle & Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders), 1/16" hole punch, glue, Stamp-a-ma-jig, white gel pen, and dimensionals

I cut out a ring of dark gray cardstock as a base for my wreath using the second and third smallest circle die-cuts.  I punched several of the dark gray pine branches and a few of the light gray.  I glue them around the circle, making sure to secure them at the base of the branch only so that the top of the branch was loose (creates depth).  I only used the tops of the lighter gray branches and sprinkled them in amongst the dark gray just to lighten the wreath up a little and give it interest.  The berries are from the hole punch.

After cutting out the square for the card front, I stamped the sentiment in Real Red ink.  I find that the Real Red ink is quite dark when it is stamped on this cardstock, so it matches the Cherry Cobbler berries.  The card front is popped up from the card base ... and the wreath is popped up as well.

Here's a picture of the wreath so you can see more details:

As well, I took a picture from a different angle so you can see the depth created by pulling the branches forward after the glue was dry.  You'll notice a small gray spot on the picture on the bottom right-hand side ... that's because I added a dark gray pine branch and three berries to the inside of the card for interest.