EMBOSS OR DEBOSS

I love snowflakes, so as soon as I saw the new Snow Flurry Bigz Die that Stampin' Up! introduced in their Holiday Catalog this year, I knew I had to add it to my arsenal. You know how that is.

While snowflakes are traditionally white, I thought, why not create red-and-green snowflakes,
the oh so traditional Christmas colors? I picked some retired Designer Series Paper in the basic colors of Real Red and Wild Wasabi and went to work. Since the polka dots in the Real Red paper were Very Vanilla, I based the card upon Very Vanilla card stock, a little bit more of a departure from the expected blues and white.

To add a bit of bling to the otherwise mundane look of the snowflake, I added one of our retired Clear Rhinestone Brads to its center, a perfect touch. Although its dimensionality does make it necessary to add that extra postage stamp to the envelope when mailing it.

Emboss or deboss? If you look at the photo of the cards closely, you will see that the snowflakes
in the background of the card on the left are DEBOSSED, meaning that the normally raised details that come from using the embossing folder in the Big Shot are turned towards the back of the card, so the small snowflakes are indented rather than raised. The card on the right shows it
the normal way it would be used, with the raised details facing outside = EMBOSSED.

I am just not sure which one I prefer. The one on the right definitely has a more dimensional quality, while the one on the left has a more subtle feel. It's just one of those dilemmas where
it turns out to be purely a matter of taste.

Even though both the Clear Rhinestone Brads and the Snow  Burst Textured Impressions Embossing Folder are both now retired (sigh), they can be found on the Stampin' Up! Clearance Rack which you can access here: http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ItemList.aspx?categoryID=1136. There are hundreds of items on the Clearance Rack, at up to an 80% discount!

If you would like to make snowflake cards of your own, here's how to do it:

Supplies:
Snow Swirled stamp set

Real Red card stock
Very Vanilla card stock
Designer Series Paper (DSP) in Real Red and Wild Wasabi

Real Red Ink

Big Shot
Snow Flurry Bigz Die
Lot of Tags Sizzlits Die
Paper Piercing Tool
Piercing Mat
Snow Burst Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
Stamping Sponge
1/2" Circle Punch
Red and Very Vanilla Polka Dot Ribbon (retired -- sigh)
Stampin' Dimensionals
Stamp-A-Ma-Jig (optional)

Instructions:
Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Real Red card stock in half, creasing well with a bone folder.

Run a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Very Vanilla card stock through the Big Shot inside the Snow Burst Textured Impressions Embossing Folder. Decide whether you want your background to be debossed or embossed, and sponge the edges of your choice with Real Red ink. Set aside.

Using the Snow Flurry Bigz Die, make a large snowflake from the red DSP and a medium-sized flake from the green DSP. You can do both of the snowflakes with one run through the Big Shot. From a scrap of the green DSP, punch out a 1/2" circle. Adhere the snowflakes together, adding the green circle to the top. With the Piercing Tool, create a hole in the center of the snowflake, and insert a Rhinestone Brad. Bend the legs of the brad as tightly to the paper as possible. Use small dots of Tombow Multipurpose Adhesive on the center and the large round dots of the snowflake and adhere it to the embossed/debossed piece.

Wrap a 6-inch piece of the polka dot ribbon around the lower portion of the embossed piece, securing the ends of the ribbon on the back of the panel.

Cut a label using the Lots of Tags Sizzlit in the Big Shot from Very Vanilla card stock. Stamp the greeting in Real Red ink. Using a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig makes this process easier to line up exactly. Sponge all the edges of the label with Real Red ink. Attach label to the ribbon using three Stampin' Dimensionals.

Smiles.