Jingle Belles - The Holly & The Ivy

I bet you can guess from the title that this Jingle Belle challenge involves holly and ivy.  Well, it doesn't have to be both holly and ivy and it can also be other seasonal foliage.  I found a booklet of vintage style postcards in my stash and there were four of this particular motif.  What I decided to do was try a little paper tole.  That involved determining what the layers in the design were and a lot of fussy cutting.  Since I wanted more layers than I had cards, I was able to use some of the lower layers for the upper pieces as they would be covered.  

I used some of glimmer paint to highlight all the dots on the red base.  

I mounted the finished panel on a gold foil card base.  I bought a pack of those gold cards on clearance one year and still have a bunch of them.  The only thing I don't like about them is that they are very curled and hard to uncurl.  I've had them under heavy objects on a shelf for quite some time without very good results.  So I try and do a lot of hand manipulating to get them flattened before use.  If anyone knows a better way please share.  

It's not easy to see all the layers in the photos - but I tried.

When I gave up trying to photograph it and sat down across the table from it, I could see the layers better.  I hope you can see how I had used a stylus to burnish the petals and leaves from underneath before gluing them on to give them an embossed feeling.  

I'm going to see if I can sneak in another simpler card before the cut-off, but won't promise anything.  The weather today is perfect for some seed sowing in our raised box and we have to do a trial run to a find a new place I have an appointment at soon in between HWNSNBP's meetings today.  But I will be checking out all the other fantastic foliage cards at the Jingle Belles when I get the chance and you can too by clicking here.