52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Nutcracker

I was very surprised and thankful that my poinsettia card was chosen as winner of the September 21st Flower/Flourish challenge over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown. I was asked to be a guest designer for the October 19th challenge where the theme is NUTCRACKER.

I had so much fun making the card for the challenge. I thought about it a while and then decided I wanted to make a Z-Fold type card. Before making the base card I made two die-cut nutcrackers using a die set that I recently purchased. The die, which contains several pieces, makes a really cute 5-1/2" nutcracker. It took a while to piece it all together but the end result was worth it. Once I had my nutcrackers made I began on the white z-fold base card, cutting it 13-1/2" x 4-1/2". I scored the card at 4-1/2 and 9" and folded it into a z-fold. To highlight the nutcrackers I cut out three arch panels out of white card stock (with silver dots) and framed it with a dark red frame.

On the first and last arch panel I added my nutcrackers. The center arched panel was for the Christmas greeting that I stamped in red on a white circle. Before gluing the greeting to the card I backed it with a slightly larger silver circle to frame it. The card does fold flat for mailing and can be displayed as a stand up card folded into the z-fold shape.

Nutcracker Die - KS Craft
Merry Christmas Greeting - Gina K. Holiday Tapestry
Arch Dies - The Greetery A-2 Arches