Dress It Up Tutorial

Today I want to show you how adding a few extra items to a card can really change the appearance. This is called a "Tent Topper Card". There is a tutorial over on SCS. You start off with a piece of card stock cut 8 1/2" x 4 1/4", then fold it in half. My base card is on white card stock. You decorate the front any way you wish. I used several small pieces of designer paper on mine that will coordinate with the design I wanted to use. A Martha Stewart punch was used for the border. The topper was cut out with several Petite Circle Nestabilities. The top layer is So Saffron card stock which has been sponged with pumpkin pie ink, the next layer is Gina's Pumpkin Spice, and the bottom is Chocolate Kiss. Each layer is on dimensional tape except the bottom layer. You need to attach the circle to your card so the entire height is no taller than 5 1/2 inches so the card will fit into an A-2 envelope (finished card is 4 1/4" x 5 1/2").

To make this card I used three stamp sets from Gina K Designs. I stamped the pumpkins from Gina K's "Signs of Autumn" set with Memento Black ink on Glossy card stock. The leaves and acorns are from Melanie's "A Year of Leaves" and were stamped the same way. Since I used Glossy card stock I decided to use a sponge dauber to add the color to the pumpkins, the leaves and acorns. These items were all cut out. The greeting is from Theresa's "Autumn Beauty". It was stamped with Vivid Coffee Bean and cut out with the Petite Oval Nestabilities and sponged prior to taking it out of the die.

These two cards are the same card. The lower card was made using only the pumpkins for the design. I took the picture (photo) and decided it looked kind of plain so wanted to add some more items. To make the changes, I removed the brown bow and started adding some of the leaves and acorns. The pumpkins were attached with dimensional tape so it was easy to slip in a leaf behind them. The other leaves were attached under the circle and the acorns were attached with some dimensional tape. The card on the top is the way my final card turned out.

Doesn't it make a big difference adding just a few leaves and the acorns. Have you ever been dissatisfied with a card and found you could add something else to "dress" it up?