more layery goodness!

we're still "bundling up" at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ this week, making holiday cards with three or more layers of paper, or cardstock, or embellishments, or... all of the above, like on my card. see?

(patterned paper: october afternoon, bo bunny, pink paislee, basic grey; cardstock dove sticker and leaves: basic grey; chipboard sentiment sticker and brads: my mind's eye; florals: prima; vintage: lace and doily; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, mini gluedots, sewing machine)

having been happy with the strategy of employing super-skinny-mats to double the amount of layers on last week's card, i did the same thing again. well, heck, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? thus i was able to accommodate *NINE* layers-- possibly a personal best!

i used one of the excellent and beautiful april 2014 cardmaps sketches to design my card:

my original "layout" had more (and bulkier!) flowers as well as trailing pearl flourishes at the top right and lower left of my focal point. but one of my crafty goals this year is to at least *THINK* about  practicalities while i'm in the midst of the card-making process. would it ruin the overall effect to use flatter flowers instead of 3D roses? would shaving half an inch off the whole thing (in order to fit into a standard envelope) compress or change the design beyond recognition? when the answers to questions of this nature are "YES!" i immediately forget entirely about being sensible and make the card i ♥LOVE♥. however, in this case, the answer was, "no"... so i scaled back just a teeny bit. and i realllllllly like the result! here's a closeup of the layers in question:

i will always produce gigantic, lumpy, bumpy, non-envelope-friendly cards, that's just a fact of my crafty life, and i'm happy with it. i never want to compromise the fun or inspiration of making exactly what i want to make, even when that results in literally "pushing the envelope" lol. but sometimes a little planning can result in an equally pleasing card that costs half as much to mail, and on those occasions, i say, "why not?!"

and now, why not check out stephanie's beautiful card and our awesome readers' gallery at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥?!