THIS is Why I Love Themed Challenges!

Because a challenge that pushes me out of my comfort zone often leads to ideas I would not otherwise have had; which lead to cards I would not otherwise have made. But before we get to the card, let me show you the ingredients I assembled for the second week of our Earth Day RECYCLING prompt at Jingle Belles:

Possibly you're wondering, "HOW would you use a cocoa tin?" Well, I didn't, exactly; I used the lid, which is a 2" metal circle with a 1/4" lip around the edge. Possibly I've been stuck inside my house for too long, but the other day when I was adding a spoon of the cocoa mix to my coffee (a combo I *highly* recommend!) I saw it and thought, "That would make a cool frame!" The rest of the cocoa mix is now in a tupperware, since the original canister has no lid, because it's HERE:

recycled items: metal cocoa lid, 2 different received xmas cards, small piece of woodgrain packaging; vintage/stash items: 2 random golden metallic wired leaves that i have NO IDEA where they came from and some very old white seam binding with a decorative edge that i think my MIL gave me; dimensional flowers: prima, recollections, ideaology; velvet leaves: petaloo; green cardstock mat and white card: bazzill; adhesives: elmers brand taperunner, gluedots, hot glue, sewing machine

I save a lot of incoming cards that have a sort of highlighted frame area, like this one with the golden snowflakes. Because essentially, the designer of the card has done most of your work, you just add in a new thing to be featured in their frame et voila! I punched a circle of glittery trees from a different card, a slightly larger circle of woodgrain packaging as a mat, and placed them inside the cocoa lid frame. Since the frame is 1/4" deep, this card will have to be tucked in with a present, or given to the recipient irl, but that's ok with me. In order to make it look like a frame and not a cocoa lid glued to the front of my card, I needed to sort of "build up" the area around it, for which I used dimensional flowers and velvetty leaves. When I was five minutes from done, my husband helpfully suggested that I could have punched a hole in the card and inset the lid, with the lip overlapping the front of the card. Of course I did not hurt him in any way, but if glares could harm a person he would be a little bit bruised right now, lol!!! I will definitely do that with the very next similar lid I find. I might have to increase my cocoa consumption?! 

Be sure to visit Stephanie's beautiful card at Jingle Belles and start making plans to link up your own recycling-centric masterpiece!