Bells are Ringing

The Bells are Ringing stamp set and the Detailed Bells Dies from the 2019 Holiday catalog feature a variety of bells from handbells to jingle bells that are perfect for Christmas, the New Year, weddings, and more. I paired this bundle with the Brightly Gleaming Designer Series Paper. While the paper is sold out for this year, it will be back for the Holiday 2020 catalog. However, this wonderful bundle of bells will retire at the end of December!

To coordinate with the Brightly Gleaming DSP, all of these cards use Pretty Peacock, Mossy Meadow, Night of Navy, and Merry Merlot cardstock and ink as well as Very Vanilla Copper Foil cardstock. All of the coloring on these cards has been done using an aqua-painter with ink from the ink pad. 

Complete Supply List

This card uses only Pretty Peacock, Copper Foil, and Very Vanilla cardstock. I stamped the bells with Pretty Peacock ink on Pretty Peacock cardstock (5 5/16" x 4 1/16") for the background. To give this background layer some texture, I embossed it with the Subtle 3D embossing folder. 

I cut another piece of Pretty Peacock cardstock with the Stitched Shape dies and mounted it on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. To pull your eye up, I added a thin strip of Copper Foil cardstock about one third of the way down the front of the card.

I stamped the bow with Stazon ink. To color it, I tapped my Pretty Peacock ink pad on an acrylic block to transfer a little ink. Then, I used my aqua-painter to pick up the ink from the acrylic block and color the ribbon. 

I cut the bells using the Detailed Bells dies and stamped the sentiment with Pretty Peacock ink. ​

For this second card, I used the Stitched Rectangles dies to cut a frame from the Brightly Gleaming Designer Series Paper. When I assembled the card, I used Stampin' Dimensionals to attach this frame so that it is higher than the background. 

The bells, bow, and sprigs were cut using the Detailed Bells dies. The small stars are punched out from one of the other bells in the die set. The sentiment is stamped in Night of Navy ink on Very Vanilla cardstock. Then I cut it out free hand, trimming closely to the words to get the straight edges in the center and the curliness of "Hoping" and "Joy" on the ends. 

The third card uses the same technique as the first card of stamping a background and then embossing it with the Subtle 3D embossing folder. I love the look this gives the background; it almost looks like fabric. I mounted this piece of Mossy Meadow (5" x 3 3/4") on another piece of Mossy Meadow (5 3/16" x 3 15/16") that hadn't been stamped or embossed. This provides a subtle border between the embossed background and the Pretty Peacock card base.

The sentiment is stamped on Very Vanilla and cut with the Stitched Shapes dies. The other images are cut using the Detailed Bells dies.

My fourth card features the largest bell in the Bells are Ringing stamp set. For this bell, the outside of the bell, the inside of the bell, the clapper, and the decorative band in the center are all separate stamps. To create two different coppers for the outside and the inside of the bell, I embossed the outside of the bell and the clapper using copper embossing powder. Then, I stamped the inside of the bell using Copper Delicata ink. I added the decorative centers in Pretty Peacock, Mossy Meadow, Night of Navy, and Merry Merlot ink and added coordinating bows colored with the same inks. 

I cut the bells using the Detailed Bells dies and attached them to the front of the card overlapping the bells and varying the heights to give interest and a feeling of movement. 

For the final card, I used the handbell stamp. I stamped it using Stazon ink and then colored with an aqua-painter and inkpads as I did in the other cards using Crushed Curry for the bells. 

The holly leaves in the lower right are cut from the Brightly Gleaming DSP and instead of berries, I used the Copper Star Designer Elements.  A couple of these are used on the top of the card as well. The other swirls and stars are pieces that are "punched out" when cutting the other bells in the Detailed Bells dies.