HOTP Cards in Green & Gold

I again have used up materials from an old HOTP set of papers & cut outs.  This time I made 8 cards from the materials.  Here are the 8 cards and how I made them.  Note that I don't show the insides if they just have scraps from the front creating borders & such on the inside.

Card #1 (above): This is my favorite of these 8, I think.  It is loosely based on a sketch that had 3 elements in a row, but I definitely modified the sketch (as I usually do).  The smaller tag was actually one cut from the packaging.  All materials are papers & cut outs from the set.  As you can see, I used horizontal strips of several different papers to create the background.  Then I started adding the tags, deciding the smaller one needed a green mat to add weight to it.  Then I added the cut out greeting.

Card #2:

This first card is a very simple A2 card.  It uses a greeting cut out from the set, a scrap of paper from my stash, and a focal piece from my stash.

Card #3:

This, too, is an A2 sized card.  I embossed the front (Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder) before adding the lower three cut outs - only one of which had a greeting printed on it.  I die cut the "Merry" (HOTP - Merry Christmas die set) from green paper, and the "with" and "love" (Piece by Piece die set - from a cardmaking magazine) from white.

Inside:

 

I added a transparency cut out greeting on the inside.

Card #4:

 

I had several gold colored printed papers, and new I'd need more focals, so found this one in my stash.  I matted it first on red and then a gold/green card stock (both from my stash & both cut with dies from Luscious Labels One by Spellbinders).  I used a bit of raffia to thread through the bells & tie them with a bow - making it look like they're hanging from the top of the mat.  I added a strip of the red paper near the top & then a cut out greeting.

Inside:

 

Inside, I have more of the papers & 3 more cut out greetings - all but the red border was from the set.

Card #5:

 

This card starts with strips of 3 different papers from the set to form the background.  I than added some of my favorite papers of all time - suede paper from HOTP - this time in red. As you can see, I cut it in the shape of the tags to give me a third element for this card.  To the red tag, I added a strip of another paper and a couple of cut out greetings - all from the set.  Below it, I layered two more cut outs from the set.

Inside:

More of the papers and another cut out complete the inside.

Card #6:

The background paper of this is from the set, but is matted with card stock from my stash.  You can see the arrangement of several cut outs from the set - including a greeting.  The red elements are leftover die cuts (Music Panels die from Paper Discovery).

Inside is more of the same with some extra cut outs from the set.

Card #7:

 

You can once again see the influence of the three element focal sketch.  Once again I have a background created using 3 strips of paper from the set.  I felt it needed something else, so found some green in my stash that would coordinate & cut narrow border strips from it.  The greeting is a cut out.  So are the focal elements, but I matted them on cream colored paper from my stash.

Card #8:

 

This last card was a bit challenging.  I had set aside a set of 4 die cuts for this card.  They were from another HOTP book that I thought would go well with these papers.  I had no trouble laying out the background - 2 strips of green, a strip of tree transparency, and narrow gold strips for borders.  I added the greeting to the upper left corner and then felt stumped.  

 

I had thought it would be a simple thing of adding the remaining elements, but I realized that I didn't know how to tie in the "Happiness is meant to be shared" message - along with the "Hoping" message on one of the other pieces.  After some thought, I decided that what was to be shared was the joy of the true Christmas message.  I die cut another greeting from the green using A Christmas Miracle die (Moonstone Minis).  Then it was a simple matter of adding the word "Trusting" to the tag that had nothing written on it. and adhering all to the card front.

Inside:

Inside, I added border elements like on the front - then added the remaining die cut.  The stamp used on this die cut was from a set that a friend gave me - Bask in the Son by May May Made It.