Sympathy and a Welcome card

I bought this punch from McGill (pine branch) with the idea of a sympathy card in my mind.  Finally something I envisioned turns out right! The stamp set is an older one from Stampin' Up called Brighter Tomorrow.  The dry embossed background uses the square lattice folder from Stampin' Up.  When I was laying the branches out I couldn't decide which direction to use for the card layout.  Naturally I had to make them both!  The colors are Night of Navy and Old Olive.

The below card is a welcome to the neighborhood card I made for our new neighbor.  This is a "recycled" and "I've seen that before" card.  It falls into those categories because of the kraft colored banner behind the main image.  That banner is the sleeve that fits over a coffee cup from Dunkin' Donuts.  You know, Starbucks has the little sleeves that slide over your cup because it is too hot.  I believe my friend Letitia thought I was crazy when she saw them on my craft table and I told her that I was going to use them on a card.  When my sister Jennifer saw the sleeves she thought that was a fantastic idea because the texture was deeply embossed.  Note to Sizzix and Cuttlebug make an embossing folder with triangles to mimic this design!  The flowers were added on using the trio flower punch.  This punch is still available in the Clearance Rack on Stampin' Ups website.  Colors used are: Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder, Soft Suede and Dunkin' Donuts coffee sleeve. The stamp set is Up In the Air from a Stampin' Up.Have a great day - Heidi.