2025 Holiday Card Series #5 | Sending Holiday Cheer

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing an A6 size card that was inspired by an older Purple Onion Designs background stamp that I’ve had for a few years that has evergreen trees and a snowy road that runs through the center.  Let’s see what I come up with!

The supplies used:

Mama Elephant – Tree Picking Stamp Set

      Onion Designs – Nordic Road Background

      Concord & 9^th – Season’s Greetings Stamp and Die Set

      Flower – A6 Piercing Layers Dies

     X-Press It Blending Cardstock

      Says Stamp – So Very Black Cardstock

      Lawn Fawn – Jet Black Premium Ink Pad

      Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Speckled Egg Ink Pad

      Altenew – Obsidian Black Pigment Ink Pad

      Copic Alcohol Markers – G21, G24, G28, E33, E37, E39, C0, C1, C3, C5

      Pink & Main – Cottontail Flock

      Sakura Quickie Glue Pen .07

      Sakura White Gelly Roll Pen 08

      Spellbinders BetterPress Letterpress System

      Spellbinders Platinum 6 Die Cutting Machine

      Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares

      Scor-Pal Scor-Tape Double Sided Adhesive ½”

      Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

      Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Card Front Background

I cut a piece of X-Press It Blending Cardstock to measure 6-1/4” x 4-1/2”.  Next, I stamped the Purple Onion Designs red rubber stamp called Nordic Road Background onto the X-Press It cardstock using Lawn Fawn Jet Black ink.  I heat set the ink to ensure it was dry and began using Copic alcohol markers to color the image.  The Copic marker color combinations I used were:

     Trees:  G21, G24, G28

     Tree Trunks & Fence:  E33, E37, E29

     Snowy Background:  C0, C1, C3, C5

For the winter sky, I used a large blending brush and Distress Speckled Egg ink and blended the sky area until I reached the intensity that looked pleasing.  Once the ink dried, I used the second largest die from the Waffle Flower A6 Piercing Dies and die cut the background panel.  I used the largest die from this die set to cut a black cardstock matte.

Creating the Focal Point

My focal point for this Christmas card will be the cute rabbit family from the Mama Elephant Tree Picking stamp set.  I’ll be Copic coloring the family in the car as well as the adorable rabbit that appears to be reaching toward the small rabbit on top of the tree trunk.  Too much cuteness in this stamp set!  For the Copic alcohol coloring, these are my coloring combinations:

     Tree:  G21, G24, G28

     Car:  R24, R29, R39 (body), C3, C0 (lights),

        C4, C6, C9 (tires), N5, N3, N1 (trim)

     Teal Rabbit:  BG45, BG49, BG78

     Rabbit’s Furs:  E43, E42, E41, E40, R11 (inside ears, cheeks & noses)

Once I completed coloring all the elements from the rabbit family, I fussy cut the two images – it was quick and easy.  I placed both images onto my glass mat and added Sakura Quickie Glue to the rabbit tails and on the band and pom-pom of each rabbit’s hat.  While the Quickie Glue is still blue I added Pink & Main’s Cottontail Flock to all the tails, bands, and pom-poms and tapped off the excess to return it to the jar.  Once the Quickie Glue dried, I placed thin foam squares on the back side of each of them.

Building the Sentiment

The sentiment was stamped directly onto the card front for this design.  I chose the “Sending Holiday Cheer” stamp from Concord & 9^th’s Season’s Greetings stamp and die set and stamped onto the background panel in the center of the sky using Altenew Obsidian Pigment Ink.

Finishing the Design

For the card base, I cut a piece of heavy weight, white cardstock to measure 9” x 6-1/4” and scored it in half so that the card base measures 6-1/4” x 4-1/2”.  I added double-sided adhesive strips to the back of the colored card front and adhered it to the black matting panel, then adhered the card front to the card base with liquid glue.  Next, I removed all the adhesive backers from the squares on the back side of my rabbit family and adhered them to the card front.  Another holiday card completed for the 2025 season!

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting!

2025 Holiday Card Series #4 | Merry Christmas

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing a 5” x 7” Christmas card with a card front aperture.  I don’t make a lot of this size card, but since I wanted to use the Penny Black collab with Simon Says Stamp stamp set, I thought a larger size would be best.  Let’s see how this works out!

The supplies used:

Simon Says Stamp/Penny Black 2025 Stamptember

        Collaboration – Bright and Merry Stamp/Die Set

     Birch Press Design – Merry Christmas Dapper Script Die Set

     Spellbinders – Simon’s Snow Globe Die Set (circle die)

     Simon Says Stamp – A7 Frames Die Set

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Watercolor Cardstock

     Anna Griffin – Gold Matte Foil Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Indigo Colorwheel Cardstock

     Ranger/Wendy Vecchi – Watering Can Archival Ink Pad

     Mijello Mission Gold Watercolor Paints – Hooker’s Green,

        Olive Green, Burnt Umber

     Iuile Watercolors – Gold, Red, Silver

     Pinkfresh – Metallic Matte Gold Embellishments

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Card Front Background

I cut a piece of Spellbinders Indigo Colorwheel Cardstock that measured 5” x 7” and glued the panel to the front of a white 5” x 7” card base.  Once the glue dried, I placed the circle die from the Spellbinders Simon’s Snow Globe die set onto the card front and centered it on the upper two-thirds of the card front.  I secured the circle die with low tack tape, opened the card base so that it was flat and ran it through my die cutting machine to die cut the circle aperture into my card front panel.  To frame the card, I used the Simon Says Stamp A7 Frames die set and die cut the 4-1/2” x 6-1/2” frame using Anna Griffin’s Gold Matte Foil cardstock.

Creating the Focal Point

My focal point for this card will be inside the card (hence the aperture on the card front).  I stamped the Christmas tree from the Simon Says Stamp/Penny Black 2025 Stamptember collaboration onto a piece of Distress Watercolor Cardstock using Watering Can Archival Ink. I watercolored the image using Mijello Mission Gold paints – for the tree foliage I used a mixture of Olive Green and Hooker’s Green, then for the tree trunk I used Burnt Umber.  For the ornaments, I used Iuile Watercolors in the colors Gold, Red, and Silver.  Once the paints were dry, I die cut the image using the coordinating die from the set.

Building the Sentiment

Utilizing the Birch Press Design Merry Christmas Dapper Script die set, I die cut the words Merry Christmas three times from Spellbinders Indigo cardstock and once from Anna Griffin’s Gold Matte Foil Cardstock.  I glued all four layers together with the matte gold layer on the top.

Finishing the Design

To complete the card, I added liquid glue to the back side of the thin matte gold frame and adhered it to the card front.  I also glued the sentiment to the lower center of the card front using the T-square to ensure it was as straight as possible.  Once the glue dried on the frame and sentiment, I glued the Christmas tree on the inside of the card ensuring the portion I wanted showing through the aperture was front and center. 

For the final touch, I added a sprinkling of Pinkfresh Metallic Matte Gold embellishments onto the card front.  Another holiday card completed for the 2025 season!

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting.

2025 Holiday Card Series #3 | May This Season Bring You Peace

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing a sweet Christmas card that has a special meaning in my heart… the winter cardinal.  If you’ve lost someone near and dear to you, I’m sure a lot of you feel the same way when you see a red cardinal at Christmas time.  My Gran always told me it was a sign from a passed loved one who was coming to check on us – that’s what I like to think anyway.

The supplies used:

Honey Bee Stamps – Lovely Layers: Winter Birds Die Set

     The Greetery – Botanicuts Mighty Oak Die Set

     Sizzix – Holiday Greens-Mini Die Set

     Spellbinders – Precision A2 A Layering Die Set

     Spellbinders – Crimson, Poppy Field, Phone Booth Cardstock

     Pinkfresh Studio – Holiday Greetings Sentiments Press Plates

     Copic Alcohol Markers – R89, R59, R37, R29, R14, E37, E59, G05, G46

     Sakura White 05 Gelly Roll Pen

     Spellbinders – Opaque Black Glimmer Hot Foil Roll

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Watercolor Paper

     Gina K. Designs – Black Onyx Cardstock

Mijello Mission Gold Watercolors (oatmeal-color mix I created)

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Snowfall Grit Paste

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Palette Knife

     Pinkfresh Studio – Ruby Glitter Drops Embellishments

     Simon Says Stamp – Big Momma Foam Tape

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil System

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Card Front Background

I started the card by die cutting a piece of white watercolor paper using the second to largest die in the Spellbinders Precision Layering A2 A die set and then cut a piece of Gina K. Designs Black Onyx cardstock using the largest die in that set.  I created sort of an oatmeal-colored mixture of Mijello watercolors to give the background a simple wash to serve as a backdrop for my focal point image.  I applied the wash of watercolor paint to the watercolor paper using a ¾” Silver Black Velvet oval watercolor brush and set the panel aside to air dry.

Creating the Focal Point

For the branch/greenery, I used the Sizzix Holiday Greens – Mini die set and cut the holly branch eight time from white cardstock and the berry branch four times and glued a die cut on top of another so that all the die cuts were double stacked to give them some more heft.  I also used the branch die from The Greetery’s Botanicuts Mighty Oak die set and cut it two times from kraft cardstock and glued those one on top of the other.  Lastly, I die cut the cardinal from Honey Bee Stamps “Lovely Layers: Winter Birds out of Spellbinders Crimson, Phone Booth, and Poppy Field cardstocks; however, I did cut the base layer twice and glued it behind its counterpart for added dimension.

I added shading and color to all the die cuts using Copic alcohol markers.  The color combinations used were:

     Branch:  E37, E59

     Holly Leaves:  G05, G46

     Berry Branches:  E59, R29

     Cardinal:  R89, R59, R37, R29, R14 (white Gelly Roll pen for eye)

Next, I snipped all the little holly leaves from the four holly branches I colored and also snipped the berry stems from the berry branches and set them aside.  I took the branch diecut (from the Botanicuts Mighty Oak set) and placed it on my glass mat and began gluing all the holly leaves onto the empty branch stems.  Once those were glued into place, I began gluing the little berry branches in front of and behind the holly leaves.  I placed an acrylic block on top of the branch/leaves until dry.  While the branch was drying, I assembled and glued all the layers for the cardinal then placed a white dot on the cardinal’s eye with a Sakura 05 white Gelly Roll pen.

Building the Sentiment

Utilizing the Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil System and Opaque Black Hot Foil Roll, I selected the Pinkfresh Studio Holiday Greetings Sentiments Press Plate set and hot foiled the “May This Season Bring You Peace” plate onto a scrap piece of the watercolor paper I used for the card’s background.  Once hot foiled, I used the coordinating die to diecut the sentiment.

Finishing the Design

To complete the card, I added thin foam tape to the back side of the watercolor panel and adhered it to the A2 size piece of black cardstock.  Next, I positioned my cardinal and holly branch where I wanted them to be on the card front.  After picking the two up together with reverse tweezers, I added small, narrow pieces of foam tape behind the holly leaves surrounding the cardinal.  I added Bearly Art Precision Glue to the back side of the cardinal and adhered both the branch of holly and the cardinal at the same time.  I added foam squares to the back side of the sentiment and adhered it to the upper left of the card front.  Lastly, I added Ranger/Tim Holtz’s Distress Snowfall Grit Paste with a palette knife along the top side of the branch and on a majority of the holly leaves – just a tad here and there to give it a frosty, wintery look.

For the last touch, I added a few Pinkfresh Studio Ruby Glitter Drops embellishments over all the berries and adhered the card front to an A2 size card base.  Another holiday card completed for the 2025 season!

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting.