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 Series #2 | Fa La La La La

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing a cute Christmas card showcasing die sets from Gina K. Designs and Spellbinders.  The snowmen in the “The Snow Notes” die set are so irresistible that I had to make a card with them this year!  I also selected card #202 from the Sarah Renae Clark 2^nd Edition Color Cubes so I’m going to try to keep my color choices closely limited to these colors just for fun… I might go rogue on the background/sky though… let’s see how this goes.

The supplies used:

Spellbinders – The Snow Notes Die Set

Gina K. Designs – Master Layouts 20 Die Set

Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Gray Two-Tone Woodgrain Cardstock

Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Watercolor Cardstock

Copic Alcohol Markers – E49, RV02, RV06, RV09, E71, E79,

     110, E31, E35, E99, E50, E53, E34, YR15, YR07

Picket Fence Studio – Day and Night Gem Embellishments

Winsor & Newton Designers Permanent White Gouache

Masha Watercolors (Etsy Shop) – Shadow Blue Dark & Vivianite Blue

Spellbinders – Indigo Colorwheel Cardstock

Spellbinders – Opaque White Glimmer Foil

Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

Ranger Heat It Craft Tool

Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foiling System

Creating the Card Front Frame

I cut a piece of Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Gray Two-Tone Woodgrain cardstock using the large, stitched frame die from Gina K. Design’s “Master Layouts 20” die set and cut a second one from heavy weight white cardstock to add more dimension.  Next, I glued those two layers together and placed an acrylic block on top until the glue dried.

Creating the Snow Characters

Using the Spellbinders “The Snow Notes” die set, I die cut all the pieces for the snow characters and their accessories from white 110 lb. cardstock.  Once the die cuts were sorted, I began coloring all the elements with Copic markers.  These are the color combos I used:

     Book:  RV02, RV06, RV09

     Dark Brown Scarf:  E71, E79, E49

     Medium Brown Scarf:  E31, E35, E99

     Light Brown Scarf:  E50, E53, E34

     Carrot Noses:  YR15, YR07

     Stick Arms:  E49

     Mouths:  110 (Black)

After coloring all the pieces, I glued all the scarves, arms, noses and music book to the snow characters, then added Picket Fence Studio “Day and Night” black gems onto the snow people for their buttons. 

Creating the Background

I taped an 8” x 5-1/2” piece of Distress Watercolor Cardstock to a hardboard using blue painter’s tape.  After choosing which watercolors I wanted to use, I grabbed a ¾” Silver Black Velvet Oval paint brush and applied a generous amount of clean water to the watercolor paper.  I prepped the two watercolors that I wanted to work with – Masha Watercolors (shop is on Etsy) Shadow Blue Dark and Vivianite Blue – and began applying the Shadow Blue at the top of the watercolor paper and Vivianite Blue toward the bottom third of the watercolor paper.  Once I reached the color intensity I wanted to achieve, I dried the watercolors with the Ranger Heat It Craft Tool.  For the last touch, I mixed a small amount of white gouache with a couple drops of water and mixed them with a small paint brush and then spattered the gouache across the watercolored background to create a snowy effect.  Once dry, I removed the watercolor paper from the hardboard.  I trimmed the dry, watercolored panel down to measure approximately 5-3/4” x 3-3/4” and glued it behind the frame I had die cut from the Distress Woodgrain cardstock. 

Building the Sentiment

Utilizing the banner sentiment that came with the “The Snow Notes” die set, I used Spellbinders Opaque White Glimmer Foil and the Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foiling System to foil the sentiment onto Spellbinders Indigo cardstock and used the coordinating die from the set to die cut the actual banner.  I also cut a second banner from the Indigo card stock so that I could glue the two together to give it some dimension. 

Finishing the Design

To complete the card, I trimmed about 1/3” off the bottom of each of the snow people so that they fit better within my frame and glued each one to the bottom edge of the frame I cut a card base from white card stock that measured 8-1/2” x 6-1/4” and scored it at 4-1/4” to make a completed card base that measures 6-1/4” x 4-1/4” (that I can mail easily in a 5” x 7” envelope).  I glued the banner sentiment to the top center of the card frame and adhered the card front to the card base.  No other embellishments are really needed so that wraps this card up perfectly!

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

2025 Holiday Series #1 | Modern Poinsettia

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing my first official Christmas card of the 2025 season.

The supplies used were:

Gina K. Designs – Modern Poinsettia Stencil Set

    Gina K. Designs – Master Layouts 13 Die Set

    Gina K. Designs – O Christmas Tree Stamp/Die Set

    Gina K. Designs – O Christmas Tree Poly-Glaze Foiling Sheets

    Gina K. Designs – Black Onyx Heavyweight Cardstock

    Scrapbook.com – Mixed Media 6”x8” Paper Pad

    Spellbinders – Poppy Field Color Essentials Cardstock

    Simon Says Stamp – Cranberry Pawsitively Saturated Ink

    Simon Says Stamp – Rhubarb Pawsitively Saturated Ink

    Simon Says Stamp – Sangria Pawsitively Saturated Ink

    Simon Says Stamp – Field Pawsitively Saturated Ink

    Simon Says Stamp – Sprout Pawsitively Saturated Ink

    Altenew – Antique Gold Pigment Ink

    Kid’s Fun Foam (white)

    Nuvo Crystal Drops – Red Berry

    Therm O Web – Gold Deco Foil

    Spellbinders – Fashion Poppy Self-Adhesive Embellishments (half pearls)

    Plastic Palette Knife

    Altenew Enchanted Gold Shimmer Relief Paste

    Altenew Sticky Mat

    Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

    Misti Original Stamp Positioning Tool

    Heidi Swapp Minc Machine

    Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

I started today’s card cutting a piece of 6” x 8” mixed media paper from Scrapbook.com in half so that I have two pieces that measure 3” x 8”.  I will be stenciling down the center of both card panels.

I placed the first 3” x 8” card panel onto my Altenew Sticky Mat and placed the first stencil from the Gina K. Designs “Modern Poinsettia Layering Stencil” set onto the strip of cardstock so that the three center poinsettias line up across the center of the cardstock panel.  I used Simon Says Stamp’s Cranberry (center portions) and Rhubarb (tips of leaves) inks to ink blend the poinsettia leaves from Stencil #1.  For now, I skipped ahead to Stencil #4 and centered it to align with the leaves from Stencil #1 onto the cardstock panels.  I used Altenew “Enchanted Gold” Shimmer Relief Paste and spread it evenly with a plastic palette knife across the openings in the stencil.  I removed the first cardstock panel and repeated the process onto the second cardstock panel.  These two pasted panels must now be set aside to air dry (shouldn’t take more than an hour) – using a heat tool may cause the paste to blister/bubble.

Once the shimmer paste had completely dried, I began ink blending using Stencil #2.  I applied Simon Says Stamp’s Sangria Ink toward the center of the leaves and the Simon Says Stamp Rhubarb ink at the tips.  The final stencil is #3 and I ink blended Simon Says Stamp’s Field and Sprout inks onto these (Sprout at the leaf tips and Field toward the centers).  Once ink blending was completed, I washed all my stencils with some rubbing alcohol and a lint-free cloth before putting them back into their packaging.

From the Gina K. Designs “Master Layouts 13” die set, I used the 1-5/8” x 5” stitched rectangle die and used it to die cut panels from the two poinsettia inked pieces of cardstock.  I cut two panels of Black Onyx card stock using the matting die from Master Layouts 13 that measures approximately 1-3/4” x 5-1/8”.  I adhered the poinsettia panels to the front of the black matting layers and set them aside as I continued building the card. Additionally, I die cut a piece of white cardstock using the stitched die in the set that measured approximately 2” x 3-1/2” and a piece of Black Onyx cardstock from the matting layer die that coordinates with the stitched one.  I adhered this white cardstock panel to the black one and glued it to the front center of my card front, but only applied glue to the left gatefold panel side (you don’t want to glue your card shut!)

My card base will be a gatefold design.  I used my paper trimmer and cut a piece of Spellbinders Poppy Field cardstock to be 8-1/2” x 5-1/2” and then scored the card base at 2-1/8” and 6-3/8”.  I folded the card base along the score lines and reinforced the folds with my bone folder.  Then I adhered each of the black matted, poinsettia panels to the center of each side of the front of the gatefold card base (I find this easier if I put temporary tape on the inside of each gatefold to keep it closed while I work).

Using the Gina K. Designs “O Christmas Tree” Poly-Glaze Foiling Sheets, I trimmed out the Christmas tree design I wanted to use on my card front as well as the “MERRY CHRISTMAS” sentiment and foiled them using Therm O Web’s Gold foil sheets.  Once the poly-glaze tree and sentiment was foiled, I placed the tree into my Misti and used the Gina K. Designs “O Christmas Tree” stamp/die set to stamp the green (Simon Says Stamp Field Ink) portion over my foiled tree trunk/branches as well as the star from the stamp set which I stamped using Altenew’s Antique Gold Pigment Ink and subsequently used the coordinating dies to die cut the tree, sentiment, and star for the card front.   I also cut the tree and star shapes one more time from kid’s fun foam to add dimension and lift when applied to the card front. 

I glued the tree, star, and sentiment die cuts to the white fun foam and glued them to the undecorated, white cardstock panel on the card front.  Lastly, I used Red Berry Nuvo Crystal Drops to change the Christmas tree’s star from gold to red.  I simply felt that small center panel needed a touch of red to tie it to the poinsettias in the background.  For my final touch, I added Spellbinders’ Fashion Poppy Self-Adhesive Embellishments to the tree to represent ornaments.

That completes today’s card!  Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed this fun-fold card that kicks off my Christmas card making season. If you found inspiration and created something similar, please tag me on Instagram @veehatt_inspired - I'd love to see what you create!

Until next time… happy making!