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 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!