2024 Holiday Series #4 | Joyeux Noel

Hi friends!  For today’s holiday series installment, I will be creating a lovely holiday card that includes some water coloring, diecutting, and stamping and would be a great card for mass producing.   This project can also be found on my YouTube channel so you can see the step-by-step construction process at https://www.youtube.com/@VeehattInspired .

The supplies used were:

Paul Rubens Hot Press Watercolor Paper

Masha’s Watercolor Paint “Dark Planet” (Etsy)

Silver Black Velvet ¾” Oval Watercolor Brush

Spellbinders “Festive Ornaments” Die Set

Gold and Silver Mirror Cardstock (small scraps will be sufficient)

Honey Bee Stamps “Lovely Layers: Party Frames” Die Set

Hero Arts “Nested Circle Infinity Dies”

Altenew Citrine Glitter Cardstock

Sizzix / Tim Holtz “Festive Gatherings” Die Set

Spellbinders “Fern” Cardstock

Spellbinders “Fog” Cardstock

Copic Marker – E27 (Milk Chocolate)

Spellbinders “Scored and Pierced Rectangles” Dies

Pinkfresh Studios “Day and Night” Gem Embellishments

Picket Fence Studios “Swanky Christmas Sentiments” Stamp Set

VersaFine Clair “Nocturne” Pigment Ink Pad

DMC Diamant Gold Cord/Thread

Scrapbook.com 1” 1mm Foam Adhesive Roll

Misti Original Stamp Positioning Tool

Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

To get started, I taped a piece of Paul Rubens hot press watercolor paper to a hard board using blue masking tape.  I used a Silver Black Velvet ¾” oval watercolor brush and applied clean water liberally across the watercolor paper.  I added a few drops of water to a pan of Masha’s Watercolors “Dark Planet” granulating watercolor paint and used a smaller watercolor brush to add the paint to my watercolor palette.  I used the ¾” oval brush to absorb some of the watercolor paint and began using a left-to-right method to the brush to apply the paint to the wet watercolor paper.  I used my heat tool to mostly dry the panel, then repeated the process to add another layer of the Dark Planet paint.  You could set this aside to dry, but I chose to use the heat tool to dry the panel again (since I’m inpatient!).

Once the watercolor panel was dry, I used the eighth smallest circle die from the Hero Arts “Nested Circle Infinity Dies” die set and diecut a circle from the watercolored panel.  This will be the base of my Christmas ornament.  I also used the two ornament topper dies from Spellbinders’ “Festive Ornaments” die set and cut one from gold mirror cardstock and one from silver mirror cardstock.  I glued the two topper pieces together and then glued them to the top of the watercolored ornament die cut.

For decorating the ornament, I used the Honey Bee Stamps “Lovely Layers: Party Frames” die set and die cut the star from Altenew Citrine glitter cardstock and glued the star to the center of my ornament die cut.  To add a touch of bling, I glued eleven clear gems from Pinkfresh Studios’ “Day and Night” gemstones to the outer ring of the ornament.

For the fir branches, I used the Sizzix/Tim Holtz “Festive Gatherings” die set and die cut the fir branch twice from Spellbinders “Fern” cardstock.  I colored the actual branch (wood) piece of this die with my Copic E27 (Milk Chocolate) alcohol marker.  I adhered the branch die cut to the fir die cut using liquid adhesive.

I created the card front panel using the largest die from Spellbinders’ “Scored and Pierce Rectangles” die set and die cut it from Spellbinders “Fog” cardstock.  I placed the Fog panel into my Misti stamp positioning tool and stamped the “joyeux noel” sentiment from Picket Fence Studios’ “Swanky Christmas Sentiments” onto the lower center of the card front using VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink.  I adhered the Fog cardstock panel to a white, A2, side folding card base using Scrapbook.com’s 1mm foam adhesive roll strips. 

After positioning the fir branches and ornament in the locations I chose for the layout, I used a piece of Glad Press ‘n Seal to pick up the arrangement and began applying glue to the back sides of the fir branches.  Once the glue was applied, I turned over the Press ‘n Seal and hovered it above my card front until I reached the proper placement and glued the fir branches to the card front and trimmed off any that extended beyond the card base.

I placed pieces of 1mm foam adhesive to the back of the ornament, ran a small piece of gold cord from the ornament hanger to the fir branches and then removed the release paper from the foam adhesive to adhere the ornament in the center of the card.  I tacked the free ends of the gold cording to the branches using glue and held it in place with a pair of reverse tweezers until dry.  Lastly, I tied a bow out of the same gold cord and glued it onto the top of the ornament hanger (holding it in place with reverse tweezers until dry). Finished!

I hope you enjoyed the card and found inspiration for some of your own holiday projects!  Until next time… happy making!

2024 Holiday Series #3 | Let There Be Joy

Hi friends!  For today’s holiday series installment, I will be creating a simpler card using The Greetery’s Inside & Out Berry Branch die and one of their holiday sentiment sets.   This project can also be found on my YouTube channel so you can see the step-by-step construction process at https://www.youtube.com/@VeehattInspired .

The supplies used were:

The Greetery “Inside & Out Berry Branch” Die Set

The Greetery “Scripted Holiday Sentiments”

The Greetery “Nordic Frames” Die Set

Penny Black “Joy Edger” Die Set

Lawn Fawn “Snow Flurries Background” Stencil

Brutus Monroe Glitter Glaze “Fallen Snow”

Spellbinders “Fern” Cardstock

Lawn Fawn “Chili Pepper” Cardstock

Brutus Monroe “Not Your Mamas Cardstock”

VersaFine Clair “Shady Lane” Pigment Ink

Pretty Pink Posh “Cherry Red” Embellishment Pearls

Scrapbook.com Double Sided Adhesive Sheets

Misti Original Stamp Positioning Tool

Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

To start the project, I cut a piece of Lawn Fawn Chili Pepper cardstock to 5-1/2” x 4-1/4” – this will be the base for my card front.  The I cut a piece of white cardstock to be a 5-1/2” square.  I placed the white square piece of cardstock onto my glass mat and placed the Lawn Fawn “Snow Flurries Background” stencil over it and held it in place with Scrapbook.com’s Mint Tape.  Using my pallet knife and Brutus Monroe’s “Fallen Snow” Glitter Glaze, I spread a thin layer of the glaze over the stencil to give the white cardstock a touch of glittery snow.  I set this aside to dry while I prepared my die cutting.

I took another piece of the Chili Pepper cardstock and die cut it with the Joy word die from Penny Black’s “Joy Edger” die set.  Then, I adhered a piece of Scrapbook.com’s Double Sided Adhesive to the back of a piece of Brutus Monroe “Not Your Mamas Cardstock” and die cut the Joy word a second time to serve as a layering piece for my sentiment.  I added glue to the back of the red Joy and adhered it to the front of the white, layering Joy die cut.

I applied another double-sided adhesive sheet to one side of a piece of Spellbinders “Fern” cardstock and die cut all the dies from The Greetery’s “inside & Out Berry Branch” die set and duplicated this effort with another piece of the Brutus Monroe “Not Your Mamas Cardstock”. 

I removed the release paper from the backs of all the green die cuts and adhered them to the matching white die cuts.  Next, I added glue to the top side of the white Joy word die cut and adhered the red Joy diecut to the top of it.  Now all the elements for the card front have essentially been made into stickers.

Once the Glitter Glaze dried on the white square piece of cardstock, I used the largest die from The Greetery “Nordic Frames” die set to cut the background layer for my card front elements. 

Now time for sentiments and assembly, I used liquid glue to adhere the white stenciled panel to the Chili Pepper red card panel.  I used a greeting from The Greetery’s “Scripted Holiday Sentiments” that said, “LET THERE BE”, and I stamped that onto a piece of white scrap paper using VersaFine Clair “Shady Lane” pigment ink since it so closely matched the Spellbinders Fern cardstock and trimmed it down to size – you can do this with your paper cutter or a sentiment strip die if you have one.  I added a couple scrap strips of white cardstock to the backside of the sentiment strip to give it some dimension and set that aside to allow the glue to dry. 

I centered the Joy sentiment and the green stamped sentiment strip onto the front of the card and began positioning all the greenery in two of the corners until I was happy with the layout and then began pressing those into place since they had the double-sided adhesive on the backs.  Lastly, I added some Pretty Pink Posh “Cherry Red” pearls onto all the areas on the greenery that represented berries… then added a few more to balance it out.

I hope you enjoyed the tags and found inspiration for some of your own holiday projects!  Until next time… happy making!

2024 Holiday Series #2 | Snowflake Tags

Hi friends!  For today’s card series installment, I decided to create some cute holiday gift tags using some wintry holiday products from Gina K Designs and Tonic Studios.   This project can also be found on my YouTube channel so you can see the step-by-step construction process at https://www.youtube.com/@VeehattInspired .

The supplies used were:

Tonic Studios “Tags & Stamps” Die Set

Tim Holtz / Ranger Distress Oxide “Tumbled Glass”

Gina K. Designs “Snowflake Trio” Die Set

Scrapbook.com Foam Ink Blending Tool

Altenew Glitter Cardstock “Moonstone” and “Silver”

Simon Says Stamp “Christmas Wishes” Sentiment Strips

Deco Foil “Pewter” Foiling Sheet

Spellbinders “Indigo” Cardstock

Spellbinders “Splatter White” Opaque Watercolor

Imagine Sheer Shimmer Craft Spray “Sparkle”

This Calls for Confetti “Sparkle All the Way” Flat Sequins

Brutus Monroe Spray Tray

Scrapbook.com Mint Tape

Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Scrapbook Adhesives “Thin 3D Foam Squares”

Heidi Swapp Mini Minc Machine

Tim Holtz Mini Trimmer

I started the project by die cutting two tag bases from both white cardstock and Spellbinders Indigo cardstock using the Tonic Studios “Tags & Stamps” die set.  I cut a second set of the large base tag die from white cardstock to back my tags to give me a place to write my personal greeting.

Next, I used a foam ink blending tool and Tim Holtz Distress Oxide in the color Tumbled Glass and applied that all over the decorative front, white die cut tag pieces to give them a wintry sky color.  To add my splatters, I pulled out my Brutus Monroe Spray Tray and applied a few sprays of Imagine’s Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Craft Spray (you could substitute this with the new Tim Holtz Spritz if you have it in your stash) and heat set that shimmer spray with the Ranger heat tool.  I followed that by splattering the Spellbinders Splatter White mixed with a couple drops of water liberally across the tag fronts.  Once the splattered tag panels dried, I used liquid glue to adhere them to the Indigo tag bases.

Using the Altnew Moonstone and Silver Glitter Cardstock and Gina K. Design’s “Snowflake Trio” die set, I die cut two beautiful snowflakes – the two smaller in the set – and placed a small amount of glue around the center of the two silver snowflakes and adhered the Moonstone snowflakes on top of each of the silver ones for a layered look.  Once the glue dried, I place a thin 3D foam square to the back of each snowflake and adhered them to the center of the assembled tags. 

For the sentiment, I chose two from the Simon Says Stamp “Christmas Wishes” Sentiment Strips.  Since I wanted to foil these, I warmed up my Heidi Swapp Mini Minc machine, grabbed a carrier envelope, a sheet of Deco Foil in the color pewter, and my sentiment strips.  I placed the foil (pretty side up) on top of the sentiment strips, then put them into the Minc carrier envelope and ran it through the Minc machine on setting 3.  Once the sentiment strips were cooled, I removed the foil to reveal the beautifully foiled sentiments which I trimmed using my Tim Holtz mini trimmer.  I placed thin 3D foam squares to the back side of each sentiment strip and adhered those to the centers of my snowflakes. 

For the final touch, I randomly glued some This Calls for Confetti “Sparkle All the Way” flat sequins around the two snowflakes on each tag, threaded a piece thin white ribbon through each tag’s hole and tied a bow around the ribbon toward the top of the tag using some blue and white twine I had in my stash.  I have one admission… I couldn’t leave well enough alone and after I completed filming the video for YouTube, I adhere some silver gems to the each of the tips of the Moonstone snowflakes.  Very festive!

I hope you enjoyed the tags and found inspiration for some of your own holiday projects!  Until next time… happy making!