- Vicky Hattingh
- Nov 23, 2025
- 4 min read
Hi crafty friends! Today I am sharing an oversized card (5-1/2” x 7”) using the Spellbinders BetterPress of the Month for November 2025 letterpress set that includes a young lady walking her Frenchie (I also have a Frenchie which is why I absolutely HAD to get this BetterPress set!). I figured if I added holiday colors to her apparel and possibly a holiday scene it just may be able to be a successful Christmas card. Fingers crossed!
The supplies used:
Spellbinders – Paws in the City BetterPress of the Month for Nov 2025
Sizzix/Tim Holtz – Vault Christmas Magic Die Set
Altenew – Warm Blessings Stamp Set
Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Watercolor Cardstock
Ranger/Wendy Vecchi – Watering Can Archival Ink Pad
My Favorite Things – Butterscotch Cardstock
Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Ink Pads – Wilted Violet, Shaded
Lilac, Kitsch Flamingo, Spun Sugar, Pumice Stone, Black Soot
Altenew – Obsidian Pigment Ink Pad
Schmincke Watercolor Paint – Forest Green, Shire Grey,
Volcano Red, Desert Orange, Tundra Orange, Glacier Black
Sakura Gold Metallic Gelly Roll Pen
Tombow ABT Water-Based Marker #N75
Scrapbook.com – Mixed Media Heavy Weight Paper Pad
Winsor & Newton Designers Permanent White and Lamp Black Gouache
Spellbinders BetterPress Letterpress System
Spellbinders Platinum 6 Die Cutting Machine
Scor-Pal Scor-Tape Double Sided Adhesive
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares
Simon Says Stamp Metallic Silver Cord
Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue
Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine
Creating the Background
Using the Sizzix/Tim Holtz Vault Christmas Magic die set, I selected the buildings die and cut it twice from Distress Watercolor Cardstock. I placed the two diecuts onto a sticky mat and watercolored them with a wash of Schmincke Glacier Black watercolor paint until I achieved the desired color depth. Once the paint was dry, I took a piece of My Favorite Things Butterscotch cardstock and traced around my buildings diecuts (you could totally skip this step) and fussy cut my tracings so that my buildings would have yellow light showing in the window cut-outs. I used liquid glue to adhere the yellow cardstock to the back side of the building diecuts.
Next, I cut a piece of Scrapbook.com’s Heavy Weight Mixed Media cardstock to measure 7” x 5-1/2”. Using Tim Holtz Distress ink pads in the colors Wilted Violet Shaded Lilac, Kitsch Flamingo and Spun Sugar, I began ink blending the mixed media paper to create my winter sky starting with the upper left corner with the darkest color and gradually working my way diagonally across the cardstock until I liked the application. Once the ink had a chance to dry, I spattered Winsor & Newton’s white gouache mixed with a drop of water liberally across the cardstock panel.
For the last touch on the background, I cut a piece of watercolor cardstock to measure 7” x 2” and applied a wash of the Shire Grey watercolor to it. After the panel dried, I ink blended the edges with Distress Pumice Stone ink and added just the tiniest amount of ink blending with Distress Black Soot to add a bit of depth. Lastly, I used Winsor & Newton Lamp Black gouache mixed with a drop of water to heavily spatter the panel.
Creating the Focal Point
I created the focal point using Spellbinders’ “Paws in the City” BetterPress plates and the Spellbinders BetterPress Letterpress System. I letter pressed the image of the woman and the dog using Ranger/Wendy Vecchi Watering Can Archival ink and a piece of Distress Watercolor Cardstock. Next, I used Schmincke watercolor paints in the colors Forest Green (blouse and shoes), Volcano Red (skirt, beret, and scarf), Desert Orange (skin), Tundra Orange (cup), and Shire Grey (dog). After the watercolors dried, I used a gold Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic pen to add small dots along the lower hem of her skirt. Lastly, I fussy cut the young lady and the little Frenchie dog since I wasn’t going to use them “as intended” (if there’s such a thing) and edged both die cuts with a Tombow ABT water-based marker #N75.
Building the Sentiment
For my sentiment, I chose to use one from Altenew’s Warm Blessings that says “’tis the Season”. I stamped it directly onto the card background using Altenew Obsidian pigment ink and my MISTI stamp positioning tool.
Finishing the Design
I added Scor-Tape to the back sides of the buildings and the sidewalk panel and adhered them to the purple/pink ink blended sky panel. Next, I added foam adhesive squares to the back side of the young lady and the little dog. To re-create the leash from the lady’s hand to the dog, I glued Simon Says Stamp Silver Metallic Cord flat along the lady’s skirt, let it flow freely between her and the dog then glued the cord to the neck of the dog. After removing the backing paper from the foam squares I adhered the lady and the dog to the sidewalk portion of the card front.
For the final touch, I decided to add a lamp post from the same die set as the buildings – Sizzix/Tim Holtz’s Vault Christmas Magic – and die cut it from black glossy cardstock that I found in my scrap bin and die cut the wreath and bow from red and green cardstocks from the scrap bin. I glued the lamp post to the card front at the far-right side edge of the card front and raised it higher in the scene to adjust it for scale. I adhered it to a white card base to wrap up another 2025 Christmas card!
Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it. Until next time, happy crafting.
