2026 Holiday Card Series #4 | Have a Merry Christmas

Hi friends!  Today’s card will be the fourth installment in my 2026 Holiday Card Series where I am attempting to have my holiday cards mostly completed before mid-November.  I’ve created with elements from this Tim Holtz/Sizzix die set before, but this time I wanted to try using it in more of the traditional sense.

The supplies used:

     Sizzix/Tim Holtz – Vault Christmas Magic

     Simon Says Stamp – Cozy Christmas Stamp Set

     Concord & 9^th – Festive Phrases Stamp Set

     American Crafts Cardstock – Christmas Textured Cardstock

     Simon Says Stamp – So Very Black Cardstock

     Simon Says Stamp – Black Glossy Cardstock

     Copic – Sketch Alcohol Markers Y08, R39, R29, R24, B97, B95, B91,

          G28, G24, G21, E74, C7, W9

     Tsukineko - Memento Black Dual Marker

     Lawn Fawn – Jet Black Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Pawsitively Saturated Ink Pads – Sky, Dusk & Night

     Tsukineko – VersaFine Claire Nocture Ink Pad

     Iuile Watercolors – Silver Watercolor Paint Pan

     Ranger Ink – Glossy Accents

     Posca Silver Pen PC-1MR

     Altenew – Masking Paper

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Scrapbook Adhesives – Thin 3D Foam Squares

     Picket Fence Studios – Candy Cane Gem Embellishment Mix

     My Sweet Petunia – Original MISTI Stamping Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background

For the background, I took a piece Altenew’s Masking Paper and die cut it using the cityscape die from the Sizzix Vault Christmas Magic.  Next, I trimmed a piece of white cardstock to measure 4.5” x 6.25” and used a pencil and a t-square ruler to draw a line across the bottom of the panel (portrait orientation) 2.25” from the bottom edge of the cardstock.  I removed the adhesive backing from the cityscape mask and adhered the bottom edge of the mask along the top of the pencil line.  Using Simon Says Stamp ink pads, I began ink blending with Sky ink starting at the top of the buildings and continued blending the night sky with Dusk and Night inks until the entire sky area was ink blended.  Before removing the cityscape mask, I added a light spattering of Iuile Watercolors’ Silver watercolor paint across the sky for my stars.  I carefully removed the mask and set the panel aside to completely dry.

Creating the Focal Points

Using the Sizzix/Tim Holtz Vault Christmas Magic die set, I die cut the dies from the following cardstocks:

     City Scape:  American Crafts Cardstock – Christmas Textured Collection – Dark Grey

     Santa & Reindeer:  Simon Says Stamp – So Very Black Cardstock

     Lamp Post:  Simon Says Stamp – Black Glossy Cardstock

     Wreath & Bow:  Green and Red Scraps from my Scrap Bin

I used liquid glue to adhere the cityscape die cut along the top of the pencil line drawn onto the lower portion of the background panel and added the Santa/reindeer die cut above the buildings in the sky.  I used a pair of scissors to the trim off the excess reindeer that extended outside the card panel.  Next, I used the Y08 Copic Sketch alcohol marker to fill in the window openings on the buildings.

Then, using the Simon Says Stamp Cozy Christmas stamp set, I stamped the two vehicles, Christmas tree, and evergreen tree (twice) with Lawn Fawn’s Jet Black ink onto X-Press It blending cardstock.  I colored the images using Copic Sketch alcohol markers in these colors:

     Red Car:  R39, R29, R24, W9 (tires), C7 (windows), Posca Silver Pen

          on wheels and bumper trim – R29, B97, B95, B91 (gift)

     Blue Car:  B97, B95, B91, W9 (tires), C7 (windows), Posca Silver Pen

          on wheels and bumper trim – G28, G24, G21, E74 (tree)

     Trees:  G28, G24, G21 and the lights were dotted using the same Sketch markers

          I used on other elements listed above

Once the images were colored, I fussy cut them and used a black Memento marker to cover the white edges of the trimmed images.  I added Ranger’s Glossy Accents to the windows of both vehicles and to the Christmas tree lights just for fun.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I used the Concord & 9^th Festive Phrases stamp set’s “have a merry Christmas” greeting and stamped it on the lower center portion of the card front using VersaFine Clair Nocturne Black ink.

Assembling the Card

I used liquid glue to adhere the two regular trees and the red card to the card front, then used Thin 3D Foam Squares to adhere the blue card and the decorated Christmas tree.   Using my paper trimmer, I cut a scrap piece of green and red cardstocks to measure 5” x 1/8” and glued those below the cityscape die cut on the card front and trimmed off the excess with scissors.  Lastly, I added a sprinkling of Picket Fence Studios’ Candy Cane gem embellishments around the sentiment and adhered the card front to a white, side folding, A6 card base.

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