CHRISTMAS FRIENDS

Remembering friends at Christmas with a handmade card is one of the things that makes the Holidays special.  And who can make Christmas cards without having at least a few that include gold embossing.  A bit of gold always adds a touch of elegance, doesn't it?

Today's card uses gold embossed leaves in the background peeking out from behind the ribbon, some decorative gold embossed dots, and a little embossed gold border around the sentiment.  To add even more golden sparkle there are Gold Holly Leaves and Metallic Gold pearl embellishments.  That sounds like a lot of gold, but it really is quite subtle so as not to feel overdone.  The bold Shaded Spruce and Blackberry Bliss ink colors provide a good balance for the gold accents.

To make the gold border around the sentiment, sparingly add a narrow edge of VersaMark ink.  I initially had a wider border of gold and that looked over-done, so I redid it and was careful to keep the VersaMark only on the edge of the die cut.  That provided a better balance and kept the focus on the sentiment itself.

The layout for this card is a very classic, traditional layout which just uses a "bouquet" of sprigs, berries and leaves peeking out from behind a sentiment.  Honestly, I always struggle with making bouquets.  How much is too little?  How much is too much?  Whenever I try to make one of these "bouquets", it reminds me of trying to arrange flowers in a vase.  That is also a skill set I never learned.  When I see beautiful flower arrangements, I always wish I'd learned how to do that at some point in my life, but woe, I did not.

For the inside of the card I decorated opposite corners with pine boughs and berries and some more gold embossed dots.

I added a little splash of pine boughs and berries on the corner of the envelope flap as well which you can see peeking out from behind the card.

If you are good at flower arranging this would be a very easy card for you to make.  If you would like a tutorial with step-by-step directions and cutting dimensions you can download a copy at this link.

For more information on the products I used, please check out the links on the Product List below.

Product List

Christmas Season Photopolymer Stamp Set [156293]	Seasonal Labels Dies [156299]	Christmas To Remember Cling Stamp Set (English) [156300]	Shaded Spruce 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146981]	Blackberry Bliss 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [133675]
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [159229]	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276]	Shaded Spruce Classic Stampin' Pad [147088]	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad [147083]	Versamark Pad [102283]
Metallics Embossing Powders [155555]	Blackberry Bliss Striped Ribbon [154569]	Gold Holly Leaves [156311]	Metallic Pearls [146282]	Heat Tool (Us And Canada) [129053]
Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653]

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THE CHRISTMAS WOODS

For today's Christmas card I used one of the patterns from the new Designer Series Paper (DSP) called Boughs of Holly.  If you prefer DSP that is more traditional in design and color, then you will love this one from the 2022 July - August Mini Catalog.

This particular design makes you feel like you are in the middle of a Wintery Woods.

I used the third largest die from Scalloped Contours Die to create my focal point of pinecones and pine boughs that look like they were freshly picked from the woods behind them.  Can't you almost just smell the fresh pine scent that we love at Christmas?

To create my stamped pine boughs, I used the stamp rolling technique.  This is an old technique and was one of the first that I learned as a beginning stamper over 17 years ago.

You just ink the stamp with the lighter of two ink colors and then you "roll" the edges in a darker shade of ink.  I used Soft Succulent and Evening Evergreen ink and by using two shades it makes the pine boughs have more depth and variation of color.

The Cherry Cobbler berries add a little pop of color.

I used the Stylish Shapes dies for my sentiment.  The MERRY sentiment from the Christmas to Remember stamp set is highlighted by a square Soft Succulent mat positioned on the diagonal.  The stitching on these dies keeps a consistent them with the stitching on the Scalloped Contours Basic White die cut.  

Three Brushed Metallic Dots were added to the card front for a little bit of gold bling.

The inside uses another sentiment from Christmas to Remember and the inside is decorated with a simple strip of the same DSP as used on the card front.

The envelope flap is also covered with the same Boughs of Holly DSP.

If you would like a tutorial with step-by-step directions and cutting dimensions you can download a copy at this link.

For more information on the products used, click on the links in the Product List below.

Product List

Christmas Season Photopolymer Stamp Set [156293]	Christmas To Remember Cling Stamp Set (English) [156300]	Seasonal Labels Dies [156299]	Scalloped Contours Dies [155560]	Stylish Shapes Dies [159183]
Evening Evergreen 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [155574]	Soft Succulent 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [155776]	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276]	Soft Succulent Classic Stampin' Pad [155778]	Evening Evergreen Classic Stampin' Pad [155576]
Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad [147083]	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [147114]	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [147116]	Evening Evergreen 3/8" (1 Cm) Open Weave Ribbon [155573]	Brushed Metallic Adhesive Backed Dots [156506]
Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653]

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CHRISTMAS BLUES

As I mentioned yesterday, this week I will be sharing some additional Christmas Card ideas with you using the featured products for the July Stamp Camp-to-Go.  The stamp set I used is Christmas Season and the coordinating dies are the Seasonal Labels Dies.  

Today's Christmas Blues card uses beautiful soft colors.  Doesn't it just make you feel calm?  These colors today are not necessarily traditional Christmas colors, but we will get to those later this week.  I promise.

Our wintery spray of leaves and pinecones uses Soft Seafoam, Pool Party, Shades of Gray with a little shine of silver mixed in.  I knew I didn't want the pinecones to be the traditional shades of brown, so I played a bit with Smokey Slate and Basic Gray.  I liked it, but they were a little darker than the vision I saw in my mind, so I added a third layer of color by using the detailed stamp with VersaMark ink and then embossing them with white embossing powder.  That added the softness I was after.  What do you think?

I used the cap on my Stampin' Write Markers to flick some speckles of Basic Gray, Smokey Slate and Pool Party ink on the card front.  The sentiment is heat embossed with white embossing powder on Pool Party Cardstock and then die cut with the smallest die from Seasonal Labels Dies.

These Seasonal Labels dies were first introduced a year ago in the Fall 2021 Mini, and I was so excited when I saw them come back in the current Annual Catalog.  These dies include a wide variety of label sizes, and they also are designed so that you can layer them together -- which is awesome!  And not awesome just for Christmas -- but for year round use!

To decorate the inside of my card, I placed the sentiment on its own separate mat -- something I rarely do.  However, I wanted to cover the top edge of the leaves and pinecone, so this was my solution.   There was something about just having the tops of the leaf stems and pinecone hanging in space that didn't look quite right, but I like how this turned out.  What do you think?

If you would like a FREE TUTORIAL for this card, one is available for download at this link.

A list of the products I used is shown below.

If you have any questions or if I can be of assistance, please leave me a comment or contact me directly through the contact tab above.

Product List

Christmas Season Photopolymer Stamp Set [156293]	Christmas To Remember Cling Stamp Set (English) [156300]	Seasonal Labels Dies [156299]	Christmas Pinecone Dies [156309]	Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [131202]
Pool Party 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [122924]	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276]	Silver Foil 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Pack [156457]	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [147107]	Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad [149165]
Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad [147113]	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad [131181]	Versamark Pad [102283]	Neutrals Stampin' Write Markers [147158]	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers [147156]
Pool Party Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154894]	Whisper White 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon [151326]	Basics Embossing Powders [155554]	Heat Tool (Us And Canada) [129053]	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653]

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