Hello and welcome to my studio! Today marks Day 7 of my series, “12 Days of Christmas Cards”. Today’s card, using the new Yuletide Village stamp set by Stampin’Up! is a bit more involved in the make and it is absolutely enjoyable to create! I’ll walk you through the process step by step and I’ll also give some hints about mass producing this sweet card if you so desire. I just can’t wait to make more projects using this stamp set! I truly adore it.
* Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with nor do I earn commissions from any of the companies I mention.
Supplies For this Project
- white card stock
- copic markers
- ink pads in colors: guppy, prom queen, no diving, midnight snack ( by Simon Hurley/Ranger Ink )
- Snowfall 3D embossing folder: ( Stampin’Up)
- sanding block ( Taylored Expressions ) or a nail file
- Foam blending tools
- stitched hillside border ( Lawn Fawn ) or just cut your own “snow drifts”
- Cricut machine for the Stamp shaped card: or a large stamp shaped die
Let’s Do This!
Okay, so the first thing we do is go to Cricut Design Space app to create the stamp shaped panel. If you are using a stamp shaped die, then go ahead and cut that out. Alternatively, we can simply make a traditional card base, then add a 4.25 by 5.5” panel for the card front or if we’re really feeling brave, we can use the actual card base that is created using white card stock. This creates an edge to edge card.
Go into the CDS app and open a new canvas. Do an image search and in the search bar, type in this #m4d6fdabf and that should take you to the exact stamp image I used. Size the image to 4.25 by 5.5” – duplicate the image and cut it using a piece of white card stock. You’ll have 2 stamp panels.
Now we stamp the village, using the Yuletide Village stamp set, onto white card stock. Color in the houses with copic markers or colored pencils… and fussy cut the houses, leaving some of the snow with the house, and set aside. Next, use the stitched hillside borders to die cut some snow drifts.
Now for the fun part! Starting about 1.5” from the bottom of the white stamp shaped rectangle, we are going to do some ink blending. If you are not sure about this technique, you can learn from Simon Hurley on YouTube as well as many others but I promise this card is easy to make. Take the “guppy” ink pad and your foam blending tool and blend the ink across the landscape of the stamp card stock. Next, use the “prom queen” ink pad and blend into the “guppy” and then up and across the card. Next, blend the “no diving” and then across the top, use the “midnight snack”. Don’t you just love the names they give ink and paper colors? Finish across the very top of the darkest blue, the “midnight snack” with some basic back to finish the night sky for this village card. At one time, I didn’t think I’d enjoy ink blending, but I sure do. I feel like a kid again playing with inks and colors and blending them in a way that makes each and every design unique.
Once we have finished the ink blending on the card panel and it’s to our liking, we will place it into the “snowfall” embossing folder and emboss. Now, we adhere the snow drifts to the bottom of the card, placing the hills as you would like them. Use your cutout houses and place them around on the card to see how you would like them to sit. Once the snow drifts have been attached, take the sanding block or a nail file and very gently rub across the embossed snowflakes in the sky and this will expose the white CS by removing the ink from the very top of the design. This is a cute trick to get white snowflakes without having to use any special products.
Now we assemble our lovely card! Tuck the houses in behind some of the snow drifts and place them any way you wish and adhere them into place.
I made this card to resemble a postcard. So the stamp shaped panel IS the card base. And the 2nd stamp shaped panel is where I stamped by sentiment/message. Any Christmas sentiment will do. I used a stamp that says, “It’s the most Wonderful Time of the Year”. It’s a cling stamp set called “Holly Jolly Wishes” from Stampin’Up! Then we glue the two panels together and the card is complete!
Alternately, we can create a regular card base ( I suggest white ) and adhere the edge to edge stamp panel to the front of the card and stamp the sentiment inside the card and this looks amazing as well!
If we are going to make several cards like this, I suggest we use our Cricut to die cut however many stamp panels we will be using, then stamp however many of the houses from the Yuletide Village stamp set we wish, then color them all at once, then fussy cut all of the houses and set them aside. Next, cut all of the snow drifts, then set the ink pads up in order of use starting with “guppy”, “prom queen”, “no diving”, “midnight snack” and “black”. Blend in each of the colors on all the panels you’re making, one at a time. So, all of the orange color, then all of the pink, then all of the lighter blue, then the darker, then the black. Next, emboss all of the panels, then you’ll be ready to assemble all of the cards! It goes faster than it would at first appear.
I hope you enjoyed this project. I had so much fun with this one and am looking forward to making lots more! Just remember to make these projects your own! Experiment, play with the inks and have fun creating and remember to always Keep It Krafty!
You can find me on Pinterest under kelliskraftsudio12. And visit my website anytime and take a look at my recent projects by going to www.kelliskraftstudio.com
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