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Showing posts with label Hero Arts Infinity Nesting Tag dies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hero Arts Infinity Nesting Tag dies. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Wishing you a Merry Christmas - The Quest for Fast but Beautiful Christmas Cards

Since I did not have the opportunity to make Christmas cards early this year, I am trying to come up with cards that can be made quickly, can be made in multiples, and yet are still beautiful.

I got this great "Merry" stamp at Impress this summer, and it was on a very simple card, so knowing that I would need stamps like that, I bought it. It was on a wood base, which I quickly fixed by turning it into a cling. I have done this with all of my wood stamps, and consider it a must if you are doing multiples of one card.


Granted, I could have made this easier if I only used one embossing powder. There was the added complication that only the "Merry" stamp was rubber, and the others were clear.

I cut panels from red cardstock using the stitched rectangle die from Die-Namics MFT-463 Blueprints 13 die set. That die cuts a panel that is 4" x 5.25", and has a nice stitched edge.

I set up two stamp positioners to make it easier to make these by assembly line. I first stamped and embossed the "Merry" stamp; then I stamped and embossed the other text. The "Christmas" is from a Concord & 9th set, and the sentiments "wishing you a" & "and happy new year" are from a Simon Says Stamp set. The poinsettia is from the same Concord & 9th set that the "Christmas" sentiment is from. Unfortunately, I had to wait and stamp the poinsettia last. This is because I decided that I wanted to color the leaves green. 

I initially stamped the poinsettia image with white ink and left the stamp in the positioner. I then quickly colored the leaves with Prismacolor pencils. Since the stamp was still in place, I was then able to stamp the Poinsettia image again, right over the colored image (always use a powder bag or some sort of anti-static embossing tool first) using Versamark ink. I then embossed the flower in gold.


The above photo was taken before embossing the flower in gold. After embossing, I colored the petals with a Wink of Stella clear glitter pen. Actually, I had wanted to bleach out the petals, but not all cardstock can be bleached, and Hopsack Red is one of those.

To keep it simple, I elected not to mat my panel and mounted it straight onto a base card.

While I had all of these materials out, I decided to make tags as well. The "Christmas" sentiment would not fit on the size tag I chose, so I found a suitable one in a clear set that I got at Impress.


The white embossing powder I used on these is JudiKins White Diamond, and these are so sparkly in real life!

I hope you enjoyed! I would encourage you to look through the stamps you have, and put together a simple card or tags with different stamp sets.

Products used:

Impress 5716E Striped Merry
Impress Modern Sentiment Holiday clear set (for tag)
Concord & 9th Christmas Florals Stamp set (for card)
Simon Says Stamp Holiday Greetings Mix 1 (for card)
Versamark ink
JudiKins White Diamond embossing powder
Ranger Gold embossing powder
Prismacolor Pencils: PC1005 Limepeel, PC907 Peacock Green
Wink of Stella Clear Glitter pen
Hero Arts DI 197 Infinity Nesting Tag dies
The Paper Cut Hopsack Red cardstock
Neenah Solar White 110# cardstock