Believe In The Magic Of Christmas...

Hello friends...hope you're all having a great week!

Today, it's the season to be jolly here on my blog as I'm sharing my first Christmas card of 2016! Some of you might recognise this card as this was one of the samples I created for the Tim Holtz Facebook Live Event ~ if you missed all the fun of this event, you can see it HERE and see all the incredible samples that everyone made using his amazing new Stampers Anonymous Holiday stamps and stencils.

I loved making these samples and can't wait to use all the other stamps for Christmas cards and home decor projects...it really is the most wonderful time of the year and here's how I created this particular card which in Tim's words...is HUGE!

To begin with I created a card blank from white card which measured 7" x 8".

To create the stencilled background, I cut a piece of linen card, slightly smaller than the card blank in size and painted the surface with a light wash of Stormy Sky Distress Paint. When the paint was thoroughly dry, I then applied some more of the same colour through the Nordic Layering Stencil ~ remember that you don't want to overload your applicator tool with too much paint as this might leak underneath the stencil ~ less is more and then you can gradually build up the intensity of colour!

I also wanted the background pattern to look random and a little bit distressed...so I didn't cover it entirely, leaving some areas lighter than others. Apply small scratch paint marks of gesso around the edges and then dry the surface using a heat tool before machine stitching around the outside.

Matt the background onto red card and then wrap some twine around the bottom section of the matted layers. Mount the background onto your card blank.

I then cut a panel of white stamping card, inked up the image of Santa from the Festive Sketch Stamp Set with Jet Black Archival Ink and stamp the image directly onto the card panel. Create a mask for Santa by stamping onto a piece of copy paper or as I did, a post it note and once you've cut around the outline, place the mask over the top of the stamped image. Using a second piece of copy paper, draw or die cut a circle, around 9cm in diameter. Place the circular mask onto your card, slightly overlapping the Santa mask that you've already placed down.

I then took my blending tool and applied Stormy Sky Distress Ink to the card, stopping about two thirds of the way down and leaving some white space at the bottom, which will become the snow.i I also inked heavier at the top and faded away towards the bottom.

Once happy with the sky, I removed the circular mask but kept Santa in place. Using Antique Linen Distress Ink, I then carefully inked inside the circle to create the moon. Flick water across the inked background and dab away the excess with a kitchen towel before heat drying the surface.

Keeping the Santa mask in place, I applied some gesso using my fingertips to blend out the paint to create a snowy landscape. Heat dry the paint and then remove the mask.

I coloured the image using Distress Marker Pens and then added a shadow beneath Santa's feet using Distress Crayons. Distress the edges of the card and then ink around the edge with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

Using the "Just Believe" message from the stamp set, I stamped the wording in Jet Black Archival Ink to the left of Santa and the applied a row of stars from the Gilded Accent Remnant Rubs set, placing them directly underneath.

Matt and layer the artwork using silver metallic kraft core card stock and a piece of co-ordinating card from the Distress Core'Dinations card stash.

Using foam pads, I attached my finished image centrally onto the stencilled background.

In the corner of the card, I used a spray of die cut foliage. For this I used the Holiday Greens dies to die cut various pieces of foliage in various shades of Distress Core'Dinations card. I then flicked Picket Fence paint across the die cut pieces and once they were thoroughly dry, I arranged them in the corner of my card, together with some floristry sisal. I then added some twine, a bow tied from Linen Ribbon and popped a Yuletide Fastener in the centre to complete the arrangement.

As a finishing touch to the artwork, I added some Distress Rock Candy Glitter to Santa's fur trim on his clothing and attached some Mirrored Stars and sequins around the image. I also added two small Hex Fasteners to the bottom left and right hand corners of the image.

I really hope you've enjoyed the creative process behind this very special Christmas card and thank you so much for stopping by today!

See you soon...Emma x