Christmas starts here...

Hello friends...

Hope you're all having a great week and looking forward to the weekend! Today, I'm sharing a card that I created for the Tim Holtz and Sizzix Chapter 3 release, which some of you might remember from Tim's FB Live, way back in July and don't worry if you don't because you can still see it HERE! I've had quite a few lovely followers asking about this card and asking when I would be sharing it ~ I always love reading all your messages and thank you so much for taking the time to contact me, I really do appreciate it, and now that October has arrived, then I thought this would be time for Christmas to officially start here on my blog and hope it was worth the wait!

So, let's get started ~ it's time to start celebrating the most wonderful time of the year!

Now, as many of you know ~ I do love making big statement cards, I think here in the UK we do tend to make slightly larger cards than the US, but I always think that this size of cards are perfect to send to special, loved ones and it also showcased that wonderful Merry Christmas die to perfection!

I began by creating my black card base, which measures 20 x 17cm and then scored and folded it on the left hand side.

I then cut a further panel of black card, 19 x 16cm and using the 'star' stamp from the Great Outdoors stamp set from Stampers Anonymous, inked in white ink ~ I stamped around the edges of the black card panel to create a gorgeous twinkling background. I then took the white ink pad and just edged the black card using the pad direct to paper, which creates a really nice chalkboard effect to the background.

I then cut a slightly smaller black card panel and repeated the stamped border around the edge of this panel. To set the ink on both pieces of card, I gave it a blast of heat using a heat gun and then matted the larger panel onto silver metallic kraft card before mounting it onto my card base.

Taking the smaller stamped panel, I stitched a border around the outside in ivory cotton thread, leaving some of the strands hanging loose.

After matting the smaller stamped panel onto silver metallic kraft card, I attached foam pads to the back of the panel and then mounted this onto the front of the card base.

Now to move onto the Merry Christmas banner and for this I used the Christmas Ribbon die set and cut the wording from Mixed Media card and inked the edges very lightly with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. I then cut the wording a second time from grey card and matted the ivory layer over the top, slightly offsetting this layer to create a drop shadow.

To create the floral arrangement, I used the Large Funky Festive. This layered die does take a little bit of die cutting time but it is so worth it when you see the beautiful poinsettias and festive foliage.

If you want to use coloured card to create the festive foliage, then that would be perfect but for this particular card, I used Distress Inks and Oxide inks to colour Heavystock Mixed Media card.

For the poinsettia layers, holly berries and the ribbon bow: A combination of Festive Berries and Candied Apple Distress Inks and Oxide Inks

For the foliage: Iced Spruce Oxide Inks, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss

For the mistletoe leaves: Bundled Sage, Peeled Paint and Antique Linen for the berries

For the branches: Gathered Twigs

After applying each of the individual families of inks to my glass mat, one colour family at a time ~ I then spritzed with water and smooshed the cardstock through to pick up the colour. If you need more depth of colour, just keep dipping in and out of the inks until you're happy. 

TOP TIP for the next stage: Add some adhesive sheets to the back of your inked card as this is going to be your friend when you start layering all of the pieces together. After drying the card stock thoroughly, I cut all my foliage from the card, lightly inked the edges of each individual piece with Frayed Burlap and then layered each of the pieces to create a good selection of die cuts. For the centres of each of the poinsettias, I used black card to cut these small circular pieces. To create the gorgeous icy feel that is on the greenery, I started by dry brushing Picket Fence Distress Paint over the tips of each piece before heat drying the paint. I then took a clean brush and dipped it into Matte Collage Medium and applied the medium over the tips before dipping each piece into Rock Candy Dry Glitter ~ tapping away the excess and leaving them to one side to dry.

Now that all the hard work is done ~ all that's left to do is put this card together and start by adhering the Merry Christmas ribbon die cut to the smaller black panel using Matte Collage Medium. I then took all my die cut foliage and arranged it across the bottom of my card in a swathe.

To complete the card, I cut the bow from some more of the red coloured card but used my Festive Berries Distress Marker pen to create a shadow on the underneath section of the bow. Assemble the bow and layer each of the pieces before attaching it to the wording.

As a finishing touch, I added some die cut stars, cut using the Swirling Stars die and then a couple of hex fasteners to the top left and right hand corners of the inner panel....

...and that completes this card, which I hope gives you some inspiration for your Christmas card making!

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today and hope to see you again soon, love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous: Great Outdoors

Tim Holtz/Sizzix: Large Funky Festive, Christmas Ribbon, Swirling Stars
Distress Oxide Inks: Festive Berries, Candied Apple, Iced Spruce
Distress Inks: Frayed Burlap, Peeled Paint, Forest Moss, Festive Berries, Candied Apple, Antique Linen

Distress Marker Pens

Idea-ology: Hex Fasteners

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Unicorn White Hero Arts Ink Pad
Surfaces: Mixed Media Heavystock, Watercolour Card, black Card, Metallic Kraft Stash
Foam Pads
Tim Holtz Media Glass Mat

Heat Gun
Big Shot