Ho Ho Ho! A Vintage Santa Christmas Card

Hello crafty friends!  With eight days to go until Christmas, I thought I'd make a card to share with you using Honey Bee Stamps totally amazing Lovely Layers: Vintage Santa Honey Cuts.  The details on this Santa's face are truly amazing and so life like!

First I worked on making the Lovely Layers: Vintage Santa.  I die cut red and brown cardstocks with the clothing dies.  All other die cut pieces are from white cardstock.

I used Copic markers to color each die cut of the facial details.  Here is a list of colors I used:

• skin tones: E11, E50, E51, E53
• cheeks, tongue: R20, R21, R30
• eyes: BG02, 100
• shading hair/beard and trim on clothes: B0000, C00, C00, C01

I also used a dark red and brown Copic maker to add some quick shading to the clothes and boots.

Using the Layering Guide (link to download is in product description) is so helpful when assembling the layers for the first time.  I used Bee Creative glue to adhere each layer.  Then I added details to Santa's cheeks, hat, and clothes with a white gel pen.

Next I die cut green cardstock with the Pine Trees Honey Cuts.  I used a blending brush to add dark green ink for shading.  Then I used my finger to add Snowfall Distress Grit Paste here and there on the trees.  I set them aside to dry.

Next I created a fun bokeh watercolor background.  Later today, I will have a reel on my Instagram where you can see exactly how I made this.  The basic steps are as follows.

• Trim watercolor paper to 5" x 7" and tape it down to your work surface with removable tape.
• Use a wide flat paintbrush to wet the entire panel.
• Starting at the top, brush on dark blue watercolor from side to side to create an ombre look.
• For the bokeh dots I took a small piece of clean paper towel and wrapped a few coins of different sizes with it.  If you panel is still wet, just dab the wrapped coin onto the panel to lift the paint.
• My panel was dry, so I misted just a bit of water onto the paper towel and pressed it onto the painted surface to lift off the paint.
• Next I diluted bleed-proof white paint with a bit of water and added splatters to the panel with a paint brush.

When the splatters were dry, I diluted more white paint and used a brush to paint the snowy ground and dried it with my heat tool.  Then  I used a pallet knife to smear Snowfall Distress Grit Paste over the white paint.  This Grit Paste gives a subtle sparkle for the snow.

I adhered the dry panel to a 5" x 7" card base.  Then I used glue and foam tape to adhere all of the elements to the card.

I'm still using the sentiments from the Simply Stated: Holiday stamp set.  I stamped this once a few weeks ago.  You get 14 sentiments on one stamp!  Then die cut them out all at once with the coordinating Simply Stated die.

I find creating backgrounds like this one so very relaxing!  Do you ever create inky backgrounds for your cards?  You should try it!  Just remember to have fun and don't worry about messing up--it's just paper!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!  I'll be back here on Christmas Eve to share one more holiday card!  Have a wonderful week until then!

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Merry Mail Christmas Card | Honey Bee Stamps

Happy December friends! I cannot believe it's already December, but I'm happy there's still lots of time to make our Christmas cards! My card today features the beautiful Honey Bee Stamps Merry Mail stamp set and coordinating Honey Cuts.  I had so much fun creating my scene for the mailbox, I kind of forgot about adding any sentiment! Haha! Keep reading to see which set has the perfect small sentiment that fit just right!

First I created my card base and layer. I inked up some 80# Neenah with my favorite wintery sky Distress Oxide Inks. I used a Detail Blender brush to blend on Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans and Stormy Sky in a random pattern. Next I die cut the panel with the Northern Star Cover Plate die. Then I used the second largest Sweet Stacks: Rectangles die to cut it down. I added some splatters of Confetti White Perfect Pearls with a paint brush and water. I adhered it to a top-folding A2 card base with Bee Creative glue.

To add to the background scene I die cut green card stock using the Pine Trees Honey Cuts. I added some Rustic Wilderness Distress Ink around the edges of each tree with a Blender Brush. Next I die cut white card stock to create the hills and fence using the Horizon Slimline Borders Honey Cuts. I trimmed them to 4" and arranged the trees, fence and two hills. Once I had them the way I liked, I used Bee Creative glue to adhere them all but for the top hill, which is popped up with foam tape. I added a line of glue along the top edge of the hill and sprinkled on some coarse glitter for a bit of sparkle.

Next I stamped all of the images from the Merry Mail stamp set with Intense Black Ink. (I usually just stamp everything so I can pick and choose the elements I want as I create my card.) I stamped two each of the pine branches and berry branches. Then I colored them all with my Copic markers. I used the coordinating Honey Cuts to cut them out. Now for the fun part of arranging them all! I trimmed off the bottom of the mailbox post to make it fit the perspective of my scene and popped it up with some thin foam tape. The mailbox flag is also popped up with foam tape. Before I adhered the gifts and mail to the mailbox, I trimmed off the white edge on the left side to give it a more seamless look with the mailbox.

Once everything was adhered, I added Glossy Accents to the berries. I used a black pen to add details to two of the gifts and a clear glitter pen for some sparkle. AND, it was at this point I remembered I forgot to plan for a sentiment! Haha! Well, the small sentiments from the Tag, You're It: Holidays came to the rescue! I stamped one of the sentiments with Intense Black Ink and used the coordinating Honey Cut to cut it out. Having coordinating dies for the sentiments makes it so easy to put your sentiment on your finished card!!!

I hope I've brought some inspiration to you today for your Christmas cards. I always appreciate you so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful, crafty day!