Category Archives: Holiday

Watercolor a Festive Christmas Door with VersaMagic

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By Jessica Lin

Skill: Advanced
Time: 1.5 hours

Hi everyone! It’s Jessica here and I am so excited to share today’s project with you. Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year and I love making Christmas cards. I decided to build a doorway scene today using Stampin’ Up’s At Home with You stamps and dies. After die cutting, the door actually opens, making this a special and interactive Christmas card.

Step 1:
The stamp set I am using today is At Home with You from Stampin’ Up. It features a door and various elements that are great for building specific scenes for different occasions such as Christamas, Thanksgiving, or birthdays. I stamped several images with VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink. It’s a pigment-based ink that is waterproof and great for being the outlines of watercolored images.

Step 2:
After die cutting the stamped images with coordinating dies, it’s time to watercolor. I decided to use VersaMagic Red Magic, Red Brick, and Delicata Ruby Red for the door. I pressed some ink onto an acrylic block and watercolored with a waterbrush.

Step 3:
For the door frame, I watercolored with VersaMagic Gingerbread and Jumbo Java.

Step 4:
Then I added VersaMagic Mango Madness to the window and the candle. Don’t forget to color the door knob, too! I used VersaMagic Niagara Mist with a hint of Aspen Mist. The candle shade is colored with the same colors as the door knob.

Step 5:
Finally, for the plants and wreaths, I watercolored with VersaMagic Hint of Pesto, Delicata Emerald Green and Ruby Red. Delicata ink pads are shimmery and add the perfect touch of Christmas spirit to these images. I wish you could see the shimmer in person!

Lastly, I colored the planter with VersaMagic Wheat ink pad.

Step 6:
Since we are building a front door scene, I embossed the background cardstock with Stampin’ Up’s Brick & Mortar embossing folder. I love the realistic brick textures of this embossing folder; it’s one of my all-time favorites.

Step 7:
Then I added a piece of 4’’ x 1 ½’’ wood patterned paper as the foreground. I also added yellow patterned paper to the inside of the door; this door die actually cuts around the door frame so that the door can open! Isn’t it a fun, little mechanism?

Step 8:
You can then add a Christmas greeting that will be revealed when you open the door. I decided to keep it simple and stamped a “Merry Christmas” sentiment with VersaMagic Nocturne ink pad.

Step 9:
The At Home with You stamp set also comes with a door mat image. I stamped it several times on burlap paper with VersaMagic Nocturne ink pad.

Imagine Supplies:

Other Supplies:

  • Stampin’ Up! – Stamps & Dies – At Home with You
  • Stampin’ Up! – Embossing Folder – Brick & Mortar
  • Waterbrush
  • Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Cardstock

 Create a Winter Card with Minimal Supplies 

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By Jessica Lin 

Skill: Beginner 
Time: 15 minutes 

Hi everyone! It’s Jessica here. Today I have a beginner-friendly project to share with you. If you are just starting out and don’t have many ink pads, this tutorial is for you. I will be sharing some stamping techniques to help you create shades of color with just one ink pad. So let’s get started!

Step 1:
The ink pad I will be using today is VersaFine Clair Spruce. It is perfect for stamping the pine tree images from Stampin’ Up’s Winter Woods set. I stamped the image in the center on a piece of 3 ½’’ x 4 ¾’’ Soft Seafoam cardstock. 

Step 2:
Then I stamped a different pine tree image on the left and right at various heights. You might notice that some of the pine trees appear darker; that is because I stamped the image twice. By using a stamp positioning tool, you can restamp an image at the same spot. In this case, it creates a darker shade of color even though you are using the same color ink pad. On the very left, there is a pine tree that looks lighter in color. To achieve this effect, you can stamp lightly on a piece of scrap paper first. Then, using the leftover ink, stamp on the cardstock to create a lighter shade. 

Step 3:
I then sprinkled some diluted white acrylic paint for a snowing effect. Once the acrylic paint is dried, you can stamp the sentiment. I decided to use Stampin’ Up’s Merry Christmas to All stamp set and stamped it with Brilliance Galaxy Gold ink pad. 

Step 4:
For an even more dramatic snow effect, you could add white Neon Amplify to the bottom edge of the cardstock. I drew a wavy pattern that mimics the looks of piles of snow. You don’t have to wait for the puff paint to dry, you can heat set it with a heat gun immediately and the paint will puff up! 

Step 5:
Then I adhered the stamped panel to a piece of Shaded Spruce cardstock that measures 3 ¾’’ x 5’’. After that, mount the cardfront to an A2 Mint Macaron cardbase. For some finishing touches, I adhered some white and gold sequins with On-Point Glue, and this holiday card is complete! 

Imagine Supplies: 

● VersaFine Clair – Spruce 
● Brilliance – Galaxy Gold 
● Neon Amplify – White 
● On-Point Glue 
● StazOn Cleaner 
● Tear It! Tape 
● Craft Mat 

Other Supplies: 

● Stampin’ Up! – Stamps – Winter Woods 
● Stampin’ Up! – Stamps – Merry Christmas to All 
● Stampin’ Up! – Cardstock – Soft Seafoam, Shaded Spruce, Mint Macaron 
● Heat gun 
● Gold and white sequins 

Let’s Make an Elegant Snowflakes Card

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By Katy Ingram

Hello Friends! Katy here with another holiday video using VersaFine Clair inks to create a beautiful mixed media looking snowflake card. Video has all the details. Thanks for watching.

Skill: Beginner, Intermediate
Time: 15 minutes

Art Supplies

Imagine Products
VersaFine Clair https://www.imaginecrafts.com/versafine-clair
Baby Pink, Hawthorn Rose, Arctic and Twilight
On Point Glue 
Double Sided Adhesive

Other Products Used
Hero Arts Stacking Snowflakes
White Cardstock
Hot Pressed Watercolor paper
Stamp positioner tool
Foam Tape
Snowflake Dies

Simon Says Stamp White Christmas Background Stamp

How to Make a Let It Snow Winter Card

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By Tracy Fear

Hello Friends! Happy Holidays! How lucky would one be to come upon a peaceful scene like this, 2 deer hunting for grass on a snowy landscape? For this card I stayed focused on only two colors and some glitter paper to create this wintry scene.

Tracy

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 60 Minutes

Art Supplies

• Die cutting machine
• 100lb white paper
• A2 Card Base
• Water and a brush
• Dies
• Glitter cardstock
• Vellum
• Foam Tape
• White Paint

Imagine Products
• Memento Inks in: Rhubarb Stalk and Peanut Brittle
• VersaFine Clair in Acorn
• VersaMark Ink
• Delicata Ink in Celestial Copper

Other Products Used
• Clear Embossing Powder WOW
• Snowflake Stencil-no label, but I think it is Tonic Studio
• Simon Says Stamp and Die Set “Joy to You and Yours”
• PVA Adhesive
• Foam Tape

ALTERNATIVE PRODUCTS THAT CAN BE USED TO RECREATE SOMETHING SIMILAR

Any Inks any combination of background stamps, dies, and feature stamps and stencil

To learn how to create your own vintage Christmas card,  click here!

Let’s Make an Elegant Holiday Card

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By Katy Ingram

Hello Friends! Katy here with a holiday video using Versafine Clair inks and Love Letter Memento Ink. With some simple touches and color combos you can create a stunning elegant holiday card in just a few steps. Video has all the details. Thanks for watching.

Skill: Beginner, Intermediate
Time: 15 minutes

Art Supplies

Imagine Products
VersaFine Clair: Spruce, Grass Green and Twilight
Memento Ink – Love Letter
On Point Glue
Double Sided Adhesive

Other Products Used
The Greetery Scripted Holiday Sentiments Stamp Set
The Greetery Scripted Holiday Sentiments Die Set
White Cardstock
White Metallic Cardstock
Stamp positioner tool
Foam Tape

How to Make Hand-Painted Christmas Wood Slice Ornaments

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By Helen Gullett

Hello crafty friends… Can you believe it? The holiday season is here!!! Making Christmas ornaments is one of my favorite things to do. Today let’s make some handmade ornaments together. These ornaments can be additions to your own Christmas tree or you can give them to your families and friends.

Skill: Easy
Time: 15-30 minutes

Ornament #1 – Holiday Evergreen Wood Slice Ornament

Directions:

Step 1
First, make sure your wood slice surface is smooth and clean. There are pre-sanded wood slices available online, too. If your wood slices were not sanded yet, you can sand it with sanding paper. Use a dry paper towel to clean the surface well.

Draw a circle and branches with the Rich Cocoa Memento Marker brush tip. You also can use a circle template to draw the circle.

Step 2
Use the brush tip of the Pear Tart Memento Marker to draw the layer of pine needle leaves with outward flicking motion on each branch.

Step 3
Draw the second layer of the pine needle leaves on each branch using the fine tip of Cottage Ivy Memento Marker.

Step 4
Draw the berries on the wreath using the fine tip of the Lady Bug Memento Marker. Simple doodle 3 little circles.

Step 5
Write lightly the word “Noel” (or any word you want on your ornament) with pencil and then trace it with the Tuxedo Black Memento Marker brush tip. You can skip the pencil if you can do handlettering directly with the marker.

These Memento Markers dry quickly and the ink won’t smudge on the wood surface. Add a piece of burlap twine to the ornament and tie it up as the hanger.

Ornament #2 – Faux Chalkboard Wood Slice Ornament

Directions:
For the second ornament we are going to make today is a faux chalkboard wood slice ornament. There are a couple ways to do a faux chalkboard look on a wood slice, today we are going to do simply just painting and stamping.

Step 1
Paint the wood with chalkboard paint or multi-surface black acrylic paint. Usually one layer of paint will be enough. Make sure the paint dries well before you do the stamping.

On the wood on a stamping tool and use the magnets to keep it in place or you can use tape on the back of the wood slice and place it on the stamping tool.

On the dried painted surface, stamp the sentiment using StazON Opaque – Cotton White ink.

Step 2
Stamp the holly leaves and berries using StazOn Opaque – Cotton White on the ornament around the sentiment using the stamping tool or small stamping blocks.

When the ink dried well, add a piece of baker twine to the ornament as the hanger.

I hope you like these ornament ideas and you will find it easy to make your own ornaments. Also, making ornaments can be a fun Christmas craft party idea. I love both style ornaments, which one do you like?

Thank you for stopping by our blog today. Have a wonderful day!

Craft Supplies

Imagine Crafts:

Others:

  • Thoughtful Wreath Stamp Set (Creative Worship Stamps)
  • Wood Slices (3-4 inch)
  • Burlap twine (usually it is included if you buy wood slice kit)
  • Black Paint (chalk or multi surface acrylic paint)
  • Small flat paint brush
  • Sanding paper
  • Stamping Tool
  • Stamping Blocks