Watercolor a Festive Christmas Door with VersaMagic

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

How to Make a Let It Snow Winter Card

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 a Repurposed Tea Tin Box

By Anna Escalada York

I’ve had a small metal tea box that I’ve wanted to repurpose into a mixed media piece for a while, so I took some time on a rainy day to make it happen.

Skill: Advanced
Time: 1 hour active time, 6+ hours (drying between layers)

Directions:

Step 1:

After applying two coats of gesso around all four sides of a tea tin, spray the top of the tin with Cherry Blossom Walnut Ink Antiquing Solution and allow it to drip down the sides of the tin. Set aside to dry.

Step 2:

Spray all four sides of the tin with Lulu Lavender Fireworks! Craft Spray and allow to dry.

Step 3:

While the tin was drying, die cut four leaf clusters out of watercolor paper. Then randomly add Paris Dusk Fireworks! Craft Spray to the centers of each leaf with the stick of the spray nozzle and color the outsides of the leaves with Elderberry Memento Dual Marker.

Step 4:

Spray each of the 4 leaf clusters with Lulu Lavender Fireworks! Craft Spray and allow to dry.

Step 5:

Partially stamp each of the four sides of the tin with Night Sky VersaMagic ink on a background stamp. (I used an old woodblock typewriter stamp.) Then press the ink pad along the top edge of the tin and the raised rib as well. Heat emboss the top rim of ink with clear embossing powder.

Step 6:

Ink blend Lilac VersaColor ink through a stencil on all four sides of the tin using a sponge dauber. (Not pictured was splattering more of the Paris Dusk Fireworks! Craft Spray onto each of the four sides as well.) Then allow everything to dry.

Step 7:

Glue two of the leaf cluster dies (one on top of the other) along the right edge of two of the sides of the tin.

Not pictured was the step after this where I decided to use my sponge daubers to ink blend some more of the Night Sky VersaMagic ink along some of the edges of the leaves while they were glued down, nor using my Gold Sheer Shimmer Stix Dauber Top to add some gold to the leaves as well.

Splatter the tin with more Paris Dusk Fireworks! Craft Spray. Allow it to dry. Then glue dark blue gems around the leaf clusters to finish the box on the two slides with leaves.

Art Supplies

Imagine

Fireworks! – Lulu Lavender and Paris Dusk
Memento Dual Marker – Elderberry
Sheer Shimmer Stix Dauber Top – Gold
VersaColor ink – Lilac
VersaMagic ink – Night Sky
Walnut Ink Antiquing Solution – Cherry Blossom
Sponge Daubers

Other

AALL & Create – stencil – Lotza Starz 6″x6″ stencil
Golden – Gesso Semi-Opaque Acrylic Primer
Scrappy Tails Crafts – embellishment mix
Simon Says Stamp – die cut – Autumn Leaf Branch
Old typewriter woodblock stamp in my stash
Clear Embossing Powder
Watercolor paper
Foam paint brush (for the gesso)
Die cutting machine
Glue

Ink-Painted Sunflower Card using Brushstix

By Tracy Fear

Hello Friends! Tracy here and today I am delighted to share this tutorial about how to color with your inks and using Brushstix to get into those tiny places!

Tracy

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 30 Minutes to 90 Minutes

Art Supplies

• Stamping Platform
• Glue
• Paint Brush
• White Paint
• Gold Splatter Paint
• Scene Stamp
• Small Blending Brushes

Imagine Products
• VersaFine Clair in Acorn
• Versamark Ink
• Memento Inks
– Tangelo
– Morocco
– Potter’s Clay
– Rubarb Stalk

• Versa Magic Inks
– Hint of Pesto
-Mango Madness
-Tea Leaves
-Jumbo Java
-Sea Breeze

• BrushStix

Other Products Used
• Sunflower Stamp from Blue Knight Rubber Stamps
• 120lb paper in white
• Misti tool
• PVA Adhesive 

ALTERNATIVE PRODUCTS THAT CAN BE USED TO RECREATE SOMETHING SIMILAR
Any Inks

Let’s Give your Clipboard a Makeover

By Anna Escalada York

– I had an old clipboard that I wanted to decorate and was able to make it work with some of my Imagine Craft supplies.

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 2.0 hours (includes drying time)

Directions:

Step 1:
Paint a thin layer of thin layer of white gesso onto an old clipboard and set aside to dry. (I used some old spools of washi tape to hold open the metal clip so that it wouldn’t get stuck in the drying gesso.)

Step 2:
Spray Pear Tart Fireworks! Craft Spray through a detailed heart stencil on the lower left corner of the clipboard. Emboss with clear embossing powder to set the spray.

Here is a closeup of Step 2:

Step 3:
Stamp a large butterfly in the upper left part of the clipboard base and a sentiment (or maybe in this case affirmation) in the lower right corner with Nocturne VersaFine Clair ink and then heat emboss both with clear embossing powder.

Step 4:
Watercolor smoosh the clipboard with a variety of blue, green and black watercolor in layers.

  • Starting out with Turquoise Gem VersaMagic Chalk Ink, press the ink pad onto a scrap piece of acetate packaging and spray with water. Then press the acetate over the butterfly to create a light blue area around the butterfly. Press the remaining color from the acetate in a diagonal line across the clipboard from the upper left corner to the lower right corner into the stamped sentiment.
  • Repeat the process with Hint of Pesto VersaMagic Chalk Ink.
  • Then draw on the acetate with Danube Blue Memento Dual Marker and spray with water; this time focus most of this darker color around the butterfly and splatter the clipboard with the remainder of the dark blue watercolor.
  • Finally, draw on the acetate with Tuxedo Black Memento Dual Marker and spray with water. Use the black watercolor to splatter the butterfly (and to cover up any blemishes left behind when stamping).

Let everything dry.

Step 5:
Color in parts of the butterfly image with Tropical Lagoon Fabrico Dual Marker (center of the upper wings) and Pear Tart Memento Dual Marker (small circles on the edge of the lower wings). Color in the word curiosity in the sentiment with more of the Tropical Lagoon Fabrico Dual Marker. Heat emboss with clear embossing powder.

Step 6:
Spray Silver Sheer Shimmer Craft Spray onto the acetate and watercolor smoosh it onto the clipboard. Splatter any remaining spray on the acetate onto the clipboard. If larger individual splatters are desired, unscrew the top and use the tube/straw from the spray bottle to dab large blobs of Silver Sheer Shimmer Craft Spray onto the clipboard and finish the project.

Art Supplies

Imagine
• Fabrico Dual Marker – Tropical Lagoon
• Fireworks! Craft Spray – Pear Tart
• Memento Dual Markers – Danube Blue, Pear Tart and Tuxedo Black
• Sheer Shimmer Craft Spray – Silver
• VersaFine Clair ink – Nocturne
• VersaMagic Chalk ink – Hint of Pesto and Turquoise Gem

Other
• Golden – Gesso Semi-Opaque Acrylic Primer
• Stampers Anonymous and Tim Holtz – stamp set – Perspective CMS213 Clear Embossing Powder
• Foam paint brush (for the gesso) Thin paint brush (for splattering) Small detail stencil in my stash

Beginner Friendly 3D Christmas Card Using VersaMagic Ink Pads

By Jessica Lin

– Hi everyone! It’s Jessica here. Today I am sharing a simple way to create 3D Christmas trees for your holiday cards. It is beginner friendly with minimal supplies, and I think it’s perfect to mass produce as well.

Skill: Beginner
Time: 30 min

Directions:

Step 1:
Start by stamping Christmas tree images with VersaMagic Aloe Vera and Tea Leaves ink pads. I used stamps from Stampin’ Up’s Perfectly Plaid set, but any small Christmas tree image would work for today’s technique. For each 3D Christmas tree, you would need three layers. You could stamp each design three times for each layer, or only stamp the top layer for quick mass production of cards.

Step 2:
Next, use the matching paper punch to cut out the Christmas trees. If you only stamped the top layer, be sure to punch out 2 additional cutouts with white cardstock for each 3D tree you are building. Since I am making two 3D trees today, I would need 4 more white cutouts.

Step 3:
Score each Christmas tree cutout in the middle. I lined up the top and bottom of the cutout to the score guide to score.

Step 4:
After scoring, fold the stamped Christmas tree cutout in half, and apply On Point Glue to the top of the folded crease. Then adhere it to a blank (or stamped) cutout. Be sure to hold the folded layer in place for about 20 seconds before the glue dries. Repeat this process to adhere the second layer to the third tree cutout.

Step 5:
Now that the 3D Christmas trees are made, it is time to prepare the card base. Trim a piece of patterned paper to 4 x 2 ¼ inches and a cut a 4 ¼ inch piece of gold glitter washi tape. Trim one side at an angle to create a banner shape and adhere both pieces to the card base.

Step 6:
Finally, stamp the sentiment using VersaMagic Ocean Depth ink pad. Adhere the 3D Christmas trees using Tear-It! Tape and embellish the card with a few rhinestones.

Here is a finished card where I stamped all 3 layers of the 3D Christmas trees. I love how easy it is to create the 3D element, and it is mail-friendly, too! I hope this tutorial inspires you to get a headstart on making Christmas cards for this year. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll see you in my next tutorial!

Imagine Supplies:

Other Supplies:

  • Stampin’ Up! – Stamps – Perfectly Plaid
  • Stampin’ Up! – Punch – Pine Tree Punch
  • Stampin’ Up! – Paper – Pool Party cardstock
  • Plaid Patterned Paper
  • Gold Glitter Washi Tape
  • Park Lane – Embellishment – Blue Adhesive Backed Rhinestones