A Trio of Fun & Festive Christmas Cards

Hello there Spellbinders friends, Lisa Tilson here with you today on the Spellbinders blog. I’m so thrilled to be here to share three ideas for some merry and bright Christmas cards using the Essential Holiday Collection by Lisa Horton. This is such a fun and festive collection which includes dies (including a tag set) and press plates perfect for all your holiday projects. I really enjoyed making these three cards and hope you like them too!

Joy & Blessings

For my first card, I have gone with a grid-style layout. This is a format I love to use when I see a specific die that I think will look great when repeated in different colors.

Isn’t that little layered Christmas tree just the cutest? The tree can be found in the Nested Tree Frame Etched Dies set. I’m not going to lie here, there is a fair bit of die-cutting but you can speed up the process if you think ahead and die-cut as much in one pass through your die-cutting machine as possible. For example, at the same time as you are cutting your first tree, cut some snow layers, the star, the baubles, and even the tree trunk. Repeat this each time you do another tree until you are done!

For my trees I used Crimson and Poppy Field, Peridot and Fern, plus Pink Sand and Fruit Punch Color Essentials Cardstock.  I used Neenah Desert Storm for the tree trunk, Neenah Solar White 80lb for the snow layers, and the Mirror Gold from Gold Assortment Treasured Cardstock for the star and decorations.

I then assembled the trees using Bearly Art Glue and I popped some foam tape onto the back of each and set them to one side.

I love a circle sentiment so I was delighted to see the Festive Circle Sentiments Press Plates and Die Set has six options. As this is a press plate set, you can also use it for foiling (so handy! I love that you get a dual purpose with these plates). So, I foiled the sentiment plate using Champagne Glimmer Hot Foil onto white card, and then I die cut the circles out with the coordinating die using my Platinum 6 Die Cutting Machine. Within this press plate set you also have three shaped etched dies which you can use to cut a fun backdrop element to the sentiment! I took one of those and die-cut it from Poppy Field card. I added the foiled sentiment on top using some foam tape.

To assemble the card, I took an A2 panel of white card (4.25” x 5.5”) and worked out where the center was. I then adhered my greeting over that and used that as my guide to add the other trees, starting with the two trees on either side. It was then pretty easy to line up all the others. I finished by gluing the panel onto a top folding A2 110lb white note card (11” x 4.25”, scored at 5.5”).

Merry Christmas

For my second card I used the Nested Tree Frame Etched Dies set again, but this time I paired it with a lovely snowflake background panel from Holiday Background Panels Press Plates. There are four different backgrounds to choose from in this set and when pressed or foiled, they fit perfectly on the scalloped edge rectangle die from the Nested Tree Frames set. They are also a perfect fit to be cut out with the largest stitched rectangle.

I started by foiling the snowflake background panel onto some Fog Color Essentials Cardstock using Matte Silver Glimmer Hot Foil and the Glimmer Hot Foil System. The Matte Silver Foil tones really well with this grey card. It’s enough of a silver to be seen, but not too much so that it overpowers what you add on top!

Once I had foiled the panel, I cut it down using the largest stitched rectangle from Nested Tree Frame Etched Dies. It was then adhered onto a white scalloped rectangle, also from the same die set. I set these to one side to work on my little skating penguin.

The Dancin’ Penguin Etched Dies are actually an interactive set that you can assemble so that the skates swing from side to side. I didn’t create it as an interactive piece but just adhered the skates on so they stayed in one place. But I love that you can make them move!

So, the penguin was die cut from Peridot, Crimson, Onyx, Barely Peach, and Tuscan Color Essentials Cardstock along with some 80lb white card. For the skates and star wand I used the Mirror Silver from Silver Assortment Treasured Cardstock. I assembled all the pieces with glue and added some foam tape onto the back.

I popped the penguin onto the snowflake panel and then I used another round sentiment from Festive Circle Sentiments Press Plates and Die Set. This time I foiled the sentiments with Silver Glimmer Hot Foil and I added a different shaped red circle behind the “Merry Christmas” sentiment that I opted for. The sentiment was also popped onto the panel with foam tape.

I finished by adding the whole piece onto an A2 panel of Peridot Color Essentials Cardstock and then I glued that onto a top folding A2 white note card. I also added a few Silver Mix Color Essentials Gems for a bit of extra bling!

Merry & Bright

For my final card I used one of the ornaments from Festive Ornaments Etched Dies. This sweet set has a choice of three different ornaments along with a string and some holly leaves and berries. One of the ornaments creates a figgy pudding which I love!

I started by die cutting the ornament from Pink Sand and Fruit Punch Color Essentials Cardstock. I used the circle die in the Festive Ornaments set to cut a plain circle from Pink Sand. I then adhered the Fruit Punch piece onto the plain circle and then inlaid the stripe detail using wet adhesive. I die cut the string and ornament topper using two different gold cardstocks from Gold Assortment Treasured Cardstock. I adhered those onto the bauble using Bearly Art Glue. I also cut a few of the holly leaves from Peridot cardstock and also from a mid-green card from my stash.

To add some extra interest above the bauble I took a foliage die from Christmas Bird Poinsettia Etched Dies and die cut two leaf sprays from Peridot card. I set all this to one side and then worked on the background.

For this background, I dry embossed the snow background panel from Holiday Background Panels Press Plates. I placed the snow panel onto my BetterPress Letterpress System magnetic plate, taped some Porcelain Cardstock to the clear plate, and ran the system through my Platinum 6. I removed the embossed panel and die-cut it using the scalloped rectangle from Nested Tree Frame Etched Dies. Not only can you use your press plates to press and foil, don’t forget you can also dry emboss with them – so many uses!

The snow panel was adhered onto some Fog card using thin foam tape. I then popped my ornament on top. I glued the holly leaves and foliage around the top of the ornament and added some Red Color Essential Gems as my berries.

To finish the card I foiled a sentiment from the Essential Tag Accessories Press Plates and Die Set. I foiled it onto Poppy Field card using Champagne Glimmer Hot Foil and then I trimmed it down using the sentiment strip die from Mini Everyday Sentiments Press Plate and Die Set. This was added using foam tape and then I popped the whole lot onto a top folding A2 white note card.

So that brings us to a close! I hope that you have enjoyed seeing my three cards today and that they give you some inspiration for using this lovely collection. If you would like to see more of my cards, I would love to have you join me over on my blog, Instagram, Facebook or YouTube. In the meantime, thank you so much for joining me here on the blog today. I hope that you have a great day!

Spellbinders Supplies:

Other Supplies

Neenah Solar White Classic Crest 80 & 110lb cardstock, Neenah Desert Storm 80lb cardstock, Thin Foam Tape, Waffle Flower Grip Mat, Embellishment Wand