Christmas Cards with Simon Hurley Timeless Trees Collection

Hello crafty friends! It’s Rachel Alvarado from RachelAlvaradoDesigns.com. I am thrilled to be back on the Spellbinders Blog today sharing some cards that feature products from the beautiful new Simon Hurley Timeless Trees Collection.

I immediately fell in love with this collection at first sight!  My first card showcases the new Classic Christmas Tree Die Set combined with the gorgeous Branches 3D Embossing Folder. To assemble my tree, I first die-cut all my pieces from a variety of colored card stock.  I used two shades of green card stock for my tree, making sure to use the darker green for my background piece. To add some shading, I lightly blended some Mowed Lawn Distress Ink on my lighter green pieces.

I centered my tree on an oval piece that I had die cut from white card stock using one of the dies from the previously released Postage Edge Ovals Die Set. Next, I lightly blended some Evergreen Bough Distress Oxide Ink to my background to add some interest. For my card base, I embossed a 4.25” x 5.5” piece of dark green card stock with the new Branches 3D Embossing Folder before adding my images and sentiment.

My second card also features the Classic Christmas Tree Die Set. However, this time, instead of assembling a Christmas tree, I created a wintery night scene combining this set with the deer from the Mantle Decorations Etched Dies Set. I made this card slightly larger at 4.5” x 6.25”.

For my background, I blended a mix of Tumbled Glass, Uncharted Mariner, Chipped Sapphire, and Black Soot Distress Inks.  In order to create a snowy effect, I added some spatters of diluted Copic Opaque White Paint with a small round paint brush. To create my snowy drifts, I simply fussy cut them from white card stock with a pair of scissors.

My third card features the beautiful new Whimsical Bottle Brush Trees Etched Dies. I combined them with the Postage Edge Oval Die Set that I used in my first card to create a fun-shaped focal point in the center of my card.

For my background, I lightly blended some Candied Apple Distress Ink and once again added some white ink spatters for some extra texture and interest. I used a combination of red colored card stock pieces for my red trees and lightly added some Candied Apple and Gathered Twigs Distress Inks to each piece for some slight shading.

For my next card, I made a fun winter-themed shadow box card that folds flat to measure at a standard A2 sized card of 4.25” x 5.5”. When upright, my card measures at 4” across, 1.5” deep, and 4.25” tall. For my décor, I used both the Mantle Village and Mantle Decoration Etched Dies Sets. To add some snow to my trees and branches, I painted some diluted Copic Opaque White Paint onto each piece with a small brush.

How to build your own A2 Shadow Box Card:

• Trim two pieces of card stock to 7” long x 4.25” tall
• Score on the 7” side at 1.5” from each end on both pieces and fold to create tabs
• Die cut a window (I used a basic circle die) into the front center of one of the pieces (this will be the front of your card).
• For the inside pieces, I trimmed two more pieces of card stock to 4.75” and scored tabs at 3/8” from the end of each piece. I then used a smaller circle die to cut out a window in each piece to give my card a tunnel effect.
• Lastly, I fussy cut some snow drifts to add to my inner shelves at slightly less than 4” across and about 1”high.

For my final card, I created one more shadow box card that resembles a 3D fireplace. In order to decorate this card, I once again used both the Mantle Decorations and Mantle Village Etched Die Sets. In order to create wood-textured logs for my fire, I used the mantle die that comes with the Mantle Village Etched Dies Set and die cut it from some light brown card stock.  I then added ink blending with some Gathered Twigs and Ground Espresso Distress Inks before cutting the piece in half and rounding the edges of each piece to look more like logs.

This shadow box is slightly smaller than the one above and when folded, measures at 4 5/8” long x 3.5” tall.  When upright, it measures at 3 5/8” long, 1” wide, and 3.5” tall.  Even with the added elements on top of the fireplace mantle, this card should still easily fit into an A2 size envelope for mailing.

How to Build Your Own Fireplace Shadow Box Card:

• Trim two pieces of card stock to 3.5” x 5 5/8”
• Score each piece on the long side at 1” from each end and fold to create tabs
• Die cut a square window into the front of one piece
• Trim another piece of card stock at 3.5” x 4 3/8” to use as the inside shelf to the card.
• Score this inside piece on the long side at 3/8” from each end to create the tabs that will glue to the insides of the box card
• Use the same square as above to cut another window into this inside piece in roughly the same spot that you did for the front piece of the card.
• Glue this piece to the inside walls of the base piece
• Add your main front piece and overlap the 1” side tabs on top of the 1” side tabs of the base piece.
• Add your décor and sentiment

I hope you enjoyed my cards today and will give this collection a closer look!  Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by!

Rachel

Spellbinders Supplies:

Other Supplies

Tumbled Glass Distress Ink, Uncharted Mariner Distress Ink, Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink, Mowed Lawn Distress Ink, Gathered Twigs Distress Ink, Ground Espresso Distress Ink, Candied Apple Distress Ink, Evergreen Bough Distreess Oxide Ink