As soon as I saw the Happy Holly-Days Stamp Set from Stampin’ Up! I knew I had to get it. I love the large sentiments but for me it was the bird that really drew me in. Since getting my hands on the set I haven’t been disappointed and the ideas keep on coming. Today I wanted to make a simple Christmas card with a difference. So out went the traditional colours and in came a neutral colour scheme.

HAPPY HOLLY-DAYS

I began my project with the bird image and a Soft Suede ink pad.

On the front of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope I stamped the bird coming in from the left-hand side. Then I did the same thing on a 4″ x 5-1/4″ layer of Very Vanilla Card. Finally I stamped the whole bird over towards the left on a 3-3/4″ x 5″ piece of Very Vanilla Card.

I wanted to keep the colouring really simple and chose Crumb Cake Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers for this. On the bird’s back and wing I used the dark marker, adding extra on the wing and tail. Then on her breast I used the light marker. I created the slightly darker shade on the beak by colouring it with the light marker twice. After completing one bird I continued on and coloured the other two in the same way.

Above the bird on the smaller Very Vanilla layer I added the “Noel” sentiment from Happy Holly-Days. Now I was ready to put the card together.

SIMPLE LAYERS

For my card base I used my Paper Trimmer to cut and score some Soft Suede Card. I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder. Then I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue to fix the larger Very Vanilla layer on the inside.

Around the remaining Very Vanilla layer I wrapped some Linen Thread. As I did I realised that there was a natural curve in the twine that looked really nice, so instead of pulling the twine tight I left it as soft waves. After wrapping the twine around three times I fixed it to the back of the layer using Tear & Tape Adhesive.

Next I used liquid glue to mount the Very Vanilla piece onto a 3-7/8″ x 5-1/8″ layer of Early Espresso Card. With that done I added the assembled layers to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals and my card was complete.

This really is an unusual colour scheme for a Christmas card but it definitely has a certain charm. It would fit beautifully on a mantel decorated with simple pine or holly boughs and burlap. I’d love to know what you think, so please leave a comment below.

NEW CHRISTMAS CARD KIT

If you want some easy Christmas card making check out the new kit that was released by Stampin’ Up! today.

You can order the Christmas Whimsy Kit now simply by going to my online store. Or if you’re local to me let me know and I can add your order to my group order that’s going in at the end of the month.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – The Happy Holly-Days Stamp Set is available by itself or as part of a bundle with the Holly Border Punch (not used today). Buying both items together using a single ‘bundle’ item number will save you 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I’ve included a link to the bundle in case you want to explore that option.