When I was making cards against the clock I was concerned to ensure that they were still well made.  That said there really was only enough time to have an idea, tweak it a little, then move on to the next one.  Afterwards with the luxury of hindsight, I can see how my cards might be improved.  Today’s Christmas card project with silhouette houses is one such card.

SILHOUETTE HOUSES

This project all started with those pretty silhouette houses from the Hometown Greetings Edgelits Dies.  Using my Big Shot I cut a piece of Thick Whisper White Card using two of the three longer dies in the set.

Next I chose a piece from the Tranquil Textures 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) Pack for my background.  As this is a lighter weight than regular cardstock I fixed the DSP to a layer of Whisper White Card with Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).

Then I attached my two die cut pieces to the front of the DSP using a Fine-Tip Glue Pen.

TIP – the silhouette houses are die-cut on ‘sloped ground’.  Make sure that when you fix the pieces to your project, the walls of the houses are straight.

HEARTS COME HOME

The ‘all hearts come home for Christmas’ sentiment comes from the Hearts Come Home Stamp Set and was stamped it onto Thick Whisper White Card using Balmy Blue ink.

Then with my Big Shot and Magnetic Platform I cut out the sentiment using the #2 oval die from the Stitched Shapes Framelits (counting from the smallest up).

Finally I added the sentiment to the DSP background with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

SIMPLE CARD

To create the card base I cut and scored a piece of Thick Whisper White Card using my Stampin’ Trimmer.  Then I folded the card along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

The assembled layers were then fixed to the front of the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals.  By mounting the DSP on card at the beginning, I’d ensured that it wouldn’t buckle at this point.

To complete the project coordination I selected one of the small house images from the Hearts Come Home Stamp Set.

I began by stamping the house in the bottom right corner of a layer of Whisper White Card using Balmy Blue ink.  Next I stamped the small smoke image above the chimney.  Then I fixed the layer inside the card base with liquid glue.

Finally I stamped the house and smoke on the front of a Whisper White Medium Envelope and my project was done.

OTHER OPTIONS

I’m not unhappy with how the card turned out, but I did think of some alternate ideas for it.

I could have cut the silhouette houses from Shimmery White Card or white fun foam.  Now that I have it, I could also see them cut from the White Velvet Paper that will be available in November while stocks last.

I could also have added some sponging to the snowy ground to add a little more definition there too.

There’s always lots of ways to tweak a project, and that’s what makes papercrafting so enjoyable, don’t you think.

Well I just checked the weather for today and it looks like we might see our first snow.  It won’t amount to much but it’s a good excuse to stay in and craft.

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