I am seriously addicted to making these easy Christmas cards! They feature the One Horse Open Sleigh designer paper and the Countryside Corners dies. Plus, I’ve used a variety of sentiments for both Christmas and a winter theme. The best part about these cards is that they are quick to make, they will each be unique based on which designer paper panel you use, and you can easily put your own spin on each card by adding a little bling, and/or by adding texture with some ribbon. I have made designs with 11 out of the 12 different realistic images on these gorgeous papers and I love them all!
On each of my card variations you can die-cut all the pieces with just one pass-through, in your Stampin’ Cut & Emboss machine!
For my first card, the designer paper and Early Espresso cardstock piece are die-cut at the same time with one of the Countryside Corners dies. I’ve used another one of these same dies to die-cut the sentiment piece. The sentiment here comes from the Joy To You Stamp Set.
This large sentiment works beautifully with the big bold image on this designer paper piece. The background is dry embossed with the Snowflake Sky 3-D Embossing Folder and I’ve added a few Iridescent Pearls for a touch of shine.
So, how you can get 88 cards from one pack of the One Horse Open Sleigh designer paper?
It all starts with how you cut your designer paper pieces and how many of the unique designer paper pieces work with the design! I found that 11 out of the 12 patterns worked beautifully and you can get two cards out of each 6″ x 6″ piece of designer paper. There are four of each pattern in a designer paper pack so here’s the math:
- 11 patterns x 4 each = 44 pieces
- 2 cards per piece x 44 = 88 cards
All you have to do is cut your designer paper in half as shown for my first card below.
Your strips will be 3″ x 6″ which is precisely the width you’ll need to die-cut the focal piece with the Countryside Corners die. Once you’ve cut your strips you can choose where you want to die-cut the piece. For the card below, I chose to die-cut it all the way at the top. For the panel on the right, I die-cut it justified near the bottom so I would capture the ground, and make the evergreen tree a central image. I showed the die-cutting of this piece in my Facebook Live video at the end of this post.
I’ve included photos of 5 of the 11 designs in this blog post.
In my Facebook Live video included below, I put together two of these 5 designs.
The card below is another one of the simplest designs. Isn’t the scene in this designer paper so pretty and serene? I just love it!
For this card, I’ve used a sentiment from the Sparkling Snowflakes Stamp Set with one of the smallest Countryside Corners dies. The embellishments used are the Tinsel Gems Three Pack. I’ve used the Misty Moonlight colored embellishment which is also one of the colors in this designer paper panel. I love the coordination!
This next design is still simple but not quite as simple as the first two.
Can you see what’s different on this card?
Firstly, I’ve used Iridescent Rhinestone Jewels. Plus, I created a bit of a stepped-up sentiment.
I used one of my favorite tricks, heat embossing in color with clear embossing powder. If you choose to do this, you’ll be heat embossing on a die-cut piece of Vellum cardstock. I put a white piece in behind to help make it stand out. I love this extra little touch of shine!
I’ve created these next two cards in my Facebook Live video (included below).
I’ve added some additional elements to the sentiments on these two cards that make them slightly more time-consuming to make. These are simply options if you want to step up your cards just a bit.
The sentiment here is heat embossed in white on Crumb Cake cardstock. If you wanted to keep it simpler, you could just stamp the sentiment in Cajun Craze ink on white. Cajun Craze is the main color of the fox. Crumb Cake ink on white cardstock would be another option I’d likely try if I didn’t want to heat emboss.
For this version, you may notice that I’ve placed the colored cardstock piece below and to the right of the designer paper, instead of above and to the left as in the previous designs. With this designer paper, having the added edge of color at the bottom served to ground the piece and frame the adorable little fox which is clearly the star of the show! 🙂
Now if you watch(ed) the Facebook Live video, you will know that I played with adding fibers behind the sentiment during the live video. I didn’t like how it was looking and removed it but just had to play a bit more off-camera. The card below was my final result. All I needed to do was use less of the fibers to get the subtle touch of that rusty color I wanted. My goal was to complement the color of the fox. I’m very happy with the end result!
For my fifth and final card in this post, I’ve mixed things up in yet another way!
So far, all my card designs have used white cardstock for the base and dry embossed layer. This one and a few others in my set of 11 include colored card bases and dry embossed pieces. These choices were made based on what looked best with the die-cut designer paper piece.
Here I’ve used Lost Lagoon and Pool Party cardstock with Pebbled Path ink for the sentiment. You’ll find that these colors are all included in the designer paper.
As you can see here, I’ve also added some fun folded fibers behind my sentiment. I love this added touch to this simple card.
There are so many things to love about these easy Christmas cards!
My favorite thing is the variety and ease with which they can be tweaked to make them your own. Plus, these designs can be easily adapted to fit the sentiments you have on hand. Any sentiment could work on these cards as long as a winter theme fits!
To learn all the details for putting these cards together, including how each piece of designer paper was cut, make sure to watch for my FREE PDF Tutorial that will be in next week’s newsletter! If you’re not a subscriber yet, make sure to click below to sign up!
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All you have to do is sign up to receive my weekly newsletter and you’ll get this and other FREE Tutorials as they become available! The tutorial for today’s project will be shared in my next newsletter on Wednesday, September 20, 2023. It will include, dimensions, a supply list with links to my online store, and instructions.
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s projects!
Let me know what you think by commenting below. I love to hear from you!
Happy Crafting!
Melissa 🙂
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