Saturday 15 July 2017

Festive Holly Luxurious Christmas Card

A very good morning to you all.  
 
Well after a very hectic few weeks myself and Ozzie have finally moved into our new home.  It has taken us 3 weeks to decide which room I should have as my craftroom/studio but we finally decided to use the front lounge which is the biggest room downstairs.  We still have some finishing touches to make like shelving etc but we will get there and I have made sure we have space for a seating area so I can share my room with Ozzie, my daughter Zara and guests.....one thing I don't like when I craft is to feel isolated from the rest of the family :)  
 
Today I have used the Heartfelt Creations Festive Holly Collection which was released world wide on Wednesday 12th July.  The collection is full of beautiful Red Cardinals, holly, berries and includes images of wagon wheels, a gorgeous Victorian lamp and bells. 
 

 
 
 
The collection also includes the Cardinal Haven stamp and die set which is still exclusive to Hochanda TV.  This will be available worldwide from the end of this month.
 
 
I have also included a few stamps and dies from a few other previous collections which include the Sparkling Poinsettia,  Celebrate the Season and the Snow Kissed Collection.
 
 
  • I have used a 5 1/4"  x  4 1/4" white card which is a perfect size for the smaller panels from the paper pad.
  •  Using a circle die from the Heartfelt Creations large circle die set  cut out the Cardinal image.  This die fits the image perfectly.
  •  Add some foam pads to the back of the panel and adhered this to the card base.

  •  The next step is to take the circle and adhere inside the aperture.  As you can see the outer panel is raised to give the card  3 dimension.
 
  • Die cut out the decorative die from the Festive Holiday die set in white medium weight cardstock and place this on the top of the card in the centre.
 
  • The next step is to stamp and die cut the images.
 





  • Using inks/pens of your preferred choice colour in the images.  I have used Fired Brick, Festive Berries and Scattered Straw Distress inks, Mocha Truffle and Rainforest Versacolor inks and a black pigment ink.
  •  I have used the 2 darker shades of green to colour in the holly and blended using the Heartfelt Creations Daubers.  The daubers are a great way to add colour and because they are precision triangle shaped you can get into very small areas.  They really are a quick way to colour and give a beautiful blended effect to your image.
  • I have used the same technique on the Poinsettias to create gorgeous.  You will need to use the 2 smaller flowers which you stamped and die cut earlier.
  •  The next images I coloured were the holly  and Cardinals.  For these I have also used the  Dove Blending pens as I find these perfect for much smaller details on my images.
 
 
 
 
  • Cut a strip of the red paper from the paper pad measuring 3 1/4" x 3/4" and also the Merry and Bright sentiment which is from one of the border strips.  Add a small amount of glue to each end of the sentiment and adhere to the red panel so that it is curved and adhere to the bottom centre of the panel on the card.

 
 
 
  • The next stage is to add dimension to your images using the Heartfelt Creations Deluxe flower shaping kit. I have placed one poinsettia on top of the other and added 3 gems in the centre to finish off.  You can also add dimension to the holly and the Red Cardinals.
 
 
  • I have used the Papericious Crystal Clear which gives a great snowy effect on the images and around the edges of the card.

 
  •  Adhere the Cardinal image to the left of the card and the large holly to the right.  Snip the smaller holly into 3 and the other into 2 and arrange these on top of the large holly.  Keep one smaller part of the holly and adhere just underneath the Cardinals tail feathers.
 




 
  •  To finish off the card you can use one of the quotes from the paper pad.
 


 
This is a pretty quick and easy card to create but the card I think you will agree is absolutely luxurious.
 
 
If any of my UK followers would like to purchase any of this collection or even past collections I am pleased to announce that you are able to purchase them through myself.  The website is still under construction but you can inbox me through facebook or email - nikkicraft@mail.com and pay by paypal.
If you would like any information on delivery or stock that I have please do not hesitate to contact me.
 
My USA followers can purchase the new collection via my USA website nikkiscraftingcreations.com but unfortunately it is only available for the duration of my live shows on Hochanda when the collection is launched.  However you can of course buy direct from Heartfelt Creations  or your preferred retailer.
 
Thank you so much for visiting my blog today and I hope you have found my tutorial helpful and inspiring :)