Happy Holidays 3 – Window Style Christmas Card

Hello my Crafty Friends!

Today I have another project for the next AECP Level 1 Class I have taken, which is Seasonal Scene Building.  I was looking forward to this class, as I like scene building and especially for the Christmas season.  Links to all my class posts are at the bottom of the post.

Inspiration

This class was all about different ways you can use your supplies to build unique scenes and create one of a kind cards.  As it’s September, I am already thinking about Christmas, so I knew I wanted to make a Christmas season card and after watching the class lessons, I decided to make it a window card.

Overview of my card process

I knew exactly which stamp set I wanted to use for this card – the Starry Night stamp set by Altenew – this one was released for Christmas 2018 and I loved the tree especially.

I used Neenah white cardstock for my card base and scored it at 5.5 inches and folded it in half, to give a 5.5 x 8.5 inch tall card.  Then I took the only window die that I have – Arch Window by Waffle Flower – and cut the window out of a smaller piece of Neenah.  I actually cut it out of another white cardstock and didn’t realise there was a difference until I sat it on top of the card, and then it was very obvious that they were different shades of white!  Since the whole card would be white, it is best to make sure that all your white elements are the same white!

At this point I started to wonder if I should turn this card into a shaker card, and I actually went to the trouble of making a shaker window, filling it with little stars and then decided I didn’t like it.  So I went back to the window idea, and used an arch die slightly smaller than my arch window, to cut the arch shape out of the front of my card to enable you to see inside the card, which is where my scene would be.

In the inside of the card, I used the Starry Night stamp set to stamp out the Christmas tree and the star on top, using Versamark embossing powder and Wow Gold Rush metallic embossing powder, and heat set it.  Once it was cool enough to touch, I did some Distress Oxide ink blending around the tree using Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers and Blueprint Sketch.  I started in the middle of the tree with the Twisted Citron and worked my way to the outside, changing to Peacock Feathers and then finishing up with Blueprint Sketch on the outside of the oval shape I had created.  I wanted the ink blending to be big enough to cover the tree and be wide enough to cover the view through the window on the card front.

The next step was to take the die cut arch window and glue it on to the arch-shaped hole on the card front.  I did this step almost at the end just in case I had a problem with the ink blending around the tree, and didn’t want to waste the window die cut just in case I had to start over.  Luckily though, everything went according to plan!  Then I used the Happy Holidays sentiment from the same stamp set, to stamp under the window opening on the card front, using the same Versamark and embossing powder as the tree.

Once I had finished everything, I decided to add some silver stars from the same stamp set, and stamped them around the tree using Silver Delicata ink, then I added some dots with a white gel pen.  And the card was complete!

Thoughts

I really like the colours on this card with the Distress Oxide blending inside, and the rest of the card being completely white.  I think it looks very nice with the gold embossing.  Simple but elegant.  I almost added a coloured window frame or an extra window lintel under the window, and I’m so glad I didn’t as it’s definitely a case of less is more with this card.

PROJECT RECIPE:

Altenew – Starry Night stamp set
Waffle Flower Arch Window die
Tim Holtz – Distress Oxides – Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, Blueprint Sketch
Neenah 110lb Solar White cardstock
Versamark embossing ink
Wow – gold rush embossing powder
Nuvo – Deluxe Adhesive
Silver Delicata ink
White gel pen
From stash/other:

FYI Here’s a list of the Classes for Level 1:

.All About Layering 1
.All About Layering 2
.Clean & Simple Boutique Cards
.Easy Ink Blending Techniques
.For The Guys
.Let It Shine
.Celebration: Stencil Techniques
.Seasonal Scene Building You are here
.Easy Die Cutting Techniques
.Irresistible Inking Techniques