Hello, crafty friends! It’s a new month, which means it’s time for a fresh set of challenges over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown. I’m delighted to be hosting all of our November challenges, and we’re kicking things off with a Sketch Challenge.
As you know, our first challenge of each month is always a sketch, giving you a starting point for your Christmas card design. You can follow it quite literally, turn it around or make a few changes to suit your own style, as long as the main elements of the sketch are still recognisable.
For my Design Team card this week, I decided to follow the sketch pretty much as I’d designed it, using a traditional stamped snowman as the focal point. I also wanted to use one of my favourite rich purple shades, Elegant Eggplant, which I think makes a lovely alternative to the more traditional Christmas colours.
Here’s how I made it!
Materials Used
- Cardstock: white, elegant eggplant, watercolour paper
- Stamps: Snow people, Josh Griffiths; Christmas Tiny Tag and Sentiment set, Chloe’s Creative Cards
- Inks: black, versamark
- Tools: circle die, corner rounder, heat tool
- Additional: watercolour paints, white embossing powder
- Adhesive: foam adhesive, liquid adhesive
Step 1 – Stamp and Colour the Snowman
I started by stamping my snowman onto a piece of watercolour paper using the Snow People stamp set by Josh Griffiths Studio.
There are several lovely characters in this set, but I chose the one wearing a top hat. To me, that’s the quintessential traditional snowman image, and I thought he would make a lovely focal point for my card. I had a large cuddly snowman when I was a child and he looked just like this!
I coloured the image using my watercolour paints, keeping the colouring fairly simple and allowing the stamped details to do most of the work. I’m really enjoying using my watercolours at the moment, and it’s lovely to have another opportunity to practise and experiment with them.
Step 2 – Create the Purple Front Panel
For the main front panel, I chose some Elegant Eggplant cardstock. I absolutely love the richness of this purple shade, and I thought it would provide a lovely contrast to the white snowman.
To follow the layout of the sketch, I used a circle die to cut an aperture towards the left-hand side of the purple panel. This creates a little window through which the snowman can be seen, framing him nicely and making him the star of the show.
I think the deep purple works beautifully with the white and gives the card a slightly different festive feel.
Step 3 – Add the Heat-Embossed Snowflakes
To add some extra detail to the purple panel, I stamped snowflakes from the same Snow People stamp set using Versamark embossing ink.
I sprinkled over some white embossing powder, tapped away the excess and heated it with my heat tool until the powder melted. The white embossed snowflakes stand out beautifully against the Elegant Eggplant cardstock and add a lovely touch of wintery detail.
I also stamped my sentiment, using a stamp from Chloe’s Creative Cards, and heat embossed this in white in the same way. I love the crisp contrast of white embossing on dark cardstock. It’s such a simple technique, but it always gives a lovely finish!
Step 4 – Assemble the Card
With all my elements prepared, it was time to put the card together. I started by rounding the two corners on the right-hand side of the card panels to soften the overall design.
I then adhered the snowman panel to the front of the white base card, positioning the snowman so that he was perfectly framed by the circular aperture.
Finally, I added the Elegant Eggplant panel over the top using foam adhesive. This gives the purple layer a little extra dimension and helps the circular opening stand out.
And that’s my finished card!
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed making this card, particularly as it gave me the opportunity to use one of my favourite purple shades alongside the lovely snowman stamps from Josh Griffiths Studio. I think the traditional top-hatted snowman looks right at home against the rich Elegant Eggplant background, and the white heat-embossed snowflakes add just enough detail without making the design too busy. I think the card has a quite masculine feel, which I’m pleased about.
I’m also pleased that I managed to stick so closely to my own sketch! It’s always interesting to see how a sketch translates from the original idea into a finished card, and I hope it gives you plenty of inspiration for your own Christmas creations. As I’m hosting all the November challenges, I do hope you’ll join me and the rest of the Design Team over the coming weeks. We have some lovely challenges lined up, and we’d really love to see what you make.
So, get your Christmas stamps and dies out, have a look at this week’s sketch and come and play along with us at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown!
Happy crafting and happy Christmas card making!
