Tutorial - Snowy Forest

Snowy landscapes are popular for Christmas cards, and happily, they're not too difficult to achieve. You just need a little ink, some brushes and stamps and you'll soon be creating your very own winter wonderland.

1. To get started, you'll need a piece of cardstock that's a little smaller than your finished card front (Note: you can work directly on your card front if you prefer), some ink, a blending brush, stamps, and a piece of printer paper or masking paper.

2. Cut a gentle slope from your piece of printer paper. I usually cut a "downhill" and an "uphill" section so I can alternate between the different angles. Remember that you can use either side of the paper when you're masking your landscape.

3. Place your paper mask over the cardstock and stamp your first image, ensuring the bottom section of the image ends up on the paper mask. Hold the mask in place and apply some of the same ink with your blending brush. Keep most of the colour at the bottom, next to the mask and the stamped image, allowing the colour to fade as you work upward.

4. Shift your paper mask and stamp another image. Hold the mask in place and again, blend some ink into the background, just above the paper mask.

5. Repeat the process until you reach the bottom of your cardstock.

6. Use the same colour ink to add a sentiment and mount your scene onto a card front.

Note: After completing my card, I felt the scene was lacking a few trees, so I put the paper mask back in place and stamped a few more. I highly recommend making alterations before you complete the whole card!

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Tutorial - Tall Trees

Last month I showed you how to stamp the narrow tree image to create a lovely wide Christmas tree (you can find the tutorial HERE), and this month I want to show you how to make that same tree appear taller.

1. Start by stamping and fussy cutting your tree images. I used all three trees, stamped with oxides onto white cardstock. You'll also need a long, narrow sentiment that is at least as wide as your image panel.

2. On a scrap of cardstock, stamp three, long straight lines. Since I don't have a long straight stamp, I inked the flat edge of an acrylic block. Have a look around your craft room for an object that would suit, such as the side of a pencil or paintbrush. Alternatively, you could dab the edge of the ink pad directly onto the cardstock.

3. Fussy cut the long lines, which will become your tree trunks.

4. Position the sentiment to cover the join between the trees and the trunks.

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Tutorial - Hammock Gatefold Cards

Combine two basic gatefold cards to create an awesome upright display card!

1. Place a 12" x 6" piece of cardstock horizontally on your score board and score at 2", 4", 8" and 10". Fold along the score lines to form a gatefold card.

2. Now make a second, smaller gatefold card using a 9" x 4" piece of cardstock, scored at 11/2", 3", 6" and 71/2".

3. To decorate, you'll need one piece of contrasting cardstock measuring 37/8" x 57/8", four pieces measuring 17/8" x 57/8", and two pieces measuring 13/8" x 33/8".

You'll also need one piece of patterned paper measuring 33/4" x 53/4", four pieces measuring 13/4" x 53/4", and two measuring 11/4" x 31/4".

4. Secure the patterned paper to the cardstock with glue or tape.

5. Secure the patterned paper and cardstock panels to your larger card base, except for the two outside panels, which will be added later.

6. Adhere the two small cardstock and patterned paper panels to the smaller gatefold card as shown in the photo below.

7. Prepare a 27/8" x 4" decorative panel and secure to the centre of the small gatefold card. (NOTE: If you prefer, you can simply decorate the centre section of the card with stamps, embellishments, or patterned paper.) 

8. Use glue or strong double-sided tape to secure the small gatefold to the large gatefold, lining up the first and last score lines. I found it easiest to apply glue to the end panel of the small gatefold, position it over the larger gatefold and then close the cards together. Repeat for the other end.

9. Secure the two remaining panels to the ends of the large gatefold.

10. (OPTIONAL) Create a simple belly band by wrapping a 11/2" wide scrap of cardstock around your card and glueing the ends together. Decorate as desired.

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Tutorial - Stamping a Fuller Tree

Sometimes you just want a lovely wide Christmas tree filled with sparkly baubles, glittering tinsel, and topped with a gold star. Let me show you how to use the narrow tree images from the new Treeline set to get the look you're after!

1. Choose your inks. I used a mid brown for the trunk, which is optional, and two shades of green to give a little depth to the branches. I'm using water-based inks, but you can go with solvent, chalk or hybrid inks if you prefer.

2. Ink the entire stamp with the light green ink. Dab a line of brown down the centre of the stamp, roughly where the tree trunk would be - it doesn't have to be perfect. Now dab the dark green ink over the tree making sure you cover sections of the brown trunk. Stamp the image in the centre of your card front. (Note: You may like to experiment by stamping on some scrap paper first and then adjusting the amount of colour you're using).

3. Clean your stamp, then re-ink with the two shades of green. Line up the very top of the tree with the first impression you made and pivot the bottom so that it sits to one side. Stamp.

4. Repeat on the other side.

5. Now you're going to partially ink the stamp by dabbing a little green ink here and there. You want a patchy, random pattern. I've stamped on a clean piece of paper below so you can see what I mean.

6. Stamp the patchy images over the tree, particularly between the impressions, to give a fuller, more random look. Repeat as many times as necessary. (Note: If you prefer, you can use all three trees from the set to create a more random look)

7. Decorate your tree with sparkly rhinestones, gems and gold pearls.

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