On Thursday, I shared a list of my five favorite things from the Holiday Catalog. One of those is Santa & Co. Designer Series Paper – today’s project features this fun and festive paper for a nontraditional, very hip Christmas card. Here’s my card:
I just love the bold, webbed pattern in this paper piece of Santa & Co. Designer Series Paper. While it doesn’t scream “traditional Christmas” to me, it definitely screams to me (to me, not at me). To honor this groovy pattern, I decided to accessorize it with fun shapes and colors and sentiments. Groovy, baby.
Tips, Tricks and Reminders
- Sentiments. Little known fact about me – I love paper, and I live for color. OK, those things aren’t little known at all…what you might not know is that I’m obsessed with fonts. Some people doodle by drawing animals or geometrical shapes. I doodle by writing words – wispy, bold, stretched thin, scripted. That said, I can’t get enough of this sentiment – “Making spirits bright” – not because I love what it says but because I love how it’s written. Want another example of a sentiment I just love? Click here.
- Color Selection. Since the patterns in this paper only include Real Red and Whisper White, supporting color options are wide-open. Rather than bore you to tears with some shade of green, I took inspiration from the vibrant Spring colors from Perfect Prints Designer Series Paper Stack in this year’s Occasions Catalog – I chose to pair it with Crumb Cake (grounds it) and Coastal Cabana (brightens it up). If you are inspired by this color combination, feel free to save this:
- Matching Borders. You already know I like to coordinate my borders. The thick border of Crumb Cake on the outside of the card is repeated around the central oval, and the thin, outside frame of Coastal Cabana is repeated just around the sentiment. These details might not be noticeable from a first look at the card, but they add to the overall appeal.
Stamp Sets: Making Spirits Bright, High Five Papers: Crumb Cake, Real Red, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White Inks: Real Red Accessories: White Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Ovals Collection Framelits, 1-3/4″ Circle punch, 1-3/8″ Circle punch, 1-1/4″ Circle punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Hexagon punch (for banner tips)
Thanks for stopping by today!
Brian
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WOW!! talk about optical illusion!!! Great totally non traditional Christmas card Brian, even if the only Christmassy aspect of it are the sentiments, it works like a charm.
Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Good masculine feel to this card. A great one to change the saying and send to a man needing a get well or thinking of you. I do enjoy your designs and especially your three tips. I’ve learned a lot from you. Thanks much Brian!
We must be spiritual twins ! I love paper and colors …(you know my dsp addiction !) I also love colors ….color charts ,cardstock in all colors ,etc. But ….I did not know you are a “Font Fan” . I use to put tracing paper over cursive greetings just to capture the flow of the letters …oh, ….and btw ….I like your card !
Very cool, hip, groovy card. The colors and paper selections rock. I’m curious about the Coastal Cabana oval layer. How did you do the white dots? Thanks for sharing and making us think outside of the traditional box for Christmas.
Traci – the oval image is from High Five, a stamp set in the Annual Catalog. I inked it in VersaMark and embossed it in White Embossing Powder. High Five has some great fonts to go with this oval. Maybe add it to your list? 🙂
A really cool non traditional card, Brian! And, as always, you have taken it steps further with the colors and using a non Christmas stamp set too. I love this and you have taken me snuggly out of my box, yet another time. Thanks for all you do! 🙂
I really learn so much about thinking outside the box to create beautiful cards from following your blog. Thanks for being such a great teacher Brian.
Hi Brian! This is really a stunning card! Love the colors, the borders (always great tips!) and especially your use of that crazy dsp. You teach us so much by sharing your process. Just one question- Where did the sentiments come from? I’ve searched the holiday catalog front to back to front and can’t find them. HELP!!!
Thanks for your comment, Sandy. I really appreciate the positive feedback. The sentiments (lovely, lovely, lovely) are from Making Spirits Bright (page 48 of the Holiday Catalog). I isolated the sentiment from the drink for “Making Spirits Bright” and used the Merry Christmas that coordinates.
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