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Welcome to the Stampin’ Pretty Pals’ Blog Hop! This month, the theme is “Home for the Holidays”. We really hope that you enjoy and are inspired by them! As you hop from blog to blog, don’t forget to leave comments because we love hearing from you. You will find the lineup at the end of my post to help you “hop” along from Pal to Pal.

Do you make lots of Christmas cards? Today I would like to share a Christmas card that is both easy and quick to make. I chose to use the Perfectly Plaid stamps set and coordinating Pine Tree Punch. Combine those with a little watercolor wash and you have an on-trend Christmas card for the 2021 Home for the Holidays card.

3 pine trees with a watercolor wash

SUPPLIES & MEASUREMENTS

  • PAPER
    • Thick Basic White cardstock: 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ scored at 4-1/4″ (Don’t forget to use the Bone Folder for a nice crease)
    • Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper:
      • 4-3/4″ x 3-1/2″ (card panel to be stamped)
      • 1-5/8″ x 4-1/4″ for sentiment
      • 2″ x 3″ for pine tree
    • Evening Evergreen cardstock: 3-3/4″ x 5″
    • Gold Foil scraps for stars
  • STAMP SET
    • Perfectly Plaid stamp set
  • DIES / PUNCHES
    • Pine Tree punch
    • Christmas Tree dies (stars)
  • INKS / MARKERS / REFILLS
    • Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad
    • Soft Succulent ink refill
  • OTHER SUPPLIES
    • red rhinestones
    • Dimensionals & Multipurpose Liquid Glue
    • Timber 3D embossing folder
  • TOOLS
    • Paper Trimmer & Snips
    • Bone Folder
    • Water Painter
    • Cut & Emboss Machine

THE PROCESS

I drew a light pencil line about an inch from the lower edge of the Fluid 100 panel. Then stamped 2 pine trees using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. TIP: I lined the tree trunks up on the pencil line to make sure they were straight and about 2″ apart.


INKY DECISIONS: Do you ever get confused when to use what ink? The basic rule is that water and alcohol do not mix. That means that you can use water-based ink (our wonderful Stampin’ Ink Pads) and color the image with the alcohol-based Stampin’ Blends. But if you want to watercolor, you will need alcohol-based ink. The best one is Staz-On. However, I used the Memento Tuxedo Black. I did get a little smearing when I water-colored over the stamped image. For this project, I was fine with the smearing. But you might not. If not, use the Staz-On ink to stamp your image.

Here is a quick reference for Stampin’ Up! Inks.


I stamped another pine tree on a scrap of Fluid 100 watercolor paper and punched it out using the Pine Tree punch. Add Dimensionals behind the pine tree.

Use the Water Painter to do a quick color wash on all the trees with the Soft Succulent ink refill (add water and color until you are pleased with the color intensity).

Add a little Soft Succulent watercolor wash to ground the trees. TIP: Swoosh the color in from the outer edge toward the center on each side. This will help eliminate some of the color globbing.

Add red rhinestones to the center tree. Die-cut some stars from Gold Foil using the Christmas Tree dies and scatter them around the trees.

Stamp the sentiment and use the Banner Pick a Punch to ‘fish tail’ the ends.

Then layer everything up as shown in the picture. Add the completed panel to a card base. For extra texture, emboss the card base with the Timber 3D embossing folder. HIN: If you leave out the embossing, you don’t need the Cut & Emboss Machine. That makes this a perfect project if you are on the go.

3 pine trees with a watercolor wash
msi-sig-CTA

ONWARD TO SEE MORE

More inspiration awaits, so use the lineup below to visit the rest of the Design Team. The Pals are excited to show you what they’ve created! Then, please mark your calendars for our next blog hop on December 8th. Our theme will be “My Favorite Things” with our design team showcasing some of their favorite products from any catalog they choose.

Until then, have fun in your craft space.

Stampin’ Pretty Pals Blog Hop

  1. Mary Fish at Stampin’ Pretty
  2. Su Mohr at Aromas And Art
  3. Deb Walker at Deb Stamps Life
  4. Tricia Chuba at ButterDish Designs
  5. Peggy Noe at Pretty Paper Cards
  6. Lori Pinto at LollyPop Paper and Ink
  7. Annette Elliott at AESTAMPS A LATTE
  8. Debbie Mageed at Secrets to Stamping
  9. Amanda Howard at Papercrafting With Amanda
  10. Mary Hanson at Up North Stampin’
  11. Rae Harper Burnet at Wild West Paper Arts
  12. Ann Murray at Murray Stamps, INK ** YOU ARE HERE **
  13. Jackie Beers at Blue Line Stamping
  14. Megan Cooper at Lazy Daze Stampin’
  15. Stesha Bloodhart at Stampin’ Hoot!
  16. Karen Hallam at Karen’s Stamping Habit
  17. Beth McCullough at Stamping Mom
  18. Pamela Sadler at Stampin Pink Rose
  19. Melissa Seplowitz at The Stamping Ninja
  20. Windy Ellard at Windy’s Wonderful Creations
  21. Sue Jackson at Just Peachy Stamping
  22. Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
  23. Lori Webb at Clever Copies
  24. Jill Loveland at Simple Stamping

SUPPLIES

Thank you for visiting. I hope you enjoyed our Home for the Holidays projects. Here are the supply links for my card. If you don’t have a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator, I would love to be your resource. During the month of November, you can join for $75 and receive $125 in Stampin’ Up! products of your choice with FREE shipping PLUS receive a 20% discount on future purchases. Contact me for more information.