ThePowerOfACard

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Two Fun Techniques Featuring the Modern Christmas Suite

This is a new suite of products from the On-Line Exclusive section of my store. It has a stamp bundle with 8 stamps and 11 dies, two rolls of baker's twine in black/white/gold, stunning paper with gold foil designs on one side and black and white on the reverse, and gold rings that are perfect for making ornaments. I had a lot of fun making cards and ornaments and I think you will too. The font in the sentiments is so pretty and the gold paired with black and white makes for very classy cards.

I have two (and almost a third) technique to show you in today's video. The first uses an ink blended panel which is distressed with water. But it's not water spritzing that is commonly used - it uses plastic wrap and the result is more controlled and predictable. I'd like to give a shout out to Alysa Tilsner from Australia for introducing this technique to me. The second technique uses embossing powder and multi purpose glue! This unusual technique is a fabulous way to add lights or baubles to the Christmas trees. The "almost" technique uses clear embossing powder and one of the stamps to add strands of glimmer to a tree. All of the techniques are easy to do and help make some very fun cards!

Gather your supplies:

Cardstock: Thick Basic White 8-1/2" x 5-1/2"; Basic White 3-3/4" x 5", 3" x 3", 1/2" x 5-1/2", 1" x 4-1/2"; Real Red 3-15/16" x 5-3/16"; Gold Foil 1" x 1"
Stamp Bundle: Ornamental Christmas
Stamp: Words of the Season
Inks: Real Red, Versamark
Ribbon: Black & White & Gold Baker's Twine 2", Gold Striped Mesh 10"
Embellishment: Metallics Embossing Powder
Adhesive and Tools, including blending brush, transparent tape and plastic wrap

Fold the card base and set it aside. Then use a blending brush and add Real Red to the large rectangle of ink, blending it from dark to light. As I add color, I use a block to hold the paper - this helps prevent getting ink on your fingers and fingerprints on your paper. I found my best results when there was a lot of ink on the paper. For the water distressing technique, you'll need a very wet, but not dripping paper towel. I placed mine in a plastic container, but you could also put it on a plate. Then take a large square of plastic wrap, ball it up and then dab it on the wet paper towel before putting it on the ink blended paper. Keep dabbing until you get a beautifully blotchy background. I would recommend testing your color on a scrap before committing to your card panel - some colors work better than others (as I found out with Blueberry Bushel shown below versus Garden Green). Before putting the plastic wrap away, ink blend the two remaining strips and distress them.

While waiting for the inky background to dry, stamp Merry Christmas on the square of white in Versamark ink, add Gold embossing powder and heat with the Heat Tool. At the Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine, cut the embossed piece with the circle shaped die and the ornament topper from the Gold Foil. Attach the topper to the ornament with glue.

After the blended background is dry, add it to the Real Red panel. Add a Mini Glue Dot near the top center and attach the little piece of baker's twine. Wrap it around the back side and adhere with transparent tape. Add the ornament with Dimensionals (I used Mini Dimensionals on the back of the foil piece so the baker's twine would lay between them). Finish by making a bow with the ribbon and adding it to the top of the foil topper.

Add the thin strip to the inside of the card along the right side. Stamp the sentiment from Words for the Season stamp set in Real Red. Complete the card by adding the final inked piece on the left side of the envelope and trim.

For my second technique, I stamped the evergreen tree in Garden Green. Then I used my fine tip glue dispenser (a bonus gift when you buy my adhesive bundle) to add little dots of Multi-purpose Glue. On top of the glue, I added gold embossing powder. Let this dry a little before heating it with the Heat Tool. You'll end up with little gold embossed lights on your tree! For this card, I fussy cut the tree because I wanted more feathering, but there is a die to cut it out if you prefer. I embossed the sentiments on both the label and inside to coordinate with the gold on the tree. Isn't this a cool technique?

This next card has the other tree in the set. After ink blending, stamping and cutting out the tree, I used the stamp with the curved lines to stamp with Versamark on the tree. Then I added clear embossing powder and melted it. I think it adds just a little special touch to the tree - almost looks like tinsel!

This card on the left was one we made at last month's card class. I fussy cut the trees and popped them up on the ornament, which was cut from one of the sheets of DSP. The other ornament card was super easy to make because the gold ornament paper sets a pretty backdrop to a larger white ornament. I simply added a little Poppy Parade paper behind the openings in the center. I fussy cut the sentiment to show off more of the paper.

I love this layout (can you tell it's one of my favorites??) because it's easy to do and shows off patterned paper. After wrapping the baker's twine around a few times, I popped up the star cut from Basic White. The simple banner with the sentiment in Black looks great on top.

My last card starts out as a 4-1/4" x 11" piece of cardstock. After scoring at 5-1/2", cut the top in half (2-3/4"). This piece is used for the panel that is added to the front flap - very efficient use of paper! I colored the panel of mistletoe with Lemon Lime Twist Blends, then did a few more and fussy cut them out for the decoration on the sentiment panel. I also ink blended my sentiment to add just a touch more color.

We've had gold rings before, but not this big! They make gorgeous ornaments. For the first one, I cut two circles from the Fa La La DSP. Then I added a small circle in white and topped it with trees (fussy cut from the paper). When adhering the baker's twine, I found it easiest to add a rolled up Mini Glue Dot to the top and bottom where the baker's twine connects to the ring. Once the twine is in place, adhere the back side of the ornament with transparent tape. Then add the top side of the ornament with glue. Add a bow a the top for the finishing touch.

These last two ornaments use the other shapes and are done in a similar fashion. The first one has a free floating star that is the same front and back and the second one was inspired from a sample on the Stampin' Up! website. Unlike my other ornaments, I punched a tiny hole in the star so I could dangle it from the ring.

I know Christmas is months away, but I always like to give you lots of ideas for your holiday card making. Additionally, I like having a lot of cards made that I can use myself when it gets time to send them! I adore this suite of products and plan to make even more cards for Christmas and beyond (black and white patterns are always a good choice in my book). I also hope you try the techniques - I used it on the card for my daughter and son-in-law's anniversary and it was stunning in Gorgeous Grape!

Karen

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Product List

Modern Christmas Suite Collection (English)

[166006]

$89.25

Ornamental Christmas Bundle (English)

[166001]

$51.25

Words For The Season Cling Stamp Set (English)

[165716]

$23.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock

[159229]

$17.00

Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[166780]

$14.00

Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

[102482]

$14.00

Gold Foil Sheets

[132622]

$5.00

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

[147084]

$9.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$9.50

Blending Brushes

[153611]

$15.00

Metallics Wow! Embossing Powder

[165678]

$21.00

Black & White & Gold Baker's Twine

[166005]

$8.50

Gold Striped 3/8" (1 Cm) Mesh Ribbon

[165599]

$8.00

Multipurpose Liquid Glue

[110755]

$6.00

Mini Glue Dots

[103683]

$7.25

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.25

Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

[144108]

$4.25

Paper Trimmer

[152392]

$28.00

Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine

[149653]

$140.00

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Check out the Lights of Aurora Suite!

Seeing the Northern Lights in person has always been on my bucket list. So when I saw the Lights of Aurora Suite, I knew I had to get it! There are 11 sentiments and 9 dies in the bundle, a beautiful Balmy Blue Sheer ribbon, Frosted Iridescent Dots and my favorite, the Lights of Aurora 6" DSP pack. The paper pack has six different Northern Lights patterns, with "solid" pastel colors on the back - eight sheets of each double sided design.

The dies are designed to build landscapes. When I first started using them, I cut them out of six inch wide scrap paper so I could play with the pieces. There are three clouds, two tree scapes, two mountains and two pieces that make ground/water. However, if you turn some of them over, you can get even more options. I encourage you to do the same. As you layer them together, you'll come up with different combinations and you'll be able to determine just how wide each layer needs to be in your card. I also recommend using our Two-Tone cardstock as it is lighter weight than our normal cardstock and gives you more color options. I show how to use the layers in the video as well as in the card samples below.

Gather your supplies:

Cardstock: Azure Afternoon 8-1/2" x 5-1/2"; Basic White 2" x 5-1/4", 2" x 2-3/4"; Lights of Aurora 6" x 5-1/4"
Stamp: Light & Wonder
Die: Nested Essentials
Inks: Azure Afternoon, Berry Burst
Ribbon: Balmy Blue Sheer
Embellishment: Frosted Iridescent Dots
Adhesive and Tools, including transparent tape

The card we are making is a fun fold that shows off almost the entire pattern of the DSP. Start by scoring the card base at 1-1/2" and 4-1/4". Fold the card in half, then bring the flap back and press the creases with a bone folder.

Take the full sheet of DSP and cut off 3/4" from either the top or bottom. Then with the 6" side at the bottom, cut at 2-3/4" and 1-1/4", keeping the pieces in order. Add glue to the flap of the card base and adhere the left most piece of DSP as shown. Then open the card fully and add the second piece right next to the first piece. For the final piece, I like to tape it to the white rectangle on the back so that it is easier to place on the right inside of the card.

Cut out the second largest rounded rectangle die using the Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine. Stamp the sentiments in Berry Burst and Azure Afternoon. Add seal to the back of the label and zig zag the ribbon. Adhere the label to the card flap, making sure you only put Dimensionals under the right side of the label so they won't show when the card is open. Finish by stamping the sentiment on the inside white panel and adding Frosted Iridescent Dots to the label. Use the leftover DSP piece to decorate the side of the envelope.

My next card also shows off the paper. The card base is only a quarter sheet of paper and the DSP folds down. By adding a label on the flap and one directly below it on the "inside", you have a simple card that really shows off the lights! My sentiments and label are from the Label Me Grateful bundle. As an FYI, I found that I needed two Mini Glue Dots to hold down the ribbon.

This one features gorgeous sky and uses the large tree die. I used the back sided of one of the DSP sheets to cut the trees - they look almost black, but are really Blackberry Bliss. The Die Brush Tip for the Take Your Pick tool helps get all the little pieces of paper out of the dies. The trees look fabulous with that sky! I added a little sentiment and a knot of ribbon so that my sky is really shining. For my envelope, I borrowed some trees from the Ornamental Christmas Stamp Set.

My next card features snow capped mountains and Secret Sea trees. Because the sky was so light, it was the perfect spot for the sentiment. On the inside, I used the leftover paper from cutting the trees and a blending brush to add a tree line at the bottom of the white panel. I was going to show this in the video, but had misplaced it. I colored a few trees, moved it and colored some more. It's a great way to tie the inside of the card to the front.

For my next card, I didn't use any of the DSP, but chose to use Two-Tone Cardstock. My mountains were created by using the same die on Pretty Peacock paper. I layered the "big mountain" and "pointy mountain", then added the large trees in front in Granny Apple Green. For the water, I used Blueberry Bushel and the two ground/water dies. The finishing touch was the addition of two clouds and a thin sentiment.

I decided to really think out of the box and make this Christmas card! For my mountain, I cut a the "pointy mountain" out of Basic Gray, Then I placed the scrap paper that had the snowy cutouts on top of it and added versamark ink right from the pad. I added white embossing powder and set it with the heat tool. I added the small trees cut from Shaded Spruce and a sentiment from Greetings for You Mix & Match Ephemera pack. Before layering that onto the Balmy Blue sky, I used a sponge and added some wisps of clouds using a White Craft ink. Before adding it to the card front, I tied a bow with the Sheer ribbon.

My last sample uses the DSP that was cut into five 1" x 3-1/2" strips. Even though it's not really a Northern Lights sky, the colors make a beautiful backdrop for the flower from the Charming Day Bundle. The flower and leaves were colored with Stampin' Blends in colors to match the paper. I cut the leaves from the DSP and tucked them in to add more texture and interest. I loved pairing the birthday sentiment with the Wishing you a year of Light sentiment.