Well, Thanksgiving is almost here and it is time to start thinking about Holiday Gifts. These festive Snowflake notecards and cheerful coordinating box will make a great handmade gift! This is a #SimpleStamping project because it is made primarily with Stamps, Ink and Paper. The only other tool you need is a Water Painter.
Although these cards look difficult, they are actually fairly simple. The variety of sentiments in the Snowflake Wishes stamp set makes this a great gift. There are lots of photos to easily guide you through this surprisingly simple project.
The Snowflake Wishes stamp set is rich with snowflake images. I am only going to use 5 of them.
The first step is to make the backgrounds. You will cut one sheet of the Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper at 4 3/4 inches. Next cut the 4 3/4 x 5 inch piece at 3 1/4 inches. This will give you 3 different backgrounds for 3 different notecards.
Watercolor Wash Background: Squeeze your Balmy Blue ink pad so some of the ink gets on the inside of the top. Using the Water Painter, apply a slight puddle of water on the 3 1/4 x 4 3/4 inch Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper. You want the puddle to be in the center, not touching the edge of the card piece. Note: I am using an old Aquapainter, but the new Water Painters can be found in the 2020-21 Stampin’ Up!® Annual Catalog on page 146, item #151298.
Take up some of the Balmy Blue ink with the Water Painter and apply it to the puddle of water on the Watercolor Paper. Move the ink and water around until you like the shape of the Watercolor Wash. If you desire a more intense color you could put a drop of the Balmy Blue Ink Refill on the top lid of the stamp pad.
Now for a little trick to make a creative effect. Shake some coarse sea salt onto the puddle of water. You will see that the salt crystals will take up some of the water and ink right away. Let this dry completely.
Repeat the above procedure using the 2 1/4 x 5 inch piece of the Watercolor Paper and Pacific Point ink.
The remaining 1 3/4 x 4 3/4 inch Watercolor Paper piece is done in Pool Party ink.
For the next step you will need to open up a package of Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes. These are available in the 2020-2021 Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog on page 153, item #131527. Note: these notecards also come in Very Vanilla #144236.
While the backgrounds dry, we can stamp the envelopes. This envelope is done in the Balmy Blue ink. The larger snowflake is stamped at full strength. The next snowflake is Stamped Off first.
I added a smaller snowflake at full strength to complete the front of the envelope. Next I stamped several snowflakes on the back flap of the envelope. Note: Be mindful of leaving space for someone to write an address and return address, and place a postage stamp.
The next envelope only uses 2 snowflake stamps and is stamped in Pacific Point ink. Again, stamp on the front and the back flap of the envelope.
The last envelope is stamped in Pool Party ink. I stamped the larger snowflake, one on top of the other, to make it look more full. The remainder are smaller snowflakes stamped on the envelope front and flap.
In order to give the backgrounds a little more time to dry, we will stamp the sentiments. Make 2 of the 3/4 x 4 inch Whisper White cardstock strips with the sentiment “Snowflake wishes for a Merry Christmas.” Make one of the “May your season sparkle” on 1 1/4 x 2 1/2 inch Whisper White cardstock.
Trim both ends of one of the “Snowflake wishes…” strips to make a banner end. Tip: Make a cut in the middle, then from one corner to the middle on each side to have the banner look even every time.
When the backgrounds have dried completely, brush the salt off of the card piece. Each will have a different look. The most noticeable effect is on the Pacific Point color. You can see that the ink is darker around where the salt crystal was. I just love this effect!
We will start with the Balmy Blue background. Stamp the sentiment “Thank you Snow much” in Pacific Point ink onto the lower right-hand corner. Then use the Balmy Blue ink to stamp the larger snowflake, followed by the medium snowflake and finally the smallest snowflake.
Now we will stamp on the Pacific Point ink background. Using Pacific Point ink, stamp the larger snowflake on the left-hand side followed by the group of snowflakes.
For the Pool Party ink background, I stamped one image on top of the other for the larger snowflake in Pool Party ink.
Now stamp the medium sized snowflake and finally the smaller snowflake in Pool Party ink.
Now we will put everything together.
Complete the Balmy Blue card by adhering the stamped card piece to the front of one of the notecards.
Adhere the background done in Pacific Point ink to the front of the notecard. Use Stampin’ Dimensionals to adhere the “Snowflake Wishes…” sentiment with the banner ends onto the card front.
Adhere the Pool Party background to the front of a notecard. Use Stampin’ Dimensionals to adhere the “May your season…” sentiment to the card front.
Now that we have all the awesome notecards done, let’s create a nice box for them to go in. The Mini Paper Pumpkin Boxes on page 152 of the 2020-21 Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog are perfect for these notecards. Lay the box flat with the matte surface on top. Stamp the largest snowflake in Balmy Blue ink.
Follow with the Pool Party ink and a medium snowflake. Finish with a small snowflake in Pacific Point ink.
Assemble the box and add the second “Snowflake wishes….” sentiment to the front.
Match the envelopes to the notecards and place in the Mini Paper Pumpkin Box.
Viola! You have a cheerful set of Holiday cards in a lovely box to give to someone special.
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Take some take to start crafting today and have a wonderful week!
Theresa
