Do you like watercoloured, vintage-styled Christmas cards? It is a style I love this year. I think it stems from how much I am enjoying the Distress line from Tim Holtz, and the makers he employs to showcase the new products always inspire me. Did you see the recent YouTube Live where Tim showcased the new Lumberjack Plaid Distress colour? The gentle shabby chic of Stacy Hutchinson always inspires me, and did you see the gorgeous tags and whatnot that Zoe Hillman did? Before I jump into the details of this card, I wanted to let you know that this post is part of a blog hop; you can find all the details below.

I’ve linked all supplies with compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.

watercoloured vintage styled christmas cards

I started this card with the Holly Branch stencil. It’s a layered stencil intended for ink blending, but I traced the elements with a pencil and then watercoloured the holly leaves and berries. Next, I partially stamped the Old Letter set in Walnut Stain ink around the edges. Then, I blended Antique Linen ink around the edges with a touch of Walnut Stain in the corners, followed by distressing them with scissors and sewing a random line of stitches in the corners. 

I then liberally splattered the panel. I used leftover paint, white gouache, and gold paint … but my favourite was the Fresh Balsam Mica Stain which added a lovely metallic shimmer. You’ll see that better in some of the detailed photos.

Here you can see a little of that Fresh Balsam metallic shimmer in places. However, the reason for this photo is to show you the sentiment tag I made after seeing Zoe’s. First, I stamped a label in Lumberjack Plaid ink and die cut with the matching die. Next, I stamped a sentiment from the Holiday Horizon set, again in Lumberjack Plaid ink. Finally, I lightly distressed it with Antique Linen around the edges.

Here’s another shot of the Fresh Balsam splatter catching the holly branches. Seeing this reminds me that I added Glossy Accents to the berries.

I’ve got to mention these wee Fir Branches that I tucked behind the label. I dunked them liberally in the watercolours I’d used to paint the holly and then splattered them with white gouache and Fresh Balsam. They added a nice finishing touch.

Talking of finishing touches, which make all the difference, I stamped an Ivory panel with the Christmas Star set in Antique Linen and rubbed a little more Antique Linen around the edges. Next, I matted the holly panel on top of this with foam tape, wrapped both panels together with twine, tucked the fir branches behind the label, added it with more foam tape, and then finished off with a wee bow to the side, kept in place with a glue dot. Finally, I added a few gold sequins around the label to draw the eye.

more inspiration

Here’s another stencil-based card I made. You can find the original post here. It uses the Tree Lot stencil and Tim Holtz watercolour pencils, and the sentiment is the Holiday Horizon set again.

blog hop

As mentioned above, this post is part of a blog hop to celebrate the Holiday Sparkle release from Simon Says Stamp. Hopefully, you’ve arrived here from Laura’s blog, but if not, an excellent place to start is Simon’s blog. As with all good hops, there are offers and giveaways.

• Use code CUTEBAG to get a free Zipper Pouch with any purchase of $50 or more. Offer valid while supplies last or until 13 November at 11.59 pm ET.
• Simon is giving away a $25 coupon from comments left on each hop stop. Winners will be announced on the Simon blog on Wednesday, 16 November.

Now it is time to hop on over to Alberto’s blog. Here’s the complete hop list to keep you on track.

Simon Says Stamp Blog

Laura Bassen

Debby Hughes

Alberto Gava

Miriam Prantner

Anna-Karin Evaldsson

Amanda Korotkova

Mindy Eggen

Lorraine Aquilina

Heather Hoffman

Emily Midgett

Jennifer Kotas

Tina Smith

Jean Doeringsfeld

Misty Elam

Diane Morales

Maura Hibbitts

supplies

You can find links to the supplies I’ve used below; click on the picture or shop icon to get taken directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you! Items marked with an asterisk (*) provided by a store or the manufacturer. You can read my affiliate and product disclosure here. I genuinely appreciate your support.