I found this lovely set of golden mandala textures on Creative Fabrica and I thought that they would make pretty Christmas cards. I could have used the images for the whole card front, but I decided to just print them off directly from Windows Explorer. The resulting images were 9x13cm and would fit nicely on to the front of an A6 card.
I felt that the resulting cards needed a little bit of jazzing up, so I tried out various embellishing techniques like using glitter glue, glitter washi tape, paint markers and Nuvo Drops to enhance the images. I also tried out different die cut and peel-off sentiments to see which worked best.
Gold acrylic paint marker around the edge of the image, some red glitter glue to highlight the red areas on the image (not very visible in this photo) and a Merry Christmas die-cut sentiment all on a black card blank.
Red glitter around the edge of the image, a few dots of red glitter glue on the image and a Merry Christmas die-cut sentiment.
Gold glitter washi tape around the edge of the image, a few dots of glitter glue on the image and a Merry Christmas die-cut sentiment.
Gold glitter around the perimeter of the topper and a few spots on the image. Merry Christmas peel-off sentiment.
They're simple, but pretty cards that can be put together easily; perfect for batch making. Go check out this designer's shop. There are lots of gorgeous backgrounds and textures - from Christmas imagery to cotton candy clouds and fairy gardens. I've downloaded at least 15 of the bundles and plan to add to my collection!
By the way, if you want to buy from the Creative Fabrica website and you're only being given the option to take out a subscription, change the currency to US$ via the drop-down menu in the top right corner of the screen. You should then be able to see individual prices.
I was looking through some of my (extensive!) paper scraps and came across a card layout that I designed, but never tried. I thought it would be fun to try it out and share it with you:
To make the card:
Trim an A6 card base to 14.5cm (i.e. 10.5 x 14.5cm). (This step is optional. I like to do it because it makes the borders around the patterned papers equal.)
Cut two rectangles each measuring 9.5 x 13.5 cm and 7.5 x 11.5cm from two contrasting patterned papers. You should have four rectangles in total.
Cut each of the rectangles in half across the diagonal. (If you have half-rectangle triangle dies you can just cut the triangles directly.) Make sure to cut in the same direction on all four of the rectangles. You should now have four large triangles and four smaller triangles (two each in two patterned papers).
Position one of the large triangles in one corner of the card base, leaving an even border around the top and side. Take one of the large triangles with a different pattern and position it in the opposite corner of the card base.
Place a smaller triangle in the middle of a larger triangle so that you have two different patterned papers on top of each other.
Use a (black) fineliner to add faux stitching around all the edges.
Cut two flowers (or other shape) - one from each patterned paper and add faux stitching all around the edges.
Glue the flowers (or other shape) towards the right-angled corner of the smaller triangles. You can shape the flowers and only stick down the centres or you can glue them down flat. It's up to you!
Add a sentiment at the centre.
I made some additional cards with slight variations of the same layout by changing the position of the smaller triangle and the shape of the card base.
Variation 1 - Smaller triangles meeting at the centre diagonal. Also flowers are stuck down flat (more like applique).
Variation 2 - Card in landscape orientation and the corners of the smaller triangles are aligned with the corners of the larger triangles. Also no faux stitching.
Variation 3 - Square card base, smaller triangles meeting along the diagonal (as in variation 1) and alternative faux stitch pattern on the flowers.
Variation 4 - Square card base, smaller triangles meeting along the diagonal and alternative shape used for the embellishment.
Watch the process video:
SUPPLIES
A6 card blank
Two types of patterned paper in contrasting colours.
Here's another design from the Stained Glass Papercut Collection from CraftWorld. I love peacocks, so it was a given that this would be one of the first designs that I chose from the collection.
To make this card:
I wanted to back the peacock with a colourful patterned paper, so I imported the SVG to Canvas Workspace and created a mat to fit the peacock by drawing around it with the Path Tool. So now when I resize the peacock design I can resize the mat at the same time!
The SVG was 8.5 x 14cm. So I cut a piece of gold glitter card to 9 x 14.5cm and the card blank was 9.5 x 15cm.
I glued the papercut and mat to the gold (champagne) glitter card, and then onto the card blank.
I added some gems to the peacock's tail in a coordinating peacock green.
It's a relatively simple design, but it has a lot of impact. I can't remember where I got the glitter card from, but it is absolutely gorgeous 😍.
The papercut includes the sentiment "Best Wishes" , but it would be easy enough to make some additional sentiments. The Breamcatcher font would fit the Art Deco aesthetic very well and is available to download for free.
The patterned paper that I used for the peacock is from this set.
Get the Stained Glass Peacock cut files and others from the collection here.
I was browsing the CraftWorld website a couple of weeks ago and came across a call for digital cut file testers. On a whim I applied and imagine my delight when they sent me a bunch of files to try out!
There are 9 files in the Stained Glass Collection consisting of a mix of traditional stained glass imagery as well as some landscapes and florals. For the first card that I made, I used the Rose Buds set.
First of all I imported the SVG into a graphics program and adjusted the line colour so that it was very faint.
Then I printed that out to use as a painting guide. I used Derwent Inktense pencils and a water brush to colour in most of the elements.
I cut the file (being sure to keep the same dimensions* as the printed version) from black card and then glued that on top of the coloured image and put it onto a card blank.
To finish the card I added some gold gems and a sentiment strip, which I popped up with foam tape.
*For this card the SVG had width of 9cm. The card blank was 10 x 16cm.
Originally a set of metal dies, which are no longer available to buy, the designs have been resurrected as SVG cut files. Get the full set from CraftWorld.
Some affiliate links used. If you follow a link and then make a purchase I will receive a commission at no additional cost to you.
All of the products mentioned in this post are products that I have bought and paid for myself.
Last year I did a 10 Cards 1 Kit post where I used a paper pack as my "kit". I like the idea of doing something similar and this Christmas-themed paper pack that I found at Creative Fabrica seemed like a good fit. I like the mix of colours and imagery and the potential to make a complete card kit from it.
To make up the card kit you could:
use a graphics program to separate the gingerbread, holly sprigs, candy and poinsettias into individual files to give a set of embellishments.
print the backing papers as is (in 12x12 format) or manipulate them in a graphics program to create a smaller scale repeat as the patterns are (more-or-less) seamless.
use the colour picker tool to create your own coordinating plain card for matting and layering.
create a sheet of generic sentiments (like in this blog post) for your card fronts or interiors.
bring in some other elements from your stash (like glitter, glitter card, mirror card, gems etc.) to add some pizzazz...
…and you've made your own card kit! I'll make a separate post (and maybe a video) with more details and the results, so stay tuned.
In case you've never heard of it, Izink Diamond Paint is a glitter paste and paint in one. Although you can apply it with a paintbrush it wouldn't really work for painting fine details. It would work really well with stencils though. I love that it is super sparkly and that the paint is not too wet like a lot of other glitter paints/glues. I've purposely left the stripes and spots a little bit rough but it's up to you how neat and tidy they are.
The Vanilla Blossom Watercolor set has a number of elements including florals, foliage, butterflies and birds. One of the florals had three complementary images that would work as decoupage.
I filled an A4 sheet with the various images that I wanted to use and printed that out. If you're going to try to decoupage remember to group all of the relevant images and resize them together.
I'm using sentiment strips that I created myself. Check out this blog post to see how I made them.
Card 1
- Paint horizontal stripes across the card front and allow to dry.
- Cut out the three different floral images (flower with stem, flower with no stem and flower on its own).
- Layer the floral images using foam pads to create a 3D decoupage effect.
- Glue the decoupaged flower to the front of the card and add a sentiment.
Card 2
- Paint horizontal stripes across the card front and allow to dry.
- Cut out one each of the flower with stem, and the flower on its own and stick them together with foam pads.
- Rotate the card to landscape orientation so that the fold is at the top.
- Glue the floral to the left-hand side of the card front and add a sentiment.
Card 3
- Use a saucer, bowl or similar to paint curved stripes across the card front and allow to dry.
- Cut one each of the flower with stem, flower and leaves with no stem, flower on its own and a butterfly.
- Layer the flowers with foam pads and glue it in the bottom right corner of the card front.
- Glue the butterfly in the top left corner (ish) and add a sentiment.
Card 4
- Paint rough circles about 1.5cm / ⅝ inch onto the card front and leave to dry.
- Cut out two of the flower with leaves, one flower on its own and a butterfly.
- Decoupage one of the flowers with leaves and the flower on its own with foam pads.
- Arrange the flowers toward the centre of the card and glue them down.
- Add a butterfly (I chose the top left corner) and add a sentiment.
Use a black card blank for an alternative look.
I really like the gold, but the diamond paint comes in a few different colours so it could be fun to try out different card and paint combinations as well as different florals, or even multicoloured glitter paint backgrounds.
Sentiment strips can be a really elegant addition to your card fronts, home décor projects, mixed media artwork or scrapbook pages. They generally come pre-printed or as a stamp (and die) set. Both of those options are just fine, but they can be costly and you are limited to the words and phrases that are offered, the font used, the size of the strip etc. Making your own sentiment strips is both cost-effective and non-limiting because you choose the words and phrases, the font, the size, the colour scheme and so on.
In the following example I used Photoshop to create my sentiment strips, but you could also do this in a word processing program if you don't have a graphics program.
1. Create a new project. I used A5 size because I couldn't think of enough sentiments to fill an A4 page! But in hindsight I could have just doubled-up on some of them 🙃.
2. Draw a rectangle to cover the sheet and fill it in black (or whatever colour scheme you fancy).
3. Using the text tool, select the desired font and create a page full of short sentiments to cover a variety of occasions and lay them out onto the (black) background. If using a dark background colour remember to select white or a light colour for the text and vice versa.
4. When the page has been filled and you are happy with your sentiment sheet print it out, then cut out the strips as you need them or cut them all out and keep them in a container so that they're ready to go.
Remember to set your print settings to best quality and consider using photo paper rather than copy paper to get a good depth of colour in the background.
I may have mentioned before that I absolutely love buying craft supplies! It's bordering on an addiction. The problem with that is that it is costly and the supplies take up a lot of space (that I don't have). So I've been trying my hardest not to succumb to all the juicy deals that seem to keep popping up in my inbox lately 😩. To help keep my cravings at bay, I've been scouring the "Freebies" section at Creative Fabrica. It's the perfect foil to my buying habit - the products don't cost anything, they only take up space on my hard drive and I get to feel the same joy and satisfaction that I get from buying and receiving physical items 🙌.
Anyway, on to the project! These floral greetings cards are really pretty and quick and easy to make.
Aside from your computer and printer, you will need:
Download the clipart and import the images into a graphics program, e.g. Photoshop. Adjust the size so that they are about 10 x 13cm (to fit an A6 card) or whatever dimensions you need for the card that you want to make.
Step 2:
Position the graphics so that they are one side of the page (rotate if required and use guides to help you position them), then print out.
Step 3:
Cut the A4 sheet in half, then score and fold to create two greetings cards and put them aside.
Step 4:
Create another page in your graphics program using the graphics from step 2, but this time fill the page, then print.
Step 5:
Cut out one central flower from each design on the printed sheet.
Step 6:
Use foam pads or dimensional glue to stick the cut flower onto the greetings card base to add dimension.
Step 7:
Download the font and install on your computer.
Step 8:
In your graphics program create a new project with an A5 sheet. Draw a rectangle to cover the sheet and fill it in black.
Step 9:
Using the text tool, select the Underwood Champion font and create a page full of short sentiments to cover a variety of occasions and lay them out onto the black background. Select white for the font fill colour. When you are happy with your sentiment sheet print it out.
Step 10:
Cut out one of the sentiment strips and attach it to the front of the greetings card.
Your card is complete! I chose to do some decoupage on the front because I think it adds something extra, but that is optional (steps 4-6).
The sentiment sheet does take a little time to put together, but once you have done it choosing a sentiment is very quick.
You could easily make a stack of these to have on hand for any occasion or to sell or gift as a set.
Head over to Creative Fabrica to grab these assets and make your own cards, or check out the vast selection of fonts and graphics (both free and paid for) and be inspired to bring your own creations to life.
A few months ago Design Bundles released a new freebie digital paper pack - the Summer Digital Papers Set: sixteen 12x12" papers with a (loose) summer theme. As soon as I saw the set I thought of Christmas even though it's labelled as "Summer" and one of the papers features watermelons! So I thought it would be fun to try a 10 cards 1 kit with the set, but with a Christmas theme. I also thought that it would make a great debut video for my YouTube channel. Alas, I didn't get around to editing it in time 😞.
OK, so I know that Christmas is long gone, but I'm posting this anyway because I went to all the trouble to make the cards and film the process and it seems like a bit of a waste not to. Besides, if you ignore the Christmas theme this could be great inspiration for how to use patterned papers for cards in general.
I did use some die cuts, stamps and card from my stash, but I tried to keep the "extras" to a minimum so that the cards could be recreated easily with whatever you have in your stash.
Card 1
I was struggling to get started so used Freshly Made Sketches 457 for inspiration. I used a Kraft card blank and four of the patterned papers and cut a stag head silhouette from Kraft card to match the base. The sentiment is stamped and heat embossed with white embossing powder.
The stag head could easily be replaced and the sentiment changed for a card for a different occasion.
Card 2
For this card I cut one of the green papers into a triangle for a tree and used the red paper to create presents. I also used pink glitter card as a mat to match the pink of the patterned backing paper and then cut 'tinsel' from the glitter card to decorate the tree. Acrylic gems for baubles and a simple sentiment stamped in green to match the colour scheme finish off the card. (If I were going to make this again, I'd make the presents slightly smaller.)
Card 3
For this card I embossed a piece of plain white card, slightly smaller than the card front. I cut strips of the triangular patterned paper and used them to create a frame around the embossed card. Then I cut three triangles for trees and a scalloped circle to frame the sentiment from different papers in the set. I added a few gems for an extra festive touch.
Card 4
Here I made rosettes of varying sizes from three of the patterned papers and used silver glitter glue to make them look like hanging ornaments. I stamped and heat embossed a sentiment onto a piece of one of the green papers. This design would also suit a birthday card or any celebration card.
Card 5
The striped patterned paper screamed "candy cane!" to me so I cut out two mirror images of candy cane shapes. (I didn't have a candy cane die so I drew a template and used that as my guide.) I die cut a bow from the the red paper and some pine sprigs from one of the green papers. The elements were arranged on a Kraft tag to match the card blank, and then I used the red gingham style paper as the background. I also added some silver string to the tag.
Card 6
For this card I die cut the pine sprigs from one of the green papers and die cut three circles from three of the patterned papers. I fussy cut various triangles from the patterned paper and arranged all the elements to make it look like baubles hanging from a tree. I cut a sentiment from pink glitter card to finish off the card.
Card 7
I kept things fairly simple for this card, cutting a stitched edge rectangle frame from Kraft card and a rectangle from the red patterned paper. I die cut a bird and a sentiment from plain white card and finished off the card with a few gems.
This could also be adapted for any other occasion by changing the sentiment and using a similar die or florals in place of the bird.
Card 8
This is one of my favourites. Pink isn't readily associated with Christmas, so to make the card more festive I stamped a snowflake-like motif in the centres of all the polka dots and heat embossed them with gold embossing powder. Then I layered rectangles of gold mirror card and the pink patterned paper as shown and die cut a sentiment and the stag head from gold mirror card as well. Again, this could easily be adapted for a different occasion.
Card 9
I had a lot of small paper pieces and offcuts left over so I decided to try some paper weaving. I embossed a piece of white card with the swirly pattern then die cut a bauble aperture from it and placed the woven paper behind the aperture. Then I die cut the bauble hanger from gold mirror card and pieced it back into the aperture. I also stamped two sentiments on circles which I covered with Glossy Accents. I was hoping to get a somewhat domed effect, but they turned out pretty flat. I added a few gems to finish.
Card 10
I left the red and black polka dot paper until last. I really struggled with how to use it because it didn't feel Christmassy to me. In the end I decided to use a layout that I've used a lot in the past and like. I cut a strip of black card to go across the card and a slightly smaller strip of the patterned paper to sit on top of it, then cut a stag silhouette and the sentiment from black card. The stag silhouette didn't pop out enough when directly on the patterned strip so I also cut a decorative oval from white card for it to sit on. I added a few gems on the white spaces for a bit of added interest. I'm still not sold on this colour scheme, but it was interesting to try.
EDIT - I did it! I finished the corresponding video and posted it to YouTube 🙌🙌
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This was a lot of fun and a great creative exercise! I was really pleased with the variety of different cards that I ended up with despite using limited resources. Why not challenge yourself to create 10 cards from 1 paper pack? Design Bundles have thousands of background papers as well as other graphic resources at very reasonable prices. It's a really cost-effective way of adding to your stash (provided that you have a decent printer), plus you'll never run out of your favourite design again!
If you're new to digital crafting or don't have much of a budget for craft supplies it's definitely worth checking out their freebies page, but remember to read the licence terms to make sure you don't violate any terms of use.
Every year Christmas manages to sneak up on me! You'd think by now I'd have cottoned on, but come the beginning of December I'm always astounded by how close the big day is. I have managed to make a few Christmas cards though.
This card is based on an old design that I made with white and Kraft card. The snowflake is actually a doily (Couture Creations Cecily Doily), but I thought that it looked very much like a snowflake and would look great against a snowy background.
I cut the doily in half and placed each half at the top and bottom of the card. I added a few pearls to some of the circles within the doily for a bit of extra prettiness. The "Merry Christmas" sentiment is from another Couture Creations set - Merry Layered Stars.
This design, although simple does take a bit of time to complete because of adding small dots of glue to the doily die cut and sticking on the pearls, but could easily be modified to make it quickly reproducible.
At first I created the background using paint splatters on blue card, but to save time I used a graphics program to create my snowy background. Download it here.
Use a double sided adhesive sheet with the doily die cut or a brayer to apply the glue to save time
Use self-adhesive pearls or pearl enamel drops (much less fiddly than loose pearls).
I have an extra Cecily Doily and Merry Layered Stars set on eBay if you'd like to recreate this card:
.jpg "Christmas Mandala Golden Paper Texture Set")
.jpg "Print from Windows Explorer")
