Stencils + Die Cuts = Wintery Holiday Cards by Anne Thompson

I recently got together with friends to make holiday cards and I took stencils to create interesting backgrounds for my cards. I had so much fun revisiting stenciling that I decided to use two of my favorite Memory Box stencils for today's three cards.

For the first card (the one lying down in the photo above), I started with bright white cardstock, the Winter Snowflakes stencil 88609, Salty Ocean Distress Ink, and my ink blending tool. I used washi tape to secure the paper and the stencil to my work surface to insure sharp inked images.

I cut a bunch of snowflakes using the SPARKLING SNOWFLAKE TRIO 94287 from some turquoise-y blue cardstock that matched the ink pretty well.

I used Glue Dots in the snowflake centers to adhere three of them over the stenciled snowflakes and pulled the radiating "arms" up a bit from the cardstock.

I cut the JOY AIRY SCRIPT 94325 twice, white cardstock for the bottom layer and blue for the top. I played around a bit with the orientation of the card and the placement of "joy" before glueing the letters on and adding the panel to a matching blue notecard. For the finishing touch I added dimensional pearls to the snowflake centers.

Next I took the Sprinkle Dots stencil 88597, bright white cardstock, Salty Ocean Distress Ink, and the blending tool to create another background before adding more of the blue snowflakes.

I layered up the Joy Airy Script again, added it to the panel, adhered it to a blue notecard, and popped pearls into the three snowflake centers.

As I was working on that card I remembered the WINTER TREE OVAL FRAME 94309 and thought that its swirling dotted lines might match those of the stencil. So I inked up another background using the Sprinkle Dots stencil on the front of a white notecard and added the oval tree cut from bright white cardstock and the swirly sky background pieced in using blue cardstock. You'll notice that the dots are lighter than on the other cards. I just used less pressure with the blending tool while adding ink over the stencil.

I added "joy and peace this season" from the MERRY AND BRIGHT MISTLETOE clear stamp set CL5246 stamped with VersaClair Nocturne (black) ink.

I think when I remake this card I will make it as a panel to adhere to a blue notecard like I did on the first two cards. In fact I might just cut this one apart and do that. I think a layer of the solid blue underneath it all will tie in better with the blue background of the winter tree.

I plan to make more cards using the stencils. These designs can work all winter for many occasions by just changing up the sentiment.

I wish I could say that I've made all of the holiday cards I will need to send out this month. I'm going to be a busy girl this week! Are yours done and in the mail? Have you posted one for our Holiday Cards Challenge? I'd love to see what you've been creating!

Happy Crafting!