5 fabulous Christmas card ideas tutorial with one stamp and a linking party!

Hi everyone,

Today we are excited to have Nancy Kirk from Sea Side Creativity show how us in very simple steps how to use one stamp to create amazing Christmas cards and gift wrapping ideas. Please help us welcome Nancy by leaving her comments :)


Nancy Kirk is a long time paper crafter and stamper.  She loves working with all types of designs and techniques and can be found working in her craft room for hours on end.  Her cards have been published in several magazines - The Rubber Stamper, Rubberstamp madness, Take Ten and Vamp Stamp News to name a few.  Her latest favorite tool is copic markers and she is a certified copic instructor.  Nancy resides in Florida with her husband and two dogs. You can visit Nancy’s blog here


Hello crafty friends!  Are you ready for another day of holiday crafting?  Today I will be showing you 5 ways to use one stamp.   I've chosen a poinsettia stamp from Flourishes - here is the first project:



This is a large card with double matting.  To create the double mat take red and green cardstock and cut a circle out of the center of each.  The green cardstock should be slightly smaller than the red and the circle cutout should be smaller as well.  I've used two sizes of circle nestabilities to do this.   Emboss a piece of white cardstock  - a cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder  was used here.  The embossed piece will be the bottom layer.



Assemble the red, green and white pieces.  Set this piece aside.



Stamp the poinsettia and two leaves on white cardstock, color with copics (or whichever medium you prefer) and cut out pieces.  Attached pieces on the front of your mat with foam mounting tape or pop dots.




To embellish the front of the card I make a double bow with seam binding (cheaper than ribbon!).  The center of the bow has flattened gold bead cap with a red rhinestone in the middle.  You can easily  flatten bead caps between two acrylic blocks.  Along the edge of the mat are gold stickers from Flower Soft - these add a nice touch and are easy to apply.




Gold Embossed Card
Who says poinsettia's have to be red?  Here is an option that requires no coloring and has an elegant look.




To create the front panel, stamp the image twice with versamark ink and emboss in gold.  For this card I am using Cryogen White cardstock - it has a pretty shimmer to it that does not show up in the photos.  Leave one image on the cardstock, cut out the other image leaving off some of the petals - this will be used as the top layer.



With foam mounting tape attach the cut out poinsettia on top of the image that was left on the cardstock.  Mount this panel on a piece of gold cardstock.  Then mount it on a piece of cryogen white cardstock that has been wrapped with gold cord.    This panel is then mounted on a base card of cryogen white cardstock that has been embossed with a snowflake embossing folder.




Gift Card Holder
Another way to use this stamp is to stamp it on patterned paper.  I chose some non traditional colors and ended up with a wintery look.  All the paper is from SEI's Winter Song paper pack.



First, stamp the image 3 times on patterned paper.  For this project I also embossed the image with blue glittery embossing powder.  Cut out one full image and two images smaller than the original.  Mount the two smaller pieces on the full image using foam mounting tape.  Set aside.



To make the gift card holder, take a piece of patterned paper sized 4.25" x 10".  Score at 4" and 8".



On the end that has the short fold, punch out a half circle in the center.  Add strips of tape to the inside edges and fold up.  This is where you will place your actual gift card.



On the other end of the strip use a scallop border punch.



To embellish the front, add strip of blue cardstock that has been punched with a scallop border punch and attached behind the front panel.  Small self adhesive pearls were added at each point.  Another wide blue strip was added on the front of the panel - a white satin ribbon was attached on top of this strip and wrapped around the gift card.  The layered poinsettia image is attached on the front with double stick tape.





Gift Wrap
Several years ago I switched to white wrapping paper for all my gift giving.  What a time saver!!!  White  wrapping paper goes with everything and can be embellished for any occasion.  I was able to purchase a large roll of it at a merchant paper supply store.   The paper is heavy duty wrapping paper - the kind you would find at a high end store - and has a nice linen look to it.   I used this paper, along with the poinsettia stamp to wrap this gift.




To stamp your wrapping paper cut a piece off the roll a size that will fit your gift.  If this section is a bit large place it on a table, or hard surface floor.  I place a piece of fun foam under the area I am stamping  - it provides a nice even surface that a table top or floor may not.   Ink and stamp as you normally would  - randomly stamping the image over the entire piece of wrapping paper.



My package was finished off with some red sheer ribbon and a tag made with a stamped sentiment.

One Sheet Box
For the final project, here is a great way to package  those smaller gifts!  The base box is made from one sheet of 8.5" x 11" paper.



First, here is how I created the front panel.  It is best to to assemble your decorated front completely and then place it on the front of the box.  Stamp and cut out  the poinsettia image on red cardstock - no coloring needed!    I attached small blue self stick pearls to the center of the image.  Die cut two leaf images from green cardstock.  This die is from the Spellbinders foliage set.    Take of piece of red cardstock and place of piece of patterned fabric on top.  The fabric I used is from Mota and has blues, greens and red throughout it.



Assemble all the pieces to the front of the fabric covered panel.  I also added some bakers twine and a stamped sentiment.



Now on to the actual box.  There are lots of tutorials on how to make this box - here are some basic instructions.  Take a sheet of 8.5" x 11" cardstock and score at the short side at 2.5"  and 6".  On the long side score at 4.5" and 6.5".  Fold all scored lines.



Diagonal fold the sides to create.  Do not tape the sides just yet!  Do all the folding first.



Here is a look at the side of the box



Once you have all your folds, attached your decorated panel to the front.  Then tape the sides of the box.  If desired, you can punch a hole at the top of the box and wrap a ribbon through it to close it up,  or you may chose to leave it open.
Thanks for stopping by today!!!  I hope these project have given you some inspiration for your holiday crafting.
Nancy

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