How to Make a Christmas Card with Joyful Christmas Sentiments Press + Foil Plates

Hello, crafty friends! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you on the blog today to share a card using the Joyful Christmas Sentiments Press + Foil Plate and Die Set from Simon Hurley. There are four sentiment sets in this collection, which was originally released some years ago as Glimmer hot foiling plates. The plates are now available with the option of pressing as well as foiling, giving you even more versatility with these wonderful sets.

The sentiment sets include the Joyful Christmas Sentiments, which I use today, as well as the Wonderful Winter Sentiments (another set of holiday-themed greetings). The Must-Have Sentiments are suitable for everyday use, and finally you have the Birthday Sentiments set, which covers your birthday card-making needs.

So, let’s get started on today’s card.

Merry Christmas

Ink Blend the Background

1. Take a 4.25” x 5.5” panel of Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Cardstock and place it down onto your work surface with the smoother side facing upwards.
2. Using a Large Blending Brush, apply Hero Arts Ultra Pink Core Ink from the top down towards the middle. Fade the ink out as you get nearer to the centre area.

3. Next, apply Hero Arts Raspberry Jam Core Ink from the top downwards, making sure not to go down as far as the Ultra Pink. You want to create a pretty ombre blend which fades out towards the middle.

4. Now go back over the blending using Ultra Pink Core Ink once again to deepen that original colour. Try and keep the ombre effect as much as possible!

5. Finish this section by applying Hero Arts Plum Core Ink onto the top portion of the panel.

TIP: Choose a blending brush that suits the size of the area you’re working on. Although a smaller brush can make it easier to pick up ink from a cube, it can sometimes end up producing a less smooth blend across the panel.

6. Rotate the panel and apply Hero Arts Paradise Core Ink down towards the middle. Make sure not to overlap with the pink and leave a central area free of any ink.

7. Now apply Hero Arts Bermuda Core Ink from the top down, not going quite as far down as Paradise (your lighter green).

8. Finish by going back and blending some extra Paradise Core Ink to deepen the colour towards the centre and smooth out the transition between the two colours.

9. Take the Linear Touch Rectangles and Tag Etched Dies and tape the second largest rectangle onto your panel using Best Ever Craft Tape.

For all the die cutting, use the Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine with the die cutting sandwich as follows (from bottom to top):

• Plate A – Platform Base
• Plate B – Platform Top
• Plate C – Cutting Plate
• Plate C – Cutting Plate

The cardstock/die will be inserted between the two cutting plates with the die sitting on top of the cardstock, cutting edge down.

10. Run the panel through the Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine.

Splatter the Background

1. Place the ink-blended panel into a box.
2. Take some Splatter White Opaque Watercolor and add a little of the paint onto an acrylic block.
3. Spritz with clean water and then, using a No.2 round brush, splatter this paint over your panel.

4. Now take the Sparkle Splatter Effects and shake it so that the contents mix.
5. Add a small amount onto an acrylic block. You do not need to add water to this medium!

6. Using a No.2 round brush, splatter the mix across the panel.
7. Remove the panel and leave it to dry.

Die Cut the Snowflake

1. Take the Layered Snowflake Etched Dies and place the shadow die onto some Spellbinders Vellum.
2. Tape it in place using Best Ever Craft Tape.
3. Run it through your die-cutting machine.

4. Now take the two other large dies and tape them onto a piece of Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock.
5. Make sure that the space between the two dies is as even as possible.
6. Run them through your die-cutting machine.

7. Use the precision tool from Handy Craft Tool Set to pop out all the inner pieces.

8. Add very small dabs of Bearly Art Glue onto the back of the snowflake. Make sure to add glue to the middle area only. You want to make sure that the outer sections of the snowflake are free of glue and are therefore lifted slightly from the vellum layer once you adhere it in place.

9. Adhere the detailed snowflake onto the vellum shadow layer.

Press the Sentiment

1. Place the Simon Hurley Joyful Christmas Sentiments Press Plate onto the BetterPress Letterpress Magnetic Platform.
2. Tape an A2 panel of Porcelain BetterPress Cardstock onto the underside of the clear acrylic top plate (platen) using small pieces of yellow tape.
3. Apply BetterPress Black Ink onto the press plate, using a pounce and pivot motion.

NOTE: The Full Size BetterPress Black Ink Pad is useful for any plate with a larger surface area and helps to ensure the even transfer of ink across it.

4. Take the platen, flip it back over the magnetic platform.

5. Remove all plates from your Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine and run the platform through.

TIP: If the ink doesn’t transfer as well as you would like, you can reink your plate and repeat the process, adding a paper shim when you run it through your die cutting machine. This helps provide additional pressure if required.

6. Take the Joyful Christmas Sentiments Press + Foil Plate and Die Set and tape the coordinating die over the sentiments.
7. Run this through your die-cutting machine.

Assemble the Card

1. Take a moment to look at the beautiful sparkly and snowy splatter on your panel!

2. Add some foam tape onto the back of the ink-blended panel and remove the backings.

3. Add some liquid glue onto the foam tape. This is not essential. However, adding liquid glue gives you time to wiggle the panel in place to make sure it is straight when you adhere it onto your note card.

4. Adhere the panel down onto a top-folding A2 white note card created from Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock (11” x 4.25”, scored and folded at 5.5”).

5. Add tiny dabs of liquid glue onto the back of the snowflake. As you will be applying the glue directly onto the vellum, try and keep the glue to just those areas where it won’t be seen from the front (i.e. add it onto the vellum behind the areas where you can see the detailed sections of the snowflake).

6. Adhere the snowflake down onto the centre of your blended panel.

7. Add some 1mm White Foam Squares onto the back of your pressed sentiment and remove the backings.

8. Place the sentiment into the middle of the snowflake. If you have got any glue showing through the vellum, the sentiment will help to cover that!

9. Finish by adding some Fashion Oyster Color Essentials Pearl Dots onto the snowflake.

That finishes today’s card, and I hope that you found this photo tutorial helpful. This is quite an easy design to replicate across multiple cards if you want to. You can change up the ink colours to vary the cards and switch out the sentiments – you have several spares that will need to be used!

If you would like to see more of my cards, I would love to have you join me over on my blog, Instagram and Facebook. In the meantime, thank you so much for being with me here on the Spellbinders blog today. I hope that you have a wonderful day!

Spellbinders Supplies:

Other Supplies

Thin Foam Tape, Splat Box, No.2 Round Brush, Acrylic Block, Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Cardstock.