Christmas in July With Layered Die Cuts

Do you start your holiday cards early? Perhaps during all the hype over Christmas in July? Or do you wait until the last minute like most of us? Hello, I am Karen Hasheck of Karen’s Kreative Kards. I am thrilled to share my first project with you as a new member of the CutCardStock Design Team.

I make Christmas cards all year round for my stash. Inspiration for this card came after receiving gorgeous layered dies from Spellbinders from the Country Christmas release by Annie Williams. The images are beautiful, and rather than use separate colors of cardstock, I made them all silhouette images.

Cut and Score Cardstock and Patterned Paper

Cut a piece of Neenah Classic Crest 110# Solar White 9 ¼ inches by 5 ½ inches, and score at 1 ¼ and 2 ½ on both sides. Also, cut a piece of the same strong white cardstock 1 inch by 6 ¾ inches for the bridge.

This beautiful scene is from the Winter Wonderland Prints 6×6 Paper Pad, cut at 5 ¼ inches tall by 6 inches wide.  To layer on the sides of the bridge card, cut off 1 inch from both sides. The folds for the scored card base are mountain, valley, valley, mountain. Then attach the patterned scene paper to the sides and inside of the bridge card base.

Die Cut Horse Drawn Wagon

The next step is to create a horse drawn wagon using the new die set. Create an all-black silhouette using Royal Sundance Linen 80 lb Eclipse Black Card Stock.

Complete Bridge Card and a Bonus Card

Next, attach the bridge piece; lay one side of the card base flat and fold one side down. Afterwards, apply adhesive to only one inch of the back sides and attach about ½ inch up from the bottom. This enables the card to stand for display and fold flat to mail.

Finally, glue the horse and wagon together and attach it to the bridge with liquid glue.

For the sentiment, I chose a clear sticker from STAMPlorations which I simply pressed onto the center of the card base. You could also stamp a sentiment if you want.

The bridge card with the silhouette horse and drawn wagon was so easy and fun to make, I decided to make another. This time I am featuring Annie Williams’ Country Snowman and Friends cut out of white cardstock instead of black. I created the bridge card the same way as above after picking out another lovely winter scene from the Winter Wonderland Prints 6×6 Paper Pad. Using Royal Sundance Linen 80 lb  Midnight Blue Card Stock, I cut the card base.

On my bonus card, I simply attached a Foiled Holiday Sentiment from PinkFresh Studios.

Are you a fan of Christmas in July? Even if you are not, I hope you will save these cards to Pinterest or bookmark this blogpost so that you can try the time saving tips I shared. You can make a bridge card with silhouette die cuts for any occasion. After you make one or two, join me in sending some handmade joy out into our world!

Cardmaking Joy & Hugs,
Karen