Get Into The Holiday Spirit With Sweet Birds, Pretty Wreaths and Fun Shakers!

Hello crafty friends! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you today on the Spellbinders blog. It’s always a treat to come on here and share some ideas with you. Today, I am using the All About Christmas Collection from Lisa Horton. This release is so fun and there is lot to love! You have some sweet birds, Christmas foliage, pretty stars, and lots of options to create layers using stripe and scallop die sets. A big plus is almost all of these sets can be adapted and used year-round for other occasions. There is also a stencil set which you can use to create circles/bokeh effects either for a background or as a focal point on your card, and to finish, there are a couple of festive/holiday sentiment sets which have a mix of word dies and subsentiment stamps. So, let’s get started on my cards.

Merry & Bright

There’s something so sweet about a set of birds that you can pop onto a branch! On this card, I am using the Little Birdies Etched Dies, the Bow & Bell Scallop Frame Etched Dies, and a couple of sentiments from Merry Sentiments Clear Stamp and Die Set.

1. I started off by die-cutting the birds from Seaside, Waterfall, Raven, Truffle, and Acorn Colorwheel Cardstock, and I adhered them using Bearly Art Glue. Acorn was used for their beaks, Truffle for their legs, and Raven for the eyes. Hard to see those little pieces!
2. Next, I die cut their accessories from Poppy, Cranberry, Teal Topaz, and White Pop-Up Die Cutting Glitter Foam Sheets. Again, I adhered those using wet adhesive. The white glitter pop-up foam is perfect for the hat trims and not only gives some pretty sparkle, but the dimension is fabulous!
3. I then die cut the branch a couple of times from Acorn ColorWheel Cardstock, the snow from white glitter foam, and the leaves from Waterfall and Teal Topaz, and glued them together where needed.

4. For my background, using the Platinum 6 Die Cutting Machine, I die cut the pretty frame from Bow & Bell Scallop Frame Etched Dies using my favourite Seaside. The white, rounded rectangle panel is also from this set.
5. The scallop frame was glued directly onto a top folding A2 white note card, and the rounded white panel was added on top using some foam tape.
6. I then adhered both branches directly onto the white panel and popped the birds on top using foam tape.

7. The sentiments are from Merry Sentiments Clear Stamp and Die Set, and they were stamped onto white card using Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink. I applied Hero Arts Ultra Fine Embossing Powder on top and then heat set them before cutting them out with the coordinating dies.
8. They were added onto my card using foam tape, and I finished by popping some Aquamarine Color Essential Gems around the birds and branches for some extra sparkle.

Joyous Wishes

For this card, I used the Christmas Foliage Etched Dies and the Bow & Bell Scallop Frame Etched Dies and created a wreath.

1. The poinsettias and bow from the Christmas Foliage Etched Dies were die cut from Poppy and Cranberry ColorWheel Cardstock.
2. I next die cut the flower centres from the Matte Metallic card included in the Gold Assortment Treasured Cardstock. They were glued together using Bearly Art Glue.
3. I then die cut the berries three times from Poppy card and glued them together.
4. All of the different leaf styles in the set were used, and I cut them from Seaside, Waterfall, Teal Topaz, and Blue Spruce.

5. I took a Hero Arts Nesting Circle Infinity Die and, using a pencil, drew a faint circle onto a panel of 80lb white card. This would serve as my guide for adding all the leaves.
6. The way I generally work with creating wreaths is to start adhering three or four of the same leaf shape evenly around the circle (for this card, I used sets of four). I then work from those three or four leaves, adding the next set and tucking them under the first set, about halfway down. I continue with the larger leaves/foliage and then fill in gaps with other smaller leaves and make sure that my circle looks balanced and the right shape. I never let a Christmas go by without making at least one wreath card! I love building up the layers and watching it take shape!
7. Once I had finished adding all of the leaves, I popped the two poinsettias and bow on top using foam tape and adhered the panel to a top-folding white A2 note card.

8. The sentiment is from Mistletoe Greetings Press Plate and Die Set, and I foiled it using Satin Champagne Foil and the Glimmer Hot Foil System. It was cut out with the matching die set and added across my wreath with foam tape.
9. I finished by adding Red Color Essential Gems around the wreath. These also look like additional berries! I also popped one onto the centre section of the bow.

Christmas Greetings

My third card used the Lots of Stripes Etched Dies, Christmas Foliage Etched Dies, and the Christmas Sentiments Clear Stamp and Die Set. I had some leaves and flowers left over from my wreath card, so I thought I would create a spray with them and pop it on top of a shaker.

1. With the leaves and poinsettias already made, I started by creating the shaker section of the card by die-cutting the Lots of Stripes Etched Dies five times from 80lb white cardstock.
2. I adhered four of the layers together and then glued them onto the centre of a top-folding A2 white note card.
3. To keep the note card from shifting around whilst I added the shaker mix, I taped it onto my work surface using Best Ever Craft Tape.
4. I used the Bokeh Bliss mix from This Calls For Confetti for my shaker, and I very carefully added the mix into all the striped sections. This required quite a delicate touch, but thankfully, the mix consists of tiny shapes, so I could move them into the sections easily when they strayed!
5. Once I was happy with how much of the shaker mix I had used, I adhered an acetate panel over the top and the final striped die cut layer on top of that.

6. I then created the floral arrangement using thin foam tape behind the poinsettia and then gluing the foliage behind that.
7. For the sentiment, I took the Christmas Sentiments Clear Stamp and Die Set and die cut the Christmas from Poppy card and the shadow from white. I adhered these together and then added them on top of the shaker stack using Bearly Art Glue.
8. I then took the clear stamp set and stamped all the sentiments using Versafine Clare Nocturne Ink onto white card. I applied Hero Arts Ultra Fine Embossing Powder on top (this gives the sentiment a lovely shine) and then cut them out with the matching die.

9. This was popped onto my shaker section using foam tape.
10. I finished by adding some Red Color Essential Gems for embellishment.

That finishes my cards for today. I hope they give you some ideas for creating with this lovely collection from Lisa Horton. If you would like to see more of my cards, I would love to have you join me over on my blog, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. In the meantime, thank you so much for joining me here today on the Spellbinders blog. I hope that you have an amazing day!

Other Supplies

Neenah Solar White Classic Crest 80 & 110lb cardstock, Thin Foam Tape, Embellishment Wand, Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink, Hero Arts Nesting Circle Infinity Dies, Hero Arts Ultra Fine Clear Embossing Powder, MISTI, Acetate, Pencil