Hello everyone! I am excited to start another year of the Get Cracking on Christmas series and wicked excited to work on my stash of holiday cards throughout the year! I will continue to create holiday cards with NO STRESS, using stamps and supplies I haven’t had a chance to play with yet and experimenting with different techniques.
If you would like to read more about this series, you can do so here
Visit
Visit my site right here, on the third Thursday of each month, to be inspired!
Join Me LIVE
Each month, I will offer a LIVE where I create my card and share tips and tricks with you and some options for the card! This month’s YouTube LIVE is Monday February 19th at 12p ET, right on my YouTube channel. Stop reading and set an alarm on your phone so you don’t miss out, or tap the notification bell on YouTube! You can use the world clock here to figure out what time it will be where you live.
Don’t worry; if you can’t make my LIVE, you can always catch the replay on my YouTube channel, and I will also post the replay of the video below right on this post.
Inspiration & Share
As you create your holiday cards this year, be sure to tag me on Instagram @jennshurkus and use the hashtag #getcrackingonchristmas so I can see them! You can also “follow” this hashtag on Instagram to be inspired in your feed.
We can do this! We can create holiday cards all year and be more prepared for the holiday season!
Get Cracking: Using Stickers In A Creative Way
Alright, a few confessions for this month. 1. Most of my studio is still packed away from the move. 2. I buy and hoard all things Doodlebug. So, this inspired me to create some cards with minimal supplies, using some Doodlebug stickers from my stash made it fun and easy to create a stack of holiday cards. I honestly don’t remember what year these stickers are from, but I can assure you Doodlebug comes out with wicked cute holiday products every year, so I am going to link to supplies from their most recent release. Also, if you are not in the mood to create holiday cards just yet, I think these tips and tricks are fun and can be used on all themes of cards!
For these cards, I started by creating a fun background using Honey Bee Stamps Whimsical Hearts Stencil. I used the Make Art Stay-tion to hold my stencil in place, and ink blended with Lawn Fawn ink (see combos below) onto Distress White Heavystock. I used Honey Bee Stamps blender brushes (that I store in my favorite brush caddy). Whenever I am ink blending I love to use the Ink Stands to hold my ink pads, I also use a small mister bottle filled with Isopropyl Alcohol, to quickly clean my table surface with a Flour Sack Cloth.
Lawn Fawn ink combos used:
- Bubblegum/Lobster
- Bubblegum/Mermaid
- Mermaid/Lobster
- Celery Stick/Mermaid
I like using some non-holiday products on my holiday cards. It gives more use to items that I have bought, and I thought these hearts were perfect for that. I die-cut these backgrounds with the largest stitched rectangle from Lawn Fawn’s Outside In Stitched Rectangle set.
I then wanted to gold hot foil some sentiments to use on my cards, so I used Mini Christmas Sentiment Strips Glimmer Hot Foil & Die Set from Spellbinders. I also used the Solid Foil Plate from Pinkfresh Studio to be able to get double the sentiments for future use. I used matte gold hot foil. I am using the Spellbinders, Glimmer Hot Foil System and the Spellbinders Platinum Machine. The Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil System works with most die-cut machines, and you don’t need a Spellbinders Platinum.
I then started arranging stickers from Doodlebug into scenes. I added foam squares to the back of the stickers, and dusted the rest of the stickers with the Cottaintail Powder tool, so the sticky was gone from where I didn’t want it, a trick I learned a hundred years ago at the papercrafting store I used to manage and all of the Mrs. Grossman’s stickers we used to carry.
Like I mentioned, I am not sure what year the stickers I have were released, but the good thing is, Doodlebug comes out with wicked cute supplies every year! I found the following stickers still in stock from the previous holiday season, a ton of fun ones to choose from! Tap any of the photos to be able to shop!
Once I had all the cards put together, I embellished them with a little black glaze pen and Unicorn Stickles. This really jazzes up the stickers, and I love how it turned out!
I can’t wait to share some of these tips, tricks, and techniques on YouTube!
Learn how on YouTube LIVE
I can’t wait to share my process for this card on my YouTube channel Monday, February 19th, at 12p ET. I hope you will join me, and remember, you can work on your holiday cards while you watch!
As you create your holiday cards this year, be sure to tag me @jennshurkus on Instagram and use the hashtag #getcrackingonchristmas so I can see them! We can do this! We can create holiday cards all year and be a little more prepared for the holiday season!
Cardmaking Supplies Used:
The supplies I used are linked below. Click on the picture, and you will be taken to the product. I use affiliate links when available, which means if you make a purchase, I get a small commission at no extra cost to you. I appreciate your support!
Honey Bee Stamps, Whimsical Hearts Stencil Shop at: HBS |
Lawn Fawn, Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables Shop at: SSS | LF |
Spellbinders, Mini Christmas Sentiment Strips Glimmer Hot Foil & Die Set Shop at: SSS | SB |
Pinkfresh, Solid Hot Foil Plate Shop at: SSS | PFS |
Spellbinders, Glimmer Hot Foil Roll – Matte Gold Shop at: SSS | PFS | SB |
Spellbinders, Glimmer Hot Foil System Shop at: SSS | HBS | PFS | SB |
Doodlebug, Gingerbread Kisses Icons Stickers Shop at: SSS |
Doodlebug, Snow Much Fun Mini Icons Stickers Shop at: SSS |
Doodlebug, Candy Cane Lane Icons Sticker Sheet Shop at: SSS |
Doodlebug, Christmas Magic Icons Cardstock Stickers Shop at: SSS |
Doodlebug, Snow Much Fun Icons Stickers Shop at: SSS |
Doodlebug, Gingerbread Kisses Mini Icons Stickers Shop at: SSS |
The Ink Stand, rectangle Shop at: shurkus |
Lawn Fawn Bubblegum Ink Pad Shop at: SSS | LF |
Lawn Fawn, Lobster Dye Ink Pad Shop at: SSS | LF |
Lawn Fawn, Celery Stick Ink Pad Shop at: SSS | LF |
Lawn Fawn, Mermaid Ink Pad Shop at: SSS | LF |
Ranger, Unicorn Stickles Shop at: |
Lawn Fawn Glue Tube Shop at: SSS | shurkus | LF |
Mint Glue Tube Holder Shop at: shurkus |
Scrapbook Adhesives, mixed white foam squares Shop at: shurkus |
Scrapbook Adhesives, White Foam Strips Shop at: shurkus | LF |
Honeybee Stamps, Background Blender Brushes – set of 2 Shop at: SSS | shurkus | HBS |
Blender Brush Caddie Shop at: shurkus |
4″ Lazy Susan Shop at: AMZ |
Scotch, Mounting Putty Shop at: AMZ |
Sakura Black Glaze Gel Pens Pen 2 Pack 38495 Shop at: SSS | shurkus | HBS |
The Rabbit Hole Designs, Cottontail Powder Tool Shop at: shurkus |
Glitter All Of The Things, Flour Sack Cloth Shop at: shurkus |
Ranger, 2oz Mister Shop at: SSS | shurkus | R |
99% Isopropyl Alcohol Shop at: AMZ |
Misti 2.0 Shop at: SSS | LF | HBS |
Mini Misti 2.0 Shop at: SSS | LF | HBS |
Wendy Vecchi, 7 inch Stay-tion Shop at: SSS | shurkus | HBS | R |
Fiskars Microtip Scissors Shop at: SSS | shurkus |
Spellbinders Platinum Shop at: SSS | SB |
Klutter Keeper Shop at: shurkus |
ATG Gun Holster, Mint Shop at: shurkus |
Tim Holtz/Tonic 8.5 Guillotine Paper Trimmer Shop at: SSS | HBS | R |
Cute cards! Just 3 more Feb birthday cards to make before I Get Cracking for Christmas. It was great having almost 40 Christmas cards done by Thanksgiving last year; somehow I’m behind this year, even though I retired at the end of 2023😄