Be Merry in DieCember

Today is the first day of DieCember at Simon Says Stamp! It's a month dedicated to celebrating our love of die cutting. And by that I mean a month which gives me an excuse to SHOP. You know, for Christmas presents for myself! I love all things die cutting, and especially holiday dies, because you can really make your Christmas cards stand out with them. Also, usually by the time I get to making my Christmas cards, I need the simplicity of dies to help me actually get them done.

I send hundreds of Christmas cards, which means coloring a stamp image is not going to happen, nor is any detailed masking, scene making, etc.

My go-to Christmas card design is a dramatic background (because I can make full sheets and get multiple cards out of them) and a punch die or sentiment stamp.

For today's card, I used the Retro Flake Border die and cut the design into a piece of Saunders Waterford Watercolor Paper I had trimmed down to match a 4 bar card. Several of those will be among the cards I send out this year - I love that size.

I watercolored this piece with three colors - Pthalo Blue Green Shade, Phthalo Turquoise and Quinacridone Pink as an underpainting - leaving each color in its own space, after misting the paper with water to ensure the colors ran.

After that was dry, I painted over the entire thing with Phthalo Blue Green shade, which turned the pink into purple, and the turquoise into a bluer mix. It greatly intensified the color and gave me the overall cool tones I wanted.

Then I die cut Merry with the Merry die from Concord & 9th out of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, as well as some extra snowflakes (I love that they look retro - like Jetsons' graphics, or jacks) and glued those all down. I wish you could see the sparkle.

Simon Says Stamp RETRO FLAKE BORDER... [ SSS ] Merry Die - Concord & 9th [ C&9 ] Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors [ BLIC ] Phthalo Blue Green Shade - Daniel... [ BLIC | SSS | ELH | AMZUS | SBC ] 01767-5420 - Daniel Smith Extra Fine... [ BLIC | ELH | AMZUS ] 01767-2190 - Daniel Smith Extra Fine... [ BLIC | ELH | AMZUS | SSS ] Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper by... [ SUP ] Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes... [ SUP ] Saunders Waterford Watercolor Blocks [ BLIC | ELH | AMZUS ] Silver Brush - Black Velvet, Round #2 [ BLIC | AMZUS ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | SBC | SSS ] Sizzix BIG SHOT EXPRESS Gray and... [ SSS | BMS | SBC ] Sizzix Cutting Pad, Standard - Mint [ ELH | SBC | SZZ ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC | AMZUS ] Multipurpose Liquid Glue by Stampin' Up! [ SUP | SSS | ELH | MFT | BLIC | AMZUS ]

I glued that panel onto the 4 bar notecard, and boom! A quick and easy Christmas card that is still super eye-catching and fun.

Now that I have permission to shop DieCember, I'll extend the same permission to you. :)

Loveyameanitbye.