Frilly and Funkie Christmas in July Challenge: Rustic Woodland Christmas Greeting Card

Hello, Friends!  It’s time for another challenge at the Frilly and Funkie Blog.  The one and only Cec is our hostess this go round, and the theme is “Christmas in July.”  With that in mind, I broke out a bunch of my Tim Holtz goodies to create this Rustic Woodland Christmas Greeting Card. Let’s see what Cec has to say about this fun challenge.

Challenge Theme: Christmas in July

You might be experiencing summer heat but let’s think cool by getting a head start on Christmas preparations.  Your vintage or shabby chic creation could be a card, something to present a gift in or a decor item for the house or tree.

Rustic Woodland Christmas Greeting Card a la Tim Holtz “Dapper”

This was a fun card to make!  You wouldn’t normally think of using Tim Holtz “Dapper”  paper collection for Christmas, would you?  But I found patterns in it that hit exactly the right rustic note for this card creation.

This 5″ x 7″ top fold card reminds me of taking a wintry walk in the woods.  After distressing, matting and layering my designer papers I got busy with my die cutting machine.  It was so much fun to die cut all these various elements from Dapper papers and then make them look like Christmas paper.

First, the sentiment from Doodle Greetings #1 was stamped in Jet Black Archival ink onto the grid paper from the collection. Then I heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  Next, I lightly sponged some Pine Needles Distress Ink to add just a touch of color.  This step actually helped the sentiment to pop off the page.

Rustic Woodland Christmas Greeting Card: Tattered Florals

It is just me, or is it hilarious to think of making Christmas flowers from paper with a cigar band pattern?  But that’s exactly what I did here.  Here’s how I did it:

1. First, cut 6 squares of Dapper cigar band paper into 3.5″ squares.
2. Next, stack the squares on the frayed flower in the Tattered Florals Die.
3. Then, run the stack through your machine all at the same time.  All six layers will die cut beautifully as this is a steel rule die.
4. Now, flip half the flower layers over to the print on the reverse side of the paper.
5. Next, spritz the petals with Candied Apple Distress Stain Spray.  Heat Dry.
6. Then, Sponge the flower centers with a little Fired Brick Distress Ink.
7. Now, shape and stack the petals.  I shaped each layer a little differently for more fullness.
8. Finally, fill the flower centers with hot glue, then pour in Gilt Trip Prills.  Let it set a minute, then tap off the excess Prills into a funnel tray.

Rustic Woodland Christmas Greeting Card: The bow cluster

This Vintage Christmas plaid ribbon was exactly right for the bow cluster.  I tucked in some gold eyelash ribbon, a little greenery and a Tim Holtz snowflake charm to complete the cluster.  I filled out the floral arrangement with some of the die cut greenery.

Rustic Woodland Christmas Greeting Card: The Frame

Tim’s Ornate Frame is one of my all time favorite dies.  I cut it twice here: once from Dapper paper and once on heavy weight chipboard.  The chipboard pieces are painted with Prima Gold Crackle Texture Paste, then sponged with Vintage Photo Distress ink.  I cut the chipboard frame in half, then glued the Dapper frame to it so that it was slightly offset, letting the gold peep through.  The frame is surrounded with bits of greenery that I hit with a little Mica Spray.

The lovely deer was also die cut twice from Dapper paper, then layered together with small foam dots.

The Inside Story

Once again, I turned this card into a gift by adding a simple gift card pocket.

I matted this lovely vintage image onto forest green cardstock, then scored and folded it.

Add a tea bag to the pocket, and maybe a gift card and you have a lovely Christmas gift!

After stamping and embossing another image from Doodle Greetings #1, I sponged and colored the image.  This was matted onto a long panel of ivory text paper. I left lots of room to write a newsy Christmas note here.

Now it’s YOUR turn

You’re invited to play along with the Frilly and Funkie teams in this fun Christmas in July challenge.  Simply create your own vintage or shabby chic Christmas in July project and then link it up on the Frilly and Funkie blog.  You have until midnight on Tuesday, August 1st to join the party.  You can find the specific details HERE.

The Frilly and Funkie gals will be stopping by to admire your lovely creations.  At the end of the challenge the team will choose their top four picks. Our first place winner will be invited to join us for a Guest Designer spot  at Frilly and Funkie. Three additional talented participants will receive badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and adheres to the challenge guidelines will be entered into a drawing to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

I hope I’ve inspired you to break out your paper pretties and get your craft on.  If so, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below.

Thanks for stopping by!

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