GINGERBREAD HOUSE

Being a huge fan of our Stampin' Blends and coloring with them, I was immediately smitten with the <really inexpensive> stamp set, Yummy Christmas, found on page 23 of the Holiday Catalog. It features 11 stamps, four of which are used on my card: the peppermint candies in the corners, the cute gingerbread house, the Christmas tree, and the cool hand drawn scalloped edge all around the card.

This is the card the girls at my October Stamp-In workshop created. Before they started, however, I warned them that, of the four projects they would be making that day, this one would be the most time consuming, although I reassured them that they could put as much or as little effort into their card to suit their taste and ambition.

It was wonderful to watch the girls working so hard on their Christmas scenes. Just like little elves!

Only a few Stampin' Dimensionals give the card a little lift here and there:

A closeup of the gingerbread house with the wreath popped up 

to look more "realistic":

To create a snowy look to the sky, 

I had the girls brayer on White Pigment Ink through a dotty stencil.

Just another view of the dotty snowflakes, as well as a few "real" ones:

Following is a tutorial on how to create your own little winter scene.

SUPPLIES:

Balmy Blue cardstock

Whisper White cardstock

Yummy Christmas (page 23, Holiday Catalog)

Itty Bitty Greetings (page 30, Annual Catalog)

Whisper White Craft Ink (page 180, Annual Catalog)

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Stampin' Blends in assorted colors

Sponge Brayer (page 181, Annual Catalog)

1/2" Circle Punch

Paper Snips

Stampin' Dimensionals

Basic Patterns Decorative Masks (page 35, Holiday Catalog)

Snowflake Sequins (page 43, Holiday Catalog)

DIRECTIONS

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Balmy Blue cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

Stamp the edging about 1/8" from all the edges of a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Whisper White cardstock. Adhere this to the card base.

You will be working next on a 3 1/4" x 4 1/2" piece of Balmy Blue cardstock. Lay the polka dot stencil over this piece, using tape to hold it in place. Ink the sponge brayer with Whisper White Craft Ink by rolling it in one direction over the ink pad several times. Once you have enough ink picked up, brayer it across the stencil a few times, reinking each time. There! You just made snowflakes! Gently peel the tape away and adhere this piece over the edged white piece.

On a scrap of Whisper White cardstock, stamp the peppermint candy four times. Color them with red and punch them out with the 1/2" circle punch. Add one candy to each of the four corners. These will cover up where the edging looks a little funkyy at the corners.

On Whisper White cardstock, stamp the house in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, as well as the Christmas tree. If you choose to pop up the wreath, also stamp an extra wreath. Using the Stampin' Blend markers in the colors of your choice, color in all the components. You can do as much or as little in this area as you'd like.

When finished coloring, fussy cut the house, the tree and the extra wreath if needed. Using Stampin' Dimensionals, adhere all the pieces to the card front.

On a 1/2" x 1 1/2" piece of Whisper White cardstock, stamp the sentiment in black ink. Add it to the background with a few Stampin' Dimensionals.

Add some snowflake sequins to the snowy sky.

After the workshop, I made another of these cards for my mom to use as a little sit-around Christmas decoration. I made it exactly the same as this one, with one exception. I re-stamped and colored the gingerbread man, fussy cut him and popped him up over the original gingery guy. 

Gingery

Smiles.