Christmas in July 2020

While I have already started working on my Halloween projects, I could not miss the opportunity to create something for Christmas, so I, too, am joining Christmas in July with this Santa. I am still waiting for my new Sizzix Chapter 3 dies to arrive, so I used some from the last year.

First, I assembled the Santa (Jolly St. Nick die set), I used white and cream coloured recycled cardstock (Crush Corn and Citrus), which gave him a great vintage look. I used Fired Brick and Aged Mahogany Distress Oxide Inks to colour his body and Ground Espresso and Walnut Stain Distress Inks to add some shading. For the belt I used black recycled cardstock and added a little bit of shading using Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide Ink.

Then I created the background. I used kraft cardstock as a base and coloured it with Pine Needles Distress Oxide Ink. Then I spritzed it with water, which created splashes and turned the colour a lot bluer. I also used pine landscape in the background which I cut using ScanNCut. It was cut out of plain white cardstock. 

I also added some presents (Festive Things die set).

Then I added some pine needles (Pine Branch die set) which I cut out of tissue paper (stuck on a piece of cardstock) and coloured the die cuts with watercolours and gold acrylic paint. The result is a beautiful texture. I used the same technique for the poinsettias. The pinecone was cut out of brown metallic cardstock and then I used the die to emboss it into a gold mirror cardstock and cut the outline with my scissors. I was inspired by Pete Hughes's video.

I also added a sentiment saying 'HO HO HO!' (Alphanumeric Tiny Type die set), which I cut out of Crush Olive cardstock and added some metallic gilding wax so that the color matches the rest.

Lastly, I just added a frame which I cut out of kraft cardstock, coloured with Black Soot Distress Ink and added a thin layer of gold acrylic paint ("dry brush technique"). This way it has a nice metallic finish while the dark colour of the frame still shows through.

Supplies:
Sizzix Jolly St. Nick, Colorize by Tim Holtz, #664198
Sizzix Pine Branch by Tim Holtz, #664228
Sizzix Festive Things by Tim Holtz, #664191

Sizzix Alphanumeric Tiny Type Lower, #664407

Sizzix Alphanumeric Tiny Type Upper, #664406

Crush cardstock - Olive, Corn, Citrus

Pentart Antique Paste Gold

Cadence Dora Metallic - Rich Gold

Ground Espresso and Walnut Stain Distress Ink

Pine Needles, Fired Brick and Aged Mahogany Distress Oxide Ink

Have a great weekend!

Dana