Winter is Here: Happy Winter Solstice!

Happy Winter Solstice! Today is officially the first day of winter, and I have the cutest lil' card to share with you to celebrate! I'm using the Winter is Here! stamp set by The Greeting Farm from Simon Says Stamp's STAMPtember 2018 event.

What I like so much about this card is how the white card base really lends itself so well to highlighting the adorable girl and boy characters. They really are the star of the show on this card! I love how colorful they are against the white backdrop.

I started by diecutting an oval from white card stock with the Inside & Out Stitched Oval STAX die set by My Favorite Things. I like that this die creates a stitched edge on both the positive and negative piece of the cut paper, because since I was going to be using the negative piece for my card, I think the stitched edge added a nice little detail to it.

Then, I used an embossing folder to create the snowflake texture. This folder is one I've had for many, many years so I'm not sure that it's still available by Cricut. But this Simple Snowflakes embossing folder by Tim Holtz is very similar.

Lastly, I spritzed the piece with homemade shimmer spray. Yes, homemade! Just mix Perfect Pearls pigment powder and water in a mini mister!

To recreate this look it's important to do these techniques in the same order I did - die cut, emboss, spray -  and here's why:

1. Die cut first - Once a piece of card stock is dry embossed, you don't want to run it through your die cutting machine to cut the oval because although it will cut out the oval, it will also flatten the texture you achieved from the embossing folder (ask me how I know! 😝).

2. Spray the shimmer last - Coating the paper with the water-based shimmer spray weakens the fibers of the paper, even after it's completely dry, so then if you tried dry embossing you may risk the embossing folder tearing through the paper (again, ask me how I know! 😝).

To color these these sweet characters I used Copic markers. Below are the color combos I that I used:
Greens: G07 & YG07
Blues: BG 01, BG05, & BG 009
Browns: E23 & E29
Red hat/jacket: R27, R24, & R22
Skin tone: E11, E00, E0000, & R20 (for the rosy cheeks)
Shoes: N4, N2, and I used N0 for the "white" areas in their hats and purse
Girls hair: Y13, Y15, & Y18
0.5 point black Copic multiliner pen (for the ground)

One thing I love adding is a litte Wink of Stella in Glitter Clear on the character's cheeks. I love doing rosy cheeks with a little sparkle. It's pretty subtle and doesn't show up well in pictures, but it just adds a little whimsy, which I love to do for cards like this!

I heat embossed the senitment with Ranger Black Sparkle embossing powder and stamped some snowflakes from the stamp set in Stampin' Up! Balmy Blue ink around it. Finally, to pop up the shimmery textured piece, I adhedered it to a piece of white craft fun foam using Scor-tape.

Check out my process video below or watch in HD on my YouTube channel:

Thank you so much for stopping by! I love reading your comments and appreciate your kind words. Happy Winter Solstice everyone!

Supplies Used:

iCraft purple tape [Scrapbook.com] [Therm O Web] [Amazon]



Neenah Solar White Card Stock [Scrapbook.com 80lb 25 pack] [Amazon 80lb 250 pack]




Tim Holtz Vagabond 2 Die Cutting Machine [Scrapbook.com] [Amazon]


Mini Mister spray bottles [Scrapbook.com] [Amazon]


Perfect Pearls Pigment powder [Scrapbook.com Pearls set] [Amazon single powder]



mini spoons [Amazon pack of 100]


Memento Tuxedo Black Ink [Scrapbook.com] [Amazon]


Mini MISTI Stamping Tool [Scrapbook.com] [Amazon]



Inkadinkado Stamping Masking Paper [Scrapbook.com] [Amazon]


Wink of Stella in Glitter Clear [Scrapbook.com] [Amazon 3-pack]

EK Success Powder Tool [Scrapbook.com] [Amazon]



VersaMark Ink [Scrapbook.com] [Amazon]


Ranger Black Sparkle Embossing Powder [Scrapbook.com] [Amazon]


Fiskars Paper Trimmer [Scrapbook.com] [Amazon]


White craft foam [Amazon]


1/2 inch Scor-tape [Amazon]