It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

Here is the first of many Christmas card ideas I have been trying out.  I made this card using  the Gypsy but it can be easily duplicated in Design Studio.

When you use Design Studio or the Gypsy you can save time and paper by setting up your mat with all of the elements of the design and  placing pieces paper in the appropriate sizes according to the grid for cutting.  Here is the mat for this card.

This photo shows you the cuts after they were removed from the mat - they are in the positions they were in on the mat for cutting.

The card base is from A Child's Year and is sized at 8.50 width and 5.50 height in True Size Mode.  In Design Studio, set your default size at 5.5 inches and check the "Real Size" box to the left of the slider bar.

The mat layer is also from A Child's Year and is sized at 3.78 width and 5.48 height in True Size Mode.  In Design Studio just enter these values in the Shape Properties box.

"Merry Christmas" is from Lyrical Letters and is sized at 3.97 width and 2.43 height in True Size Mode. Once again, simply enter these values in the Shape Properties Box to duplicate this in Design Studio. This is the "Connected" font on Lyrical Letters and it is one of my favorites.  I do wish there were shadow versions of the fonts on this cartridge (or an easy way to create a proper shadow layer).

I cut the "Merry Christmas" from red foil cardstock.  When I placed it on the patterned paper I used for the mat it got "lost" so I needed to do something to help make the words legible.  I cut a piece of vellum to approximately 3 x 4 5/8 inches to layer between the words and the patterned paper.

 Here you can see how the vellum "tones down" the bold pattern.

I use Creative Memories Frosted Splits to adhere vellum - they disappear when you adhere the vellum for a very clean look.

After the vellum was adhered, the edges looked a bit unfinished so I decided to add something (can you guess what I added?)

Yes - Stickles again! The Frosted Lace version of the white/clear Stickles varieties is one that I seldom use but they were good for this purpose - not as sparkly as the others so they give a very subtle effect.

The Stickles have a tendency to pull the paper a bit as they dry but you can put the fully dried papers under some heavy weights to flatten them out again.

Finally, I could add my "Merry Christmas" and it is much easier to read with the vellum layer added. Be sure to keep track of that tiny dot for the "i" (or have a small jewel handy to dot the "i").

There is a "blank" area at the top of the card.  I thought of adding ribbon but I didn't have any that seemed to suit (incredible if you could see how much ribbon I have in my craft room!).  So I cut a strip of green glitter cardstock to 1/4 inch and adhered it to the top.  I hand trimmed the edges to match the curves as you can see above.

I used foam squares to raise up the mat layer from the front of the card - this gives a nice shadow effect on the lace edges.

Here is one more view taken with the card flat on the table.  Less than two months until Christmas - do you have some cards started?

I am not posting a file since I did this card using the Gypsy and the file sharing function is not quite ready yet.  I think you can use my directions to make your own file - if you make one I'd love to see how yours turns out.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween..