arching spruce sprig

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! Boy do I have a fun surprise for you today…. Although Simon Says Stamp’s STAMPtember is winding down, we still have a few super fun surprises in store for you, including this jam-packed, Limited Edition Holiday Card Kit! The Simon kits are always a phenomenal value, with individual elements retailing for well over the purchase price, but this one… it blew me away. SO many fun and unique elements that you can use together, individually, or pair with products from your stash! Here’s a peek at the kit:

So many fabulous elements that you almost don’t know where to start first, right? This Holiday Card Kit includes the most darling large stamp set, interactive mitten die that you can use to create a focal point or a gift card holder, layering stencils, 3D embossing folder, gorgeous patterned papers, white pigment ink and blending brushes, and tons of individual consumable elements that coordinate so beautifully to create marvelous holiday goodies to make your gift giving extra special! The individual elements of the Holiday Card Kit are valued at well over $100, but you can purchase them in a bundle for only $69.99. I love that there are so many reusable elements included in the kit, not just consumables, making the value on this one truly incredible!

**note: this Holiday Card Kit is being sold as a preorder. It is anticipated to ship in mid-October.

Whenever I am working with a Holiday Card Kit like this, I like to take my color palette from the patterned papers, which usually have an underlying color scheme throughout, so that I can create a cohesive set of projects. The beautiful 6×6 patterned papers included in the kit feature lush blues and greens, with touches of red, coral, and pink. I used those colors and the deep navy cardstock (also included in the kit!) as my starting point for today’s projects. Let’s get started with the details!

*I have linked all of the products used at the bottom of the post for your convenience using affiliate links. Thank you for shopping with my links! I truly appreciate your support for my work!*

I absolutely love the look of snowmen in colored pencil on dark cardstock, and as soon as I saw that navy cardstock in the kit and the adorable snowman stamps in the Warm Heart set, I knew that would be my starting point. I stamped the smiling snowman and pile of penguins onto some of the deep navy cardstock using the White Pigment ink, handily included with the kit. When using colored pencils on stamped images with colored cardstock, I like to stamp with white pigment ink. The white pigment ink sits atop the cardstock without sinking in, making it easy to blend the lines into the colored pencil work!

After I had stamped the images, I used my favorite colored pencils to color the images. The trick with snowmen is to keep the white pencil work as clean as possible, adding only the gentlest of shadows to indicate shape. I always keep extra white pencils around to make sure that I can easily blend and add highlights. For the scarf, I used only a red and white pencil, as I didn’t have a pink that matched perfectly, instead creating my own pink by using a light hand with the red pencil and blending it out with the white! The penguins had the tiniest bit of shadow to make sure that their little tummies looked nice and round, and I used a fine tipped black pen to add details to the eyes and mouth on the snowman, as well. The little details make a big difference with colored pencil work, I think.

After I had finished the colored pencil work, I used a blending brush dedicated to white pigment ink with the white inkpad included in the kit to blend around the edges of the card front, creating a lovely frosted effect. I stamped snowflakes from the Warm Heart set directly over the top of both the blended area and the colored images, also adding snowflakes in various sizes with my white gel pen and some sparkle with Clear Pawsitively Dazzling Gems. Finally, I stamped a greeting from Warm Heart on some leftover navy cardstock using the white pigment ink, adding Iridescent Blue embossing powder over the top to create a gorgeous, shimmery sentiment that stands out on the dark cardstock beautifully. I used the coordinating die to cut the sentiment and popped it up with some thin foam squares, making this card almost completely flat and easy to mail!

For my second project, I used the fantastic Mitten Gift Card Holder die included with the Holiday Card Kit, along with some fo the beautiful patterned paper that reminds me so much of Rifle Paper Company patterns. I first die cut the blue cardstock mitten, cutting the entirety of the mitten from some Altenew Winter Lake cardstock, then running the panel through my die cutting machine with the Neatly Knitted embossing folder and lightly blending Dusk ink around the edges. I die cut the cuff of the mitten from some of Simon Says Stamp’s Pawsitively Velvet Snow cardstock to add luxurious texture to the mitten. Taking my color cues from the pretty patterned paper, I die cut some florals using the Aurora Blooms die set, adhering all of the individual die cut components to the blue textured die cut.

To create the card, I created a card to hold a gift card by doing some fancy die cutting. I die cut a folded A2 card using the mitten die, making sure that the die overlapped the crease, creating a shaped card base. I also die cut an interior mitten using some of the beautiful floral patterned paper, adding in the gift card holder die cut from the Mitten Gift Card Holder set and adhering this to the inside of the card. It’s super easy to slip a gift card in the slots, and this entire card fits perfectly inside a typical A2 envelope!

Well, that’s all for my projects today. I wouldn’t wait long on this jam-packed kit, because it’s sure to sell out quickly! But, the good news is that if you miss out on the kit, you can still purchase the individual elements, which I’ve linked below. And don’t forget your free shipping code!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!