Thanksgiving Place Card Frames and Let It Snow Card by Diane Mason

Hello, and welcome back for Watercolor Weekend!

Hello, my Ai Watercolor friends and fans! I have two holiday projects to share with you today featuring some recently released sets. The Thanksgiving place card frames use the 6254 – FG Thankful Border images in a new way. My second project is a Christmas card showcasing an adorable little snowman from 6259 - Let It Snow Story Tile Set.

At our house, we are still finishing off the Halloween candy – but, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before you know it! So, there’s no time like the present to get going on your holiday projects!

Thanksgiving Place Card Frames:

Instead of just name cards for the Thanksgiving table, I thought it might be fun to be a little extra and turn the place cards into small framed gifts for the guests to take home. I used the 6121 – Storybook Template die for the boxed frame.

Colors and Supplies Used:

Paper: Canson XL Watercolor Paper

Kraft colored paper for the box

Patterned Paper: 5962 – Classic Christmas Paper Pack

Brushes: No. 4 round brush, No. 0 round brush

Stamps & Dies:

• 6254 – FG Thankful Border
• 4051 – WC Foliage Set 1
• 4052 – WC Flower Set 1
• 6271 – Flower Set 7
• 5600 – Harvest Sentiments Set
• 6121 – Storybook Template Die
• 5783 – Fall Leaf Frame Die Set 

Ink for stamped images: Versafine Vintage Sepia

Tombow Dual Brush Pens: 025, 026, 177, 173, 526, 565, 772, 856, 837, 910, 912, 933, 947, 969, 977, 990, 992, 993

Other:  Brown TwinTone marker, Black Micron Pen, and Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White (dots on mushrooms and flower centers)

      

Stamping:

To begin, I traced the interior section of the oval with a pencil onto a piece of Canson XL watercolor paper to establish my workspace. I did this for both images. Using this as a guide, I masked the area outside the oval and only inked half of the stamp (first the left side, then the right side) with Versafine Vintage Sepia and stamped onto my watercolor paper using a stamp platform. I did this for both frames.

Colors and Stamps Used:

Fence and posts: 177 and Brown TwinTone

Pumpkins: 933, 993, 925, and 177 (stems)

Mushrooms: 856, 837 (caps), 990, 992 (stems)

Grass and vines: 177 (4051 – WC Foliage Set 1)

Basket: 990, 992 (basket), and 856 (red band)

Tree: 977, 969, Brown TwinTone (tree), 025 and 177 (tree leaves – vine 4051)

Leaves on the ground: 993, 933, 856,177

Ground: 977, 969

Flowers in Basket: 856, 177 (flowers from 6271), 025, 993, 177 (daisy bunch – 4052)

Apples: 173, 177, 856, 837, 025, 993

Scarecrow: 910, 912 (face), 025, 026 (shirt, hair and stuffing), 177 (pants and hat band), 990, 992 (hat), 856 (patch and neck tie), 933 (patch and nose), 772 (cheeks), 969 (shoe and belt)

Sky:  526

Sentiments: 177 (from 5600 – Harvest Sentiments Set)

Frame Box Assembly:

I die cut the box and an oval insert from kraft colored cardstock. The decorative pieces were all cut from patterned paper (5962 – Classic Christmas Paper Pack) and adhered to the assembled box. Next, I adhered the kraft oval frame insert to the painting and added foam squares to attach to the inside front opening, giving the painting an inset look. I printed the names in green using a font from my computer on to white cardstock and die cut the tags. I tied the tags on to the box using twine, and popped up the Happy Thanksgiving Sentiment with foam squares.

Back side of the Frame:

I stamped the sentiment from 5600 – Harvest Sentiments Set with 177 onto a white cardstock oval. I die cut the leaves and sprigs from watercolor paper, painted them with 856, 025, 993, 933, 177, and 977 (5783 – Fall Leaf Frame Die Set). I added veins with a Brown TwinTone and attached them to the frame with glue.

The new Countryside Series stamp sets are so fun to use the conventional way, but I really enjoyed using them in a slightly different way by separating the border image into two parts. It was also fun to find new images to fit inside the Storybook Box. I think the place card frames turned out very nice and will look very festive!

Let It Snow Card:

My bonus project features one of the adorable snowmen images from 6259 – Let It Snow Story Tile Set. This little guy is doing a great job lighting up his tree! The snowmen images are perfect for using with the Story Tiles die, but look so cute on their own also!

I die-cut a piece of white shimmery card stock with the 5782 – Snowflake Frame Die and also die cut some snowflakes with the dies included with the frame. Next, I inked the snowman image with N52 and stamped it on to a piece of Canson XL Mix Media paper. I chose this paper over watercolor paper because it is whiter. It is also thinner than watercolor paper, so you have to be careful to not use too much water or the paper will ripple and not look as nice.

Colors used: 025, 177, 195, 249, 526, 526+565 (sky and snowbanks), 555, 565, 772, 856, 933, 925, 993, 947 and Dr. Ph. Martin’s for the snow. I used 526 for the Let It Snow sentiment.

The A2 card front was matted with red cardstock and patterned paper from 5853 – Christmas Magic Paper Pack. The painted image was popped up with foam squares and snowflakes were attached to the frame with glue.

For the inside of the card, I die cut a stitched rectangle frame from white cardstock and stamped the sentiment and snowman in 526. And for a nice little touch, I added a few snowflakes too!

Thank you so much for joining me for Watercolor Weekend! I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s projects and possibly learned how to use your stamp sets in different, creative ways. Until next time, and Happy Painting!