Get some PRO TIPS on making die cut Christmas cards loaded with dimension!

I love making die cut Christmas cards and always look forward to all the new trends and fun designs that come out each year. I was inspired to make this particular card when I envisioned the Spooky House die from Rubbernecker as a little Christmas cottage. Can you believe how different this looks? And so cute! All this scene needed was, of course, the ever-popular red pickup truck. And because I fit so many die cut elements into this scene, it’s the perfect example to show how you can build dimension just by layering your elements with varying thicknesses of foam tape.

The House

• Use red and white cardstock to cut two house sections.
• Trim off the wonky roof section of the right side of the house.  Note:  I trim off that section of roof when I want the house to look like an every day house instead of a haunted house for Halloween.
• Trim the porch roof off of the white house.
• Attach small pieces of vellum to the back of the windows using glossy accents.
• Attach the roof sections to the house using rolled up double stick tape and attach the door and windows using glossy accents.
• Cut tiny greenery sprigs using green cardstock and attach to the house door and windows using glossy accents.
• Punch out 1/8″ red circles, attach to the sprigs using glossy accents and add sparkle to them using red stickles.

The Truck

• Cut the truck parts using red, gray and black cardstock.
• Attach the fenders to the truck using rolled strips of double stick tape.
• Use glossy accents to attach the wheel sections together and attach them to truck base using glossy accents.
• Cut tiny greenery sprigs using green cardstock, create a tiny wreath and attach to the truck using glossy accents.
• Punch out 1/8″ red circles, attach to the sprigs using glossy accents and add sparkle to them using red stickles.

The Evergreen Trees

• Use green cardstock to cut out a set of the trees.
• Crimp each tree using a straight crimper.  Pro Tip:  Most people think the crimper is old school and have them buried and have no idea where to find it.  I keep mine close at hand because I love how it adds dimension and interest to die cuts like the trees or drapes in a window.

The Card Base, Frame and Snow Layers

I took a few pictures of how I assembled this scene card.

• Cut an A2 sized card base using white cardstock and a 5.50″ x 4.25″ light blue layer.
• Attach the blue layer to the card base using ATG adhesive.
• Cut two snow layers using white cardstock.
• Cut the frame using green cardstock.

• Attach one snow layer to the back of the frame and one to the front of the frame using ATG adhesive.

• Apply strips of mounting tape all the way around the back of the frame.  Pro Tip:  I know some people use tiny pieces of tape placed in a few key places on their frames but I prefer using the full strips to keep my frame and images secure.

• Secure the card base down with tape to hold it secure while attaching the frame.

  
  

• Apply pieces of mounting tape to the back of all the images.  Pro Tip:  Securing the images in place with mounting tape instead of flat to the card surface holds them away and creates the appearance of dimension. 

• Attach the house in place behind the snow layer.

• Adhere the trees in place allowing the branches to overlap the house slightly.

• Attach the truck to the snow layers.  Note:  Once the truck was attached I noticed that you really couldn’t see the tree in the back of the truck since it was directly in front of the two trees.  I inserted a small portion of a snow layer behind the truck so the tree would show well.

I love how well this picture shows off the dimension of the scene.  Check out my Rusty Pickup Truck, Christmas Cards with Pickup Trucks and Vintage Truck and Flowers for more inspiration using these images.

5176-01D Deckle Frame Die [ RBB ] 5162-11D Truck Die Cut [ RBB ] 5216-05D Spooky House Die [ RBB ] 5173-02D Deckle Hills Die Cut [ RBB ] Greenery #1 Die Cut 5162-09D [ RBB ] Crossover II Fabric & Paper Cutting… [ RBB ]

The Color Catalog by Sarah Renae Clark [ SRH ] Marvy Uchida Corru-Gator Paper… [ BLIC ] Amazon.com: Offray 1/8″ Wide Double… [ AMZUS ] Amazon.com : Accent Opaque White 8.5”… [ AMZUS ] Mini Glossy Accents, Ranger Accents [ ELH ] Sizzix Paper Sculpting Kit [ BLIC | SBC ] Amazon.com: Scotch CAT 085 Advanced… [ AMZUS ] Dress My Craft – Hole Punch – One… [ SBC ] Amazon.com: Mini Foam Dots… [ AMZUS ] Amazon.com: Scotch 1/2-Inch by… [ AMZUS ] Fiskars 01-005452 Recycled Bypass… [ AMZUS ] Teflon Bone Folder, Essentials by Ellen [ ELH ] Scor-Pal Measuring & Scoring Board 12×12 [ ELH ] Glue Dots, Mini (3/16″) [ ELH ] Scor-Tape 1/8′ (3mm), Scor-Pal Tape [ ELH ] Scor-Tape 1/4′ (5mm), Scor-Pal Tape [ ELH ]

There are so many styles and shapes and colors and themes for making die cut Christmas cards and you can take any of them, build yourself a cute little scene and then use my PRO TIPS to make it really stand out and come to life!