Grab all my tips and tricks for this handmade classic Christmas bells card – die cut elements make it so easy!

Today’s handmade classic Christmas bells card mixes the iconic red and green of this time of year with the punch of beautiful metallic gold and the simple sentiment brings the whole thing together. The intricate design of the background – made with a single spin through your die cutting machine – adds tons of texture and visual interest to the whole project so no one needs to know that the bells and holly are so easy to make!

On this card I used Rubbernecker’s Bells and Bows, Paver Cover, Holly #2, Greenery #1, and Small Tags dies, the sentiment from my own Kittie Says Christmas, and inks from Color Fuse Set 11 to add the quick shading to the greenery.

Let me share the steps with you so you can use any or all of them on your own designs.

Card Base and Die Cut Paver Cover

• Use white cardstock to cut an A2 sized card base.
• Cut the Paver Cover using red cardstock.
• Apply rolled up strips of double stick tape all the way around the back border of the frame and to several key areas of the cross sections and attach it to the card base.  Pro Tip:  I didn’t want the cover to be attached flat to the card base.  The rolled up double stick tape allows the cover to sit just a little above the base but it makes for a much more interesting card.

The Gold Metallic Bells

• Use gold metallic cardstock to cut the Bells and Bow bells and gray cardstock to cut the clappers.
• Assemble the pieces and attach them together using connect glue.
• Apply pieces of mounting tape to the back of the bells and attach them to the card base.

The Die Cut Holly and Sentiment

• Use green cardstock to cut the Holly #2 and Greenery #1 sections.
• Apply touches of Grass Color Fuse Ink from Set #11 to the holly and greenery sections using a mini applicator for shading. Shape gently with your fingers for a little dimension.
• Apply glossy accents to the back of the holly sections and attach them around the top of the bells.
• Tuck the greenery branches around the holly and attach using glossy accents.
• Cut the Small Tags section using white cardstock.
• Secure the tag and the Kittie Says Christmas sentiment in the Misti.
• Use tape to block off the top section of the sentiment “Let’s Eat, Drink and be “, apply ink to the Be Merry portion of the sentiment, remove tape and stamp.  Pro Tip:  I always look for ways to modify sentiments. if I can’t find just what I’m looking for in my stash.  I wanted a small enough sentiment to fit on the small tag.  
• Apply a piece of mounting tape to the back of the tag and attach it to the holly arrangement.
• Cut several holly berries using red cardstock, place them face down on the molding pad and push down with a large round stylus to form them.
• Apply small pieces of mounting tape to the back of the berries and tuck them around under the tag to finish the card..

Can you believe how easy this is given all the dimension, texture and details? I love adding these little elements like the shaded leaves, the shaped berries and popping up the cover die cut with that rolled tape trick. It’s all these little things in combination that add up to give a wow-worthy result. Use any or all of these little tips on your own projects and see what happens.

Here are the goodies from Rubbernecker that I used today:

5619D Paver Cover Die [ B&B ] 5617-02D Bells and Bow Die — Brass &… [ B&B ] 5416-06D Holly #2 Die [ B&B ] 5162-09D Greenery #1 Die [ B&B ] 36005 Kittie Says Christmas – 4×6… [ B&B ] Color Fuse Set #11 [ B&B ]

For all the other things I pull from my stash, you can get handy links to all my favorite favorite crafting tools that I use here.

I think this handmade classic Christmas bells card would be an ideal batch making card! All the individual die cut steps can be done in stages, the greenery can be cut and colored in a separate session and all the stamping can be done at once. Then assembly can be done en masse or as you need a card or two. Hmmmmmm!