A Merry & Bright Christmas Card with Winter Orchard

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Meet the Winter Orchard Collection

I’m excited to share my new Winter Orchard Collection with Honey Bee Stamps! I designed these coordinating products to bring an orchard-inspired twist to holiday cardmaking, with seasonal fruit, Christmas botanicals, decorative frames, and festive sentiments.

Last Friday I went live to introduce my newest products, then use the Winter Orchard and Christmas Botanicals sets to create a dimensional Merry & Bright card. I share my color and composition choices, show my all-time favorite glitter technique for the magnolia leaves, and share an alternate mint version.

Want to see the complete product introduction and every step of the cardmaking process? Be sure to check out the Live Replay to see the project come together from die cutting and arranging to the final details on the lights.

For this card, I paired the fruit and greenery from Honey Bee Stamps’ Winter Orchard and Christmas Botanicals sets with a bold Merry & Bright sentiment. Layered magnolia leaves, berries, persimmon slices, a bow, and a little string of lights bring the holiday details together. Full supply list can be found at the end of this post.

Featured supplies

• Lovely Layers: Winter Orchard – Honey Bee Stamps
• Lovely Layers: Christmas Botanicals – Honey Bee Stamps
• Lovely Layers: Merry & Bright Honey Cuts – Honey Bee Stamps
• Hive Hues Holiday Charm Cardstock
• Distress Frosted Crystal Embossing Powder
• Tim Holtz Distress Glitter — Clear Rock Candy
• Ranger Mini Glossy Accents

Make the foliage and fruit

I started by die-cutting the magnolia leaves from fern cardstock. To add the brown stems, I cut the pieces again from brown cardstock and layered the green leaves over them. If you don’t have colored cardstock, or just enjoy ink blending (like me), you can also cut everything from white cardstock and ink-blend the pieces. That takes fewer passes through the die-cutting machine.

For the fruit, I used cinnamon and saffron cardstock to make persimmon slices. I removed the small center pieces to give them an airy, dried-fruit look. I also used a little VersaMark to make the dies’ debossed details stand out. This is something that I do often, but rarely share. Press the raised detail on the die into the VersaMark pad, then die-cut. The transferred ink subtly darkens the lines and dots. The effect shows especially well on darker cardstock.

I used pomegranate cardstock for the berries and mint cardstock for additional greenery. I like arranging small accents in odd numbers, so I started with three of the persimmon slices and adjusted their placement as the card came together.

Add a frosted sparkle

I added sparkle to the edges of the magnolia leaves with VersaMark, Frosted Crystal embossing powder, and Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter. First, I applied the VersaMark and Frosted Crystal and heated it until the finish looked frosted. Then I heated it a little longer until it became clear and tacky, dipped the edges in glitter, and heated them again to set the glitter.

The leaves have a soft, frosty shimmer that catches the light without covering the cardstock in glitter.

I also used Frosted Crystal on the “Merry & Bright” sentiment as it is intended to be used, to create a subtle frosted look. The fine glittery effect works beautifully with the dainty die cut.

Arrange and assemble the card

I chose a deep evergreen A2 panel for the main version. Before adhering everything, I laid out the foliage, fruit, sentiment, and bow to check the balance. I used the berries to create a loose visual triangle and tucked the Merry & Brightsentiment into the center.

Once I was happy with the arrangement, I used Press’n Seal to lift the pieces together so I could keep their positions while I glued them down. I worked from the back of the arrangement forward, trimming stems as I went to reduce bulk and leave a flatter area beneath the sentiment.

I used liquid adhesive along with foam adhesive to create different levels. I saved the string of lights for last so I could weave it through the arrangement without shifting the other pieces. A little Glossy Accents on each bulb gives the lights a glassy finish.

I also made a mint-background version, which gives the same design a lighter, softer look.

Thanks for crafting along with me! Which version do you like best: the deep evergreen background or the mint one?

Supplies:

Spellbinders Full 48 Color Wheel Cardstock Shop at: SPB	Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD Shop at: HBS	Bee Creative 1/4″ White Honeycomb Foam Shop at: PNKF	Bee Creative 1/2″ White Honeycomb Foam Shop at: PNKF
Foldable Cutting & Alignment Mat (A3 Size Shop at: PNKF	Lovely Layers: Winter Orchard Shop at: HBS	Lovely Layers: Christmas Botanicals Shop at: HBS	Tim Holtz Distress Glitter CLEAR ROCK CANDY Shop at: HBS
Lovely Layers: Merry & Bright Honey Cuts Shop at: HBS	Bee Creative Platinum Scout Die Cutting Machine Shop at: HBS	Hive Hues Holiday Charm Cardstock Shop at: HBS	Rainforest Colorwheel Cardstock Shop at: SPB
Ranger Mini Glossy Accents Shop at: HBS	Honey Bee Creative Precision Glue Shop at: HBS	Spellbinders 9″ Pro Shears Shop at: SPB	Spellbinders ColorWheel Cardstock – Alabaster Shop at: SPB
Distress Frosted Crystal Embossing Powder Shop at: HBS	Fall Assortment Colorwheel Cardstock Shop at: SPB	9×12 Ultra Sticky Mat Shop at: SHOP	Altenew Instant Dimension Foam Tape Shop at: SHOP