Blissful Snowflakes

Are the winter blues getting you down? Here's how to replace them with a magical flurry of snowflakes...

Replace those winter blues with a flurry of sparkly snowflakes!

Hello, friends! Since it's nearly Christmas (where has the year gone?!), I thought I'd share one of my all-time favourite Christmas cards with you. This beautiful flurry of snowflakes can be created in any colour, and using any shape for the central design. Bring on your unique style - and plenty of sparkle!

Method

First of all, cut two pieces of card to fit on top of your card blank. The larger should be a colour which matches your chosen ink pad (and even better if it's sparkly!), and the smaller should be a smooth, plain white. I tend to allow around 0.5 cm on each side as a border, to showcase the colour of the card below.

Next, cut out a heart from a scrap piece of card - this can be any colour, since you only need to use the outer piece. Your scrap card should be of a similar size to your white card, to protect the parts of the white card that you don't wish to colour. I cut my heart using a Cuttlebug die, but if you don't have a heart-shaped one, it's easy enough to fold your scrap card in two, draw half a heart along the join and then cut it out, leaving a symmetrical hole in the middle.

Place your scrap card over your white card so the cut-out heart is in the centre, making sure to hold it in place (use #WashiTape to secure if desired). Then ink up a stiff brush with a pale blue stamp pad and work the colour in a circular motion, from the scrap card towards the centre of the white card. When you remove your scrap card from over the top, you should be left with a blue heart on your white card.

Replace the scrap card and add some tiny stamped snowflakes, using slightly darker blue or purple inks. You needn't cover the whole heart, but just add few here and there - adding some 'partial snowflakes' over the edge of the heart also works well. Then cut out some medium-sized snowflakes and small stars in a variety of sparkly colours using a Cuttlebug, and stick them in the gaps. The use of both a glue pen and sticky foam pads creates an effective assortment of heights.

Quick tip: Cut out your medium-sized snowflakes early and position them over the heart before you've stamped your tiny snowflakes. This helps to position the stamped snowflakes in a more balanced way.

Finally, all that's left is to cut and stick a few little stars round the edges using a glue pen, add a sentiment peel-off and assemble with #UHUGlue or double-sided tape! Don't forget to add an inner, too - this can either be plain or with a stamped or typed sentiment.

Materials:

- White and blue glitter cardstock

- Blue and/or purple ink pads and brush

- Cuttlebug with heart, star and snowflake-shaped dies

- Small snowflake stamp(s)

- Sentiment peel-off

- Guillotine, sticky foam pads, double-sided tape or UHU glue, scissors and pencil

- Scrap card.

Sending festive crafty wishes!

Amy x