Victorian Christmas Stocking Card With DIY Patterns and Instructions

DIY Home Decor and Cards with Prima's Victorian Christmas -Part 2

I really loved the beautiful Prima Victorian Christmas collection by Frank Garcia.  I had some left over paper and thought I'd make a series of cards and a canvas for Christmas to use the collection.  I have 4 projects in total so I decided to split this into two posts and share all my step-by-step instructions, DIY tips and techniques for each project.    This is Part 2.   

Part 1 projects are in the photo below. You can see the  complete instructions from the projects from Part 1  right here.   

These are the papers included in the Victorian Christmas papers I used for my projects.   

Prima Victorian Christmas  - Stocking Card with downloadable template  

This is my sweet stocking card.  

I have created a template for you to print.  Just clink on the link here.  

Step 1. Fold a piece of paper or use pre-folded cardstock.  Align the tempate against the fold.  Cut the template out but make sure the places that touch the fold are not cut.  

Your card should resemble this when opened.  

Step 2. Cut a doily to fit the toes, heel and trim on the top of the stocking.  

Step 3. This is what the back of the stocking top looks like.  I tucked the gold trim behind the piece before gluing to the card.  It provides a clean finished look and keeps the ends of the trim from fraying.    

Finishing Touches: from here, you choose if you want to keep the card flat for easy and inexpensive mailing or add dimensional embellishments with your personal flair.  

You can click here to get the printable Stocking Card Template 

Products used:  Prima Victorian Christmas Paper 990480, 990534, 990503
Prima Victorian Christmas Alpha Stickers 582371
Prima Gold Paper Doilies 585006
Gold trim
Cream pre folded Card/Envelope sized 5x6.5
Tim Holtz Distress ink - Vintage Photo

Victorian Christmas  - Stenciled Ornament Card

This card features the Victorian Christmas stencil.   For this card, I only share a stenciling tip.

I used the stencil that was part of  Prima's Victorian Christams collection for this card.  The stencil is obviously great for holidays  but perfect for all season as well.    Keep the stencil with the gift boxes handy for quick birthday cards.   

In this particular card, I really wanted to stencil  the ornaments.  To do this, you will want to block off the sections of the stencil that you do not want to include.    Slip a piece of paper under the stencil to keep the card clean of excess  stencil.  

Some people even add tape over the stencil sections they want to avoid.  

The credit card (used gift card) shown in the photo is another tool I use to spread the molding paste quickly and evenly.  

Thanks for sharing your time with me.  

May your Christmas season be filled with friendship and peace. 

Products Used:

Prima Victorian Christmas Paper 990480, 990534, 990503
Prima Victorian Christmas Alpha Stickers 582371
Prima Victorian Christmas  - Deck the Halls Stencil 582951
13Arts Chalk Modeling Paste
Prima Coy Liam Leaves 581138
White cording 2yards
gold sequins
Gold trim
Mini-red floral berries
Kraft Card/Envelope sized 5x6.5
Tim Holtz Distress ink - Vintage Photo

DIY Cards and Home Decor Christmas Canvas - Part 1

DIY Home Decor with Prima's Victorian Christmas -Part 1

I really loved the beautiful Prima Victorian Christmas collection by Frank Garcia.  I had some left over paper and thought I'd make a series of cards and  a canvas for Christmas to use the collection.  I have 4 projects in total so I decided to split this into two posts.   
 Even better...I'll share my step-by-step instructions, DIY tips and techniques for each project.    I'll share Part 1 today.  You can see Part 2 here.  

This is Part 1

These are the papers that I used for this mini-series.  It included the Victorian Christmas collection from Prima and Frank Garcia. 

DIY  Victorian Christmas - 8x10 canvas

 I created an 8x10 canvas with the Victorian Christmas papers and used stencils as accents.  Scroll down to find the step -by-step DIY instructions for this canvas.  

Step 1. Stencil the Prima Doily onto the Victorian Christmas paper with  molding paste.  Be sure to wash the molding paste off the stencil immediately.  Pay extra attention to the little holes in the stencil to make sure they are all clear to preserve the stencil's delicate appeal. 

Step 2. After the paste is dry, cut the shape of the stencil out. 

Step 3. Cut approximately a 3.5 in circle in the center of the stencil.  

Step 4. Add cardboard or dimensional foam tape to create dimension.  

Step 5. Cut image from the Victorian Christmas paper.  The image size should be 3.5inches.  

Step 6. Add a bit of  color to an 8x10 canvas.  Watercolors work nicely - but I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo.  Gently mist to "activate " the water.  

This provides a wonderful soft  background for the stenciling and will make the details of the stencil pop.  The effect is amazing in person - very hard to convey in a photo over the internet.  

Step 7. Once the canvas is dry, apply the stencil to the canvas using the molding paste.  

  TIP:  A great way to remove excess molding paste from a stencil is to rub the remainder on a kraft card.  I love the effect.  Then I have the start of a card along with my project.  Scroll down past this canvas project and I'll show you how I finished the card.  

Step 8. Once the molding paste is completely dry, add the cut out stencil.  This is going to be a wreath so place the Santa image in the center as the focal image.   

Step 9. Decorate as desired.   

TIP:  I'll show you how to roll those pretty flower buds shown below.  Just scroll down to the card instructions.    

Products Used:
Prima Victorian Christmas Paper 990480, 990534, 990503
Prima Victorian Christmas Alpha Stickers 582371
Prima 8x10 Watercolor Canvas Panel 585679
Prima Stencil Doily 2 6x6 - 582852
Prima Flowers - Solid Rose 586829
13Arts Chalk Modeling Paste
Quilling Tip
Prima Coy Liam Leaves 581138
Prima Flowers - Boxed White 586638
White cording 2yards
Prima Flowers - Allure Mocha 553111
wide lace trim
Prima Flowers - Allure Mocha 553111
Champagne colored floral berries
Tim Holtz Distress ink - Vintage Photo
cardboard
water mist

Prima Victorian Christmas -Kraft Doily Card

Step 1. Stencil the Prima Doily onto Kraft cardstock using molding paste.  Let dry completely.  It does dry fairly quickly.   

Step 2. Add your embellishments.  You can keep the card flat and add a sentiment, or gussy up with dimensional embellies.  I provided my particular embellishment sequence below.   

Step 3.  The Prima Victorian Christmas paper has some wonderful borders that make great sentiments for cards.  

Step 4. I added some rolled rose buds  for cluster filler.  To do this, I used a quilling tool.  

Cut a small circle from patterned paper.  Next cut a spiral in the circle as the photo shows.  Take the end of the spiral and insert into  the slit of the quilling tool and start rolling tightly around the quilling tool.   Glue the rose bud at the base.  

Step 5. I dabbed  a bit of white paint on the sentiments, flower and rolled rose buds to blend them and give them a soft frosty look.  

Thanks for sharing your time today.  You can see Part 2 of this collection right here. 

This is the card and downloadable template featured in part 2. 

 

Prima Victorian Christmas Alpha Stickers 582371
Prima Stencil Doily 2 6x6 - 582852
13Arts Chalk Modeling Paste
Quilling Tip
Prima Coy Liam Leaves 581138
Prima Flowers - Solid Rose 586829
Prima Flowers - Boxed White 586638
White cording 2yards
I added :
Prima Flowers - Allure Mocha 553111
Martha Stewart Small snowflake punches
White cording
Pre Folded  Kraft Card/Envelope sized  5x6.5

JustRite Papercrafts - Merry Christmas Card

Christmas is Coming - JustRite Christmas Stamps

As the weather turns colder and the leaves drop from the trees, we turn our thoughts to crisp autumn activities.  I'm not talking about raking leaves...heck no. Someone else can do that.  I'm talking about making Christmas cards.  I have found that if I don't make my Christmas cards with the onset of autumn, they aren't getting done in time. 

Reason being that this time of year starts to time warp on us, doesn't it?  If you have kids in school, you are busy with after school activities, sports, dance, music, scouts, teacher conferences and homework.  The rest of us without school age kids,  our day gets abbreviated due to the lack of sunlight.  The change from daylight savings time is a killer for me.  

Well, in my opinion, it's a perfect time to get to the craft table and start dreaming of a white Christmas.  With that, I can then get myself in a spirited and cheerful mood to create cards with my JustRite  stamps and dies.    

The newest stamps have the most beautiful sentiments for the season like the set below:  

JustRites Inside and Outside Christmas Sentiments Clear Stamps.  

This card looks likes like it could be difficult to make, but the embellishments consist of a few JustRite dies topped with flowers. 

In addition to the beautiful Prima paper from Frank Garcia's Victorian Christmas collection, I added the JustRite JustRite Garden Circle Die as the base layer of my embellishment cluster.  

Next, I stamped the sentiment onto a die that I cut from JustRite called JustRite Joy Oval Frame Die - DIE05049.  The key to a warm card is using warm colored ink for the stamped sentiment.  Black ink is not the perfect all-purpose ink.  I am using a warm coffee colored ink for a soft blended look.

I know I tend to show a lot of images of the same card.   I love to show a lot of angles of the cards and projects I create.  It's good to see the dimensions and volume of the card from many angles.  I think it helps in trying to figure out how I layered and constructed the project.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Let me be the first to say Merry Christmas....early.  

Products:
JustRite Joy Oval Frame Die - DIE05049
JustRite Garden Circle Die
JustRite INside and Outside Christmas Sentiment Clear Stamps - CR-05097
Prima paper from Frank Garcia's Victorian Christmas collection - 990503
Prima and Frank Garcia -  Victorian Christmas  SIIC ( Say It In Cyrstals)  582333
Prima and Frank Garcia- Victorian Christmas - Flowers Rudolph's Nose 583446
Tim Holtz - Vintage Photo ink
Coffee colored ink

Flying Unicorns Skeletons in the Closet = Spooky Altered Home Decor -with Instructions

Skeletons in the Closet ( Skelly in the Closet)

Flying Unicorns Going "Off the Page" with Spooky Altered Home Decor 

This was created using the "OTP" from the Flying Unicorn September Kit of the Month - Your Passion Your Art.  I thought I'd play off that age-old idiom of having "skeletons in your closet" - meaning a shocking or hidden secret from your past.  I'm turning this  idiom into an actual closet for my darling skeleton doll.    

Let me back up a bit.  What the heck is "OTP"?   Often I toss around terms not even thinking of the folks who have no idea what I am talking about. I apologize.  "OTP" means "off the page" - or in other words, not a scrapbook page, but an altered piece of home decor.  

Every month, each and every kit comes with an OTP project that you can alter and decorate anyway you choose.  The options are limitless.  The OTP items vary from month to month.  September's project was a wooden hinged box from Darice.  It measures 7.9x2.2x1.6 inches - perfect for something like a necklace/bracelet box or jewelry box.   

 I chose to make it into a small closet for my newest doll stamp by Prima and Julie Nutting...meet Skelly.  

Here's how I made the wooden box:  

Step 1.  I painted the box black.  I had some black gesso with a matte finish available so that is what I used.  And it is true...I have the world's yuckiest paint brushes because I do not take care of them.  ( Husband and I are painting a room in our house today and my husband is in for a wild-eyed awakening if he is relying on me to actually clean the paint brushes. Ahhh but back to crafting....)

Step 2.  I added some gold accents to my box using the  Prima Art Alchemy Acrylic Paint that  came in last month's kit.  It's always great to find ways to use the supplies from prior kits.    I didn't add a lot, but enough to give some interest.  

Step 3.  In order to gussy up the wooden box, I pulled out the Prima IOD moulds and the IOD paper clay.  After I removed the paper clay from the moulds, I set the paper clay moulds on top of the wooden box to dry because the wooden box had a curved dome-like shape and I needed the moulds to conform to the box.   They need to dry overnight before proceeding.  

Step 4. The photo below shows the steps needed to finish the moulds.  Paint with purple (Prima Art Alchemy Dark Velvet),  add some gold accents ( Prima Art Alchemy Ancient Coin Gold), and top with a few sprays of gold mist ( Prima Color Bloom Mist in Antique Gold).   

Why bother with step 3 - mist with an antique gold color?  Because the mist soaks into the crevices on the moulds to enhance the details of the moulds.  It also adds some beautiful golden sheen to the finished project.

Step 5.  Add ribbons, flowers and embellishments.  Note - I used a super strong glue to adhere my moulds and embellishments.  My glue of choice is Beacons 3 in 1 glue because it holds darn near anything in place quickly - wood, metal, fabric, plastic, foam, clay, ceramic.  Plus it dries clear and without a shiny gloss finish.    I even touched up my flower with some gold paint for a nice blended look. 

Here's how I made the dimensional doll:  

Step 1.  Cut two Skelly dolls - from Prima and Julie Nutting.   

Step 2.  One doll will be decorated and the second doll will be used for the backside as support.  

Ink the edges of both dolls with black ink for shading and blending.   It's very important to make sure you ink the edges of the doll that will be used as the bottom layer.  You do not want any white edges peeking out when the doll is finished.   Once the doll is glued together, it's nearly impossible to add ink to the inside edges to cover up white.  The extra steps and care taken ahead of time will make the finished product so much more appealing.  

Select the doll that will be on the backside and flip her over.  Cut some small pieces from a wood skewer and glue to the doll. Wood toothpicks will add support as well, however I always have wood skewers on my craft table so that is usually my go-to supply.  

Make sure you add wood supports to all areas that may bend - like the legs, neck, arms.  

   

Step 3.  Color the doll as desired.   Add small black pearls to the eyes and shirt as buttons.  Create a statement hairbow or couture fascinator headpiece with some black cheesecloth,tulle, ribbon and a decorative brad.  Skelly likes dramatic headpieces.  I do too!

Special tip:  I bought my creepy black cheesecloth at the dollar store in the halloween decorations section.  Don't have a dollar store near you?  Grab some ordinary white cheese cloth that can be purchased anywhere....hardware stores in the paint department, grocery stores in the baking area, and on-line.  Pop your cheesecloth in a small plastic bag and mist with black mist or use black ink to transform and dye.  

Step 4.  Add layers to Skelly's skirt, along with some additional creepy black cheesecloth, and she's all done.  Paper Used on Skelly:  My Mind's Eye -Lost & Found Paper 6x6 Sunshine collection LF2104

 Here's the completed look.  Skelly's ready to take a stroll about town and turn some heads in her new scary couture outfit.  

Here are the rest of the photos:

I decorated the rest of the closet box using a variety of Prima supplies from Frank Garcia's Memory Hardware collection.   The complete list of products can be found at the end of this post.  Note the pretty little Prima mould clock on the left side.  

Want Skelly to come live at your house?  

This darling spooky box and Skelly doll are available in my ETSY shop.  Grab her while she is available!

You can see her right here!

Did you miss out this month? 

If you missed out on the Flying Unicorn kit for Sept., you may want to think about taking advantage of the pre-order option available on the 20th of every month.   The beauty of this option is that you get to preview all the goodies in the kit and decide if it is something you will like...and of course it will be!  You can find all the details here and never miss a kit that you want.  

Kits are limited

so do not delay in getting yours!

Product List:

Flying Unicorn September Kit of the Month - Your Passion Your Art
Prima Julie Nutting Doll Stamp - Skelly 911621
Darice wooden box - measures 7.9x2.2x1.6 inches
Prima Art Alchemy Metallique Dark Velvet Acrylic Paint - 963125
Prima Art Alchemy Metallique Ancient Coin Gold Acrylic Paint -963057
Prima Color Bloom Mist in Antique Gold-573843
Prima Frank Garcia Memory Hardware - Pearls 990381
Prima Frank Garcia Memory Hardware -Montpellier Apothecary Vial Labels 991098
Prima Frank Garcia Memory Hardware -Montpellier Apothecary Vials 990619
Prima Frank Garcia Memory Hardware -La Rochelle Antique Trinkets 990725
Prima Frank Garcia Memory Hardware -Strasbourg Gold Trinkets -991142
Prima Frank Garcia Memory Hardware Chains - Antique 990633
Prima Frank Garcia Memory Hardware Vintage Trinkets -991135
Prima Mechanicals Stars-936654
Prima IOD Moulds - Vintage Art Decor Mould - Baroque 6 -814823
Prima IOD Moulds -Vintage Art Decor Mould - Baroque 4- 814809
Prima IOD Paper Clay - 814991
Black Matte Gesso
Black Cheesecloth
Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Black Soot, Crushed Olive,  Mowed Grass
Decorative Brads
Black Pearls
Flowers