Christmas in July - Monochrome Christmas Tree Farm Box Card by Simply Crafty SVGs

Hiya, I'm back again after a short break, with a project for my favourite time of year - Christmas! I love that 'Christmas in July' gives us the opportunity to share Christmas projects so early in the year. For my 'Christmas in July' I've made a simplified version of Simply Crafty SVG's Christmas Tree Farm Box Card to make it easier to make in duplicate for sending out to friends and family.

I've reduced the cutting time on the card by cutting all the pieces from just one color of card; all the pieces in this project are cut from white textured cardstock. Yes, EVERYTHING, even the star and greeting sentiment on the background! All the pieces co-ordinate because I used just one ink pad, a Distress Oxide Ink pad in 'Peacock Feathers'. Of course, any single color of card can be used, and highlighted with an ink pad of your favourite color.

Here's a list of all the materials and the files I used.

Materials Used:
White Textured Cardstock
Beacon 3-in-1 Adhesive
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink in Peacock Feathers
Blending tool or blending brush
Tonic Nuvo Jewel Drops Sea Breeze
Versamark Stamp Pad
Clear Embossing Powder
Holographic Embossing Powder
Heat Gun
Silhouette Cameo
Silhouette Studio Designer Edition software

Files Used:
Simply Crafty SVGs Christmas Tree Farm Box Card

Other Digital Files: 
Merry Christmas Holly Wreath phrase by Skyla Design (Studio or SVG)


I've included a few more details on how I made the card:

White Textured Cardstock
I cut all the pieces from the files, omitting the interior back panel, the moon, and the light bulbs. Everything except the sentiment was cut with the textured side uppermost on the cutting mat, but the sentiment was cut with the card reversed to give a smoother finish. Note that the sentiment is from a different file.

Tinted Edges
With a blending brush (I used a make-up brush), I added a light tint with the distress ink around the top edges of the hill panels, and to front edges of the back piece of the card.

Ombré Trees
Using a blending brush, I was able to use the distress ink to add the color with an ombré effect to all the trees. I added the ink with an even coverage to the central Christmas Tree to make it stand out from the others.

Shiny White Trees (optional)
I added a gloss-look to the trees with versamark ink, clear embossing powder, and then applying heat from a heat gun. The effect was minimal, so I don't think I'd bother with this stage in future, and save myself even more time.

White Tree Lights
Rather than cut the tree lights in different colours and adhere them onto the string, I skipped cutting them all together and used some translucent gloss drops on the string where the bulbs would be. This gives a little dimension as well as some shine.

Glittery Star
The glittery star was made by colouring the smooth surface of the star with ink and then adding versamark ink and holographic embossing powder on top, before melting it on with a heat gun.

Background Sentiment
The background sentiment was reduced in size and then a small offset was added in the Silhouette software to make it easier to cut. It was cut out with the textured side of the card to the mat. The ink looks a darker shade on the smoother surface giving a greater contrast with the pale background, and matching the glittery star.

Assembly
Assembly using liquid craft adhesive was straight-forward, following the instructions that came with the file. The finished card folds flat to fit a standard A9 (US) size envelope. If you don't have this size envelope, you'll find one in the Basic Envelope Set (a FREE file, yay).

These are the Simply Crafty SVG files used. Just click on the photo to navigate to the item in Simply Crafty SVGs online store.

I hope you'll find these ideas for adapting the design useful. Let me know in the comments if you any suggestions of your own. Have fun!

Janet, DT Member Simply Crafty SVGs

Blog: Crafting Quine 
Instagram: @CraftingQuine



Simply Crafty SVG Files:
Tree Farm Box Card
FREE Basic Envelope Set

Tiered Ombre Cake Box Card

Hiya.   Today I'm sharing another fun greetings card from Simply Crafty SVGs.  I've used the Tiered Cake Box Card, a 3-dimensional card that folds flat for posting.


I love ombré shading, and have some seen some wonderful real cakes decorated in that style. I decided to give the cake on my card an ombré look, and also used vellum to make the plate look more like a glass cake plate.  I made a few small adjustments to the Tiered Cake Box Card design though, adding more detail to the icing using internal offsets, then adding the recipient's age with a matching offset. I describe how I did these things in a little more detail below using my Silhouette Cameo. I used a Silhouette Cameo® 3, and the Silhouette Studio Designer Edition software. However, the SVG files can be used with other desktop die cutting machines and software (details here).


Materials Used:
Pale Blue Heavyweight Smooth Cardstock
White Mediumweight Textured Cardstock
Pearlescent Vellum
Beacon 3-in-1 Adhesive
Double-sided Adhesive Tape
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pads in Salty Ocean & Faded Jeans
Ranger Mini Ink Blending Tool
Lawn Fawn Starry Backdrops Clear Stamp
Versamark Clear Watermark Ink Pad
Wow! Ultra Fine White Embossing Powder
Embossing Heat Tool
Sizzix Tim Holtz Stripes Embossing Folder from the Harlequin & Stripes Set
Alcohol Markers for colouring the candle flames (Optional)
Silhouette Cameo


Files Used:
Simply Crafty SVGs Tiered cake Box Card

Fonts Used:
SW Swirl Dance Font



Heat Embossing the Cake
Once I'd cut out all the pieces, I stamped the two cake front pieces with Versamark ink and applied white embossing powder to provide a resist for the ink blending. It isn't necessary to stamp on the lower part of the taller piece, as only the top part shows once the card is assembled.

Coloring the Ombré Cake
I blended the lighter colour of ink (Salty Ocean) on to the top three quarters, and then blended the darker colour (Faded Jeans) to just the top edge.

Here is the before and after, (actually after, and before) showing what a difference it makes!

Vellum Cake Plate

I cut three plates from vellum as well as from the blue cardstock and then adhered them together using double-sided tape. Yes, I did trim those excess end pieces first!

This is what they look like stuck together. The tape shows through the vellum a little, but as it runs parallel with the stripes it looks like part of the pattern.

Coloring the Candles (optional)

I coloured the candles on cake background (cut from white cardstock) with Copic Markers of various colours. I followed part of this YouTube video for colours choices.  Alternatively, you could use colored card, paper, or add chalks, or colored paper.

Offsetting the Icing

To give a little more detail to the icing I made an internal offset of 0.55". I cut the offsets from the textured side of the card, and the original pieces from the smooth side.

I did the same with the swag parts, but released the path and deleted the inner-most parts, copied the original inner parts, and made a compound path with them and the new offsets (otherwise the pieces would have been too small to handle easily).

This is how the finished icing looked.

Adding an Age

You'll notice that I also added an age. It would also possible to add a small sentiment in the same way. I typed out the number (using SW Swirl Dance font from the Silhouette Design Store) and added an offset to match that of the icing. I cut the offset from white card, and the number itself from a scrap piece of ombré blended card.

I cut the number from different parts of the card and from white, and chose to use the lighter ombré version.

Assembling the Card

The card was assembled following the directions in the pdf document included with the file download. I used panels in the same colour as the card base, shading the edges lightly with the distress inks.

The card fits into a US A7 envelope.  A free envelope file is available on the site that fits perfectly (for cards up to 5" x 7").

These are the files I used. Just click on the photo to visit the item in Simply Crafty SVGs online store.




This is a great card for all sorts of occasions and goes together very easily. Wouldn't it be great for Mother's Day? I'm sure I'll be using this one again before too long!



Janet, DT Member Simply Crafty SVGs

Blog: Crafting Quine 
Instagram: @CraftingQuine



Simply Crafty SVG Files:
Tiered Cake Box Card
Basic Envelope Set (Free)