Tim Holtz Stamper’s Anonymous Christmas 2024 - Santa Visit Christmas Postcards

Hi and happy October...less than three months until Christmas! Yikes! That made me a bit anxious, so it's a good thing to have some Christmas cards made already, and these postcards made with the new Santa Visit Stamp Set from Tim Holtz and Stamper's Anonymous (plus a few older sets) are assembly line style so you can make a slew of them! AND...these can actually be mailed as a large postcard (they are 5x7 inches) without an envelope for $0.73 in the U.S. I believe. Almost all the Christmas cards I've made in the past are always too thick or too heavy and have to be mailed as a package, so these flat postcards are a money saver too. LOL! That sounded a bit like an infomercial, sorry, but it's true. Enjoy!

 

Taking Ivory Mixed Media Heavystock cut to 5 x 7 inches for as many postcards as you want to make (This is assembly line card making, so go ahead and make a slew of cards.), place one into the Stamping Platform. Arrange the 'postcard and stamp' from the Santa's Visit Stamp Set at the top right corner, and the 'deliver to' from the Scenic Holiday Stamp Set in the lower right corner and close the lid to secure the stamps. Stamp these in the same color of Archival Ink from Ranger, and repeat with as many as you want this color. I used Hickory Smoke first, then changed to Peeled Paint, then Vintage Photo, and then Barn Door, doing two of each color. Remove those as you are finished with them.

 

Take the 'arrow with correspondence and address' stamp as well as the 'stars' from the Correspondence Stamp Set, and cut the address part away from the other, and cut off one of the stars. If you have a problem cutting your stamps then just mask it off, or use another. Add the 'correspondence' below and to the left of the 'postcard' and the 'address' to the right with the star in the center so that the star with just be on the left edge of the 'deliver to' box. Add the 'arrow' stamp below the star. Add the 'special delivery' sentiment below the box. Using the same ink colors as the others, stamp these onto the cards, EXCEPT do not stamp the end part of the arrow. Just don't ink that part yet. If you have a shade darker ink in Archival use that to make these stand out just a bit more. For example, I stamped in Hickory Smoke, then stamped again with just a lightly inked Black Soot, Peeled Paint then again in Rustic Wilderness, Vintage Photo and then Ground Espresso, and Barn Door and then Vermillion. I had to use Vermillion as there is not another darker red in the Distress Archival yet. You don't have to do this, but it does just make these pop a little more from the others. Once all are stamped, remove all the stamps, BUT this time add the arrow back on below the other so that it matches up, and then stamp the whole thing so that it forms a dividing line between the correspondence and address. Do all the cards and then remove it. Add the letters "NICE" from the Sign Painter set going diagonal inside the 'deliver to' box, and stamp all the postcards in Frayed Burlap Archival Ink with them, just dark enough to be seen, so it looks more like a watermark. You are finished with all those stamps. You need fine point pens in the same color as your ink to make the lines inside the 'deliver to' box. I only had these pens and found out later that they are not permanent and waterproof and that could be a problem, so if you have permanent use those. I also just got the Media Ruler and used it for the first time here, and WOW it made this so much easier. Using the side with the holes that are 1/4 inch apart, I made dots in the holes with the pen on each side of the box, and then just drew the line across to the other dot using the ruler. They came out perfect and this was fast going.

 

 

Add Santa's words from the Santa's Visit set to the middle left side under the 'correspondence' and stamp them in Black Soot Archival for all the postcards, nice and dark. Remove it, and then add Santa to the lower left so that only 3/4 of him will be stamped, and then use Frayed Burlap Archival so you will have that watermark look. After you've stamped all the cards with him, stamp him on a sticky note for masking, and cut around the side that you need masked and not everything else. (NOTE: I wondered what Santa would look like in Barn Door so I did try that on one card only just to see, but ultimately I wanted a watermark look, so this defeats that, but I went ahead with just that one card.) You can remove the Santa or leave it in just in case you need to restamp any after the coloring (like I did), so if you have another platform use it, or just be brave and remove him. Add the tree stamp to the left of Santa just above him, and then mask Santa off. Stamp the tree in Frayed Burlap Archival for all the cards. (Again, I stamped that one card's tree in Peeled Paint.). All the stamping is done now.

 

Using Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and an Ink Blending Tool, ink around the edges of the cards bringing the ink in especially in the open areas for a vintage look. Then flick water drops on for a mottled look. NOTE: Like a big dummy I didn't test the pens I used for the address lines, and sure enough as I was inking, the pen ink started to smear. They are not permanent. So I had to cover them up with sticky note before flicking the water on. These are as good as trash for me, and I will not be using them again. So make sure you use permanent ink or cover your lines up like I had to. Live and learn for me, and it's always important to know your mediums.

 

 

Using Distress Ink straight from the pad, apply it to the glass mat and squirt water into it to dilute the color down well. Use an empty Detail Waterbrush to pick up the diluted ink, and color in portions of the Santa, Tree, and Holly at the top, but you can color in the Holly much darker as it's technically a part of the postcard. The goal is to get the ink soft and pale for a watermark look, so the lighter the better and don't worry about details in this kind of watercoloring. I started with Tattered Rose for Santa's face, lips, and hands. This really set the tone for the watermark look, and I really loved it. Speckled Egg for the glasses, Peeled Paint and Rustic Wilderness for the tree, holly, gift sack, and present, Barn Door for the suit and ornaments, Hickory Smoke for the belt, Fossilized Amber for the buckle, ornaments, and tree topper, Vintage Photo and Frayed Burlap for the chair, and Picket Fence for the hair. 

 

Restamp Santa (and the tree if you want) with Frayed Burlap Archival to bring him back into focus. Then you are finished with stamping. Draw a line around the open parts of the perimeter of the card using the same color of pen as the stamped ink. Stencil in holly with the Tiny Holly Layering Stencil using Barn Door and Peeled Paint Distress Ink and Detail Blending Tools. Use a small paintbrush to paint in Sparkle Texture Paste on all the fur areas. Add Glossy Accents to all the berries, ornaments, and Santa's glasses.

Supplies:

(Paper Trimmer, Stamp Platform or Two if you have another, Media Ruler, Sticky Note, Scissors, Water Mister, Detail Waterbrush, Ink Blending Tool, Detail Blending Tool, Small Paintbrush)

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Mixed Media Heavystock: Ivory

-Stamper’s Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set (Christmas 2024): Santa Visit  

-Stamper’s Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set: Scenic Holiday, Correspondence, Sign Painter

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Archival Ink: Hickory Smoke, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo, Barn Door, Black Soot, Rustic Wilderness, Ground Espresso

-Ranger Archival Ink: Vermillion

-Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencil (Christmas 2024): Tiny Holly 

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink: Frayed Burlap, Peeled Paint, Barn Door, Tattered Rose, Rustic Wilderness, Speckled Egg, Hickory Smoke, Fossilized Amber, Vintage Photo, Picket Fence

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Texture Paste: Sparkle

-Ranger Glossy Accents 

-Permanent Fine Point Gray, Green, Brown, Red Pens, White Pen

 

Thank you so much for stopping by here, and for commenting! I so appreciate it. I'll be back again next week with another Stamper's Anonymous Christmas make. Until then, I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!