Nearly every year, our area experiences at least one period of extreme cold. Weather Canada issues a low temperature warning, the mercury plummets, and those braving the elements must bundle up to the point that little of the body beyond their eyes are visible.
As this period often transpires in January, a little part of me had thought that perhaps we’d be spared the coldest of snaps this time around.
Oh, silly, perpetually optimistic me! 😄
To no one’s surprise, that was not to be the case. An arctic cold front blew into town in early February and remained in place until a touch after Valentine’s Day.
The temps here are still well below freezing, snow lays abundantly as far as the eye can see, and while spring may be less than a month away on paper, you’d never know it by the look of things around these parts.
That is honestly okay with me. I’ve fallen deeper in love with winter this time around, finding greater soothing comfort and serenity in its ingrained hush and the noise-cancelling properties of abundant snow than ever before.
Here in Canada, I’m far from alone in still experiencing icy cold weather. Many parts of the country will continue to do so well into late March, April, or even May (once, when I was living in Calgary, Alberta, snow even fell in June!).
Thus, as I owe a dear online friend + pen pal some snail mail correspondence, I recently created this sweet, wonderfully wintry greeting to zip her way.
Why not, I figure, celebrate the current season in paper crafting form while it’s still here? ☃️
My friend resides in what is, on average, an even colder and snowier part of the country, so I hope that she’ll enjoy my fun, frosty take on a season that anyone living on Canadian soil is intimately acquainted with.
While this card looks – and is in some ways – relatively straightforward, there are (quite literally) some delightful things going on behind the scenes.
At first, I had thought that this design would be a shaker card. How charming, I reckoned, would it be to put the fox – already in a snow-filled mason jar – inside of an actual shaker element?
I tried various configurations, shapes, die cuts, apertures, shaker materials, and yet failed to fall in love with any of them.
Instead, I nixed the shaker card approach and instead decided to layer this wintertime card from the back of the design, working my way forward, instead.
Mirroring the design of the falling snow in the fox image, I took some basic white acrylic craft paint and painted the top of the brown cardstock card base to resemble falling snow. This was then layered with classic white vellum to soften the effect and help to ensure that the fox image remained the star of the show.
This design could very easily work for a Yule, Christmas, New Year’s, winter birthday, or thinking of you card, amongst other possible uses.
In my case, it is a wintertime cheer card winging its way a few provinces over to let my friend know that she’s in my thoughts and wished a safe, lovely remainder of the season.
How to make a wintertime snowflake and woodland fox card
As of late, I have received requests from multiple readers to share the steps involved with my projects in even more of an instructional manner. I am delighted to do just that and sincerely appreciate these requests.
Beginning with the instructions provided for this card making project, I will be guiding you through the creative process that I utilized in even greater step-by-step detail. This way, those who wish to create similar cards or learn more about the techniques I’ve employed can do just that.
Start with a base of either light brown or classic kraft cardstock. If you don’t have either of those, you could use medium brown, tawny brown, taupe, or even dark pine or forest green cardstock instead.
Take a relatively fine pointed paint brush and some white acrylic craft paint (a light layer or white gesso could be used here instead, if so desired), and proceed to paint a solid layer of white across the top of the card base.
Follow this step by creating small circles (to resemble falling snowflakes) about 1/3rd of the way down the card base. Tapper off the volume of the snowflakes the lower down you go. Allow the paint to dry before proceeding to layer the rest of the card design.
Cut a piece of white vellum just a touch smaller than the size of your card base and layer it over the painted brown cardstock card base. As most of the vellum with be covered, you don’t have to worry too much about hiding the glue, tape runner adhesive, glue dots, etc that you use to attach the two layers.
Next, take a piece of tone-on-tone green print paper and use a swooping inlaid design die to die cut the same design from the top and bottom of this piece of paper. Adhere the green paper to the velum.
If you don’t have a similar die, you could use a border punch, ensuring you don’t cut right to the edges of the paper, so that the green piece of paper remains intact.
Lightly ink all of the edges of the green print paper with medium or dark brown ink (this step is optional, but it does add a lovely additional hit of visual interest to the finished card design).
Using a nested stitched edge rectangular die set, die cut a piece of light brown (or kraft) cardstock and a smaller rectangle shape from metallic red cardstock.
Take a good sized ornate shaped panel die (or suitable edger die) and die cut a piece of white cardstock.
Layer the brown rectangle on top of the green paper followed by the elegant white die cut cardstock. Top these two layers with the red metallic rectangle, a small piece of brown handmade (be it homemade or store-bought) brown paper, and the focal fox image cut apart paper piece.
Before adhering the fox image, back it onto a piece of white cardstock, leaving the tiniest whisper of a border of white cardstock visible on all sides.
Place a sticker that says “joy” (or you could stamp, stamp and emboss, use a premade die cut, etc with the sentiment of your choosing instead) right below the focal image in the center of the card design.
For the final step to this handmade winter card design, scatter a few clear acetate and (smaller) clear plastic snowflakes around the card. Layer some of them on top of each other, if so desired.
The two clear acetate snowflakes here were gifted to me as part of some happy mail a few years ago. I would have loved to have placed three on this design, but alas, all I had was two of them. As such, I spaced them out and used a flurry of smaller clear plastic snowflakes to help create the look of even more falling snow.
In hindsight – and as a handy tip to anyone wishing to create a similar card – I could have die cut some snowflakes from clear acetate and a snowflake die to give me whatever number of snowflakes I desired. Craft and learn! 😄
No worries though. These premade beauties worked great and add a delightful hit of wintertime loveliness with next to no weight or bulk (perfect since this card is being mailed in an envelope, not a parcel).
Decorate, embellish, and/or stamp the interior of the card however you desire, pen your greeting, and voila, your adorable wintertime snowflake and woodland fox card is ready to go.
If you have any questions about the design process that I didn’t address here, please don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments below.
Products used to make this cute winter greeting card
-Light brown or kraft cardstock
-White cardstock
-Red metallic cardstock
-White vellum
-Dark brown handmade paper (optional; you could use a piece of brown cardstock, paper, wide ribbon, burlap, or cork here instead)
-Green tone-on-tone print paper – Timeless Macornerie Paper from Blue Fern Studios
-Fox cut apart image – Winter Wishes Winter Meadow Paper from Photo Play
-Set of nested stitched edge rectangle shaped dies (plain rectangle dies could just as easily be used here instead)
-Curved flourish inset design die
-Ornate panel shape die
-“Joy” sentiment word sticker – Winter Meadow Elements Stickers from Photo Play
-Clear acetate snowflakes
-Clear plastic snowflake embellishments – Crafter’s Square Snowflakes from Dollar Tree (Canada)
-Dark brown ink pad – Dewdrop Rich Cocoa Ink from Memento
-White acrylic craft paint
-Glue gun and glue sticks (optional but handy for attaching the snowflake embellishments)
-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers
-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!
🎵 Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful and since we’ve no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. 🎵
And let us paper crafters use these chilly days in which we are often at home (especially as the pandemic carries on into 2021) to enjoy plenty of time creating all manner of handmade projects.
Of course, winter isn’t out in full force everywhere still. North of the equator, depending on your location, it might be as good as over at this point.
And for those in the Southern Hemisphere, fall, glorious fall, will soon be swinging into high gear.
No matter the temps or season though, I hope that this month is able to deliver some relaxing and very enjoyable time to create your way.
I’ll soon be turning my thoughts to some springtime projects, as well as those for upcoming family birthdays, Mother’s Day (which takes place in May here in Canada), and – far off as the dog days of summer seem when the snow in our backyard is still well above my knees – even Canada Day at the start of July.
All the while, creating plenty of fa-boo-lously fun October 31st themed projects to help spread the good word about the exciting #MakeHalloween365 hashtag that I launched last week.
As the shortest month of the year starts to wind down, I hope that you have a wonderful tail end of February. May it lead to a positive, abundantly blessed, and very happy March for all of us. ❄️💚🌷
What a gorgeous card – I love the wee fox in the jar!
Hoping that your snow and cold temps have faded away, Autumn! I spied daffodil heads yesterday – spring is on the way!
Thank you very much, my dear friend! How gloriously lovely that early signs of spring are returning on the Island.
Thankfully, the arctic cold front which enveloped much of BC as of late is starting to abate here a bit. We still have snow up to my knees in the backyard, but as I type these words, the current afternoon temperature is above freezing. That is definitely worth doing a happy jig about! 💃
With a bit of luck, we should start to see some new blooms, grass, and baby birds again around these parts in about 3 – 6 weeks from now. Until then, I will enjoy them vicariously through any springtime photos you share on your wonderful blog. 🌼
Many hugs & heartfelt thanks again!
♥ Autumn
Foxes are among one of my favorite animals and this card is just too darn cute!
xoxo
-Janey
Thank you very much, my lovely friend! 💗
Same here! 🦊 I absolutely, completely adore foxes as well. How cool that we share this passion in common.
I will think of you now when crafting or otherwise engaging with fox-themed items – or if I should happen to spot the real deal. Such sightings are fairly rare here, but they do happen every once in a blue moon.
Big hugs & happy wishes for a great last week of February,
♥ Autumn
What a gorgeous wintertime card! I love that sweet fox image and all of the layers, beautiful acetate snowflakes too! Take care & stay warm.
Tammy x
Thank you so much, my sweet friend. 😘
Happily, the mercury has managed to free itself (at least at the moment – this is Canada after all 😄) from the clutches of the arctic cold snap that filled our days for over two weeks this month.
Spring hasn’t sprung quite yet, but we’re inching closer and today is both sunny and slightly above freezing. Love that!
I hope that winter is starting to recede on your end, too, and that you have a really lovely, relaxing, and happy final week of February. 🌞
♥ Autumn
What a lovely, lovely card, Autumn! The details are perfect and perfectly placed. And why create from acetate when you’ve got such wonderful snowflakes already at your fingertips?! Still, you (and your readers) all have ideas moving forward!
Stay warm and cozy! Our cold snap has broken which still means temperatures below freezing and more snow!
Thank you sweetly, dear Kate. You are such a kind, supportive soul. 💗
On this end, the piercing chill of the arctic cold front that ravaged our area for over two weeks this month is starting to abate. While spring has not arrived yet (and likely won’t do so for a few more weeks), temps are on the rise a little bit so far this week. As I type these words, there’s a bit of sunshine and we’re sitting at just over zero. That seems all but tropical compared to earlier this month!
I hope that things warm up soon on your end, my lovely friend, and that you’ll soon have oodles spring blooms and glorious golden sunshine to gaze out on once more.
♥ Autumn
Beautiful winter catd, like all your layers and the cute fox! Your friend will be happy to receive this beauty!
You’re so kind, Donna. Thank you very much! 💗 I hope so as well. We’ve been pen pals for a while now, but I haven’t yet had a chance to send her a homemade creation of mine. I’m aiming for this to be the first of many to come her way.
Big hugs & the happiest of wishes for these final days of February.
♥ Autumn
Autumn, your cards are truly works of art. I especially love the collage effect of your layering. It’s extraordinary how you do both simultaneously. And your directions give me a lot of confidence to try this myself.
Thank you wholeheartedly, Robin. You are an awesomely kind, supportive person. 💗
I’m touched to know that my step-by-step instructions here are beneficial to you. If you should ever make a project inspired by this one, please don’t hesitate to share a snap or two of it with me. I’m sure your version will be absolutely stunning!
♥ Autumn
What an absolute Winter wonderland dream of a card! How cute is the little fox in its jar!
Like you, I thought we’d escape the cold and snow once January had passed, especially as we have lots of Winters with moderate temperatures and no snow at all. I was wrong too, as we had a snow-filled, sub-zero week last week. We were lucky that it was accompanied by sunshine, so that we could go for a couple of soul-soothing walks, which was exactly what we needed after losing our fur baby! xxx
My very dear friend, thank you for your lovely comment and seriously sweet compliments about this fun wintertime fox-themed card.
The fact that I even so much as momentarily toyed with the idea of us escaping an ultracold wintertime spell just drives home what a natural optimist I am. 😄
Thankfully, the worst of the recent arctic cold front is starting to abate. As I sit here on the middle of the last Monday in February, there’s a spot of sunshine and the temperature is a touch above freezing. Compared to earlier this month, that all but summertime.
It’s wonderful that you’ve been having some (albeit chilly) sunshine as of late as well. How right you are about the healing, soothing powers of walking outdoors.
That is something I turn to both for life’s day-to-day ups and downs, and when the going gets especially rough, as well. Indeed, so long as my health is up to it, in all but the most extreme weather/temps, I walk for catharsis the whole year through.
I hope that spring soon comes barrelling into down on your end and that you’ll be able to savour many more tranquil, beautiful walks throughout 2021. 🌞
Oodles of hugs,
♥ Autumn
This is lovely and so detailed. Love Dawn x
Thank you very much, Dawn. I sincerely appreciate your kind, wonderfully lovely words. ❤️
Many hugs & happy wishes for a great tail end of February coming your way.
♥ Autumn
A sweet card Autumn, such a cute image and lovely die cut details.
Unfortunately, we hardly ever have snow here, most of the UK had quite a lot this year but alas, not us – I would really love a good covering so that our dogs could have their first experience of snow, I’m sure they would absolutely love it.
Pauline – Crafting with Cotnob
x
Hi sweet Pauline, thank you very much for your lovely comment. I’m sorry that swow is not commonplace where you live. Please know that if I could, I would happily ship several hundred tons of made-in-Canada flakes your way. Honestly, we have so many in this part of the world that I doubt anyone would even know they were gone. 😄
That way both you and your precious pups could enjoy a hit of properly snowy weather. Our own dog, Annie, adores the snow, though does tend to prefer (as do I) when the temps remain above -10C or so. 🥶
Many hugs & cheery wishes for the tail end of February,
♥ Autumn
Great card, pal. And you Canadians know the harshness of Winter. Recently folks in Southern areas (Texas, Tennessee) are experiencing snow for the first time and are flummoxed over how to handle it. A friend in TN tells me people there don’t even own shovels. A small amount of snow that you guys would brush off as trivial is paralyzing these places.
Thank you very much, my wonderfully kind friend.
So true – yet, I certainly wouldn’t sell those on the Eastern US coast short either. Your winters are rightfully famous for their snow, ice, and bone-chilling temps as well.
And likewise, you’re spot on about how snowfall impacts different parts of the world. Tony is quick to relay tales of how in many parts of the country, Italy all but comes to a standstill if more than a few centimetres of snow accumulate. As such, it was quite the cultural weather shock for him when he first moved to Canada. Thankfully though, he acclimatized quite quickly and is now a seasoned pro when it comes to handling the lengthy, snow-covered winters this country is famous for.
I hope that your friend in TN wasn’t impacted too severely by the recent snowfall in that area, and that spring will soon surge back to life all across our vast continent. 🌼
♥ Autumn
Another beautiful card. Love how you add such lovely layers of interest to your creations. Enjoy creating. x
You’re splendidly kind, dear Anesha. Thank you so much! 💗
It’s true, I do adore a layered project and can scarcely recall the last time I made one that wasn’t at least a layer or two (or ten, lol!) deep.
I hope that your month is off to a lovely start and that you have a relaxing, safe, and very enjoyable March.
♥ Autumn
What a beautiful card! Love the die cut details!
xoxo
Lovely
That is very sweet of you to say, Lovely. Thank you for your visit and kind words. Both are sincerely appreciated. 😘
♥ Autumn
Adorable winter card. What a fun idea to put the fox in a jar. Fantastic layering, dimension and texture as always. Love all the sparkle. Your friend will love it!
Living down on the coast, we don’t get much snow here, which is a good thing because people here don’t know how to drive in it. 😂 You must be happy not to be living in Calgary… forget about snowing in June!… I remembered the news reported snow in August!!
Have a wonderful day.
Thank you very much, Trina. You are making me blush with your bevy of super sweet compliments. ❤️
You are absolutely right about the severity of winters in Alberta. However, lengthy winters and all, I love Calgary passionately and would happily move back there faster than you could say “snowplow”, if the chance were to arise. 🥰
Many thanks again. It is always a joy to hear from you. May you have a sunny, safe, and splendidly lovely March.
♥ Autumn
Oh, this is so much fun! I love your beautiful acetate snowflakes! That fox is so cute. I love your beautiful layers. This is one fabulous card! I have only made two shakers. They are just so much trouble for me. I love how they look but until I can figure out an easy way to make them, I am not going there. I love how your card turned out! Brrrrr on your temps! Living in the south, I can’t even imagine but from growing up in Kansas where we did get snow, I remember the silence of snow. It makes the world a lovely quiet place!
Thank you abundantly, my very sweet friend. ❤️
I adore shaker projects as well and pin them by the bucketload, lol! 😄
I’m sorry that making them hasn’t yet gelled for you as you’d like it to. They can certainly be finicky at times (I well remember sequins falling out like confetti from some of my first attempts several years back) and are not always as easy or straightforward as some people, magazines, etc might have you believe.
How lovely that you grew up in Kansas. It is such a beautiful part of the midwest – and not all that dissimilar looking for some parts of the Canadian prairie provinces.
Thank you again, dear Angie.
♥ Autumn
Super charming, love the fox with a winter scarf. And as a snowflake lover I adore those double layered snowflakes. ♥
Thank you very much, sweet Sanne. Isn’t this winter attired fox a total cutie pie?
While sightings are relatively rare, we do have some foxes living in our area (I see, and hear, coyotes more frequently than foxes). I like to imagine a whimsical world in which they get to enjoy winter with scarves, hot cocoa (or whatever foxes prefer to drink), and cozy safety all season long. (If only, eh?)
Big hugs & the happiest of March wishes coming your way,
♥ Autumn
That’s probably the most precious little fox card I’ve ever seen, Autumn! And now that you’ve provided those beautifully detailed instructions (and what a good idea!) I bet there’ll be a “flurry” of them produced. Sorry. lol
Thank you very much, sweet Lynne. I have a lifelong affinity for foxes and cherish the times I’ve spotted them in the wild – just as I greatly enjoy making fox imagery a part of my crafting.
Do you get many foxes in your corner of the country? We have some here, though rarely see them (I saw more when living in the Caribou and in Alberta). Coyotes cross our paths considerably more often as a general rule.
Aww! That’s so cute! Please do not be sorry about making a pun – I’m a huge fan, and frequent generator, of them myself.
Oodles of hugs & the very happiest of wishes for a sunny, safe, wonderful March!
♥ Autumn
Beautiful card, such a delightful image. I hope its warmed up now. Here in Cornwall we rarely see snow or heavy ice, mild and wet is the norm which is why its so green. The daffodils are in full bloom and the birds are singing – beautiful. Thank you for your visits and comments on my blog, i appreciate you taking the time. Emmax
Thank you very much across the board, dear Emma.
You are wholeheartedly welcome. It is always a pleasure to connect with you and your latest (gorgeous + inspiring) projects.
Little by little, winter is starting to retreat – though not without, in true Canadian fashion, putting up a decent fight first. Case in point, we had (really pretty) fresh snow here two mornings again. I sense we may see additional flakes at least once or twice more before spring finally triumphs again, though only time will tell.
The nights are continuing to drop below freezing, but we’re seeing temps a few degrees above zero during the day – and even hit the low double digits a few days ago. This increased warmth was short-lived, but wholly welcome, and reminded us all the more that winter will soon be retiring for another few months.
How tremendously lovely that spring is already out in full force in Cromwell. I’m looking forward to the same sorts of spring signs that you mentioned appearing here (fairly) soon as well. A few days ago I heard a flock of Canadian geese returning home, which is a strong indicator of winter’s demise unto itself, and a lovely precursor to blooms and birdsongs aplenty.
Many hugs & the very happiest of wishes for a safe, lovely, and very sunny spring!
♥ Autumn
Such a sweet and precious little fox 🦊 Autumn, I love the way you layered this card, and ended with the snowflakes!! ❄️ ❄️
Another stunning card!
You are blush-inducingly kind, my cherished friend. Thank you so much! 😘
As much as I’m eager to embrace spring’s return here in a matter of weeks, it is always a touch bittersweet to part ways with winter. Thankfully, all I need to do is pop into my crafting space for a spell anytime I wish to connect with the chilliest chapter of the year.
Who knows, to that end, maybe 2021 will be the year I start my Yule/Christmas/holiday season cards before November/December.
Wishful thinking? Unbridled optimism? Theoretically plausible? All of the above? 😄
♥ Autumn
Hello my fellow Canadian! Gorgeous card! love the snowflakes and the layout itself. All the elements pair so well together!
Hello sweet Kelly, thank you very much for your splendidly kind comment + compliments.
Even though a wee bit of snow still lingers in our yard, this latest winter is already starting to fade memory. Happily, however, we can revive the coldest chapter of the year anytime we please via our paper crafting.
I hope that your spring is off to a sunny, wonderful start and that all is well as we gear up to (bunny) hop into April.
Big hugs,
♥ Autumn
Such a fun image to build a card around! I love all the cutouts and how you can see some of the layers through them!
Thank you very much, my sweet friend. 😘
I’m a big fan of semi and fully transparent elements in paper crafting. Several years back, we saw more of them being used (and released by companies in the field). These days they’re not always as common, but haven’t gone the way of the dinosaur entirely by any means.
Much as with fashion, I rarely follow trends in crafting and use what I like/love (and have on hand) whenever the mood strikes.
Tons of hugs & the sunniest, loveliest of March-into-April wishes coming your way!
♥ Autumn