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Elegant Snow Frosted Pine Branch Christmas Card

January 8, 2021 January 8, 2021 Autumn Zenith24 comments
Elegant Snow Frosted Pine Branch Christmas Card

There are paper crafters (and crafters in general) out there who make scores of holiday projects, posting them all in November and/or December.

I admire these folks greatly. Marvel at how they seem to have found the secret to cramming a hundred hours more into each day (lol!), and accept that I’m unlikely to ever belong to their ranks.

My projects and posts happen if and when they can, and I see no issue with continuing to share holiday-themed makes in January. Or at any other point in the year, for that matter.

It can be fantastic to focus on topical content during a given season or holiday, and I am certainly in favour of doing so when possible.

However, that doesn’t mean that one has to hold rigidly to only posting Christmas content, for example, before the ball drops on New Year’s Eve.

As most of our holiday décor is still up at this early stage in January (I adore festive decorations and tend to let them linger well after a particular holiday or sabbat has officially transpired), I feel even more at peace with sharing the lovely handmade card in today’s post. 😊

Elegant Snow Frosted Pine Branch Christmas Card

The colour palette that has called to me most this holiday season – red, green, and black – was at its festive zenith in the card highlighted here, which we gave to my mom as her Christmas greeting from us this year.

Elegant snow frosted pine branch Christmas card

I could easily and happily work with this dark, sophisticated, and subtly yesteryear-esque colour scheme not only come each winter holiday season, but the whole year through as well.

Swap the green for grey and you have three of my most frequently worn colours as well. (I adore wearing certain shades of green, especially those on the darker end of the spectrum, but don’t own a lot of clothing in such hues at the moment.)

Then turn to the red to burgundy, swirl some dusty rose and aged metallics into the equation, and you have the main colours in our current home décor.

Elegant Snow Frosted Pine Branch Christmas Card

I knew that I wanted to lean heavily on red, green, and black for my mom’s Christmas card. Yet, at the same time, didn’t want it to run the risk of having it read as dreary or overly sombre.

To that end, I made sure to include plenty of splashes of red, as well as some white, and to use a classic pattern (holly leaves and berries) on the sole printed paper that appears on this card.

While there are various snow texture products on the market (such as Aleene’s Glitter Snow and True Snow, respectively, and Snow-Tex from DecoArt), I don’t have any in my stash at present.

Instead, I created the look of white snow adorned pine branches by turning to a bottle of trusty, inexpensive white acrylic craft paint.

Elegant Snow Frosted Pine Branch Christmas Card

In my opinion, white paint is one of the most versatile, handy, and helpful products any paper crafter can have in their arsenal.

I reach for white acrylic paint all through the year and after frosting these faux pine branches, might need to add a new bottle of it to my crafting shopping list for 2021.

Thankfully, this product doesn’t break the bank and can be found everywhere from dollar stores to Michael’s, Walmart to art supply shops here in Canada. (I usually opt for Plaid brand white acrylic paint, which currently retails for less than $4.00 at Walmart.)

The dark green little plastic pine branches are likewise usually not very tricky to find. If your local craft, hobby, dollar, or big box stores don’t sell them, check out spots such as eBay, AliExpress, and Etsy, where you should be able to find similar products.

Alternatively, if you have some festive décor that might be on its last legs but which contains usable faux pine/evergreen, you could pluck off said branches and put them to work on holiday season papercrafts.

I love this card. It’s one of my favourite makes of any kind from 2020, and was, come to think of it, my last project of that year.

As is often the case when I create a card (or tag, etc) that is destined for someone else, but which I utterly adore, I did debate keeping this festive make to use in our seasonal décor. 😄

Elegant Snow Frosted Pine Branch Christmas Card

However, that thought was short-lived, as I had created this card from my sweet mama and was adamant that it zip off to her house.

After all, as I like to tell myself, I could always make something similar looking for our holiday décor. Especially since I highly doubt my passion for the pairing of red, green, and black is going to wane anytime soon. 😃

Putting this elegant shabby chic Christmas card together

A good sized card base of basic black cardstock got the ball rolling here. It was topped with small triangular pieces of red metallic cardstock in each of the four corners, a piece of holly leaf and berry print paper (which I lightly distressed the edges of and gave punched photo corners made from textured white cardstock to as well), and two die cut pieces of cardstock. One black, the other metallic red. 

My sentiment greeting was next up to bat, landing in the middle of this design. I purposely went with die cut layers below it that echoed the notched corners included in this festive illustration.

Elegant Snow Frosted Pine Branch Christmas Card

Sandwiched between some of the layers of paper and cardstock, I put a black die cut lattice design piece, as well as a piece of vibrant red satin ribbon.

That same Christmas season perfect red ribbon then appeared in the form of a bow (to mirror that in the sentiment illustration itself) near the top of the card.

As well, right below the sentiment, I place a piece of black eyelash trim lace and also ran a strip of white tulle rose trim for a subtle pop of white between the layers of this design

Next, I arranged some springs of red foam faux berries, red fabric roses, and green plastic pine branches. Using a cotton bud (a small paintbrush would work well, too), I lightly applied white acrylic craft paint to the edges of the pine branches.

I debated topping the roses and berries with “snow” as well, but decided I preferred the look of leaving them au naturel.

As the last and final touch on this project, I placed four small white pearlescent star flatback embellishments near each of the four red roses. Opting for this particular embellishment because of the stars present in the illustration of the sentiment.

(You may have guessed this by now, but I love to include repeating motifs, colours, designs, etc in plenty of my papercrafting projects.)

Cardmaking tips and ideas from this project

-Let a little (or a lot!) of the elements on your card extend past the edges of the card base itself. This is amongst my favourite card making techniques, as I find it helps to elevate a project and create more visual interest.

In this case, the distressed piece of printed paper, as well as the snow dusted pine branches, inch slightly over the edges.

–Don’t hesitate to double (or triple, etc) up on photo corners or other corner elements. Here, white photo corners sit happily atop triangles of metallic red cardstock, each belonging to a separate layer of this design.

Elegant Snow Frosted Pine Branch Christmas Card

-If you do not have premade red roses (be they fabric, paper, foam, etc), you could crate some from punched or die cut red paper or cardstock. Conversely, you could sub in a different flower or type of embellishment entirely.

Small bow, bell (including jingle bells), other types of greenery, or even (representations of) birds such as cardinals, owls, or partridges, for example, would all be at home on a festive project like this.

-While the “snow” is a charming and wonderfully eye-catching addition here, it isn’t strictly required. You could easily skip it or, alternatively, adorn the branches with glitter or flocking instead.

Or, make cardstock branches and emboss them with white, cream, or pale silver coloured embossing powder to get a similar snowy effect.

-Look to the illustrated/patterned elements – including premade sentiments – of your card when deciding on the elements to use for a given project.

The charming sentiment piece – taken from a cut-apart sheet of paper – here inspired no less than four components of this design. The notched corner die cut layers, the red bow, the arrangement of the pine branches, and the sweet little pearlescent white star embellishments.  

Products used to make this festive red, black, and green Christmas card

-Notched corner nesting die set

-Lattice border strip die (or similar style of border punch)

-Photo corner punch – Photo Corner punch from Martha Stewart Crafts

-Black and white cardstock

-Metallic red cardstock

-Holly leaf and berry print paper – Here Come Santa Claus Holly Berries paper from Echo Park

-Sentiment paper – My Favourite Christmas – Christmas Squares paper from Echo Park

-Black eyelash fringe lace

-Red satin ribbon (you could use organza, twill, seam binding, etc here as well)

-White tulle rose trim

-Red fabric roses

-White pearlescent plastic star embellishments

-White acrylic craft paint – 2894 White Wicker Multi-Surface Satin Acrylic Paint from Plaid’s Folk Art line

-Glue gun and glue sticks, or another type of sturdy adhesive to hold the larger embellishments in place

-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)

A huge thank you! 💗

Before wrapping up today’s entry, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who wished Witchcrafted Life a happy 1st birthday on my previous blog post, as well as via email and DM.

Your support of my wee corner of the web, the work that I share here, and the inclusive community that I strive to create around this space means an immeasurable amount to me. 🙏🏻

I am grateful to my core for each of you. Your kindness and encouragement all through WCL’s first year of life and now as we embrace its second is like rocket fuel for my blogging soul, powering me onward with vim and vigour, and helping me to reach new creative heights along the way.

Elegant Snow Frosted Pine Branch Christmas Card
Elegant Snow Frosted Pine Branch Christmas Card featuring holiday season papers from Echo Park

I have one more Christmas 2020 card project to share here in the not-too-distant future (it’s another of my fave makes from last year, which wound its way to a treasured friend in the US), a more broadly themed winter project or two, and hopefully, at least one Valentine’s Day project.

If it is able to appear here in February itself, that’s great, but if it ends up being posted closer to the Ostara/Easter season, you know what? That’s a-okay, too.

After all, the “freely share a project after a given event has transpired” approach is not limited to winter holiday season makes by any means. 😃

What’s on the crafting agenda for you as we embrace the start of 2021? Do you strive to post all of your makes for a given holiday before/right the big day or are you happy to share them anytime you please? 💚

Project share

Pin the image below – or any other in this post – to Pinterest, pop it into your Instagram Stories, post it on Twitter or Facebook, or share it anywhere else you wish to help yourself find it again and to inspire others at the same time.

Elegant Snow Frosted Pine Branch Christmas Card

If you make a project based on or inspired by this card – or want to share any of your other handmade crafts with me – please use the hashtags #WitchcraftedLife and #WitchcraftedLifeMakes on social media so that I see can your beautiful creations.

cardmakingcardsChristmasChristmas cardshandmade cardsred green and black cardshabby chic cardYule
Autumn ZenithJanuary 8, 2021
previous story

Happy 1st birthday, Witchcrafted Life – plus 7 things I’m planning for this blog in 2021

Autumn Zenith

Autumn Zenith

Old souled Pagan witch. Empath. Passionate paper crafter. Spoonie. Dog mom. Dedicated to providing an inclusive space in which to inspire, inform, and support others on their own wonderfully unique spiritual and creative journeys.

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24 Comments

  1. Anesha says:
    January 9, 2021 at 9:34 AM

    Really wonderful card. I love your colour scheme and how you layer your cards. Just wonderful. Enjoy creating.

    Reply
    1. Autumn Zenith says:
      January 15, 2021 at 1:56 PM

      You’re making me blush deeper than the crimson ribbon used here, dear Anesha. Thank you wholeheartedly for your awesomely sweet and supportive compliments.

      Many hugs & wishes for a safe, terrific second half of January coming your way.

      ♥ Autumn

      Reply
  2. Donna says:
    January 9, 2021 at 10:38 AM

    Gorgeous card/Christmas decoration, like all your fabulous embellishments, the snow is a great touch also! Take care, Donna

    Reply
    1. Autumn Zenith says:
      January 15, 2021 at 1:57 PM

      Thank you so much, sweet Donna. I have to say, this was amongst my own personal favourite makes of last year – and were it not destined for my beloved mom, there’s a high chance it would have ended up living here with us permanently. 😄

      ♥ Autumn

      Reply
  3. Ann says:
    January 9, 2021 at 10:55 AM

    What a gorgeous, fun and accomplished Christmas card you’ve created here, Autumn! And of course I don’t mind you posting about it in January. I think we can all do with some extended Christmas cheer! xxx

    Reply
    1. Autumn Zenith says:
      January 15, 2021 at 2:01 PM

      Thank you deeply, lovely Ann. How right you are – especially since, as they’re apt to do, even with all of the changes and differences, this holiday season sped by in the blink of an eye.

      We’re keeping most of our festive decor out until the end of January and are likewise leaving the exterior Christmas lights that our sweet neighbour gifted us out for at least a few days longer, too.

      That said, as I type these words, we’re experiencing the first sunny afternoon in so long I can’t even recall the last one, and I suddenly have a sudden urge to bust out the Ostara/Easter decorations.

      Mid-January might be a touch to early for that though, so I’ll refrain and instead daydream that this sunshine could usher in the start of spring (slim, slim chance of that happening here in Canada, let me tell you! 😄).

      ♥ Autumn

      Reply
  4. Marina says:
    January 10, 2021 at 12:02 AM

    This has a fabulously flamboyant look and I love the combination of roses and pine needles.

    Reply
    1. Autumn Zenith says:
      January 15, 2021 at 2:12 PM

      You’re splendidly sweet, Marina. Thank you for your lovely compliment on this festive make and for visiting my blog. It’s awesome to connect with you.

      I adore that romantic combination with its distinct notes of yesteryear charm a great deal as well and could happily model my entire holiday season decor scheme after it (who knows, maybe one day I will 😊).

      May you be well and having a serene, safe, cozy, and very happy January.

      ♥ Autumn

      Reply
  5. Pauline says:
    January 10, 2021 at 4:31 AM

    A stunning Christmas card Autumn, I see nothing at all wrong in posting Christmas cards all year round. I always love the layers and dimension you create and this is no exception – a gorgeous card.
    Pauline – Crafting with Cotnob
    x

    Reply
    1. Autumn Zenith says:
      January 15, 2021 at 2:14 PM

      Thank you so much, dear Pauline. It’s terrific to know that you share this mindset, too.

      I feel like we saw more sharing of seasonal/holiday cards throughout the year before the rise of social media. It might just be an impression, but if it’s not, then I suspect it’s because – understandably – many folks are keen to focus on posting content that’s relevant to the season or holiday at hand.

      I hope that your month is off to a positive start and wish you a really lovely, relaxing second half of January.

      ♥ Autumn

      Reply
  6. Shybiker says:
    January 10, 2021 at 6:40 AM

    Beautiful! And there’s no reason to hold back on any posts due to timing.

    Reply
    1. Autumn Zenith says:
      January 15, 2021 at 2:17 PM

      Thank you so much for your support and encouragement, Ally. I sincerely appreciate it and am extra glad to hear that given that I still have a Christmas 2020 card to share here in the coming days. 😊

      Wishing you a cozy, safe, and very enjoyable weekend.

      ♥ Autumn

      Reply
  7. Tammy says:
    January 10, 2021 at 9:24 AM

    WOW what a stunning card Autumn! I love these colors for Christmas and all of the layers are beautiful, the painted pine branches look amazing! Making Christmas cards all year long is very popular now and I love seeing them 🙂
    Take care & hugs, Tammy

    Reply
    1. Autumn Zenith says:
      January 15, 2021 at 2:21 PM

      Thank you SO much, sweet Tammy. It’s fantastic to hear that you’ve seen an upswing in posting Christmas/winter holiday cards all throughout the year. That’s very encouraging to me – especially since I love to craft for any season or holiday whenever the mood for a given one strikes. 😊

      Oodles of hugs & happy wishes for a peaceful, terrific weekend coming your way.

      ♥ Autumn

      Reply
  8. Sheila (of Ephemera) says:
    January 11, 2021 at 3:06 PM

    That is one beautiful card, and I bet your mom loved it! I agree with the other commenters – no need to hold off on posting a “seasonal” item outside of its season! I greatly enjoy seeing what you make, no matter what it is.

    Hope you’re not too deep in snow in the interior, Autumn! It’s been pouring buckets here…

    Reply
    1. Autumn Zenith says:
      January 15, 2021 at 2:24 PM

      Thank you very much, my sweet friend. I’m delighted to report that my mom adored this card and said that she plans to display it annually now. What lovelier compliment could a cardmaker ask for?

      We were up to our eyebrows in snow until very recently, but slightly “warmer” (I use that term very loosely, lol!) temps in recent days coupled with a little bit of rain has helped to melt a few inches.

      Far too soon to say that winter is winding down, I’m sure (especially since we often experience our coldest temps of the year here between mid-January and mid to late February), but a welcome little breather between snowflakes all the same.

      Many hugs & wishes for a cozy, fantastic weekend coming your way.

      ♥ Autumn

      Reply
  9. pinky says:
    January 13, 2021 at 3:45 AM

    Wow you are such a talent!! I enjoyed your post and thanks for all the lovely tips! Us crafters post Christmas cards and projects all year long! Thanks also for subscribing to my blog. I will sign up for email notifications as I absolutely LOVE your style!! Have a lovely day and stay safe xx

    Reply
    1. Autumn Zenith says:
      January 15, 2021 at 2:27 PM

      What an awesome, meaningful, and heart-touching compliment, Pinky. I truly appreciate your kindness – just as I do the fact that you’re a fellow member of team “post whenever your please”, too.

      You’re wholeheartedly welcome. Thank you SO Much for your visit and for subscribing to my blog’s feed. I appreciate it tremendously and am delighted that our paths crossed.

      May you have an immensely safe, peaceful, low-stress, healthy, and happy year complete with ample time to craft.

      ♥ Autumn

      Reply
  10. Andrea+Kenner says:
    January 13, 2021 at 3:27 PM

    Beautiful!

    Reply
    1. Autumn Zenith says:
      January 15, 2021 at 2:27 PM

      You’re wonderfully kind. Thank you very much for the sweet compliment and for visiting my blog. I sincerely appreciate both things and hope that your January is off to a positive start.

      Big hugs,
      ♥ Autumn

      Reply
  11. lorena says:
    January 14, 2021 at 6:13 AM

    Very creative I am certain your mom loved it!
    I have to admit I may have the ideas but not the skills for making something so beautiful.
    A few years ago I made my grandmother’s 80th birthday invitations, they took forever and i ended up ruining the kitchen counter as i cut though it 🙁

    Reply
    1. Autumn Zenith says:
      January 15, 2021 at 2:31 PM

      Thank you sweetly, my dear friend. You’re absolutely right! 🙂 My mom adored this card and said that she’d be putting it out every year now as part of her decor. Hearing that made me extra glad that in the end I didn’t hold onto it for our own holiday season decor.

      How awesomely kind and thoughtful of you to make the invitations for your grandam’s 80th birthday. I’m very sorry that your counter was damaged in the process. That must have been quite stressful. 😢

      If you don’t have one already and need to do more paper crafting in the future, I highly recommend investing in a self-healing mat. They’re not terribly expensive and can work wonders when it comes to saving tables, counters, and other surfaces from the wear and tear of crafting.

      Big hugs & many thanks for your comment.

      ♥ Autumn

      Reply
  12. Trina P. says:
    January 14, 2021 at 11:12 AM

    Wow! Another beautiful Christmas card always full of incredible dimension and texture. The colour combo is definitely striking and I can see why you love it… and in turn why your mom love it, too!

    Reply
    1. Autumn Zenith says:
      January 15, 2021 at 2:44 PM

      Thank you abundantly, my very sweet friend. I sincerely appreciate your kindness and support.

      My mom adored this card and said that she plans to display it each holiday season from here on out. That is one of the most touching and meaningful things a paper crafter could ever hear. 🥰

      I hope that your month is off to a positive start and that you have a relaxing, wonderful mid-January weekend.

      ♥ Autumn

      Reply

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Welcome to Witchcrafted Life

Want to know more about witchcraft/Paganism, paper crafting or both?

I’m Autumn Zenith, a Pagan witch + empath with a serious passion for paper crafting, nature, vintage, photography, and anything fall time related.

I like to think of myself as part Martha Stewart, part Morticia Addams.

I believe that both Paganism/witchcraft and paper crafting should be inclusive and open to everybody.

I love to help inspire, teach and support others in their own meaningful life journeys.

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