Holiday Inspirtaion with My Favorite Things and Essentials by Ellen

Hi Folks! Welcome to the Holiday Inspiration Fest with Ellen Hutson EBE and My Favorite Things! Both companies just released a TON of amazing holiday sets, and we're excited to combine and share them with you! I've got lots of things to share with you today!

One of my favorite Christmas sets from My Favorite Things is Reindeer Games and the coordinating dies. With three different reindeer included in the set, you will have fun posing them in all different scenes. Here, the two "normal" reindeer are relaxing at the North Pole while Rudolph is doing all the work for the holidays. Not only that, but Rudolph is also giving the cardinal a free ride. 

I curled the sentiment strips so they stand out. The background is made by embossing the wheel stamps from EBE's Wonky Backdrops, which, to me feels like giant snowflakes. I've also used the Landscapes die to make quick snow drifts.

On this card, one of the reindeer figures out how to ski ... on candy canes! I guess that's how they do it in the North Pole?!

The fun sentiment is from EBE Snow Days (which is retiring, and I think there is only ONE SET left!! Hurry!) The background is actually a rubber background stamp from MFT called Ho Ho Ho Backgorund. It's big enough for landscape or portrait cards. TIP: when stamping the background, make sure you don't stamp it upside down, otherwise you'll get an "Oh Oh Oh" background : )

 
My final scene with these adorable reindeer shows two friends making a hurdle of sorts (with extra help from a little cardinal) so Rudolph can work on his jumping before the big day. When you only do this one night of the year, it's important to practice!

 

The cozy sweater background is from Snow Days. I specifically picked this sentiment to go with Rudolph's "abilities." 

I easily could have kept going making different scenes ... the next one was going to be Rudolph flying over the EBE city die, but alas I had to move on. I really enjoyed making these three!

The next set of cards and ornaments all feature the Peace on Earth Die ... which couldn't be easier or quicker to make some really fun projects!

The way the dove and the text are designed to fill the card is just perfect! And that means that little effort is required to make a beautiful holiday card.

You can absolutely use the dove flat as it's intended, but I thought it would be fun to make the wings dimensional by cutting two more doves and layering them all together. You just need to clip the tiny connection piece at the back of the wing where it meets the body, and then fold the wing towards you. Then adhere the bodies together.

Could. Not. Be. Easier.   

The purple and charcoal colors of the last card aren't your traditional holiday colors. This card is a little more typical ... a navy background with white, silver and gold elements.

I cut out just the body from a piece of felt and adhered that to the top. Did you know Ellen Hutson is now carrying our own line of felt ?!? Love that texture!

 This is my favorite way to add dimension ... where you can fold it all flat for mailing.

I thought I'd try another 3D pop up card ... how fun is this?

Instead of stacking white die cut paper for the dove, I used some leftover scrap pieces of double-sided patterned paper for a fun surprise inside the wings. The base of the card is stamped with the dots from Wonky Backdrops and the stripes from Winterscapes.

Just as cute from the back, thanks to the double sided papers.

 

And happily, it folds flat for mailing and storage.

I loved the 3D dove concept so much, I wanted to come up with uses other than cards ... the natural choice is ornaments. Let me tell you, these are the quickest, easiest, and cheapest ornaments ever!

 

The basic version of this ornament is to stack five layers of white cardstock together. Adhere them along the body, bend the wings out, and you're done! That's it! 

I love how full the wings look from the back, and the body is nice and thick.

 

Here's an example using stamped, colored cardstock. The scallops from Wonky Backdrops are perfect for the feathers on the wings.

And what about vellum?! I just can't wait to see what it looks like on my tree with the lights behind it!

I scored the wings along each of the scallops and bent them back and forth for even more dimension.

They look so full! TIP: because the vellum is so thin, I was able to die cut three layers at the same time. What a time-saver!

Here's a peek at the different birds before they were assembled. You've got the stamped wings, the vellum wings, the double-sided paper wings, and the plain white wings. I totally want to make a small flock of these guys for my tree! Or to give away. They would also make great gift tags!

Who knew you could create so many different things with a simple dove die?!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you've gotten a few ideas for the holidays.  If you enjoyed your time here, I'd welcome you to follow me on Instagram for all my latest projects!

Supplies Used: (affiliate links included at no additional cost to you ... thanks so much for your support!)

Peace On Earth, My Favorite Things Die-Namics Reindeer Games, My Favorite Things Clear Stamps Reindeer Games, My Favorite Things Die-Namics Snow Days by Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Clear Stamps (Retiring) Winterscapes by Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Clear Stamps Wonky Backdrops By Julie Ebersole, Essentials By Ellen Clear Stamps My Sweet Petunia Mini MISTI Laser Etched Stamping Tool (6-1/8 X 7) Life Changing Blender Brush - 4 Piece Broad, Picket Fence Studios (LCB-4) Teflon Bone Folder, Essentials by Ellen

I'm Kelly ... please visit the other Ellen Hutson and My Favorite Things artists below for even more holiday inspiration!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter