“Sweet Christmas” Slimline Card Tutorial – Handmade Holiday Card with Dies and Stencil

Hey Krafty friends, it’s never too early to start creating handmade Christmas cards! In this tutorial, I’m sharing how I made a festive “Sweet Christmas” slimline card using dies, a stencil with ink blending. This cheerful design features a gingerbread-style airplane flying across a cloud-filled sky, pulling a “Sweet Christmas” banner. It’s a fun holiday cardmaking project that’s perfect for friends and family.

Supplies for This Handmade Christmas Card

All of the card stock I used is from CutCardStock.com:

• Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb – slimline card base

• Cougar White 80 lb – clouds, icing, banner base

• Discount Card Stock Natural White 100 lb – icing layer for mountains

• Pop-Tone Black Licorice 65 lb – banner string

• Lessebo Coffee Bean 83 lb – gingerbread mountains

• Discount Card Stock Twine 80 lb – airplane base

• Discount Card Stock Japanese Maple 80 lb – airplane details & sentiment

Dies and Stencils

• Spellbinders Sweet Borders Die Set for Stamperia

• Spellbinders Gingerbread Plane and Banners Die Set for Stamperia

• Honey Bee Stamps Outdoor Scene Builder Stencil (clouds)

Inks and Tools

• Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Oxide Inks – Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Salty Ocean

• Ranger Ink Blending Foams

• Scrapbook.com blending handle

• Nuvo liquid glue

• foam squares

• bone folder

• scoreboard

• Spellbinders Platinum Scout die cutting machine (on sale right now at Scrapbook.com!)

Envelope: Slimline Brown Bag Kraft Envelope (CutCardStock.com)

Step-by-Step Christmas Card Tutorial

1. Create the slimline base
Cut an 8.5" x 7" piece of Neenah Classic Crest Solar White and score at 3.5" on the 7" side to form a slimline card base.

2. Blend the cloud background
Using the Honey Bee cloud stencil, I ink blended with Distress Oxide inks:

• Start at the top with Tumbled Glass

• Blend the middle with Broken China

• Finish the bottom with Salty Ocean
  This creates a layered cloudy sky that’s perfect for the airplane scene.

  Tip: To create various looking layered clouds I used different sides of the stencil and even flipped the stencil. I also put he the stencil on an angle at times instead of just laying it straight across my card stock!

3. Die cut the card elements

I used my Spellbinder Platinum Scout die cutting machine

• Mountains: Coffee Bean cardstock with Natural White icing

• Clouds & icing layers: Cougar White cardstock

• Airplane base: Twine cardstock

• Airplane details & banner sentiment: Japanese Maple cardstock

• Banner string: Black Licorice cardstock

4. Assemble the pieces
Glue the mountain layers together. Assemble the gingerbread airplane and banner, using a small amount of foam squares behind the plane for dimension.

5. Build the card scene

• Adhere the mountains at the bottom of the slimline panel

• Spread out and glue clouds for depth.

  Tip: it would also be fun to add foam tap to the die cut clouds for even more depth!

• Add the airplane and “Sweet Christmas” banner so it looks like it’s flying across the sky

Why You’ll Love This Christmas Card Design

This DIY slimline Christmas card combines classic holiday colors with a playful design that will stand out in the mailbox. The die cut gingerbread airplane is simple to assemble and comes with extra sentiments so you can reuse it for multiple holiday projects. Pairing it with ink blended stenciled clouds gives the background a soft, festive feel.

If you’re looking for handmade Christmas card ideas that are fun, creative, and easy to personalize, this Sweet Christmas slimline card is a perfect choice.

Final Thoughts

I had so much fun creating this die cut handmade Christmas card. Using a stencil for the clouds really added dimension and made the sky background come to life. I can’t wait to try more banner sentiments with this airplane die set.

I hope this tutorial inspires you to get started on your own holiday cardmaking!

Happy crafting,
Tiffani 💕