Christmas card with instructions.

This took me all day to make! Colored in watercolor and embellished with gel pen and glitter. I messed up on the tree and tried to salvage it by putting ornaments all over it. Grandma needs to step away from the ornament box. I think she went a little overboard. All stamps are by eat cake graphics.

For the Grandma card:

1. Stamp "Gran's got hot chocolate" and the "Christmas tree" with versafine ink onto watercolor paper with enough distance to slightly overlap the eventual fireplace.

2. Time to make a mask. On a regular piece of paper, stamp "Gran's got hot chocolate" and "Christmas tree" and carefully cut them out with an craft knife. On the back of the paper cutouts apply a temporary liquid glue and let that dry. The reusable mask can be kept on a piece of wax paper for later use.

3. Cover the already stamped images of "Gran's got hot chocolate" and "Christmas tree" on the watercolor paper with the two masks.

4. Stamp two of "Stocking with patches" in the middle of the already stamped images, lining up the top of the stocking with the top of the "christmas tree". Since the stamps will be covering the previous masks, one of the stockings will now be behind Gran's hot chocolate tray when the mask is eventually removed. (The fireplace hasn't been stamped yet so the stockings will be floating.)

5. Make two masks for "Stocking with patches", using the same procedure in step (2), and apply them over the stocking images on the watercolor paper.

6. Use the stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the fireplace so the top of the two stockings are even with the top of the fireplace, and stamp that over the four existing masks.

7. Pull off all the masks and color in the stamped images with watercolors using the same method as the Halloween card.

8. (Optional) Use a white gel pen for embellishments. For example, the snowflake on Grandma's pocket, the steam from the cocoa, the bells on the stockings and the highlights on the wood holder. Use a silver gel pen to outline Grandma's glasses and to write out JOY on the fireplace. (The letters are supposed to be stocking holders.)

(I completely messed up on the tree by adding too much green glitter. Since it overlapped the fireplace there was no way I could salvage the card. By this time, I had put in around 4 hours and couldn't bear to trash it. Underneath all that mess is a tree stamp. :) I figured I could salvage the tree by covering it with ornaments.)

9. (Optional) Using a temporary glue pen, make circles randomly over the "Christmas tree" stamp. Allow the glue to dry for a few seconds, then cover with glitter. (Repeat separately for each color of glitter)

10. Mat the painted images to red card stock, then green card stock. Wrap a ribbon around the bottom. Tape it to a 6x7" card made out of card stock.

11. Stamp "Grandma's hot chocolate is the best!" on a scrap piece of card stock. Mat it to red, then green cardstock, and tape it to the front.