Easy One-Layer Watercolor Christmas Cards: Yippee for Yana
Hi friends! Please join me in welcoming back the oh-so-talented and amazing Yana Smakula! (Please note: our dear friend Yana is Ukrainian. To show support to our brothers and sisters in Ukraine, please see Yana’s post HERE.)
Hello, crafters, this is Yana Smakula for Simon Says Stamp! Welcome back for another Yippee For Yana video! Today I’m doing something I never thought I’d say… we’re making one-layer cards! I know — who even am I? But sometimes it’s fun to revisit classic design ideas, and this nostalgic Christmas project truly made me fall in love with simple stamping all over again.
I’m working with the absolutely charming Simon Says Stamp Nostalgic Christmas stamp and die set. This set is packed with beautiful holiday imagery, and honestly, if you’re still looking for that one “must-have” Christmas stamp set this season, this one might be it. The coordinating dies are available as well — although today I’m sticking to stamps only to keep everything clean, flat, and wonderfully simple.
I wanted to watercolor my images, so paper choice was essential. I couldn’t find my watercolor paper (holiday-season chaos is real), but I did have Spellbinders BetterPress Cardstock on hand — a 100% cotton paper that behaves beautifully with water-based mediums. Perfect substitute!
I stamped the images in VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink on 4.25″ x 5.5″ panels using my MISTI. I’ll trim the panels slightly before assembling the cards, but this size gives me plenty of room for coloring.
For coloring, I reached for a small but mighty set of Karin Brushmarker PRO markers. I show each cap color in the video if you want the exact shades.
My goal? Simple, traditional Christmas colors — reds, greens, and soft neutrals. One of my favorite things about this nostalgic image is that it’s already packed with detail: shading, highlights, texture. That means:
- you don’t need perfect coloring
- white gaps are totally fine
- it still looks amazing
Each image took about 10 minutes to color. These cards practically mass-produce themselves!
I even mixed greens right on the image when I didn’t have the shade I wanted — a bright green here, a deeper green there, and a third shade to pull the whole tree together. Don’t be afraid to layer and experiment.
For a touch of grounding beneath the tree, I used Polychromos pencils in two brown shades to add soft shadows.
For the sentiment, I stamped “Very Very Merry” at the bottom of each panel using the CZ Design Tree Plate Sentiments set. The word Christmas is stamped inside the card for a sweet continuation.
If you prefer a popped-up sentiment, you can absolutely die cut and foam-mount one — but I wanted to stay true to the one-layer theme.
To finish the design, I added a tiny red cardstock strip at the base of each A2 top-folding card. These are less than ¼” wide and trim the edge beautifully without adding bulk.
I wanted these cards to be lightweight for mailing, but that little pop of red ties all the coloring together and gives the layout a polished intention.
I trimmed each panel slightly and adhered it to the card bases with a tape runner. And that’s it — clean, classic, festive cards that look far more involved than they actually are.
I ended up making four cards, but honestly? I could have made twenty. This design is easy to mass produce, relaxing to color, and perfect for last-minute holiday crafting.
It also felt wonderful revisiting watercolor — it’s been a while, and this was the perfect low-pressure way to get back into it.
Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope these easy one-layer Christmas cards inspire you to pick up your stamps, grab your favorite coloring medium, and enjoy the creative process.
See you soon with more inspiration!
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A big thank you to YOU, our reader — and to Yana for being our guest!
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Really really sweet