Yippee for Yana: Calligraphy-Like Christmas Cards
Hi friends! Check out this blue and gold beauty by Yana Smakula in the latest edition of Yippee for Yana! Read on and be sure to watch the video for more information and enjoy!
Hi everyone, this is Yana Smakula and welcome back for another Yippee For Yana video!
Calligraphy is and has always been extremely popular. It looks gorgeous, it’s always very personalized and unique. But calligraphy is also something that’s not given naturally to everyone, it takes time and practice to master. In this video, I’ll show you how to fake a gorgeous calligraphy-like Christmas card with the help of clear stamps.
Stamping is easy. There are thousands of gorgeous stamp designs out there and to fake the calligraphy look on my cards today I picked Merry Christmas stamp from Simon Says Stamp. I always like to add a little something to my cards, a little extra message, so here I added one that reads “Wishing you Peace and Joy”.
I have 3 variations of this card design today (be sure to watch my video to see that 3rd idea). I used snowflakes for one of the cards, oversized Christmas lights image for another one and images of gifts for the 3rd one. My favorite is the one with the lights, but I’m curious to learn which of those you like the most?
I gold heat embossed my images on dark blue cardstock panel. To make the “Merry Christmas” sentiment unique I used a white pen and added shadow details. It’s a bit intimidating to do if you are doing it for the first time, but it’s super fun and the results are worth the effort. All you have to do is follow the letter outlines with your pen.
I didn’t have a stamp to stamp the string to go with my lights, so I doodled that in myself using that same white pen. I skipped coloring my lights using a traditional medium and coated each with shimmer using a shimmer pen (I added 3 layers of shimmer for some extra sparkle). Lastly, I used jewels from Pretty Pink Posh to embellish these cards. I added a lot of the smallest jewels onto my snowflake card and was very precise with the placement as I wanted these positioned on the ends of the snowflakes.
I also added some large and small Midnight Black jewels to my Christmas Lights card to fill the space in between the lights.
I loved making these cards. I haven’t really tried anything like this in the past; it was fun stepping out of my comfort zone. I’m looking forward to trying doing faux calligraphy on my cards again!
Have fun stamping!
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Thanks for stopping by, and thanks to Yana for being our guest!
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These are just so beautiful! The colours are so rich…just perfect. Cheers.
I love calligraphy but not talented..this stamp is perfect
Beautiful card. Love the shade of blue used.
Awesome card!!! Love all the details and the beautiful colouring!!!
Great cards Yana! They look rather elegant.
Nice card!
Yana is so talented!
Love the look of these beautiful cards! Thanks Yana! I too wish I could do calligraphy!
Yana never disappoints! Such a stunning card.
Thank you for sharing.
I LOVE the dark blue and gold together…. really beautiful!
Beautiful card! I love the shimmer on the lights!
I just love the lights and how you used one small stamp image to make the string of lights. I also really like the glitter you put on the lights!
This card is so lovely. The gold on blue is stunning. Adding the gems is a great touch! tfs
I have never seen a card yet that Yana has done that I haven’t liked. These three cards are beautiful and I cannot wait to try her technique. Thank you Yana for challenging us to try new things.
Love the cards! I especially love the one with bulbs, too nervous to try drawing the string tho. I never would have thought to add the white around the calligraphy, genius! Thanks for the Yana series!
Love all of the gold.
Beautiful cards.
thanks for sharing
txmlhl(at)yahoo(dot)com
I like how the lights are subtle, yet still stand out. Very pretty card.
Beautiful cards. I love the blue and gold on both of them. But the gold gems on the snowflakes makes that card really stunning. Thank you for sharing and inspiring.
These cards are just gorgeous! I love the look of calligraphy, but I can’t write that nicely. Thanks for sharing your tips. I think the card with the lights is my favorite, too. :)
These cards are gorgeous! Love the colors and the shine of the sentiments and jewels. Very well done. Thank you so much for sharing, Yana!
These cards are so stunning!!!!!
Take-my-breath-away stunning! Thank you, Yana, for sharing your super talent and inspiration with us. Happy Thanksgiving.
I love the blue, and love how you did the blue on blue! Thanks for the inspiration.
So pretty! The gold on the deep blue is very elegant, and I love the shimmer in the bulbs.
I love watching Yana make cards. These are just beautiful!!
Completely stunning! Some of my favorite cards!
Such a sharp looking card!
Wow! These cards are gorgeous!
Yana your cards and your a work in general always WOWS me. These could not be more stunning, seriously!
Very pretty cards, I also enjoyed the video on your site.
I love the deep blue you chose for these cards. So elegant looking.
Wonderful to see a calligraphy look. I learned calligraphy before my daughter was born. Learned using a traditional calligraphy pen with nib that you dipped into the ink. Now I use a fountain pen with ink cartridges or markers. Currently I have an interest in learning how to use brush stroke markers. Bought a set of Christmas red & green brush stroke markers from Hobby Lobby 50% off and a Sharpie set of 12 colors from Target. Downloaded the free brush stroke pages from Tombow to learn/practice.
Melissa
“Sunshine HoneyBee”
These cards are just gorgeous! Fabulous colors and details!
I love all three of the cards. You make them look so easy and fun to do
Beautiful cards, the rich blue hue makes it extra elegant and lovely!
These are so rich, lush, and beautiful! What a gorgeous card. Yana is amazing. Love these!
These are just so GORGEOUS!!! The colors are so rich…just stunning!! Thanks!!
Beautiful cards! I love how you used the shimmer pen on the Christmas lights
WOW, I love that incredible blue and gold combo! Gorgeous card.
Gorgeous cards–all 3! Loving these 1 layer cards Yana!
Thanks for the inspiration Yana! I love that sentiment, huge visual impact! TFS
Original and gorgeous x
Everything about this card says elegance.
I love the way Yana fills the background with individual stamps. And those colors, dark blue and gold with pops of white. . . so elegant!
Beautiful cards. Thanks for sharing.
Linda D.
Gorgeous cards! Thanks for the inspiration & video!
I love these gorgeous cards!! This blue and gold combination is stunning! :)
Such gorgeous cards!!
Beautiful card, love all the gold!
I love the color combo of navy blue and gold.