This post is sponsored by
Tiny Prints. They provide excellent quality printing and amazing printing options to make your holiday cards stand out this year.
Gold is such a classic element to add to holiday greetings, but how? What materials do you use? I've got a little bit of experience with that and I know just the things to help you make your holiday cards a hit this year.
Oh, and I should mention, these tips require no calligraphy experience whatsoever. Neat handwriting helps, and
here's a post to help you with that. Want to learn calligraphy? I do that, too.
Sign up for my class right here. Just gonna toot my own horn a bit about the class: it's hands-on with personal feedback from me and my co-calligrapher (Erika! She's the raddest!). Get supplies mailed to your door, personal attention and loads of lifetime content for less than it costs for most in-person modern workshops. Aw, yeah.
This post may contain affiliate links. These are products I'm using constantly. I get a little bit of a kick-back from any purchases made through these links. Affiliate sales help feed my crafting addiction and supplies used for blog posts. So thank you for your support.
Gold Striping
It looks like Finetec Gold is a favorite of mine. It's looking like it's out of stock at Paper & Ink arts - you might have luck at John Neal Bookseller or a local art supply store. I love this palette because you can add gold and shimmer to just about anything.
Get a large hard-bound book or a block of wood that's longer than your envelope. Place it an inch below the desired line.
Instead of using a ruler and getting the underside all gunky from running ink, rest the bottom of your hand along the edge of the book or block and pull your arm towards you (see above). You'll get a nice straight line without even trying hard.
Wait for the gold to dry, then letter the address with the recipient's name above the line and the address below. I like using the
lettermate when doing print addresses. It keeps my lines straight and my leading even. If you choose to use a lettermate or something similar, you'll want to put the gold line inside one of the lines so that the spacing is even. If you put it between two lines, the top two address lines will look inconsistently spaced. I'll use a white gelly roll or a gold shadow gelly roll. If you're using a white envelope, you may want to opt for the black gold or the pink gold. Here I used the lavender gold.
Foil Gems
I've got a little secret in my arsenal and I'm about to share it with you. EEP!! I'm loving this thing. I've had it for about a year, and it's the perfect way to add gold sparkle to something without waiting for glitter glue to dry. I bought this cheap hot foil pen on New Egg some time ago, so it looks like it's no longer available. The closest thing in price is the WRM keepers one. At $15 it's totally an impulse purchase. I've seen them around on other sites. Just make sure that when you're looking for yours you look for "hot foil pen". That's pretty much it. Scrapbooking suppliers are going to be your best bet.
First, you'll letter your address. I like to switch up styles with print and script.
When you're done, you'll heat up the foil pen and do little dots in the negative spaces. You can do single dots or groupings of 3. If you're doing groupings of 3, you can add little green leaves for holly! Or keep them plain. I opted to go plain.
Justified Glitter
Mark up your paper with sticky thumb. You can use a glue stick for a more organic line.
Sprinkle glitter (mix colors for a fun effect) over the envelope. This is a great activity to do in big batches in a bath tub or large casserole dish.
With your finger, rub in the glitter so it sticks. You'll see that glitter will settle and stop coming off. Shake off excess.
Write out the address. If you're doing the lettermate and a script style of penmanship, you may want to write out everything without the descending strokes (like the 'y', 'g', 'f', 'z' etc) and fill those in afterward. Add postage and you're done!
I'm slowly knocking out my list this week and next. So my cards will be more like New Year's cards, but late is always better than never in my opinion!
Want to learn calligraphy the right way?
Check out my online calligraphy class. It includes lifetime access to materials and content (images, text, animated GIFs) and 30 days of personal instructor feedback. Because we all need help troubleshooting when starting out. ;)
Santa doesn't have this much creativity when it comes to his gift wrap. That would take him way too long.
The key to this whole operation is in the marker. Some time ago Sakura sent me their Pigma Professional brush
series. I use them for everything. Heck, they're even in our brush lettering kits that I send out to all of my beginning brush students. These brushes come in 3 sizes: fine, medium and BOLD. I use the fine brush for small detailed work and little illustrations. I'll use the medium in cases where my x-height letters are about 3/4" tall. The bold I'll use for everything else.
The bold brush is pretty stiff so you still get very fine hairlines even though you can get a ton of drama out of the side of the marker.
And when mine dry out, I'll use them on textured paper for a more organic look (like above). Want to learn how to make these easy-peasy holly berries? Watch the video below.
Supplies
If you want to go for a more ornamental approach, draw out a berry grouping on cardstock. Watercolor paper is going to give your cluster more texture and depth. Punch a hole near the cluster of berries.
With your scissors, cut around the cluster leaving a 1/4"-1/2" border. Thread through ribbon or string and use as a decoration on your gift.
Easy? Brainless? Awesome? Yes to all three. Happy last-minute gift-giving and wrapping!!
or double-stick tape
So, vanilla bean paste has become a staple in our home, so much so that we 
. It's mine and Chris's favorite thing to add to our whipped cream (we have that "on tap" with our 
). The other thing I keep thinking about with holiday gift-giving is that there's an overload of sweets that will spoil. Why not give the gift that's gluten-free, vegan, won't spoil and EVERY foodie will LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!
Vanilla bean paste marries the convenience of vanilla extract and the potency of vanilla beans. 
I bought some small vials/jars from Specialty Bottle and a giant bottle of vanilla bean paste and filled each one. It's just a sampling of vanilla bean paste, just enough for an extra potent recipe of vanilla whipped cream. Here's the recipe for our whipped cream:
See below to download the vanilla labels. I've made two versions, one for home made extract the other for vanilla bean paste. Enjoy!
The photos could be better, but It was one of those I-should-probably-document-this-for-blogging-sake moments and I busted out the camera. Foolishly I didn't get more than one angle with my DLSR so you'll have to suffer the bright overhead iphone photo. We've become so spoiled with good photography in the digital age.
On to the recipe. This salmon has a nice balance of creaminess, smokiness with a touch of zing. Definitely going to make this again, so I'd better blog about it so I don't forget what I did.
Chipotle Lime Salmon
Serves 6-8
Et voila! This is a great recipe for guests because it takes very little time to make. Pop it in the oven as guests arrive and serve hot by the time everyone gets settled and sits down!
Want to make one of your own? It's insanely easy. NO serger required. See my wiggle skirt tutorials below:
Outfit details–
I've mentioned this in my other social media outlets, but not so much on the blog: Chris and I LOVE making Christmas awesome for other people. If I didn't know anything about calligraphy and Chris gifted me a calligraphy workshop with a hand-written note just for me, I think I'd just be over-the-moon excited. Don't you?
You know I teach calligraphy online, right? And experience gifts are pretty much the best, right? We do 
Here's what's in the pointed pen (aka modern calligraphy) kit:
Here's what's in the pointed brush (aka brush calligraphy/brush lettering) kit:
I truly love teaching calligraphy and coaching students. I have my dream job. And I couldn't do it without you. So Thank You!