Christmas in the Cathedral by Bobbi Lemanski

Hi there! Every year we plan our Christmas family dinner and party around the Christmas mass schedule. When I saw this church die set, I envisioned a church in a beautiful snowfall setting on Christmas Eve. I made this one in off white stucco with a deep red brick and dark brown metal roof on the steeples. I had fun planning with the exterior elements of this beautiful cathedral. 

I'm using the following Honey Bee Stamps products from the Merry Moments release for this 5" X 7" card: 

Lovely Layers: Cathedral Honey Cuts dies

Christmas Blessings stamps and coordinating Honey Cuts dies

and from previous releases...

Rustic Brick Wall Embossing Folder (This is a great staple folder to have on hand!)

For the basics... my Honey Bee Stamps featured project is made from Neenah 80lb Solar White cardstock for the card base and card front panel. All of the black ink stamping was done using Honey Bee’s Bee Creative Intense Black Ink. I use Honey Bee Stamps Bee Creative Precision Glue and for when I want more dimension, Bee Creative Foam Dots With Tab for adhering my elements together. My blender brushes (large and small) are a must for ink blending color on the background, too. For white highlights, I use my white Gelly Roll pen. My card is 5" X 7" in size.

To make this 5" X 7" card, I started with building the cathedral. This is really fun because you can make your church any color you envision. I plan to try out a few different schemes down the road, but for this card I started with the idea of using red brick with a creamy mortar and stucco and a brown front door, window framing/trim and roof.

Using the Rustic Brick Wall Embossing Folder, I bricked the two side sections of the church using a natural ivory cardstock. I blended on a dark red using Distress Oxide Ink in Aged Mahogany and my blender brushes (large and small). I used Copic Markers in R89 and E09 to accent the bricks to create a little more contrast and drama. 

For the center tower of the cathedral, I used the same natural ivory cardstock and blended on color to match the brick sides of the building. I added cream stucco columns on both sides and around the window at the top of the center steeple. Dark brown was used for the roofs, window frames, bottom skirting, and the front door. 

I added "lighting" inside by blending Mustard Seed Distress Oxide Ink on some white cardstock and cutting it up in pieces to fit each window opening. I added some shading under the columns' detailing to make them more dimensional and interesting. The steps were also done in the same natural ivory cardstock and shaded. I assembled the cathedral and set it aside to work on the landscaping and scene background.

For the landscaping, I die cut six trees and six shrubs using the dies included in the Lovely Layers: Cathedral Honey Cuts dies from a nice mid-tone green cardstock. I also stamped and die cut the "Christmas Blessings" sentiment for the lower right corner using the Christmas Blessings stamps and coordinating Honey Cuts dies.

For the background of this outdoor scene, I used more Distress Oxide Inks in Aged Mahogany, Mustard Seed, Saltwater Taffy, and Black Soot to create a sky at dusk. I blended the colors down about half way on the card panel.  I knew I wanted to add lots of snow so a darker sky would really show off the snowfall. I also drew in some bare trees in the background in a dark gray, attached the green trees. I lightly added some softer colors to the snowy ground on the lower half. I added in a snow hill by hand cutting some soft mounds of snow and attaching it over the card front panel. 

I added the cathedral in the center, and attached it with Bee Creative Foam Dots With Tab so that it stands out from the background. I attached the trees and shrubs around the church. I added some stepping stones for the front walkway leading to the steps using Copics in warm gray tones.

Using Dr. PH Martens white ink mixed with some water and a fan-shaped brush, I splattered on a snowfall all over the scene. I tipped the brush hairs on the shrubs for a stoner look of snow on the tops. For the snow on the white foreground hills, I added a little black watercolor paint to the snowy mixture and splattered again. This allows the snowflakes to show up when adding white ink on white cardstock. It's a little trick that I learned and love how it looks. Once the paint was dry, I added the "Christmas Blessings" sentiment to the lower right corner using Bee Creative Foam Dots With Tab.

I stamped the inside of the card base with a pretty sentiment from the Christmas Blessings stamp set. I sprinkled on snow in the inside and set is aside to dry. Once dry, I attached the cathedral card front panel to the front of the card base. 

You can shop the entire Honey Bee Stamps, Merry Moments release. If you decide to place an order, please use the links in this post so that Honey Bee knows which ideas inspired you! When you spend $100 or more, you are eligible for a FREE BEE, too! (While supplies last!)

Thanks for stopping by today. If you wan to see more ideas and inspiration from me, subscribe to my blog, BobbiHartDesign.com. I'll send you updates on new posts! You can also find me on Instagram as @BobbiHartDesign and on Facebook as BobbiHartDesign.