A group of creative friends from the Art with Heart team are back with our Annual Heart of Christmas blog hop. Follow through the blogs each Monday night until the end of November for Christmas card inspiration.

This week, I have created a collection of elegant Christmas cards featuring my current favourite combination of techniques and products: hot foiling, heat embossing and gold foil.

These techniques work beautifully together to add layers of shine and texture without overwhelming the design. The hot-foiled details provide a delicate metallic finish, while the gold heat embossing and Gold Foil add further depth and a touch of Christmas luxury.

My colour combination is Basic White, Basic Beige, Old Olive and Gold Foil. I seem to be reaching for these elegant neutrals a lot lately. Basic White and Basic Beige create a soft foundation, while Old Olive and Gold Foil add traditional Christmas warmth, shine and sophistication.

The Flourish & Frames Hot Foil Dies were used to create the beautiful foiled details. I paired these with the Festive Cheer Bundle and the Lovely Stripes Embossing Folder, which introduces subtle texture and helps bring the different elements of each card together.

The Delicate Dreams Specialty Designer Series Paper adds a subtle variegation to the Old Olive foliage. Gold Foil backed with an adhesive sheet was used for selected die-cut elements, while sentiments stamped in Versamark ink and heat embossed with Gold Metallics Embossing Powder complete the coordinated metallic look.

Although several techniques and finishes have been combined, limiting the designs to a restrained colour palette keeps the cards balanced and cohesive.

It’s hard to capture the gorgeous shine of all the gold touches, hopefully this portrait shot gives you a better idea of how it shines in real life.

I used some leftover pieces to decorate the inside of my card.

Take a look at some more Heart of Christmas inspiration!

Now it is time to continue our Heart of Christmas Blog Hop and see what the next talented member of the Art With Heart Team has created.

Next in our blog hop is Judy May. Click on the link below to see her beautiful Christmas project.

If the next button link is not working or you’d like to see the entire list of participants, go to Sharon Davern‘s blog.