Festive and Easy Clean and Layered Christmas Card | Candy Christmas Dies | Spellbinders

When it comes to Christmas cards, I love creating designs that feel special without requiring hours of fussing over tiny details. This clean and layered card checks all the boxes—it’s playful, dimensional, and festive, but still very approachable to make. I pulled out some favorites from Spellbinders’ Candy Christmas collection, and the end result is this whimsical design featuring a gingerbread man delivering holiday cheer in a hot air balloon. It’s the kind of card that makes people smile before they’ve even read the sentiment, and that’s exactly the kind of magic I want my handmade cards to bring.

Festive and Easy Clean and Layered Christmas Card | Candy Christmas Dies | Spellbinders

A Gingerbread Delivery with a Twist

The star of the show is the Gingerbread Delivery Etched Dies. I couldn’t resist turning that sweet gingerbread man into a little adventurer, soaring through the skies with his present in hand. I cut him and the hot air balloon from Spellbinders Cool Wheel Cardstock, mixing in warm terracotta for the gingerbread and a blue spruce and mint combo for the balloon. I love how the colors play off each other—they keep the design festive but give it a modern, fresh look.

Pro Tip: If you want your die cuts to really pop, try ink blending with a shade slightly darker than your cardstock. A quick swipe of ink along the edges makes the gingerbread man look almost good enough to eat!

Clean Layers with Holiday Charm

Layering is what makes this card shine without overwhelming the design. I used the Sparkling Snow 3D Embossing Folder for the background, which adds the perfect subtle texture. To keep it from feeling too flat, I ink blended a soft rectangle in the center with Juniper ink using a stencil. That little framed effect helps draw your eye right to the gingerbread delivery scene. A quick mist of shimmer spray gave the background a subtle frosty sparkle—think of it like adding a dusting of snow to the card.

This is one of my favorite tricks for holiday cards: embossing + ink blending. It’s simple, but it makes the whole piece feel polished and professional.

Sentiments that Stand Out

For the sentiment, I used the Christmas Magic Stamp Set and coordinating Outline Dies. “Christmas Delivering” felt like the perfect phrase for this playful design. To give the words a little extra dimension, I stacked the die cuts with two blank layers behind the stamped ones. It’s a small detail that adds a lot of impact—and it ensures the sentiment holds its own against all the fun happening in the scene.

The Sweet Finishing Touches

No holiday card is complete without a few details that make it sparkle. I added a snowy mountain border at the bottom using the Sweet Border Etched Dies, topped with glittery snowcaps. Rock Candy Glitter gave it that icy look that makes you want to run your fingers across it. Candy canes tucked into the scene, white gel pen highlights, and a few Gingerbread Gem Stickers on the balloon brought the whole design to life.

I always say, it’s the finishing touches that transform a card from “that’s nice” to “wow, you made this?!” Don’t skip them—they’re where the magic happens.

Why I Love This Design

Sometimes holiday cardmaking can feel overwhelming with all the glitter, layers, and embellishments. What I love about this project is that it’s festive and detailed without being complicated. The clean, layered style gives you dimension and polish, while the dies do most of the heavy lifting. Plus, it’s versatile—you could easily swap out the gingerbread man for another character or change up the colors to match your holiday palette.

This is the kind of card I’d make a few of for those friends and family members who really appreciate handmade details. It’s unique, fun, and just different enough to stand out from the traditional red-and-green designs.

Thanks for dropping by today I hope that you found a little spark of creative inspiration with my project today. Wondering what I used in this project? Everything is linked to multiple sources in the thumbnails in the Materials Used section, or in the text below. Compensated affiliate links used when possible.

Materials Used:

Here you will find the list of supplies that I used to create today's card. All supplies are linked to supply sources below. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.

Happy Crafting,

Rick Adkins

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