Santa Coat Ho Ho Ho Buckle Card

My lovely friend Lesley and I were on the phone chatting about what we were going to be creating in our craft rooms that day.  We got talking about buckle cards and Lesley suggested making a Christmas version with a Santa belt.  I thought that was a great idea and I just had to give it a go!

Here's my card and envelope together.

 

Here's the card.  I've used SU! Real Red and Basic Black CS together with Whisper White and some Gold Foil Sheet for the square buckle.  I used two square dies to cut out a frame to make the gold foil buckle.  I die cut several black buttons and stacked them together to give the buttons some dimension.  I threaded very thin strips of Real Red CS through the buttonholes which is a nice finishing detail I think.  Lesley suggested a further finishing detail - some holes for the belt.  As I'd already glued the black CS piece in place I added three red die cut dots to give the illusion of holes in the belt.  Next time I'll try cutting holes before gluing the belt piece in place!

 

Here's the card opened out fully.

 

Here's the card front open. The rounded end of the belt will slide through the slot to form the buckle closure.  I used my old, retired SU! 'Word Window' punch to create the slot.  The belt measures 1 1/2" wide and slides nicely through the 'Word Window' slot.

Here's a closer look at the panel inside.

 

Here's the front of the envelope.  I wanted to keep to a Santa theme when it came to decorating the envelope so I chose a Santa sleigh image and wording which comes from the 'Night Before Christmas' story.  I die cut a stitched rectangle and glued that onto a die cut flagged banner.  

Many thanks to Lesley for the wonderful idea, I really enjoyed making this card!  I was originally inspired to make buckle cards due to Cindy Brumbaugh's fab video tutorial which can be found here on YouTube.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Perfectly Plaid', 'Christmas Gleaming' & 'Greatest Part of Christmas' sets
CS: SU! Real Red, Basic Black & Whisper White, Gold Foil Sheet
Ink: SU! Real Red, Memento Tuxedo Black
Tools: SU! 'Layering Squares' & 'Stitched Rectangles' die sets, 'Word Window' punch, circle punch, MFT 'Fishtail Flags' Stax die set, button die from MFT 'Blueprints 18' die set
Ruth