Very easy to make, but with an impressive final result. The Running Reindeer Interactive Pendulum Christmas Card will steal the show this year!

Creating the background

I started by making my background. On a piece of white cardstock, which I had cut to the dimensions of my embossing envelope, I drew the sky.

You can use blue ink and an ergonomic blending brush. Even if you don’t cover the white background 100%, it’s okay, because that creates the illusion of cloudiness.

If you don’t want to use ink, you can use blue cardstock.

After I finished, I left my cardstock for a few minutes to let the ink dry, and then I placed it in my embossing folder and ran it through my Sizzix machine to emboss the design.

The good thing about this pine tree design is that it’s not exclusively for Christmas, but I personally think you can use it in all seasons.

At first, I was thinking of using ink on the pine trees as well, but in the end, I decided to try acrylic paints.

I used the embossing as a guide to add my paint on top (of course, if you don’t have this specific embossing folder, you can just paint some trees).

In order not to overload it, I only used one shade of green and brown. Then I sporadically painted some branches here and there with white paint to make them look snowy.

At this point, you can consider your background for the running reindeer pendulum card ready. At first, I was going to stop here. But then I remembered I had a snow stencil that I had not used yet, so I could not resist.

With a spatula, I spread my paint carefully to get it all over, and, after I was done, I carefully pulled the stencil off. It is best to clean it before the paint dries.

Creating the running reindeer pendulum card’s mechanism

For the reindeer, I used the stamp set  “Trimming the tree”, I bought at STAMPtember from Simon Says Stamp . I really love this design, it is so cute!

Unfortunately, it was a limited edition set. Don’t worry though, there are plenty of reindeer stamps and dies you can use to make your own running reindeer pendulum card.

I colored the card with Tombow markers and added some glitter in some places for extra sparkle.

To create the snow hill, I used a wavy cutting die (of course, you can simply draw the curves and cut them out). I put it sideways on my paper to look like a hill that has fluffy snow.

To make the mechanism for the pendulum card that moves the reindeer to run, I needed a strip of hard transparency I had left over from another card and a brad.

I punched a hole using a hole puncher. I did not make the hole in the edge of the plastic, as the extra plastic balances the mechanism.

I put my brad through the hole and with my glue gun I glued it to the back side of the snow. I also used the glue gun to glue the reindeer on the other end of the plastic. 

All that’s left for me to do is stick my snow on the card.

For this, I used double-sided foam tape on the bottom and sides. I put on two layers to be certain there was room for the mechanism to move.

I thought a lot about whether I should apply some texture paste or white glitter on the snow. But since the background is quite busy, I decided to go with the more minimal option.

To finish my card, I used red ink to stamp Merry Christmas which I also taped down with double-sided foam tape to give it more depth.

One final test and everything works perfectly. This card is so much fun that I played with it like a kid for a quarter of an hour. I will definitely make a card like this next year!

Materials you’ll need for the Running Reindeer Interactive Pendulum Christmas Card

The inks I used are Distress Ink, Peacock Feathers, and Aged Mahogany. You can use different shades of blue for your sky or if you don’t want to use inks you can just use light blue card stock.

For the snow, I used Pentart Primer Paste, soft gesso. Sadly, I could not find a site that ships this brand internationally. Of course, you can use some other modeling paste or white acrylic paint.

I painted the trees with Vivace Stamperia acrylic paints using Natural Green KAB38 and Burnt Sienna KAB05. You will find very similar shades in the Stamperia, Allegro, Our way series.

To paint my figure I used Tombow markers. The codes are 847 for the crimson (the dress and hat), 757 for the port red (gloves and scarf), N15 for the black (boots and hair), 947 for the burnt sienna (reindeer), and 850 for the light apricot (girl’s face).

The glue pen I used is the Sakura QUICKIE GLUE ROLLER PEN, but, any liquid glue will do.

The glitter is an iridescent dark pink shade. Quite similar is the Couture Creations ROSE Mix And Match Glitter Powder. 

The stamps I used were part of a collaboration between Simon Says Stamp and Picket Fence Studios and it’s called “Trimming the tree”. Unfortunately, it was a limited edition product, and it is sold out.

Don’t worry though, you can create the card using various different cutting dies or stamps. Some suggestions for you are PhotoPlay YOU’RE A DEER Clear Stamps, Purple Onion Designs PANCER Cling Stamp, Avery Elle Clear Stamps DASHER, and Sizzix DELIGHTFUL DEER Thinlits Dies.

Of course, you can experiment with what you have, it doesn’t have to be exclusively reindeer. Why not try Santa Claus or a snowman?

The embossing folder for the background is the Simon Says Stamp Embossing Folder TALL PINES. Of course, you can always paint some trees by hand.

For the snow, you can use any snow stencil or even paint blobs with your brush.

The stencil I have is the Carta Bella WHITE CHRISTMAS DAYS 6 x 6 Stencil, which I love precisely because it has an irregular shape on each flake.

Finally, for the hill I used a wavy cutting die. Unfortunately, I’m not sure which brand I have.

But I have a few suggestions for designs you can use: the Time For Tea Designs OCEAN WAVES Dies is a pretty close alternative.

The Mama Elephant WAVY BORDERS Creative Cuts Steel Dies are great for this project because the curves are reminiscent of a snowy landscape and can be used in many different ways.

Finally, a good alternative is the Heffy Doodle SLIMLINE SCENERY Dies, which also provides various alternatives for backgrounds.

Of course, you can always cut the design with your scissors.