I made this pocket letter for my sweet friend Myra (YT: craftyrats), who recently lost two of her sweet kitties, and could really do with a little cheer. At first I thought the sweet elves (that look like they are full of fun and looking for hugs) from the Ellen Hutson Elf’d stamp set (currently 25% off HERE) would be perfect. Then I saw that Sandy Allnock had recently created and released a free “Elf’d Essentials” digis set (available HERE) that matched up with one of the elves like clothes for paper dolls (which I used to love as a child). Oh yes, NOW I could bring a little Christmas cheer in the form of a holiday themed Harry Potter pocket letter (I’m a huge fan of Harry Potter and have read all the books at least twice and seen all the movies countless times! I know, I know, how do I find the time! LOL Actually I like having the movies on in the background while I’m crafting) 🙂
I colored up the standing elf and a couple of the digis (Harry and angel) with the following Copic colors to create Harry, Ron and Hermoine:
Skin: E00 and 11
Red of robe collars and Ron’s sweater: R24, 29 and 39
Yellow highlights of Gryffendor ties and the R on Ron’s sweater: Y35 and YR04
Black of robes and shoes: C5, 7, 9, and N10
Ron’s red hair: E97, E99 and YR04
Hermoine’s brown hair: E23 and 29
Harry’s black hair: C7 and 9
Golden wings of winged key: YR20, 31 and 24
Sock: W1 and 3
For the background paper I used beautiful patterned papers that looked like the halls of Hogwarts (front) and a crest with a knight like one of the stained glass windows from Hogwarts (back) from the DCWV “Once Upon a Time” stack.
For the pocket with Ron’s Christmas sweater, I used a 0.1 pt Copic multiliner pen to draw out a simple sweater with an R and colored it up with a dotting technique to give the impression of a nubby sweater. To create the golden snitch, I used a Tim Holtz Alterations embossing folder to create some texture, used a circle die to cut out the ball, and attached the wings from the digi set. For the gold coloring, I used a metallic gold gelato for the ball and Delicata gold ink for the wings. To add extra glittery magic, I used gold Stickles in the nooks and crannies of the ball. To create the winged key, I took a metal key (from a $1 bin at Michaels) and wrapped another copy of the wings from the digi set that I colored up with Copics and glittered up with more gold Stickles.
I also added a couple of my favorite quotes from the stories–one about getting socks for Christmas and another about choices (not abilities) being the true measure of a person–that I thought were really appropriate for this holiday themed pocket letter. For the quote about socks, I drew a simple sock and for the quote about choices I used a little broom die to create a dimensional flying broom. 😀 To make the quotes blend a little better with the colors of the pocket letter, I die cut them with stitched rectangle dies and inked them with more Delicata gold ink.
Finally, for the little extra trimmings I added white glittered jingle bells with red satin ribbon bows and brown and white bakers twine to each of the three holes along the side of the pocket letter. I usually cover this side strip with washi tape, but because the back paper image had a quote that wouldn’t fit without adding that little extra bit of the selvage area, I inserted little strips of the background papers into those tiny strip “pockets” (including the last letter “E” of the quote). WOA that was a lot of measuring and Xacto cutting, but it was worth it to get the whole quote in on the back.
The following is a video share of the whole pocket letter with more details (including even the pocket with the picture of me and Biscuit!):
This pocket letter is being entered into the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Gentlemen Challenge (I’m going to say Harry and Ron are little wizarding gentlemen-LOL)
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes
Crafts Galore Encore Anything Goes
Virginia’s View Challenge 21: All About Glitter (on the golden snitch, the wings of the winged key, and the white jingle bells)
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great crafty day! WOOF
What an insanely clever idea for this project! I am an eternal librarian and a lit nerd, so my eyes always light up to see literary references in artwork. And this was so fun to see! I really like all the detail you put into your images and how each section was so thoughtful. The quotes from the book were the icing on the cake. I also enjoyed reading about your creative process. This is a wonderful whimsical piece and I’m so glad you shared it with us for this week’s Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!
Oh thank you so much Andrea! I love the Harry Potter series and LOVE to read too. It is my third love after dogs and crafting. 🙂 I had so much fun making this Harry Potter Christmas themed pocket letter. Thank you for taking the time to leave such a sweet, thoughtful and encouraging comment. It really means so much to me. Big hugs, Kristina
Thank you so much for entering our ATG challenge at Through The Craft Room Door this week. Looking forward to see you again next challenge.
Regards,
TTCRD DT
makememories4life {My Blog}
Through The Craft Room Door
ttcrd.blogspot.com
Thanks so much Tammi! I love TTCRD. You all are always so encouraging and leave the sweetest, welcoming comments. TF stopping by! Hugs, Kristina