Christmas Cards

I am usually organized and ready for the holidays. After years of NOT being ready, of scrambling and stressing up until the holidays began (and sometimes during!), I decided to learn from my mistakes. I shop early, wrap early, write and send cards early, bake early and then relax during the holidays.

This year, being organized is particularly important because we are expecting our third child in October! We are very excited to meet this little one, and with less than 8 weeks to go, I am trying to get a handle on all of the things I would like to do before the routine of life with a newborn (or lack thereof) begins.

One of the things I have been working on is my Christmas cards. And, since I decided to start working on them extra early, I have also offered two sessions of card- and craft-making to my friends and fellow stampers.

Excited as I was to receive my new stamp sets from Stampin' Up, I have created 12 new holiday designs for my cards. If you are a friend, you may receive one of theses cards this year!

Here are some of my creations:

Basic Grey, Gumball Green, Very Vanilla and vellum paper with polka dot EF and Lovely as a Tree stamp set. Evergreen tree is overlaid with vellum that has "Silent Night" stamped in the shape of the evergreen tree using StazOn in black.

Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, and Very Vanilla are used on this card. Espresso paper is embossed and the deer has been stamped and then had heat applied to brown embossing powder to create a shimmery look. A sparkly ribbon adorns the bottom third of the card and the sentiment has been raised with dimensionals.

Very Vanilla and Cherry Cobbler paper used to create this card.  Paper embossed with Petals-a-Plenty EF and stamped with Snow Swirled stamp set. 

This card takes advantage of the pretty designer papers that Stampin' Up has this year. Very Vanilla and Cherry Cobbler card stock create the base layers and the designer paper features Lucky Limeade. Snow Swirled stamp set makes an appearance here in a different way. Sentiment and snowflakes stamped in Lucky Limeade and Cherry Cobbler.

Midnight Muse and Whisper White used to create this card. Can you tell I am in love with the Snow Swirled stamp set? This card uses the Polka Dot EF and is embellished with rhinestones and sheer ribbon. I haven't decided what sentiment to use on this one yet...

I saw a similar card online and had to make it my own! Whisper White card stock is the base of this card with the ornaments "hanging" from two silver brads. Ornaments are new to Stampin' Up this year and are cut using the matching Framelits. Some ornaments embellished with rhinestones.

A simply, pretty card for the holidays. Wisteria Wonder and Whisper White are the card stock and ink colours used. The stamp set is Lovely as a Tree, stamped with Versamark with clear embossing powder applied on top and heated. The same technique is used for the sentiment. The ink is applied to the from of the card using a sponge. Opaque rhinestones used to embellish this card.

This card is inspired by a craft I have created for a class in September. Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green, and Very Vanilla card stock is used, along with Christmas DSP. The top of the tree is embellished with a rhinestone. EF Petals-a-Plenty shown in this card, though the circles cut for this project use many papers and EF.