Sparkle and scallops

Today I'm going to share what will probably be my last two Christmas cards this year. ( I could be wrong, of course. It's been known to happen.) At first these cards seemed totally unrelated to each other. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, at least not to most people. But I have this strange need to have some sort of theme among the cards that I include together in a blog post. (What can I say, it's one of the ways I can make my left brain happy while I'm being all creative with my right brain.) So I wasn't sure how I was going to approach a blog post with these two random Christmas cards. Then I looked at the cards again and realized that they do have a couple of things in common: they both have rhinestones and scalloped layers. Whew! It's a bit of a stretch, but I'll go with it. Crisis averted.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Dasher
Paper: Naturals Ivory, Soft Suede, Old Olive card stock; Natural Composition Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Ink: Soft Suede
Accessories: Small and Large Classic Scalloped Ovals Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders), 5/8" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, rhinestones, Dimensionals

I wanted this card to have a slightly rustic feel to it, so I used earth tones: a Soft Suede card base, Old Olive ribbon and layers of Old Olive and Naturals Ivory card stock. The piece of Natural Composition Specialty DSP on the bottom of the card does double duty: the woodgrain pattern enhances the natural feel of the card, and the glossy print brings just a bit of texture and glam. I added a little more glitz by placing a few rhinestones around the reindeer's antlers and along the bottom right edge of the card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Wonderful Winterland, Jolly Bingo Bits
Card stock: Whisper White, Real Red, Garden Green, Baja Breeze
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Real Red, Garden Green, Baja Breeze, Pretty in Pink, Blush Blossom, Soft Suede, Basic Gray
Accessories: Candy Cane Christmas designer fabric, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Tasteful Trim die, rhinestones, circle punches (1" and 1-3/8"), scallop circle punches (1-1/4" and 1-3/4"), Dimensionals

I always seem to forget about fabric when it comes to making cards, even though I've seen many cute samples and ideas incorporating fabric. But when I noticed the stripes on the hat and scarf of the ice skater in the Wonderful Winterland stamp set, I thought it would be fun to coordinate them with the stripes in the Candy Cane Christmas fabric.

I used the Tasteful Trim die to cut a double-scalloped strip of fabric, and I adhered the strip to the card just above the layer of embossed Whisper White card stock. I punched out the stamped images with circle punches, layered each one on a coordinating scalloped circle and adhered them to the top half of the card with Dimensionals. I added some randomly placed rhinestones to mimic the look of falling snow.

I hope you liked this bit of sparkle and scallops. Thanks for stopping by!