Christmas challenge

In addition to the SplitCoastStampers challenges I worked on yesterday, I also made a couple of cards for the Christmas in July challenge on the Raisin Boat blog.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Off to the Lake (Raisin Boat), Heaven and Nature
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Garden Green
Accessories: Ovals Collection Framelits dies, Occasions Paper-Piercing pack, paper-piercing mat and tool, rhinestones, Dimensionals

I always love making Christmas cards with images of nature and/or animals. As I get older I wish more and more that people would focus more on peace at Christmas instead of spending money. Don't get me wrong, I love the gifts, but I think living in harmony with each other and nature would bring us more benefits than most things you can purchase. Okay, off my soapbox.

For this clean and simple card, I started by stamping the tree (inked with markers) on Soft Sky card stock. Then I cut it out with an oval die and added some torn Whisper White card stock at the bottom for snow, trimming it along the edge of the oval. (It would have been more efficient to add the white cardstock first and then die cut the shape, but unfortunately I didn't think of it first.) I added a torn piece of white cardstock along the bottom of the card base and played around with the positioning of the focal image until I found a place where the torn edges were aligned. Once I was happy with the placement, I carefully pierced around the oval before adhering it to the card with Dimensionals. To complete this clean and simple card, I added a sentiment and scattered rhinestones to look like either stars or snowflakes.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Off to the Lake, Central Park (both Raisin Boat), Holiday Hedgehogs
Cardstock: Whisper White, Garden Green
Ink: Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Midnight use, Crumb Cake marker
Accessories: Rhinestones

So, this card was supposed to look like three ornaments hanging from a Christmas tree. But the Cherry Cobbler ink stamped so dark that the two oval ornaments ended up looking like pine cones. I was a little disappointed, so I asked my sister if the card looked weird. She said, "No. It looks like two pine cones and an ornament." Doh! Oh, well. At least pine cones are wintery.

At any rate, for this card I used stamps in unusual ways. The tree branch is actually the same pine tree stamp I used for the first card. I just stamped it multiple times at different angles using Garden Green ink. And the ornament stamps are actually stylized tree tops. I used a Crumb Cake marker to draw the strings for the ornaments, and then I added a rhinestone at the top of each ornament. Another quick and easy Christmas card.

Thanks for stopping by!