February Christmas card: Wonderful snowman

It's a good thing we have a leap day this year, or I don't know if I would have been able to post my February Christmas card before the end of the month. I did finish making them on Thursday, though, so at least I didn't leave it completely until the last minute. Actually I had stamped and die cut the snowmen about a week earlier, but I just couldn't come up with a layout that I liked. Finally I settled on a small scalloped frame and a simple stamped background.

Supplies:
Stamps: Most Wonderful (WPlus9 Design Studio)
Paper: Thick Whisper White, Whisper White card stock (Stampin' Up!); Sea Glass card stock (Gina K Designs)
Ink: Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up!); Sea Glass, Turquoise Sea, Key Lime, Lucky Clover, Sweet Mango, Tangerine Twist, Slate (Gina K Designs)
Accessories: Most Wonderful dies (WPlus9 Design Studio), Frame in Frame 2 Cutting Plate dies (Taylored Expressions), Snowflake Confetti die (Taylored Expressions), jute twine (May Arts Ribbon), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute), foam tape (3M)

This is a fun layering stamp set -- all the colors on the snowman are separate stamps that you just layer on the image. (The trees in the background are two layers, and there is also an adorable little layering bird and a second snowman in the set, along with several great sentiments.) I stamped the main snowman image using a light gray ink. For the hat and mittens I used two shades of green, and I chose two shades of aqua for the scarf and pom-pom on the hat. The nose is two shades of orange, and the "coal" pieces are dark gray.

Once the snowmen were all stamped, I cut them out using the coordinating die. Tip: I stamped all the parts of the snowman except the pom-pom before die cutting. I stamped the pom-pom after I cut out the snowmen so I could make sure I had the correct placement.

For the card base, I used thick white card stock and stamped a few light gray trees along the middle of the card. Tip: I only used one ink pad to stamp the two-step trees. For the base layer, I inked the stamp, stamped the image on scratch paper, and then stamped the lighter image on the card base. For the detail layer of the trees, I stamped the gray ink "full strength." I stamped the sentiment using dark gray ink over the trees on the right side of the card.

I die cut the scalloped frame and the small snowflakes out of aqua card stock. Tip: I was able to fit the snowflake die inside the frame die, so I cut them at the same time and saved card stock. I tied a small jute bow around the top right edge of the frame and then glued it to the card base. Using foam tape, I added the snowman in the middle of the frame. I filled in some of the white space by adding a few aqua snowflakes. (I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the card, but I also added a few snowflakes there, too.) Ten more Christmas cards ready for December!

On a different note, my work schedule changed this week, and I'm still adjusting. I used to have a little time in the afternoon to start a blog post before dinner, but now I'm basically getting home at dinner time, and tackling a blog post in the evening after work is just hard for me. So I'm not entirely sure what the next couple of weeks will look like for blogging. I'll do my best, but I'm trying to figure out a lot of things right now. Thanks for sticking with me -- and thanks for stopping by!