Whew! Once again, I'm squeezing in my monthly Christmas cards just before the end of the month. This month I almost forgot to even make them. With Easter, a week of house-sitting for a friend, a few days of being sick, trying to figure out if I should sell my cards locally, and some of the dreariest, coldest "spring" weather I can remember, it has been a wild month. But I sat down yesterday and created a batch of cards in some bright, non-traditional Christmas colors.
I started with three bold jewel tones -- Bermuda Bay, Granny Apple Green, and Berry Burst (Stampin' Up!) -- and decided to pair them with the Christmas Trimmings stamp set (Wplus9 Design Studio).
The size and whimsical style of the ornament images worked perfectly with the Triple Peek-a-Boo Stitched Windows die (My Favorite Things). I die-cut the windows slightly above the middle of each card base and embossed the "merry & bright" sentiment in white below the windows.
Then I adhered a layer of white card stock inside each card and stamped the ornaments through the windows. For the first card, I was worried about messing up the white panel, so I used low-tack tape to just hold the panel in place while I stamped. Then I went back and permanently glued it down after I was done stamping. But I decided that the ornaments were easy enough to stamp -- and I wanted to save a little time -- so for the rest of the cards I just adhered the white layer and then stamped.
Inside the card I stamped a sentiment, making sure it was low enough that it wouldn't show through the windows. And I still have enough space to write a little personal note.
I wanted to add a little sparkle, so I used a gel pen to trace over the accents in the middle of each ornament; I wish you could see it in the photos. I finished off the cards with a few sparkling clear sequins.
Next month I'm going on a weekend craft retreat -- for the first time in several years. I'm looking forward to it, although I have no idea what I'm going to work on. But I will try to post pictures of what I create, so maybe I'll have more than one blog post in May. :)
Thanks for stopping by!
3 comments:
Love the bright colors of these! The little windows you die cut are cute, did you do each one separately, or is it a triple hole die? Lots of work and the cards look great! Isn't it annoying when you add something sparkly to your cards, and then it doesn't show in the photo you take?! Glad you are ok, and enjoy your retreat!! Looking forward to seeing what you make!
Sunshine
Thanks so much, Sunshine! The window dies are actually three separate dies, but they come attached together (like dies often do). You could cut them apart if you wanted to use just one or two or if you wanted to arrange them differently. I left them together because I knew that's how I wanted to use them. And yesterday I used a bunch of the pieces that were cut out of the windows to make a fun background. :)
So pretty! I like that the shades of colors you chose - the shades of red & green that suggest the holiday, but a change from the usual bright red & green...and go well with the slightly retro feel of the ornaments. Enjoy the retreat! Judy
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