Have a Holly Jolly

Labour Day was the start of a productive run of Christmas card making for me!  And I've managed to make multiples, so I got 6 of each of these made:

I give out a LOT of Christmas cards!  So I'm focusing on reasonably simple designs, taking advantage of the wonderful dies I have in my craft room, and I let my love of patterned paper do a lot of the talking.

I love the softer grey paired with these Falala papers from Crate Paper, and I added my trademark zigzag stitching to both cards.

Stitched hexagon dies are Art Impressions, Pine bough is Your Next Stamp.

Building the Christmas stash

I had three days on my own this weekend (gasp!) and was determined to get a good kick start on my Christmas card stash, so I managed to get 6 of these done! 

I really love this paper from Crate Paper's Falala collection - the purpley/blue shade is just gorgeous!  I picked out some melon cardstock that matched the berries on the paper, die cut a large snowflake and a little circle that I stamped my ampersand onto.  I cut out my Echo Park "bright" word die in some silver paper and actually added a rhinestone as the i (after the photo was taken!).  Happy to have 6 frosty cards in my bin ready for the holidays!

Inspired By #16

It's my week to be the hostess on the Inspired By All The Little Things challenge blog!  We're at challenge #16 already - how time flies :o)  I chose a vibrant, artsy photo of a bicycle, in what I'm assuming is a European city?  I'm looking forward to seeing how you all interpret this one... the colours, the graphic shapes, the bicycle?

 Here's what I came up with.  It's easy to mainly see the blue & green in the photo, but if you look closely, the bicycle is red & yellow - so I played up all four colours with some patterned papers (Christmas papers if you can believe it?) and a few sequins.  This is about as CAS as I get!

My guest this week is my wonderful friend, Cheri Bury - who I am lucky enough to be on two design teams with!  She has a wonderful flair for bright colours, and making really fun & interesting cards.  Head on over to the Inspired By blog to see what Cheri & the rest of the Design Team have come up with this week.  And don't forget to link up your creation - you have until Thursday the 26th.

Patterned papers are Peppermint Collection by Crate Paper and 25th and Pine by Basic Grey;  Cardstock is White Daisy, Close To My Heart & Blue by Bazzill; Ink is Onyx Black by Versafine; Sequins are Craft Medly; Banner Dies by Verve; Stamp sets are Just a Number and It's Your Day by Close To My Heart.

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #200!

Karen Giron is celebrating her 200th Sweet Sunday Sketch this week, so I decided to play along :o)  It was heavenly to make a Christmas card last night to add to next year's stash!  I took my time, there was no rush to make it and then quickly get it in the mail... I just played - heaven.  Here's what I came up with:

Here was Karen's sketch:

Patterned papers are Peppermint Twist, Crate Paper; Cardstock is Pacifica & Colonial White, CTMH; Stamp sets are Frosted WOTG, CTMH & Rescue Remedies, Waltzingmouse Stamps;  Inks are Black, Pacifica and Clover Meadow, CTMH;  Sparkle, CTMH; Martha Stewart snowflake punch.