Wishing You Joy Card Set

 

I'm back again today with another set of Christmas cards rolled off the Closet's assembly line! I just had to purchase Tim Holtz' Winter Watercolor 2 set after seeing Stacy Hutchinson's gorgeous cards, and I was inspired to make very similar cards.  I urge you to visit her blog, if you haven't already, and be prepared to be INSPIRED!! While I loved her gold embossed Christmas phrase on vellum, I wanted to give my cards a little different look--less traditional; more playful. I had one of these joy tags in blue in my box of leftover bits, and decided the bauble would be just perfect. Don't you love it when you can mix the old and new together?  

The baubles are die cut using Christmas Circle Words (Tim Holtz) and scraps of sanded Metallic Kraft Stock.

Some of these cards are oriented in landscape and others in portrait. I've added 'wishing you' embossed in Princess Gold to some of them when there wasn't too much texture in the background.

But others had a snowstorm in the background rather than flurries, so I opted to just hang the Christmas ball. Stacy used Opaque Grit paste dusted with Distress Glitter for her flurries, but I only had the translucent grit paste. So I whipped up a batch of my own snow,  making use of what I had on hand. Another simple pleasure of making--trying to come up with new 'products' when you don't have the real deal. Happy crafting! I'm off to finish up with my cards, and perhaps then we will decorate the tree. 

I will be sharing these in the following challenges:

The Funkie Junkie Challenge Blog 'Yuletide Delights'

Country View Challenge December 'Christmas Anything Goes'

Simon Says Stamp Monday Cold As Ice

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Cold As Ice

 

Winter Watercolor at Christmastime Vintage Card Trio

 

Hello! I love anything vintage and especially at Christmas, older things just make me smile. Like my 80's flocked bird ornaments and Tim Holtz Christmastime greeting stamps embossed in gold. 

Making flat cards is such a challenge to me, but more important than ever as our postage costs have soared. I had to resist adding the charming embellishments and will save those for the hand delivered cards.

When I saw the images in Tim's Winter Watercolor set, I knew I had to pair them with the vintage greetings on some rare-to-me CAS cards. This one's super simple, without a contrasting border. Hopefully the stitching helps to frame the gorgeous watery greenery and berries. I had to consider the size of my envelopes, and didn't want to trim off any of the watercolor goodness.

I loved this one even before I added the tiny die cut berries. Splatters of gold Distress paint on these two cards give a bit more of a vintage vibe. After trimming it down to size, I embossed the edges very subtly in gold before layering on white card, then on plaid paper from an old Tim Holtz Christmas stash.

This was actually the first card I embossed with the greeting, and being the obedient maker that I am, I dutifully swiped over the already stamped card with my Embossing Buddy. Although, I had stamped the foliage a couple of days prior, so it should have been well dried, the little powder bag is now Candy Apple red! I salvaged the panel by spritzing some of the little specks of red ink left behind with water and dipping the card in watery puddles of corresponding inks, and lastly, embossing a few of the berry clusters. I also added some die cuts for visual depth. A little messy and busy perhaps, but I swear it looks better in real life and someone out there will appreciate my efforts! No time for do-overs.

I'll be sharing these cards in a couple of my favorite challenges: The Funkie Junkie Challenge Blog, where the challenge is 'Yuletide Delights' and Country View Challenge, where December's challenge is 'Christmas Anything Goes'. Thank goodness I have them to keep me motivated to keep making and sharing some of my makes on my blog.

Off to make some more cards; hopefully they will arrive at their destinations before the New Year. I'm a little off schedule this year, but enjoying all the festivities and time spent with family that go along with Christmas. That's what really matters. Hugs! Sara Emily