CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE - WEEK 4

Well, here I am, just having finished Week 4 of my personal Christmas Challenge. That means that I've created 28 cards since I started this challenge!! The stamp sets that I have left yet to create with should bring me almost to Christmas.

OK. Let's get started on this week's batch of cards.

Last Sunday, making the card below, I had just so much fun! These Christmas bulbs  and coordinating punch from the Making Christmas Bright set on page 6 and 7 of the Holiday Catalog make creating cute seasonal cards a snap.

Nothing terribly special about this card, except maybe its size. It measures 3 1/4" x 5 1/2". The cute spotty DSP in the background is from the Under the Mistletoe pack on page 189 of the Annual Catalog. Each of the light bulbs is popped up with Dimensionals.

I was really excited when I randomly grabbed this set, Beautiful Baubles, on page 10 of the Holiday Catalog. When I created the card in this post, I was so happy with the results of that one that I wanted to repeat the same color scheme for another card using the cluster of ornaments, so I kept the combination of Prismacolor Pencils out for just this case.

Treating the new card the same way as the previous one -- white embossing on kraft cardstock, then colored with Prismacolors -- I hoped I'd be as happy with this new card as I was with the one in the aforementioned post. However, that was not to be. I am not in love with this card. Perhaps it is the addition of Melon Mambo and Granny Apple Green to the kraft color. 

I don't know. It just doesn't grab me.

This next card was a lot more work than a card has any right to be. But, I am happy with the way it turned out, so I guess all the time and effort were worth it. 

Do you remember -- and have fond memories of -- this set, Loads of Love, from ancient times? Since they are showing so many red pickup trucks with a tree in the back, I thought I'd do my own rendition. 

For the post-Thanksgiving Online Extravaganza, I'd treated myself to several more duos of the Stampin' Blends. In that order was Cherry Cobbler. So that's what I used to color my pickup. I had also ordered the Smoky Slate set, so I used those colors on the trim and wheels of the truck.

The Christmas tree that comes with the set is sort of a "stick tree" in that it is all just lines, no substance whatsoever. To rectify that situation, I stamped the tree in Mossy Meadow ink, then filled it in with Old Olive Stampin' Blends.

To get that ol' tree in the back of the truck, I did some masking. After that, I added my little driver, then proceeded to fussy cut the whole thing.

To create the snowy landscape in which he is driving, I tore an edge of Whisper White cardstock, and sponged the torn portion with Balmy Blue ink so it blended well with the Balmy Blue paper of the sky. 

The faint trees in the background are from another set, but stamping them in Gray Granite worked well for the effect. The snow falling is from ANOTHER stamp set and is embossed in white.

So, this little creation utilizes THREE stamp sets!

I noted to my daughter, Sarah,  that this next card was the most problematic card I've ever endured created. It was a case of Murphy's Law from start to finish. What possibly could go wrong absolutely DID!

I know it doesn't show up in the photo, but the colors of the card are Whisper White and Blackberry Bliss. The stamping is embossed in gold.

Enough said.

I was sort of happy with this next card, but when I showed it to my husband, he just shrugged. I usually don't get much of a response from him, but never just a shrug. Husbands.

First of all, I think the color scheme is appealing. It's bright and modern. 

But, it's MORE SNOWFLAKES! In retrospect, I realize that I have an absolute BLIZZARD of snowflake stamp sets. 

To make the three little embellishments on the "merry" portion, I used some little ruffled edged sequins that came in a long ago Paper Pumpkin kit, followed by a silver sequin in the center, finished off with a Basic Rhinestone in the center of the whole thing. They do have quite a lot of dimension, so it would definitely require extra postage and hand stamping.

My oldest daughter, Emily, has long been a fan of the turquoise/red color combination. I'm not sure if she still feels like that. But, this card is a nod towards Emily. 

My color palette is Bermuda Bay and Cherry Cobbler on Whisper White. A strip of washi tape in the Bermuda Bay/Whisper White combo grounds the four trees as they proudly stand there is their red buckets and all their tree-y finery. Mr C is taking a quick flight through to check things out.

The cute embossed snowy sky is done with the Softly Falling embossing folder found on page 223 of the Annual Catalog. I never know if I should have the sparse snowflakes at the top or the bottom. So this time, I put them at the top.

Everything, including Mr C, is popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals.

This is another card that I made in a funny size. It measures 3 3/4" x 6". 

At this point in the photo session, Fred decided to pop in and check out the action.

Back to the cards.

This next one is the card I made for today. 

Ugh. MORE snowflakes! This utilizes the same stamp set that I'd used in my Beautiful Blizzard post. Since I wasn't crazy about the set at the time I made that card, I don't know why I didn't just stick it back into its drawer and called it done for the challenge. But, no. I had to shove it into the stack for the Challenge. Today it was my random pick. I balked and almost ditched it anyway. 

But a challenge is a challenge. The show must go on.

The photo definitely does not do it justice. It turned out peacefully beautiful. I loved the color scheme that I used, Smoky Slate against Whisper White. Since the colors were so subdued, I decided to add some glitz in a snowflake die cut from Silver Glimmer Paper.

Then, do you remember that old chestnut of a stamp set from which my sentiment comes? I LOVE those four stamps. I am going to make a note of it that I use them more frequently, retired or not.

Well, that's the end of my cards for my Christmas Challenge Week 4. Are you getting tired of this yet? I must admit that it is turning out to be a nice dose of Creative Therapy for me each day. It often turns out to be the highlight of a day.

Thanks for accompanying me on my challenging journey.

Challenged

Smiles.