CHRISTMAS SEASON

I created this card in July with the intent of posting it as Christmas in July. Alas, here it is August, and I guess I'm late. So, Happy Christmas in August!

Have you seen the newest Stampin' Up! Mini Catalog? As I leafed through it the first time, I was astounded at how many wonderful seasonal products were in there! Since I have every single Christmas set I've ever owned, I know I should NOT be adding to that already overflowing arsenal of Christmas supplies. But . . .

When I laid eyes on the Christmas Season bundle on page 18, I was smitten. I tell you, SMITTEN. That's a winter mitten with an "S". I preordered that bundle and . . . Well, it is absolutely wonderful! 

The two step stamps for all sorts of winter scenes are fabulous. 

But, the dies? My favorites are the variety of labels of all sizes that are included.. I have used several of them numerous times already. And they will be used throughout the year, not just seasonally.

For my card, I used several of the stamps and the largest label die.

Because of the sizes of various things I used for this card, it is a bit smaller than the traditional A2 card, measuring 4" x 5". The cardstocks I used besides white were Real Red and Shaded Spruce. 

Loving pinecones almost as much as I love snowflakes and snowmen, I was really excited about these realistic looking pinecones. 

I used Real Red, Shaded Spruce and Soft Suede to stamp my images. To get this look for the pinecones, I stamped off the Soft Suede once for one of the steps. 

Because I didn't want the white backdrop for the seasonal items to be too blah and flat, I embossed it with the Paint Embossing Folder. I love the refined texture this embossing gives to a piece!

Looking back on my photos of this card, it appears that the embossing doesn't even show up. I'm sorry about that. Believe me, it really does look elegant.

I popped up a few of the pieces -- the two pinecones and the holly berries -- with Stampin' Dimensionals to give it a bit more realistic look. You can see the dimension in the photo below.

Adding a subtle little bow of red and white baker's twine finished off the card just right.

I do feel a better name for this set would have been Winter Season. Not everyone celebrates Christmas.

Have you made any seasonal cards yet? Or are you one of those ambitious crafters who start the next years cards as soon as the holidays are over? 

Seasonal

Smiles.