Hello, Friends!
I hope you are reading this sitting down. If you're not, I suggest you do so. If you refuse, fall over and bust your head open, it will not be my fault. You've been warned!
I MADE THREE CARDS THIS WEEK
and that doesn't include the flying pig!
I only made six cards the entire year of 2016!
Can you believe it? I was here and I can hardly believe it! I'm telling you this is the year for the unbelievable and so far we're off to a great start! I worked on them every day this week, a little bit at a time, but I got them done! I will have cards for you to see today, Monday and Tuesday. I made them for different challenges, so I have to get them in or I'd spread them out for you.
Today's card is obviously a Christmas one! I really missed making Christmas cards this past Christmas. I have all these wonderful stamps just waiting to celebrate and they all had to stay in their packages. On the bright side, there are Christmas challenges that go on year round so I could make a card for Christmas in January and look like I was preparing ahead of time instead of like a looney who didn't have a calendar!
Merry Monday is a challenge I used to enter before my back was injured. I was super excited to participate in their current Merry Monday Challenge #230 to "make a Christmas card with the word Noel and/or a Scandinavian feel to it." I decided to incorporate both items into my card.
My card is pretty self-explanatory. I stamped the Fair Isle Borders stamps from Papertrey Ink repeatedly to stamp my background. I choose the non-traditional colors of pink and a lime green just for fun. I cut out the "Noel" word die from Stampin' Up twice, just to give it a little dimension. This is a very fun font and looks good on fun and whimsical or elegant Christmas cards. I adhered "Noel" to two rectangles, each cut with a die that adds stitching to go along with the sweater stitched feel of my background. I put my rectangles on the card base with foam tape, because I believe every card is better with foam tape on it. At least, that's what it appears from the cards I make! Besides, it gives dimension which adds interest! At this point, it was cute but something was missing. When I added the holly from a Papertrey Ink stamp set and coordinating die, the missing piece was clearly in place and the card was complete!
This card reminds me of something I would have made before I got hurt. I know that styles change and in my head, my style has changed, too. This is how the card turned out, though, with lots of layers instead of clean and simple. I guess we'll all have to stay tuned to see what my style ends up being now. From a practical standpoint, it would be much easier to make clean and simple cards that don't require getting up as much! I think this card is happy and cheery. I like it and hope you will, too!
I also learned something from this challenge! The word "Noel" means Christmas. So when you sing, "The first Noel the angels did say was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay" it means the first Christmas, Jesus' birth, the angels announced was to poor shepherds in the fields they were laying in (because it was night). Later, the word "noel" with a lower case "n" began to mean a Christmas carol. So if you were to sing a noel, it would be a Christmas carol, like Joy to the World. Wiener dogs, cards and you, too, may have learned something new!
I will see you tomorrow!!!
Happy Stamping!
I used the following products to make this card:
Fair Isle Borders Stamp Set by Papertrey Ink
Enclosed: Bell Mini Stamp Set by Papertrey Ink
Pear Tart Memento Ink Pad by Tsukineko
Ripe Raspberry Ink Pad My Favorite Things
Stampers Select White Card Stock by Papertrey Ink
Simply Chartreuse Card Stock by Papertrey Ink
Ripe Raspberry Card Stock by My Favorite Things
Stitched Rectangle STAX Die-namics by My Favorite Things
Enclosed: Bell Dies by My Favorite Things
Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies by Stampin' Up
MISTI by My Sweet Petunia
Scotch Double Sided Mounting Tape by 3M
