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Friday 22 November 2013

Christmas cards

TGIF!! ALREADY! I don't know if it's just me, and I know it's been said over and over recently, but, wow! Time is sure flying by! I can't believe it we are almost at the end of November, and Santa will be coming soon!

So, I have been trying to make Christmas cards to distribute among our friends and family. tying is the operative word here. Among all the everyday hustle and bustle, it's been harder and harder to squeeze some crafty time for me. Anyhow. I was able to get some crafty time done very early in the morning, when all the kids were still sleeping and the hubs was off to work.

I looked among my Unity stamps to try to figure something out for Christmas cards (hey, I wanted  to multi-task!), and I realized that I did not have a great variety of Christmas stamps. Unfortunately, I am on a spending freeze, so I have to make do with what I have.(which is very, VERY hard when there re awesome sales, and awesome holiday stamps on Unity's site!) I then realized I had this little itty bitty stamp, from a grab bag, and an idea popped into my head. So, I just went with it.

Here's my first attempt. Not too crazy about it, I think it's the ribbon that ruined it for me.
I *think* that little stamp is supposed to be like a dandelion seed, you know, like a fluffer in the air? Well, I made it into a Christmas tree with various green inks (Distress inks--mowed lawn and shabby shutters, and Hampton Art green ink), and the trunk is with my Distress markers. Once it was dried, I added a couple of jewels into the centers of some. The ribbon is something from my stash, from many years ago. Now, please, I would appreciate any tips on how to hold ribbon down onto a card, because hot diggity, that little scrap gave me the most problems! lol.The starburst is from Freckled Fawn, and the papers are from Basic Grey Nordic Holiday. I had also glittered the edges with Martha Stewart glitter.

Here's my second attempt. I think it is 'better' than the first. Same style as the first, but the papers are from GCD studio (OMG--if you have never 'tried' GCD Studio papers, you shold defintiely give them a try! WOW!)

So, that's it for me.

I am entering these cards in the following:
Unity Friends with Flair--
One Crazy Stamper November challenge
Ribbon Carousel Blog--Holidays and Celebrations challenge 

Thanks for stopping by!
Be safe. Get crafty.

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20 comments:

jennifer mitten said...

Beautiful card idea! I think I like the second one best - the colors are more muted and it blends well...

Gaylynn said...

So creative with the tree. And the ribbon banner is pretty with it.

Riette said...

The banners on the tree is so creative!
xxx
Riette

Cynthia said...

Lovely card designs. I like the ribbon banners.

joetterer said...

genius way to make a tree!

Sarah said...

Awesome idea! Soooo creative :)

Ruby said...

Great idea for the tree. The cards are both lovely.

Karen (karey2005) said...

Love the tree! So pretty - love the soft colors and the ribbon banner!

Michelle said...

What a great way to repurpose a stamp! Lovely trees!

Miwa said...

You are brilliantly creative! That is an amazing Christmas tree, it looks splendid! Love the banner across it, too - the card rocks! :)

Lucy E. said...

Laura, I love your trees! The red ribbon is pretty, but maybe some red and white twine wouldn't be as over whelming. I use Tombow permanent tape runner for holding ribbon down. It seems to hold pretty well.
Did you see that you won over at the DCWV blog? http://dcwvinc.blogspot.com/2013/11/video-new-stacks-at-jo-ann.html?m=1 I tried to send you a message on Google. Congrats!

Tracy said...

Hi Laura, you di an amazing job with the stamp...your trees are gorrrgeous and so delicate, looove them!
Big hugs
Tracy
xoxox

Scrapper Myra said...

Great Xmas tree!!!!!

Rachel said...

these are reeeeally pretty! the ribbon banner looks so good on the tree. what a great idea!
-Rachel w k
rwkrafts.com

Kris B said...

What a creative way to make a Christmas tree! Lovely cards! I am on a spending freeze to and Unity weekend sales are so hard to resist!

Julie Odil said...

I LOVE that you used a dandelion stamp and made it into a Christmas tree. That is brilliant! I like to use Sookwang tape, or Scortape to adhere ribbon. It comes in a variety of widths, I can just tear it at whatever length I want, and it holds wonderfully.

Angeline Choo said...

This card is GENIUS!!! Using a non-Christmas stamp and stamped into a Christmas tree? WOW!

Kary said...

What a wonderful design, Laura!! I Love it!! Looks fantastic!!

Kris said...

I love how you did your trees. I think it's fun to use a non-holiday stamp for a holiday.

JPScraps said...

What a great idea for the tree! Both cards are so pretty! Xyron works great on ribbon.