January Noel

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions (as I inevitably break them!) but I do hope this year to make more Christmas cards than usual throughout the year. So if you don't like seeing Christmas cards in January it might be an idea to look away now:)

The Merry Monday Challenge Blog is always a great place to find a theme and inspiration for Christmas cards. This week's challenge is to have the word "Noel" and/or a Scandinavian feel to the card. I decided to go with a red and white colour combination and add texture with an embossing folder that has a cosy knitted look.

Die - Christmas Tree (Docrafts)
Embossing Folder - Cable Knit Pattern (Docrafts)

I started by embossing a card panel and added it to the card base using foam pads. Next I die cut the Christmas tree three times. The top layer was cut from white card and the other layers from red card. I applied barn door distress ink to the white die cut and adhered the trees together. To finish I added a small bow to the tree. An added little bonus is a panel I have from when I applied the distress ink to the die cut and the die cut acted as a mask. I'll make another card from that over the weekend.

November CCC

It has been a little while since I participated in one of Deborah Nolan's fun CCCs (Card Chain Challenge) but was delighted to get a chance to take part in the November CCC. It was great fun making a card and receiving a card but best of all was getting to know my lovely CCC swap partners Dagmar in Germany and Betty in the US.

Deborah always gives us plenty of choices for the Challenge. Maybe one of these days I'll actually get to combine a few of these choices but this time I went with the CCC sketch. As I'm in full Christmas card making mode naturally enough Dagmar ended up with an early Christmas card:)

Stamp set - Woodland Wreaths (WPlus9)

I love the Woodland Wreath set from WPlus9 so wanted to use it on the card for Dagmar. To start with I embossed a wreath of berries and then stamped two types of wreaths from the set in different shades of green. I found that the berries ended up being a more vibrant red by doing it this way instead of embossing the berries on a wreath that had already been stamped. Then I stamped the bow, layered it and added a little heart shaped gem. After that I went mad adding stickles to the berries and bow. Christmas is always a good excuse for a bit of sparkle, isn't it?:)

Recently I picked up Docrafts cable knit pattern embossing folder and used that on a strip of kraft card. After embossing the panel I added touches of white ink.

Here is the gorgeous card I was delighted to received from Betty - I just love it and the way she combined so many of Deborah's themes.

Betty, thanks again for the gorgeous card and yummy sequins you included with it:)

Here on Deborah's blog you can see all the CCC cards that when whizzing around the world last month. If you'd like to sign up for the next CCC Challenge you should pop over to Deborah's blog on the 7th December to join in on the fun.