Monday, July 8, 2013

'ABC' Challenges - "Christmas in July", the Paper Players - "Christmas in July", ABC Christmas Challenge - M is for Men or Mice, and Christmas Stampin' All Year Long Challenge #23 - Seeing Stars

Hello dear friends and followers - and a very special hello to my two newest followers, Donna and Mau.  When I first started blogging and sharing my work I was hopeful that people would even look at it. To have reached 50 followers now is just amazing.  I thank each and every one of you for supporting me.

July brings one of my favorite challenges at 'ABC' Challenges called "Christmas in July".  We want to help you get a jump start on your Christmas cards - isn't that nice of us :o) ?  I like to make Christmas cards year-round and find that when Christmas rolls around I have a very nice stash of handmade cards just waiting for the Christmas photo and a note to each of our loved family and friends.  Since I make so many Christmas cards - and most of them are "cutesy" or "whimsical", I decided to challenge myself and try a vintage card this time.  Take a look:


I used soft colors and scuffed up the edges of my layers.  I also sponged around the scuffed edges ever so slightly to give it a bit more of an aged look.  I wasn't too worried if my letters all came through exactly as dark or evenly as the others.  I thought about adding a few spritzes of color with my spritzer tool but was concerned that it would really take away from the words.  I used two colors on this card: Bravo Burgundy and Baked Brown Sugar.  The burgundy looks decidedly darker than the layer, and almost brown when stamped on top of the baked brown sugar.  The saying is a stamp by Stampendous and the three wise men are a stamp from Stampin Up!.  After I finished gluing everything together, I felt that the card looked too "flat" so I added a few adhesive rhinestones at the top and on the star to add a bit more interest.  So what do you know - I made a card that didn't use one bit of patterned paper - lol, very unusual for me.

I do hope that you enjoyed this card and that it sparked some interest for  you to make a Christmas card in July and join our challenge at ABC Challenges - "Christmas in July".  My other lovely teamies have made some beautiful cards to share with you as well.  Each week we give you a variety of different styles to inspire you.  Please pop in and give them a visit too.

Some other fun challenge I've decided to also participate in this week are:
The Paper Players #153 - "Christmas in July"
ABC Christmas Challenge - M is for Men or Mice (I have wisemen)
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long - #23 "Seeing Stars"( I have the star of Bethlehem)

11 comments:

  1. This is such a lovely Christmas card! The image is great and I love how you put it on DP!

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  2. Beautiful! I love the colors!

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  3. I love how this turned out! I'm especially impressed since you didn't use any papers - it's incredible what one can make with a few stamps and a bit of ink, isn't it! I like the silhouette image and the vintage look created by your choice of colors and stamped background. Your card has such a lovely traditional Christmas feel to it!

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  4. Hi Danielle. Love the vintage Christmas card. The colors are perfect with the distressed edges. Great job! Loll xx

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  5. Hi Danielle, you can never have to many Christmas cards, can you?
    Love your card with the wisemen, beautiful with the pearls you have added,
    thanks for joining our M for... at ABC Christmas Challenge, hope to see you again,
    Enjoy your day,
    Dorte x

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  6. This is amazing, Danielle! I love the word background which is so perfect for the season. A wonderful card to portray the true spirit of Christmas!

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  7. Such a cute card! And perfect for the M is for Mice or Men Challenge. Thank you for playing along with the ABC Christmas Challenge. We will have another fun one starting tomorrow. We hope you will play along again soon!
    ~Lacey
    www.stampandcreate.com
    ABC Christmas Challenge DT

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  8. This is fabulous!! And I didn't even miss the patterned paper. :) Love the stamps you chose and the rhinestones add the perfect finishing touch. Thanks for playing with CSAYL.

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  9. Smashing card hunni.

    Love the stamp and the bling.

    Nice colour for a Christmas card.

    Thank you for joining us at CSAYL

    Good luck

    Traceyxxx

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  10. Beautiful, Danielle! I love the distressed, rustic look with a sprinkling of pearls! Thanks for playing with The Paper Players!

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  11. I love how your 'aged look' turned out! Beautifully done!

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