Hello!  The month of July seems to be flying by.  It’s hard to believe it’s the 20th already!

Over at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown, the challenge hostess gets to choose either a theme challenge or a recipe challenge for the third Saturday of the month.  I’m hosting this month, and I’ve decided to cook up a recipe challenge.  Don’t worry, it’s easy as 1, 2, 3!  That means using 1 ribbon, 2 patterned papers, and 3 gems on your card.

I’ve stayed with the 52{C}CT July sketch for the layout of my card, but turned it on its side.  For the one ribbon requirement, I made a tiny fork bow with the toddler fork my son used when he was little, and used it to dress up the larger penguin.  One of my designer papers is the falling snow design on the focal panel, and the other is the red snowflake pattern on the middle panel.  I’ve added a tiny pearl to the center of each of the three stamped snowflakes.  And there it is – 1, 2, 3!  I used shimmer paint on the white cardstock to make it look like light glistening on the snow.   It’s not one of my best coloring jobs on the penguins, but oh well.

This card fits into several other current challenges, too – the OWH Midweek Throwdown “Christmas in July” challenge, the Cards In Envy layers challenge, and the Merry Monday “Anything Christmas Goes” challenge.

I do have to acknowledge and thank my 14-year-old son for the input he gave on this card.  He preferred the look of pearls to rhinestones.  He also tickled my funny bone with his comments about the smaller penguin:  “That is THE most thoughtful penguin ever.  He has such a thoughtful look on his face.  It’s like he’s looking at nothing, but he sees everything.” 🙂

OK – that about wraps things up for this post!  Thanks for stopping by today!  Be sure to check out the samples the rest of the 52{C}CT design team has made.  Then go try the recipe yourself!  You have until 1:00 p.m. eastern time Friday, July 26 to link your card to the challenge post on the 52{C}CT website.

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters in the Snow, Pa-Rum-Pa-Pum-Pum, A Birdie Told Me (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Basic Black (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); designer papers from Fa La La collection petite paper pack (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Baja Breeze (SU)
Other: Frost White shimmer paint (Tsukineko); markers (Copic); ribbon (Offray); half pearls (KaiserCraft)