Hello!  Since it’s the third Monday of the month, it’s time for another challenge at Cards in Envy.  Our theme for the next few weeks is “Christmas Carols”.  Let a familiar Christmas carol or a winter/Christmas song inspire your creativity, and make a card using that song as your theme.  Remember that for our challenges, all cards must be A2 sized and cannot have lumpy, bumpy embellishments more than 1/4″ thick.

I wanted to go with something a little more wintry than strictly Christmasy, because I’m planning to send another shipment of cards to Operation Write Home before the end of the month and they will accept winter cards through December 31.  So I thought of the song “Winter Wonderland” and created a snowy scene – which, I suppose, could also work for “White Christmas”.  After I stamped the trees and bird for my scene, I masked off the ground and sponged ink for the sky. Then I flicked shimmer paint over the scene to create the look of falling snowflakes and added more of the paint along the ground lines.  I actually started on the card without a particular layout in mind.  It looked rather plain and boring with just the scene, so I searched through the OWH Stars & Stamps sketches until I found sketch #195, a fairly simple one with a nice large focal panel.  I changed it up a bit by deciding to make the focal panel oval.  I turned the sketch 90° on its side and mirror-reversed it so that the small round element would be at the bottom right corner of the card.  I decided to use that element for the sentiment.  So I looked through my sentiment stamps, and one of the smallest ones I had that fit the space nicely read “Let it snow”.  Well, that worked well for the scene, too – although then it made more sense to say that I’d used the song “Let it Snow” for my inspiration.  So I guess you could say that all three songs worked together to help me create this card!  🙂

One last note (pun intended? maybe 😉 ) regarding this card.  I had all three songs making a little medley bouncing in my head as I was assembling the card… and then from out of nowhere, the music in my brain started playing the chorus from “Let it Go”, changing the words to “Let it snow”.  Ha ha ha!  I hope that little story makes you laugh, too.

So – which Christmas or wintry song will get your creative juices flowing?  Share your work with us at the Cards in Envy site by 6:00 p.m. Central Time on Sunday, January 4, 2015.  (Because of the holiday season, there’s an extra week to participate!) Be sure to check out what the rest of the design team has made and give them some blog love, too! Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Scenic Season (Stampin’ Up); Holiday Script (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Marina Mist, Soft Sky, Real Red, Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Garden Green, Marina Mist, Soft Sky, Real Red (SU)
Other: Frost White shimmer paint (SU); petite oval and standard circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); Snowflake Background embossing folder (Darice); sponge

Hello!  Can you believe it’s December already?  It will be Christmas soon, and Cards in Envy is getting in the spirit.  Our challenge theme for the next two weeks is “Santa is Coming to Town”.  Create an A2 sized card (4.25″ x 5.5″) that depicts Santa Claus in some way.  Remember to keep your card flat enough to fit in an envelope to mail at the first class postage rate.

For my design team sample, I wanted to make a card using the cute Santa stamp I used on an earlier card.  So I looked for the stamp set… and searched for the stamp set… and looked through just about every possible place in my craft room I could think of looking in.  And I still haven’t found the set.  Major bummer!  So I had to resort to a much different stamp.  This one does have a Santa… a very, very subtle one.  Can you find him?  🙂  I added some white shimmer paint to parts of the image to make it look like sunlight glistening on snow. The layout for this card is OWH Stars and Stamps sketch #236.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the Cards in Envy design team has made!  What kind of Santa will you use on your card – whimsical, vintage, or something in between?  We’d love to see your creativity!  Share your card using the linky tool at the Cards in Envy site by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, December 14.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Holiday Lane (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Naturals Ivory, Basic Black (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Winter Wonderland paper pack (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: standard circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); markers (Copic); Frost White shimmer paint (SU)