IT'S A (ROCKIN') CHRISTMAS CARD

 

What do you do when new Christmas-themed products arrrive?  You make a Christmas card--even if it's a wee past the middle of July.  Can you tell from the photo above that the focal point is a round "ornament"?  

I used a circle die to cut the Sahara Sand cardstock base, which was folded in half and then embossed with Stampin' Up!'s brand new Merry Melody embossing folder.  The ornament was created by using a retired Circle punch to cut a piece of the gorgeous Tidings of Chistmas designer paper.  Both pieces of designer paper on the ornament are from that paper collection, and I 💗 the colors for Christmas . . . Cherry Cobbler, Evening Evergreen, Misty Moonlight, Sahara Sand, and Soft Succulent.  The greens are so pretty together!  To create the topper for the ornament, I used one of the dies from Perfect Plants to cut that shape from Silver Foil.  It's perfect, right?!?!  

The sentiment is from the Poinsettia Petals stamp set and was stamped with Evening Evergreen ink.  Notice the texture on the Soft Succulent trees?  I used the new Timber embossing folder for that.  I almost didn't purchase that folder, thinking that the Bark folder was all the wood texture I might need; however, I am loving that the Timber folder has a smaller "grain" which is quite perfect for my tiny trees.  This little rocking card was quite simple and quick to make, and I love that it's stylish and festive.  I have a feeling that I'll be making more ornaments--and rockers to display them.

"SWEET AS A PEACH" PURSE CARD W/MONEY POCKET

Sunday, July 4th, was my niece's birthday.  Being born on Independence Day--a day celebrated with fun family/friend gatherings, fireworks, and parades--is such a perfect day for Haley's birth.  She is such a sweet, bubbly, and funny young lady and brings joy to our family.  She loves big, and I hope she knows that she is very loved.  She is truly a ray of sunshine!  My sister and I always say (jokingly, of course) that Haley is our parents' favorite, but I've decided (shhhh . . . don't tell anyone) that it's okay if she is because I can see how she would be.  It's no surprise that they call her Precious.  And she really is--to all of us.  For her birthday, I created this sweet purse-shaped card featuring Stampin' Up!'s Sweet as a Peach stamp set, Peach dies, and You're a Peach designer paper:

It was perfect because it stood on its own when closed and folded flat for mailing.  BTW, I used Soft Sea Foam for the card base.

In the above photo, you can see that the card had a Velcro closure.  The top part of the card had a pocket (created with the striped designer paper) which was perfect for holding $$$.  Can you see that an envelope was tucked into the pocket? (Photo below)  The bottom panel, although sweetly decorated, had plenty of space for writing our birthday wishes.  Yes, that adorable tag was cut with one of the Tailor Made Tags dies.  💗 those dies!!!

Because the envelope blended in a little too well with the other designer paper on the top interior panel, I decided to add a Calypso Coral tab to the top left corner:

All of these peach products are sooooooooooo fun to work with, and I don't think it's possible to make anything ugly with them.  

One last photo of Haley's birthday card: