Christmas is in the air!....

... or in the stores at least!!!  It never ceases to amaze me how EARLY the Christmas decor comes out every year.  It's not even Halloween yet, and all that glitters is showing itself everywhere.  I DO love Christmas decor, though -- ALL of it!  The glitterier and sparklier the better! :)

October is a busy month for me this year, celebrating my wonderful parents' 50th wedding anniversary with a family reunion here in Montana.  The guests have begun to arrive and I'm feeling excited about all the celebrating plans.  So,..... before I get completely carried away by the goings on this week, I wanted to share these Christmas cards with you.  We will be creating these at my upcoming annual Christmas card stamp-a-stack.  I am OH so proud of myself for having these designed BEFORE THE END OF SEPTEMBER!  There is NO doubt that that is the EARLIEST I have ever had my Christmas card class already planned. :) :) :)  The classes will be on November 15th and 17th in case you would like to join us.  See this link -- http://www.meetup.com/Flathead-Valley-Stampers/ -- for all the juicy details.

On with the cards!

One thing I tried to do this year with my cards, is to show how you can use non-traditional Christmas stamps to create a winter scene.  This stamp is from the "Serene Silhouettes" stamp set -- nothing Christmasy in this set at all, but doesn't it make a lovely winter card?  I first stamped the birds/branch image in Island Indigo onto the top portion of a Whisper White Top Note die cut.  I then punched a circle from a sticky note and placed that where I wanted my "moon" to be.  Next, I cut a wavy edged sticky note free hand, for my "snow" and placed that slightly over the bottom of the trunk, so it looks like the tree is sticking out of the snow.  I then sponged Pool Party ink over the open spaces until the desired result was achieved.  Then removed my masks and there you go!  Of course, added some Dazzling Diamonds glitter with my two way glue pen to add to the sparkly snow effect.  The sentiment is a long retired one from an old holiday set.  A little strip of Silver glimmer paper and some DSP from the Winter Frost pack and a background panel embossed with the Petals a plenty embossing folder, finishes the card!

Here is another classic set -- "Lovely as a tree".  Super simple card where I stamped the pine tree in Artichoke ink, added some Rhinestones colored red with a Shparpie, some glitter, a little sparkly red rick-rack -- die cut red glimmer paper using the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die, a strip of patterned paper from the Neutrals DSP stack, and a panel of Early Espresso Co-ordinations card stock embossed with the Beautifully Baroque embossing folder, and sanded to show off the lighter core.

Another non-traditional Christmas set -- the "Daydreams Medallion" stamp set -- used to create a wreath.  I stamped it in Gumball Green ink, added some basic rhinestones colored red with my Sharpie, then punched the birds using the bird and branch punch.  For the cardinal, you punch and extra wing and place that behind the head to make the cardinal's crest.  For the black part, I punched a flower out of black using the Boho Blossoms punch, and placed that over the front of the bird's head and trimmed it to the size I needed it to be.  Super simple, but cute none-the-less.

Ok, this one is traditional Christmas. :)  I used the Ornaments Keepsakes stamps set -- a carryover from last year's holiday mini -- and the matching framelits to die cut these lovely ornaments.  The colors of ink and card stock used here are retired -- Bravo Burgandy and River Rock -- as I have a tone of that card stock I need to use up.  The "Merry" word is cut out of Champagne glimmer paper using the Expressions Thinlits dies from the new holiday catalog.  LOVE these little word dies.  They are a wee bit fussy, but the result is amazing.  I stamped the background with a flourish from the "Creative Elements" stamp set in River Rock ink.  Finally, I added some basic pearls to add to the elegance factor for this card.

Last, but not least!...  this card uses the lovely "Festive Flurries" bundle from the holiday mini to stamp and die cut those gorgeous snow flakes.  This is a pricey bundle, but WOW! it is so gorgeous it is worth the price, in my opinion.  This bundle made in onto my first order from the holiday catalog -- and I haven't been disappointed.  I used the postage stamp punch to punch out squares from the Winter Frost DSP pack from the holiday catalog -- gorgeous winter papers that you simply must have!  The panel behind the punches is Island Indigo layered onto a Soft Sky folded card.  Quite simple, really, but a lovely wintery card.  One of the snowflakes is die cut from silver glimmer paper to add some sparkle.

Hoping you feel inspired to create some lovely holiday cards of your own this year!  SU is offering a series of "weekly specials" right now, that start every Tuesday and go for one week only -- a number of lovely products on sale for one week only.  AND, every Thursday, is "Thank you Thursday" where a selection of products are on sale for just one day.  This past Thursday, it was 4 packs of DSP on sale for $8.21 each.  So, be sure to check my website on Tuesdays and Thursdays to see what's new.

Also, if you've ever entertained the idea of joining SU, you can right now through Oct 21st for only $25!  That's right, get $26.95 worth of product for $25 and give SU a trial run.  Because the current quarter is underway already, you wouldn't need to meet your minimum of $300 in sales to stay active, until the end of March 2014.  Can't beat that deal, now can you!

Ok, I'm off to enjoy my day.  Happy Sunday to each of you!