Christmas in July #2

Today's card was an unexpected struggle.  The stamp I used for the red pattern on the white strips absolutely did not want to cooperate.  It was patchy every single time I stamped it so eventually after trying and failing about 6 times to get a clean image I just decided to cut some of the "better" parts out to make the strips.  This is definitely one of those times where mishap turns into "artistic choice".

Despite not being my first choice for card design, I do like how it turned out.  It was quick and simple to make which means I can make a few duplicates rather quickly if I find myself in a pinch come December.

Identifiable elements:

• Red ribbon - Stampin' Up!
• Red ink - "Real Red" by Stampin' Up!

Christmas in July #1

I am super determined to get ALL of my Christmas cards done this year.  Last year I got most of them sent out in time but unfortunately not all of them and I feel really bad about that.  Hopefully starting this early with my annual Christmas in July undertaking will help me out.

I was pretty excited to make this card with a new stamp set from Tuesday Morning.  I thought the little snow globe was super cute and perfect for my friends who might not celebrate Christmas but who I want to wish a happy holiday season to anyways.

***I'm just now noticing a very distinct cat hair on the card in the photo...sorry***

I was also pretty stoked that I got to clear out some scrap papers and some scrap twine as well (though I still have a ton of this one in particular so I might rework this card to mass make a few and use it up).

I decided to use a silver marker and add in extra "snow" to the snow globe since I thought it was looking a bit sparse.  After I did so, I couldn't help myself and I added some to the rest of the card as well to jazz it up a bit.

Identifiable Elements:

• Stamps - Merry Days by Crate Paper
• Blue ink- "Night of Navy" by Stampin' Up!
• Silver marker- Metallic Marker by American Crafts

Christmas in July #8

This might be my favorite Christmas in July card so far.  I really like the color scheme I ended up going with and the stamp set is one that I've always admired from afar.  Luckily for me my mom owns it so that means I get to play with it!

I'm really liking the fact that most of these cards I've been making are really easy to replicate.  It gives me a little peace of mind knowing that if it comes down to it, I can crank out extras pretty quickly.  I usually try to send all different cards to people (mostly because I don't always have the patience to mass produce a design) but if any of these have to be repeated I really don't think I'll feel all that bad about it.

Identifiable Elements:

• Green paper & ink- Wild Wasabi by Stampin' Up!
• Brown ink- Chocolate Chip by Stampin' Up!
• Stamp set- "Ornamental Pine" by Stampin' Up!

Christmas in July #7

This card would've turned out so clean and perfect if I had only noticed that there was still a bit of ink on my thumb when I picked it up to go photograph it.  Unfortunately I smudged it a bit, but I'm not entirely sure that anyone but me would examine it that closely.

As you can see, I've been on a bit of a washi tape binge lately.  I usually don't use it that often, but my mom has an extensive collection and I couldn't resist.  I think it really brought in a cool texture for the look of this card and I'm starting to think I'll have to expand my own collection when I move out in October.

Identifiable Elements:

• Red paper & ink- Poppy Parade by Stampin' Up!
• Sentiment stamp- "Snow Place" by Stampin' Up!
• Mug stamp- "Scentsational Season" by Stampin' Up!

Christmas in July #6

The journey to the holiday season continues with this super simple card that I still managed to mess up a bit (but I hid it under some bling).

I accidentally bent back the corner of my greeting but managed to cover it up pretty well.  My main goal for this card was to use the pretty Crumb Cake brown from Stampin' Up! that I found among my mom's supplies.  I think I was able to jazz it up fairly well and once again make a card that I can easily replicate if I need to when December comes.

Identifiable Elements:

• Green paper & ink- Wild Wasabi by Stampin' Up!
• Brown ink- Crumb Cake by Stampin' Up!
• Stamp set- "Holly Berry Happiness" by Stampin' Up!

Christmas in July #5

Today was a good day because I got to use framelets for the first time.  I'd never actually taken the time to sit down and use any before so I decided to take advantage of this less than busy day to give them a shot!

I really enjoy how this card turned out and how nice clean the lines are.  It keeps the card simple, but interesting.

Hopefully this month will give me plenty of inspiration for more cards come Christmas time, but this is one that I wouldn't mind making a few more exact replicas of.

Identifiable Elements:

• Red paper & ink- Poppy Parade by Stampin' Up!
• Green paper & ink- Old Olive by Stampin' Up!
• Sentiment- "Versatile Christmas" set by Stampin' Up!
• Ornaments- "Holiday Ornaments" set by Stampin' Up!

Christmas in July #4

I woke up this morning and found that it's actually overcast out in Arizona today.  With the apocalypse clearly imminent I decided to catch back up on my Christmas in July series and make this cute little card.  

It would be a quick and simple design but unfortunately the letter stickers I decided to use didn't want to stick so I ended up hand gluing each down.  

I'm still considering making a few more though just to be done with the stickers and to knock a few more cards out quickly.

Identifiable elements:

• Snowflake stamps- "Snow is Glistening" by Stampin' Up!
• Green ink- Pear Pizazz by Stampin' Up!
• Grey ink- Smoky Slate by Stampin' Up!
• Green paper- Pear Pizazz by Stampin' Up!
• Alphabet stickers- Recollections

Christmas in July #3

This Christmas in July card I was bound and determined to use some of my massive stash of eyelets.  I have an unnecessarily large collection and yet I never use them.  They're usually annoying for me to line up and get together, but I pushed through and used some for this card.

I really feel like I could've done more with the card style wise but after all the eyelet dealings I had to do I was more exhausted than anything.  I just wanted to be done.  I still like the way it looks but it's definitely not a practical approach if you want a quick and easy Christmas card.

Christmas in July #2

Today's card actually uses a cream background, something that I thought I'd never really do in my modern craft life.  I don't know why but I've always been biased against creams and off whites, partially because I've always just thought of them as scummy white, but I'm learning to move past that particular neurosis.

I really tried to mimic falling snow with my random placement of elements.  I also tried to steer away from my fallback of using large blocks of colors and patterns to create interest.

I really enjoy this fun, simple, and whimsical design.  I might have to make some duplicates for the holiday season!

Cold Turkey

Today's Cold Turkey was a time crunch one.  I ended up not getting as much crafting done as I had anticipated this last weekend but I didn't want to fall behind on my Christmas cards so I threw this one together with a bunch of scraps I had around.

There's not much else for me to say about it.  I like it alright but it's definitely not anything special.  The one solace I have is knowing that I at least finished SOMETHING and was able to use up some scraps so as to not add to my already too large hoard.

Cold Turkey

I decided to go for yet another Christmas Card avoiding the green and red scheme and upped the ante by trying to use a blue for the base of the card that I usually under any other circumstance would deem to be more of a summer shade than a winter one.

I tried to tone it down a little by using the navy blue paper which I also knew would look good with the navy in the Merry Christmas sticker.  It needed some more umph (it wouldn't be my card without it) so I used a gold foil heart and some pearls to give it texture and shine!

I really love how it turned out and I can't wait to send it off to some lucky person!

Identifiable Elements:

• Navy paper- Modern Graphics collection by Cricut
• Merry Christmas sticker- Sleigh Ride Combo Stickers by BoBunny
• Pearls- Adhesive Gems in Fall Harvest by K&Company

Cold Turkey

Back when the old version of this blog was up and running I did something I called "Cold Turkey" where I made it my mission to make some Christmas cards throughout November so I wouldn't feel as rushed come December.  I decided to do it again this year and plan on posting a new Christmas card every Tuesday and Thursday this month (except probably Thanksgiving itself since that just feels wrong).

To start it off I decided to make this Christmas card which I was simple and quick to make (I'm travelling out of state this weekend so I've been spending today mostly packing).

I love when I'm able to avoid making your typical green and red Christmas cards which is what I enjoy about this one as well.  

Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with this venture throughout the month and be all ready for December!  Wish me luck!

Identifiable Elements:

• Merry Christmas sticker- Sleigh Ride collection by BoBunny
• Rhinestones- Adhesive Gems by Simply Creative
• Brown paper- Neutrals card stock stack by DCWV

Christmas in July #7

I decided to go very minimalist for this card.  I really wanted the Santa die-cut to be the stand out item so that required that I do very little else.  It also meant that this card was a very quick one to make which will be something to keep in mind come December!

Christmas in July #5

I actually debated posting this card at all.  I don't really know how I feel about it, but I ultimately decided to put it out there any.    I like the papers and the Stampin' Up greeting and the tree but I'm not sure how I feel about them all together.  That being said, it took me awhile to even come up with this so at some point I decided to call it a day.  Sometimes you just need to commit!

Christmas in July #4

This card was a fun one to make and I actually really liked the Project Life card.  I might consider looking to see if they have a whole Christmas set or not.  I never thought I'd be purposely seeking out Project Life product but the season is making my heart grow 3 sizes bigger I guess!  There's so many shiny pieces on this card but I think they're not too overwhelming.  Plus this was a super quick one to make.  I might have to make a few more like it if I don't make enough Christmas cards come December.

Christmas in July #3

I'm finding that this Christmas in July challenge that I have set forth for myself is a great way for me to use a lot of the old die cuts that my mom gave to me a long time ago.  These ornaments were just what I needed for this layered card!  I also managed to use up yet another Project Life piece.  I'm quite pleased with myself.

Christmas in July #2

As promised, here is another Christmas card!  I chose to make this one a card that represents Christmas since I celebrate it, but is generally a nice Holiday-season card all around.  Plus, I got to use some funky red hearts without it feeling too Valentine's Day-ish.  Win-win.

Christmas in July #1

I've decided to try something new this month and make a little theme for myself.  Every Tuesday and Thursday for the rest of July I plan on posting a different Christmas card.  Not only will this help me stock up for Christmas and make December a little less stressful but it'll be something different and fun for me to do.  To kick things off I'm posting this card featuring the really cool gold striped cards that came in one of the past Paper Pumpkin sets from Stampin' Up!  It worked perfectly for this Christmas theme and I can't wait to send it out!  It was pretty hard to photograph since it's as shiny as it is but alas, someday I'll get the hang of it...