Starting Christmas Cards with Yuletide Village and Shepherd's Care

Last week I had a chance to finally take out Yuletide Village stamp set.  I had picked it up last year and thought that it would make a pretty scene.  It sure does!  I got the idea for this card and the next card from Catherine Proctor and Peggy Murwin.  I love the soft colors and the little church.  

The addition of the beige designer paper cut with the arch dies adds so much.  The paper was from Nests of Winter.  I added some snowflakes to make it look like a winter day.

Here is a tiny little town like something out of a Hallmark movie.  I used three strips of paper from various designer packs.  I like how it sets up the scene and the colors for the front of the card.  

For the tree cut outs, I used the Frosted Forest cut outs.  I thought they looked great for the winter trees.  

For our third card, I used Shepherd's Care.  I got the idea for this card from Mo Rootes.  Although it's hard to tell in the photo, I used a muted designer paper to stamp the scene onto.  The shepherd stamps so nicely - the shading is right in the stamp.  The background papers are from the Peaceful Garden paper pack.  

I added a touch of gold embellishments to make the card shine.  I stamped some dots for stars using gold ink.  This card was quick and easy to make.  I hope to make some more of them.  

Have you started on your Christmas cards yet?  I have three more Christmas card classes to go.  

 

Winter Owls

The other day I was working on some Thank You cards for Christmas gifts that people had given to me.  It was a wintery, snowy day and I took out Winter Owls.  I paired it with the soft colors of One Horse Open Sleigh papers and love how my cards came out.

For this first card, I die cut a circle and put some of the designer papers behind it for the focal point.  I stamped and cut out the owl and used some branch die cuts from Classic Cloche dies.  I heat embossed the saying on Just Jade paper and think that the colors go so well together for this wintery card.  I got the idea from Sandra Kogel.

Another beautiful wintery card is this one - the designer papers do all of the work.  I started with Misty Moonlight cardstock and added the winter scene.  I stamped the owl in navy blue and cut him out.  I love how he is flying by the winter tree.  A quick and easy card.  I saw a card by Nancy Wood and copied her idea.

This next card is pretty much the same layout, only it uses a different paper.  It comes with this saying and I thought it was so appropriate for this time of year.  I stamped the bird in Early Espresso and colored him in a bit.  I added Wink of Stella to make his wings sparkle as he flies through the snow.  

I loved making these cards and now I wish that I had more of the One Horse Open Sleigh papers.  :)

 

Snowflake Wishes

 Today I wanted to make a card using Snowflake Wishes.  I got this set last year but didn't get to make as many projects with it as I had wanted.  I like cool Balmy Blue and Gray Granite colors on the card.  It has a nice wintery look that can be used beyond the holidays.

For this first card, I used Balmy Blue for the background that shows under the snowflake cut-out.  I love how the card turned out but after I made it, I remembered that I had some blue glitter paper and I wanted to give that a try on the card.

It's hard to see the beautiful sparkle that the glitter paper gives to this card in the photo.  It's so pretty in real life.  Here you can see that I didn't use a Christmas saying on this card so that I can send it anytime over the winter months.  And here in upstate NY, that's like half of the year.  LOL

I got the idea for this card from Cindi Copeland on Pinterest, one of my favorite place to be.  

Snowflake Splendor Cards and Hot Cocoa Set

Winter here is upstate NY is pretty much in full swing.  January is a long, cold, dark month.  So I decided to come up with some projects to celebrate winter.  My first craft is this Hot Cocoa carrier filled with a hot cup ready for your cocoa night!  There's a little bag of marshmallows and a hot cocoa mix in the decorated bag.  

I wanted to make this because I bought this stamp set for the saying, "You're the marshmallows to my cocoa."  I figured now is a good time to take it out and actually use it!  

Because the designer papers have some purple in them, I added Highland Heather cardstock to the projects to coordinate with the Misty Moonlight blue.  I think there are many things to use the coffee carriers for and this is just one idea.  In the future, I hope to use them again for something else.

I made this card using the Snowflake Wishes stamp set and Snowflake Splendor papers.  It's much sparklier in person and gives a nice greeting for these winter days.  I got the idea from Bonnie O'Neill on Pinterest.

The next card has a lovely snowflake cut out in it.  Simple, yet nice for the winter season.  This card idea is from Sherri Chapman Blessing.

Here's a pic of the whole set.  I have to say that I like the "wintery" look.  Is it snowy and cold where you live?  Do you make cards to celebrate winter?