Warm Winter Wishes

I have a Christmas card for you today, now don't laugh, I know Christmas is 329 days away. But the girlies at Fab 'n' Funky have had a stroke of genius this year to help us mere mortals get on top of our Christmas card list in a less hurried manor, by making one of the Fab 'n' Funky Challenges a Christmas challenge each month. Clever don't you think? So although I'm not due to start on the team until next week, I thought I'd join in with the Fab team for this weeks challenge and kick off my Christmas card making for this year.

I've used a really pretty Delicious Doodles stamp that I've made up into a card with my lovely Australian friends in mind. We spent a gorgeous Winter Christmas/New Year with them in Scotland a few years ago. It was utterly enchanting as all of Scotland sparkled like a jewel with a hoarfrost the likes of which I'd never seen before and very likely will never see again in my lifetime. So this stunning Delicious Doodles image, reminded me so much of that time and of our lovely pals. This will be their Christmas card this year.

I used a linen textured card base and stamped the background swirls in Memento Summer Sky ink using a Magnolia large swirl stamp. I added the Carte Postale using a lovely Inkido stamp I bought from one of my favourite online stores - Live and Love Crafts. The white poinsettia I layered up from loose poinsettia elements available at Wild Orchid Crafts. I glittered the base petals and the top to give it just enough sparkle. I used my brand new Signature Die from Joanna Sheen for the Ivy Corner, cut from a paper that had a pretty sheen to it (no pun intended!) The snowflake is a Helz Cuppleditch wooden ornament, which I painted with an Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber in Pearl and then sprinkled with Glitter Magic. I wanted to soften the background before putting the 'postcard' on, so I added a little white muslin behind the image. I finished the embellishments with a tiny blue grosgrain bow which I stitched some little Christmas bells to.

I used the same white paper with the pretty sheen that I used for the Ivy to line the inside of the card and stamped the sentiment using a lovely Amy R Stamp from CC Designs called Scripted Greetings. I used Ranger Distress ink in Faded Jeans to stamp the sentiment both inside the card and the Carte Postale on the front.

The wonderful Delicious Doodles image comes in black and white, so I gave it a little tweak to make it blue added liberal amounts of Stickles Star Dust, carefully inked the boat and castle in Flexmarkers to add a little warmth to those and cut the image with deckle edged scissors to give an old fashioned 'postcard' effect. I hope you like what I did with this lovely image and if you've ever had a go at doing something similar yourself let me know so I can come have a looksy. 

For those of you who have never seen a hoarfrost, I've included a few pics from our travels of this stunning phenomenon. Thanks for popping in today. Do pop on over to the Fab 'n' Funky Challenge blog to check out what my talented teamies have been up to and to join in the current 'Christmas' challenge. Hugs, Wends x

Stunning Loch Oich - Hoarfrost Mirror


The Hoarfrost Up Close - Georgie & the Robin

My Daughter Georgie Enjoying The Frost

Stunning Roadside Icicles

Beautiful Urquhart Castle

Challenge Entries:
Crafty Catz Challenge: #215 ~ Monochrome

Passion For Promarkers: #232 ~ Anything Goes
Sister Act Card Challenge: #41 ~ Anything Goes
Milk Coffee Challenge: Monochromatic Challenge
The Squirrel & The Fox: #62 ~ Use Embellishments
Dream Valley Challenges: #74 ~ NO Designer Paper
Live & Love Crafts: #19 ~ Perfume = Davidoff Cool Water
Whimsy Stamps Inspirations: #67 ~ Something New (My Joanna Sheen Ivy Corner Die)