Keeping Christmas - January 2020 Edition

Hello there!  It’s the 25th of the month and I have my first Christmas Cards of the year on my blog today for our Monthly Keeping Christmas Blog Hop.  Kelly Lunceford started this tradition on her blog many months ago (February 25, 2017) and eventually the former "The Challenge" designers came to be a part of it.  We share Christmas cards and projects with you on the 25th of each month to show you different ideas, techniques or projects to help you get a jump start on your Holiday cards and tags for the coming year.  All of the designers have projects to share with you today.  We have 3 new members this year and I know they are names you’ll recognize!  We are joined by Carol Hintermeier, Nancy Penir and Marybeth Lopez this year! Here is the Blog Roll:

Kelly Lunceford (Creator)

Vicki Finger

Claire Broadwater

Lori Tecler

Nance Salkeld

Nina Forsyth

Nancy Guse

Marybeth Lopez

Nancy Penir

Carol Hintermeier

I have a single card for you today.  I normally try to do multiple cards or projects, but I haven't had much time in the last several weeks.  We did a lot of traveling in the weeks before and after Christmas and we are getting ready to go on a short vacation the first of February so I'm scrambling slightly to get my work done before we leave.  I've also made several cards for other things as well.  We lost my Mother-In-Law between Christmas and New Years Day, so I had several "Thank You" cards to make for some of the special people who helped as we were making arrangements to say goodbye.  So I've been creating, just not necessarily on Design Team projects.

I got this beautiful Stitched Poinsettia Die from Pretty Pink Posh just a few weeks before Christmas, but since I was finished with all of my cards, I hadn't had a chance to use it yet.  I set it aside, but still on my desk to use for this month's card.

I used some Pure Poppy Cardstock to die cut the bloom with Ripe Avocado for the leaves. I used some iridescent Gold Shimmer Mist on the cardstock once I die cut it and let that dry.  I wanted something a little less traditional for the card base and I chose to use Aqua Mist Cardstock.  The label I used is an old favorite.  I got it at the Dallas Scrapbook Expo in 2006 at the Spellbinders Booth.  It is a bookplate label that has been unavailable for many years.  I still love it and it both cuts and embosses!  It embosses much better if you mist the cardstock from the backside before you run it through with an embossing mat. Then, leaving the paper in the die, I also inked it up through the openings to add the colored detail using Aqua Mist Ink. This particular Spellbinders die can also be used as a stencil for the details.  I think most of their dies work like that, but I'm not positive.

I just wanted to make something simple for this month.  I will be gone for most of February and will just be getting back in time to work on next month's Keeping Christmas Blog Hop Projects. The sentiment that I used here is from the Papertrey Ink "Happiest of Holidays".  I used Versamark to ink it up and then heat embossed it with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold Embossing Powder which continues to be my favorite.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great month and get a jump start on your holiday cards!