Christmas in July!!

 

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!  It is 87 degrees outside and here I am making holiday cards ..... what is wrong with this picture.  But with everything we do during the holiday season NOW is the time to start thinking about making your cards so they are ready to mail out in Dec. My goal was to use some of the new non-holiday TAC sets for this post. This really forced me to think out of the box. I used everyday sets for these holiday cards with a few holiday sets thrown in.  It was really fun!!

For the first one I used the set 'Brandi and Emma' now I am sure you do not think "Christmas" when you see this great set, but I think it worked.  I colored the images with my Copic markers and used my Scor-pal on the edge to make a 1/8th inch border.  Then I went in between the scored lines and made dots with the NEW Signo Gold Gel Pen.  It is so cool!! I even used it for the buttons on her jeans and the dots on the present.  It makes a really great gold look on the paper, is easy to use, and dries quickly.  I am loving these pens!! I used the set 'Jingle Jolly' for the words and the present. The words are stamped on half of Sellbinders Labels 9 die.  Yes ... you can cut dies in half and use only half of the die if you want.   I really think her eyes are saying 'no peeking' ... what do you think? I wonder what Emma got Brandi for Christmas???

I so love the 'Vintage Rides' set so I decided it was the next one to put in the holiday spirit!  I stamped the background with the holly stamp from 'Jingle Jolly' with Memento Cottage Ivy ink. Then colored the berries with a red Spica glitter pen by Copic.  These are really great glitter pens and really add a lot of shine and shimmer.  I colored the main image with my Copic makers and added the Silver Signo Gel Pen for the trim of the plane. When I added the banner I noticed that the words from 'Jingle Jolly' fit right inside of it .... now how lucky is that.  This plane was meant to carry the holiday banner for sure!  I added a punched border at the bottom.  The plane and banner are all raised with pop dots.

For my last card I kept thinking how cool it would be to get a red shiny vintage car as a gift for Christmas .... or even be given a ride in one ...... so this card was then born. 

I really think this is my favorite one! I stamped the background with the script stamp from 'Vintage Santa' and then added the snow flacks over top from the same set.  The distressed edge is from the set 'Background Soup'.  These where all stamped with Memento London Fog ink.  I added some antique lace and red plaid ribbon to finish the background.  The vintage car was stamped on a Spellbinders Labels 18 die in white with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  Then I colored it with my Copics and added the Signo Silver Gel Pen for the trim.  I used the distress stamp for the background of the die from 'Background Soup' and edge it with the Memento London Fog ink.  It is then raised with pop dots.  The greeting is from 'Vintage Santa' and is stamped in black ink.

My goal was to design cards using non-holiday stamp set so how did I do???  Think Christmas everytime you use a stamp set and I bet you will come up with some great designs for the holiday too. 

Merry Christmas ....... a little early!!