Christmas is Coming!

Christmas is closer than you think.  It's never too early to get started on Christmas cards.  Although our temperatures are still in the 90s here in sunny Southern Utah (can you say Trick or Treating in shorts?), with all the planned activities in the coming months, I'm jumping directly to Christmas in my cardmaking.  Not that there's anything wrong with that!

I have two cards to share with you today, both of which will be taught on Friday night, but I also want to remind you of the upcoming Llama Holiday Blog Hop.  Go to the Llama Blog Hop hope page (http://stampinllamas.blogspot.com/) anytime after noon Eastern time on Saturday, October 22, and join in the fun.  I promise lots of great "holiday" projects (and not just Christmas, either) and a peek into the llama life we lead online.

The first card features an a*muse studio set, Winter Wood, that I fell in love with.  Love the '20s font on the sentiment, and I love the retro, slightly homespun, sort of Scandanavian look of the deer and the trees.  There are a couple of non-SU items (Martha Stewart holly punch, Inkadinkado splatter stamp), but the card also features the Stampin' Up! Woodgrain background stamp and SU ribbon.  We'll also do a cool (maybe I should say "hot"?) customize-your-brads to-match-your-project technique.  ;-)

If you're coming on Friday night, bring your adhesive and paper snips as always, and if you have any of the following they will be useful:  paper trimmer, VersaMark, heat tool, SU Woodgrain background. 

This card is a bit easier because there's not one single drop of sponging!  Wow, that is so hard for me.  I basically have to hide all the sponges or tell myself I have an allergy and can't touch them.  But it gives a clean look and is much faster to create.  This card features two sets from the Stampin' Up Holiday Mini, the Warmest of Wishes hostess set and the Stitched Stockings stamp set and matching punch (and yes, again with the Woodgrain stamp).  Everything here is SU, but I'm not sure whether the snowflakes in the background are *current* SU or not.  I have a big container of snowflake stamps and old and new are all intermingled.

I'm off to spend the rest of the day in Policy Prison (Yes, it's Policy Thursday).  Can't wait to see you on Friday!