Glittery Snowflake Christmas card

Hi blogging friends

Here is my last Christmas card from 2012.  I am sure many of you will be very tired of seeing Christmas cards and moving onto something else.  I know that I am uber-keen to pack away the Christmas decorations which I will be doing tomorrow and I shall be quite happy to remove the Christmas pine tree as it is madly decorating my carpet with pine needles.  Mind you, our cat Ruby has helped that process as she sits there and chews the pine needles - ick - they must taste horrible - but she loves to chew just about anything and I wonder sometimes if she is part dog!

Again, like my previous post, I CASED one of my cards from last year because I knew the layout worked.  It is an easy layout if you want to make quite a few cards and you just change the main image to make each card look a little different:  

The gorgeous glittery snowflake was diecut from aqua glitter cardstock using my Big Shot and Spellbinder Snowflake die.  So much easier than diecutting plain cardstock and adding glitter afterwards - makes it super-quick with no drying time unlike glitter glue, and far less messy too!

The white centre on the snowflake is one of the dies from the Snowflake die set and was diecut from plain white cardstock.  Hmmmm, in hindsight, I think I should have added glitter to it or diecut it from white glitter cardstock - oh well!  I added a red rhinestone to the centre which mimics the dots in the designer paper then popped the snowflake up on dimensionals.

The sentiment was stamped onto the Little Yellow Bicycle blue lace designer paper with Sapphire Silk pigment ink and heat-set with satin pearl embossing powder.

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenges -

Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge - CHNC #105 - Anything Goes - show any Christmas card that we haven't seen before or make a start on your cards for next Christmas.

Splitcoaststampers - Ways to Use It WT407 - New Year's Resolutions from 2012 - what was yours?   One of my Resolutions from 2012 was to use more of my designer paper stash and to use what Christmas stamps I have rather than buying a whole lot more.  I am pleased to say that (even though I didn't make alot of cards in 2012), I did really well on both counts - and everything on today's card is old stash.

So what are YOUR resolutions for 2013? 

I want to have a whole lot less 'stuff' in my house and, in fact, I have been doing a massive purge these past few months and got rid of lots of things; it has made me feel so much better.  By this time next year, I would like to be able to say how much more space I have in my house and in my cupboards - and already, I am seeing the results.  It is hard work and everything looks worse to begin with - quite frankly, a great, BIG MESS - but when a truck leaves with a pile of stuff, you feel so liberated.

Currently, I am going through my late father's LP collection.  Dad passed away in 1996 and I inherited his record collection.  I don't play any of them - they are not my taste - but it has taken until now, some 16 years later, to feel that I can happily donate them to charity.  A few LP's I will sell to a 2nd hand dealer and donate the money to one of the charities who has supported us through caring for our loved one.  I am now wanting to remember Dad in terms of what a wonderful Dad he was - not by keeping a whole lot of 'stuff' that belonged to him.  Grieving is a process and in my experience you go through different phases as time goes by.  16 years ago, Dad's 'things' reminded me of him; now I am ready to part with many of those 'things' and move on.  I think perhaps I was afraid I would forget him if I parted with those 'things' - now I realise that nothing can ever take away my memories of him as they will forever be in my heart.

My other resolution is to continue to use up my crafty stash of papers rather than buying a whole lot more, do more sewing and in particular, sew some little felt kits that I recently purchased.  I also hope to make Christmas cards all year round instead of starting them so late in the year. 

I would also love to be able to get through the day WITHOUT spilling some food on myself - it's a running joke in my family - tee hee!  I am soooooo clumsy and ridiculously unco-ordinated!  Always tripping over something or bumping myself or knocking something over.  A few months ago, I broke 3 of our mugs in the course of a week!  Last month, I superglued my finger to the kitchen bench and took off a layer off skin in trying to get it off - ouch!  Yes, I know that you use nail polish remover to dissolve the superglue but hello, I was glued to the bench and was the only one home - and the nail polish remover was in the bathroom cupboard...sigh....so I just yanked my finger off instead....   

Currently, I am sitting on my couch with my left hand covered in bandaids because I managed to prune my hand as well as the bush I was pruning!  I thought I would try out the new secateurs that we were given for Christmas.  Yep:  they work and they are really sharp!  But somehow I don't think making a resolution about my clumsiness will make much difference!  And just think of the colourful anecdotes I wouldn't otherwise be able to entertain my friends and family with!
Thanks for stopping by.  Happy New Year May it be everything you would want it to be!

Jocelyn


Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Sentiment - Hero Arts Snowman Christmas clear set

Ink:   Colorbox Sapphire Silk pigment

Designer paper:   SEI Glitzmas - Frosty the Snowflake, LYB Delighful Collection - Blue Lace D-110

Accessories:  Big Shot, Spellbinder Shapeabilities Create-a-Flake S4-222 dies, Kaisercraft red rhinestone, dimensionals, satin pearl embossing powder, heat-gun, cardstock: white, aqua glitter