Star of Light with All Ye Faithful

One of the reasons I decided to order Star of Light stamp set is because I thought it would pair perfectly with last year's All Ye Faithful set. And here's one of the cards I made combining those two set.. The experssion from Star of Light pairs perfectly with the shepherd image from All Ye Faithful.

The second card I made using the two sets, both the card front and inside. I just love the expressions in Star of Light stamp set.

Cable Knit Dynamic Embossing Folder

Stampin' Up! is introducing the newest type of textured embossing folders. Dynamic Textured Impressions from Sissix. Oh, my you have to see this in person. The folder is thicker than the regular embossing folders so that you get different degrees of depth. In this folder the cable sticks up from the card more than the rows in between. Since the folder is thicker you eliminate one of the acrylic plates when you make the Big Shot sandwich. The company also suggest to spritz your card stock lightly with water before running it through so it doesn't break down the fibers. We didn't do that and it worked fine. I've heard from another demonstrator that they also found that wasn't necessary. It may depend on the pressure of your particular Big Shot. Or maybe it's another example of the great quality of product SU! sells.
The Sweet Sugarplum ribbon is from the 3/8" Glitter Ribbon Combo Pack (silver being the other color included). This ribbon would also look great on valentines. The expression and holly and berries were stamped using the Hang Your Stocking stamp set.
I told Judy I would never have imagined putting Cherry Cobbler and Sweet Sugarplum together but it works! This color combo would also be pretty with valentines.
I hope SU! will be introducing more of these Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folders.

Hang Your Stocking

Here's a card that just uses the Christmas Stockings Thinlits. The detail on the stockings is just beautiful and the Noel strip makes the perfect place for hanging them. Judy had us save a few of the little swirls from the curly-cue stocking to use as hangers. That way we only had to do one pass through the Big Shot. Clever! She also had us save the snowflake from that stocking and adhere it inside the card in the lower right corner. Sweet touch!

This card uses several new this year products. The expression is from the Hang Your Stocking stamp set. We added a rhinestone to the graphic below the words. The washi tape to decorate that square comes with the Warmth and Cheer pack. The white card stock was embellished using the Big Shot and the new Holly embossing folder from the annual catalog.
This layout could be used for a lot of different cards and occasions.

Candy Cane Lane Suite

Another card Judy had for us to make used some of the products from the Candy Cane Lane suite in the new Holiday catalog. The diagonal patterned stripes are three of the designs in the Candy Cane Lane Designer Washi Tape pack. Just love how quick you can step up a card using washi tape! The gingerbread houses are from a sheet of the Candy Cane Lane Designer Series Paper pack. Really cute papers in this stack of 12; 2 each of six double-sided designs. It was a bit of fussy cutting to cut out the houses. Judy's sample didn't have the two candy canes on the sides of the smaller houses, but I decided to see if I could cut around them without messing up. I did it! My friend, Karen decided to just cut around the houses leaving a little of the Crumb Cake background color around them. And to be honest her card was just a cute.
The thing you can't see in this photo is how we used the Wink of Stella clear brush to add clitter to the snow on the roofs and chimneys. Sparkle! The expression comes from the Embellished Ornaments stamp set in the annual catalog.

Christmas Cards

I promised back in September to show you my Christmas cards for this year but then other things got in the way.

Better late than never... here are the cards I made to mail to family and friends.

   I used the same layout and stamps for each card but I had lots of retired Designer Series Paper I wanted to use. So I varied the color and accessories to match the card. It was a lot of fun to switch it up when making so many cards. We send about 180. That's what happens when you live in a lot of different communities during your life; it's great having so many friends! Each one is a blessing and then we have many family members, too. We are blessed!