Stampin Addicts Stampin' Up! 2013 Winter Holiday Blog Hop

Welcome to the Stampin' Addicts Winter Holiday Blog Hop!  We're back to showcase the Winter (We hopped with the Fall items in August.) sets and accessories from Stampin' Up!'s Holiday Catalog.  Time to fake a shiver and get some new ideas. :)

You've probably arrived from Holly's Rubber Redneck blog where you saw her cutie pie creations with the Wishing You set, but if not don't worry, you can follow the links through all the stops.  If you get lost, just stop by the Chat Thread on Stampin' Addicts where a list is posted.

The Calm Christmas set on page 26 of the catalog is so versatile.  So many techniques are lovely with this sweet dove.

It is difficult for me to go a year without stamping on a candle, and a peaceful image like this one is perfect for a candle.  Gold embossing and Very Vanilla are so rich for Christmas cards, and I hope I showed the elegance of this set with the matching card.  A little pop of Cherry Cobbler and the somewhat unexpected texture of Crochet Ribbon finish the card easily.  The scalloped square was made using the Square Framelit.  Both of the items are embossed in gold, but the card didn't catch the light very well.  I wanted to show them together because I think they'd make a cute little gift when presented together.

I'm sure you all know by now that I love a "shaped" card, and Emboss Resist is another fun technique for this image.  I used the Deco Labels Framelits and some soft blues and greens (Soft Sky, Pool Party and Pistachio Pudding) for a cloudy background after clear embossing with Versamark on Whisper White.  I layered the main image on a doubled Déco Framelit base and added candy dots and a bow....This would really move around in a medium envelope though.....No problem! I just made an envelope using Soft Sky by using the new Envelope Punch Board. It was quick and easy to make the 4X4-1/2" envelope.

You were probably expecting the lovely sentiment from Calm Christmas to be inside this card, but I wanted to continue the Deco Label Framelit shape by using the single stamp, Prince of Peace (134811, $6.95) embossed in Whisper White craft ink with Whisper White Embossing Powder.

Finally, a multicolor card adds a bit of whimsy.  This is one of my favorite combinations at Christmas.  In the past, I used Not Quite Navy, but Island Indigo is lovely with Garden Green and Rich Razzleberry too I think.  This was made by just twisting sponge daubers over the stamp in a pattern of color...easy!  This card also uses MOJO313 as the sketch. I intentionally left the bottom edges with a slight overhang of Garden Green scallop on the left and right...I thought it was fun and different without being too different.

I hope you enjoyed Calm Christmas. Now it's time to continue to Betty's blog, KittyStamp to see what lovelies she's made with the Holly Jolly Simply Sent Kit.  The photo panel is amazing!