Friday Xmas in July

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   #christmascards   #christmasinjuly   In just a little more than a month, I'm going to be hosting the first of four Christmas card stamp-a-stack sessions. My stamping pals come over for an afternoon of stamping one Saturday in August, September, October, and November. I design three cards for each session and the stampers make four of each, so they leave each time with twelve handmade cards. In fact, if they attend all four sessions, they'll have 48 hand-stamped cards made before December even starts!

If you're local to the Ellicott City, Maryland, area and you'd like to attend, click on the link at the top of the blog for all the details. If you're far away and want to participate, let me know. I can work out a product-based kit for you!

Leading up to the first session, each Friday in July, I'm going to post a Christmas card that we'll be making at one of the upcoming sessions. I need to work out timing, colors, and equipment before I decide which cards will be made at each session. I don't want to have all three cards be Big Shot-intensive and have a pile up at the Big Shot station. I also don't want a session where two cards can be done in a jiffy and one card that takes half a day. So, those details are still TBD.

Today's card is made with the "Holly Berry Happiness" stamp set and matching Holly Berry Builder Punch. I stamped the holly spray outline in Early Espresso Ink twice onto a 3-3/4" by 5" Very Vanilla panel, crossing the stems at the top. I filled in the holly leaves with the coordinating filler stamp in Always Artichoke Ink. PRO TIP: There are two sizes of holly leaves! I stamped the sentiment in Early Espresso as well. The photopolymer stamps make it easy to place the sentiment just where you want. I adhered the stamped panel to a 3-7/8" by 5-1/8" Cherry Cobbler mat and then onto a Crumb Cake Card Stock card base.

Next, I stamped three large and one small holly leaf outline in Early Espresso onto a strip of Very Vanilla Card Stock (so I could punch them out separately). Again, I filled them in with the coordinating filler stamp in Always Artichoke.  I stamped the single holly berry and the group of three berries in Early Espresso ink onto the Very Vanilla strip and filled them in with the coordinating filler stamp in Cherry Cobbler.  Finally, I stamped the bow in Early Espresso, filled it with the coordinating stamp and Cherry Cobbler Ink and punched it out. NOTE: There is a way to punch all the elements out at once, but I was too impatient to figure that out. You can find a couple of You Tube videos that will show you how to use a builder punch. I adhered the punched leaves and berries to the stamped panel with Glue Dots.

So, happy Friday Christmas in July! Come back next Friday for another Christmas card--and all week next week for more non-Christmas cards. I hope you can join us in person or virtually for the annual Christmas stamp-a-stack!! 

 

tams# 14498

Product List

Holly Berry Happiness Photopolymer Stamp Set [142061] $17.00	Holly Berry Builder Punch [141843] $18.00	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [126974] $6.50	Always Artichoke Classic Stampin' Pad [126972] $6.50
Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad [126966] $6.50	Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [120953] $8.00	Cherry Cobbler 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119685] $8.00	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101650] $9.00
Glue Dots [103683] $5.25