Christmas in July - July 19, 2015

 Here I'm back to some of my favorite Stampin' Up! stamps.  I love this version of a Christmas card. 

I call this card Musical Trees.

The background music stamp is named Alegro.

I also used the stamp sets; Lovely as a Tree, and More Merry Messages.

Christmas in July - July 18, 2015

This card I did some extra work on the inside.

I'm still in watercoloring mode - the bow and candle both got some attention.  These are again some of the CTMH stamps I've got - their sentiments are always very nice.  I like the sayings and fonts they use.

Christmas in July - July 17, 2015

Here's another one of the nostalgic CTMH Christmas stamp sets I so enjoy.  These images lend themselves so well to water coloring!

I wanted to keep the colors a little muted - it IS winter after all!  When everything is covered in snow, even the darkest house looks lighter.

Christmas in July - July 16, 2015

 It feels good posting on the Cricut and Crafts blog again!  I need to make a point, that's all.

This card is again a Close to My Heart design.  I love the Noel wood cut look.  It doesn't need much in addition.

Christmas in July - July 15, 2015

Here you have another of the Close to My Heart stamp sets I have for Christmas.  I don't have many.  I do love the old timey nostalgic look of the holly with the bow.

It sure seems like I dropped off the face of the Earth again...  trying to do as much crafting as I'd like and teach full time doesn't always work well.  SO even though I got the Christmas cards done in July.  I'm now finally posting them in November!

So bad.....
Here the rest of the cards are, by the dates I made them.  Please enjoy

Christmas in July - July 14, 2015

Here you can see the car moving from the deer (in the last card from July 11) towards the bear.

Many of the same techniques on these cards..Photopolymer stamps to line up the car with the tree on top so nicely!  Watercoloring for gradients in color of the car windows and Christmas tree... and the bear.  I didn't want to make him too dark.  He's probably a Polar Bear in Smoky Slate.

Quite a dirty Polar Bear... not white at all!  :)

Christmas in July - July 13, 2015

This is another one of the long-retired Stampin' Up Christmas sets.  I really enjoy the nostalgic feel of this set.  The inside of the card features the dove that accompanies this set. 

I used quite a few techniques with this card - Watercoloring as per the week's theme, marker work for some fine detail, and Stickles.  I used the holly instead of diamond on this card for the trees.  It's a mix of Christmas green and Christmas red. 

Baptism Card

I knew we had a family baptism coming for awhile, but nothing in the way of stamp sets caught my attention.  That is, except this one!

It's a stamp set called All God's Grace and it has lots of options for religious applications - baptism, christening, confirmation, and blessings of any and all kids.

 I wanted to keep the front very plain and simple because it's such an important occasion.  I did play with the cross a bit.  It's stamped in the background in Pacific Point, then I stamped the cross again and fussy cut it so the 2 blues would show.  I then stamped baptism in the center of the cross.  It uses dimensionals to give the cross some lift.

The inside of the card however, I used two of the sentiments.

The main colors on the card are Bashful Blue (ret.) and Pacific Point with the dove stamped in Crumb Cake.

I hope you enjoy my very simple, hopefully elegant card.

Christmas in July - July 12, 2015

 This stamp set is long-retired from Stampin' Up.  It lent itself perfectly to some watercoloring since that seems to be the theme this week. 

Another of my favorite Christmas movies is Scrooge (1970) with Albert Finney.  It's one of the many adaptations of the Charles Dickens tale.

Christmas in July - July 11, 2015

 Here is the second of three White Christmas stamp set cards.

I have to say something about the photopolymer stamps - I LOVE them!  I hear the consensus from friends I stamp with as well.  It's so easy to line up the images with the clear stamps!  SO easy!  They also have another benefit... they're so much more cost effective (cheaper)!

I again watercolored the images.  I like the control it gives, and if you look closely at the tree on top of the car, the shading ability is GREAT!

Christmas in July - July 10, 2015

I love this stamp set.  It is so versatile, AND it's a Christmas tree - one of my very favorite things!

I left this card quite simple.  I usually emboss this one in silver.  Today, I added some rhinestones to the snowflakes on the tree.

Christmas in July - July 9

 There we go!  So much better!  I just put my itunes on Christmas Music.  It's actually raining here today.  It's actually been raining here for MONTHS, but I enjoy it.  It keeps my husband in a job he loves, and when I lived in south Texas, there just wasn't much rain.  I enjoy how it keeps everything in so many shades of green, and my flowering trees blooming!

That said,  I got caught in it today while I was out running some errands, and forgot how much I hate getting my feet wet!  :(    Oh well. 

I'm happier with Christmas music on anyway.

Today's card is a series of three I made which you'll see in the coming week.  It's a stamp set called White Christmas.  (My favorite Christmas movie!)

I stamped the images in Crumb Cake with the banner in Cherry Cobbler.  The snowmen are watercolored to help them stand out a bit.

I also added some Stickles (Diamond) because snow on the ground always sparkles!

Christmas in July - July 8

 This is also one of my very favorite cards.  I've made many variations of it over the last few years of making Christmas Cards. 

Here I used some Stampin' Up Dies to cut the frame instead of the Spellbinders. 

I don't have much to say about this except that it's one of my favorites.