A new Christmas challenge starting soon...

Hello, it might be May day but I'm getting ahead with another Christmas card, this one is for a new challenge blog starting soon. Christmas Challenges {with sketches} is a fortnightly challenge blog starting with the first challenge on June 1st.  One of my dear blogland buddies Marion and some of her friends are starting the challenge up and they are having a DT call so I thought I'd try out :-)

Of course the DT call is a sketch challenge, I love sketches and really enjoyed making this card. I've used some lovely green and cream papers from Dovecraft's Noel bp pad, all the bps have been distressed with a craft knife, gold UTEE and some rather untidy hand stitching with silky embroidery floss.

The main image is one of my favourite Christmas stamps 'Lizzie with Muff' from Whiff of Joy, she's been stamped and coloured with promarkers and a little green glitter on her dress.  I created a border with some Christmas tapestry stamps and distressed with Shabby Shutters DI. I've added some green and cream tartan ribbon some gold wired netting (actually a Christmas decoration, a huge roll for £1 from the local pound shop. I've added some paper flowers - cream gardenia petals with a gold bead cap and gold dew drops, cream and gold cherry blossoms, gold and ivory rosebuds - they are all sprayed lightly with golden dubloons Moonshadow ink but it doesn't show up too well in the pic. Here's another photo to show the detail a little more.

I made some little holly berried by wiring some garnet miyuki drop beads and added some die cut fir branches. To finish off I added some more pale gold dew drops, I just found that these look amazing if you stick them on with stickles .... loads of sparkle!!

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Bah Humbug: Christmas pleats and ruffles

Christmas Stamping all year long: use your favourite stamp

Crafts 4 Eternity: anything goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge: use a die cut

The Crazy Challenge: Use 3 different patterned papers

Moving Along with the Times: Anything goes

Our Creative Corner: Embroidery floss

Totally Papercrafts: Glitter

 I really need to get on with my Christmas cards as I've been invited to do a Craft Fair in October. It will be the first time I've done anything like that and its a bit of a scary thought as its by invitation only and the lovely lady organising it has put me down as something rather grand like 'Specialist luxury cards' or something like that LOL.

Thanks for calling by, I hope you've had a good weekend. Its another bank holiday tomorrow so an extra day off work for me :-)

Claire xx