Christmas in July Blog Hop

Welcome to the Christmas in July Blog Hop! 

It is exactly FIVE months until Christmas... what better time to start working on Christmas cards? 😳😳😳

Close To My Heart has a Christmas in July campaign happening - the White Pines paper pack and four additional stamp sets have been brought back. You will see a variety of Christmas projects on this blog hop as any other Christmas products that are still available may be used. 

You should have arrived here from Brenda Lapp's blog. If you get lost along the way, a list of all participants can be found on Melinda Everitt's blog. 

I have a hard time thinking of Christmas when it is hot and humid outside. Usually by mid-December, there is snow on the ground and the temperatures are around or below the freezing mark. 

My first card was created using the Bargello technique. I inked a background using Peacock, Lagoon and Mint. Since Peacock and Mint are impossible to blend together, Lagoon was placed in between those colours each time. The strips were cut in the opposite direction and placed on the card front. I added a stitched frame and embossed the sentiment on vellum. The poinsettia was cut from the Comfort and Joy Cricut collection using silver foil, silver glitter paper and vellum. Then - and I believe I am totally crazy for doing this - I individually coloured several white beads using a Tri-Blend marker. I wanted them to match the papers... My fingers were blue for days afterward! The final step was to add silver Stickles around the card. 

My second card was created using a sketch from Make It From Your Heart - Vol.5. I originally stamped and fussy cut a wreath and lots of small elements and then decided that wasn't what I wanted... so it was on to the trees. They were stamped in Evergreen in first, second and third generation. They were fussy cut and the edges were brushed with the Gold Shimmer Brush. The patterned paper is from the Holiday Stack and I drew some stitching lines on each side with a green marker. The background was splattered with two shimmer bushes - Candy Apple and Evergreen. I added a strip of Gold Shimmer Trim to the sentiment and also used some Gold Embellishing Thread . The last step was to add gold Stickles around my card. 

The next stop on this blog hop is Show and Tell with Michelle. I am sure her project will put you in the Christmas spirit! 

Products used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise indicated: 

Paper: Holiday Stack, White Daisy Cardstock, French Vanilla Cardstock, Candy Apple Cardstock, Peacock Cardstock, Mint Cardstock, Silver Foil, Silver Glitter Paper, Vellum

Stamps: White Pines Cardmaking

Inks: Mint, Lagoon, Peacock, Evergreen, Candy Apple, Toffee, Lemonade, Versamark

Accessories: Comfort and Joy Cricut Collection, Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, Silver Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Gold Shimmer Trim, Gold Embellishing Thread, Goldenrod Stickles, Silver Stickles, Bitty Beads, Green Sharpie Marker (not CTMH), Gold Shimmer Brush, Candy Apple Shimmer Brush, Evergreen Shimmer Brush, Tri-Blend Marker, Foam Tape, Thin Foam Tape

Enjoy,

Alyson