It's a Cuppie Christmas Card

I know, I know...a Christmas card already and it's only February. Well, I made a promise to myself that I would not be rushing this year to get my cards done and that I'd try to make one card a week. So yes, it's February and this is my first card so I'm already behind, but that doesn't stress me out cause I know I'll more than make up for it as we get closer to Christmas and I make more than one a week. What I'm really trying to avoid is any sort of last minute mass production in December...cause that's just no fun.

In order to be sure I'd be motivated to stamp Christmas cards this early in the year, I figured the best thing to do was get some new Christmas stamps {grin!}. So last month I picked up this adorable cuppie set, Season's Sweetings, from Taylored Expressions. Am I the only one who bought new Christmas stamps in January? If you bought some too, please let me know so I don't feel so weird. Of course I love to play along with Taylor's Cupcake Challenges, so this layout is from sketch #56 that she posted yesterday. 

The cuppie is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with copics. I'm loving the blue shading technique...it just seems to make the image really pop. I added some liquid applique to his ear muffs and before puffing it I sprinkled on a little glitter so he has sparkly muffs. I also used a Tiny Twinkle to dot the -i- in the sentiment. The image is cut out with oval Nestabilities and layered onto a scallop of night of navy. 

The patterned paper is by Pebbles Inc., the Snow Fun line. I picked that up in January too at my LSS. I sewed around the perimeter with my Janome Sew Mini. I thought about going around each panel individually but decided on the entire perimeter because I thought it would help unify the three panels. 

Next is a strip of kiwi kiss, which I pierced, then I adhered some ribbon from my stash. The bow detail is completely separate from the ribbon and it's super quick to make. I started with a loop of ribbon, wrapped some silver cord around it and threaded on a button, then tied the cord to cinch the center of the loop...easy peasy!

So there you have it, my first card for Christmas '09. I think the most fun part about making them this early in the year is when I pull them out in December to address them, I will have forgotten what I made so it'll be a fun surprise looking at each card. Why don't you join me and try making one holiday card per week...we'll all have a less stressful December if we do! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen