Branching Out for Christmas

I feel like I'm so far behind on my stamping after an entire day of travel on Sunday then all the running around errands I had to do on Monday. Plus, I'm cutting like a mad woman prepping my project for Stamp New England this weekend ({{{waves}}} to everyone who will be there...I'm SO excited...4 more sleeps!). I just have to keep telling myself that it doesn't matter if I get all my regular challenges done...right? :)

I've been wanting to make a Christmas card with my Branching Out & Branching Out Coordinates from Taylored Expressions ever since I got the sets. One of the first things I noticed about the Coordinates set is there are two Christmas ornaments. That makes the set even MORE versatile. So today I was finally able to put my vision to paper and this is what I came up with. I used Taylor's Cupcake Challenge sketch #59 for the layout.

I first stamped the solid branch image with Memento Rich Cocoa onto Choice Snow White card stock and cut it out with a square Nestabilitie. Then I stamped the ornaments, bird and birdhouse with Memento Tuxedo Black. I coloured the images with copics and popped the bird, birdhouse and one ornament for dimension. I added Christmas Red Stickles to the ornaments and some red Tiny Twinkles to the roof line on the birdhouse. My favourite part though has to be the snowy roof and branch. I just couldn't resist adding some white Liquid Applique for a wintry feel. The blue background was an afterthought...I wanted the snow and images to stand out more so I coloured in a sky with B000.

The finished card is 5.25 inches square. The base layer is Always Artichoke which I ran through the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder. The patterned papers are from the Basic Grey Wassail line and they're layered onto chocolate chip. The chocolate twill is from the Taylored Expressions store...it has a faint shimmer to it, plus, it's chocolate so I couldn't resist picking it up!

This is one more card to add to my growing pile of Christmas cards. Seriously...I never thought I'd keep up with one a week, but now I look forward to a little "winter break" from the more seasonal cards at this time of year.

Thanks for stopping by!

Karen