Diorama Christmas card...

If you follow my blog, you may remember that I posted the instructions for making a diorama Halloween card here. Well, using those same instructions, I made a couple of Christmas cards. They're both the same, so I'll only share one of them here.

The front is pretty simple. A Penny Black sentiment stamped on a stitched oval die-cut.

I used my Cheery Lynn holly die to cut three holly leaves and another unbranded die to cut a couple of fir tree twiglets (not sure that's a word, but I like the sound of it).

The berries are three red half pearls, and my sparkly strips across the bottom are simply off-cuts from some glitter paper.

The inside is where the fun begins. I used a couple of stitched oval dies to make my aperture and my glittery frame.  My little bird ornament stamp (isn't it cute?) was heat embossed with dark blue EP and a little silver EP for the eye hook and string. Then I colored in the red and light blue with ProMarkers.

This cute ornament stamp came from a set of seven clear stamps by Lyn Dillin/Inkadinkadoo. I picked it up at a Marshall's discount store for $1.99, and it's been worth every penny and then some!

The Christmas tree bough was cut with the same die that I used on the front for my fir tree twiglets. I also added a little light blue chalk to the background so that it wasn't so stark and offered some contrast to the white frame.

My Merry Christmas banner was heat embossed using a stamp from another set (not sure which one) that happened to have a little bird on it. Perfect for this card!

As you can see, because my cardstock is pretty dark, I added a white rectangle at the bottom for a brief note and/or signature.

This photo shows the dimension and diorama affect when you open the card. it can still be opened all the way to lay it flat for signing.

I just love these cards, and I plan to make a few more for my Christmas stash.

It is freeeeeeezing here today. It was only 8 degrees (-13 Celsius) this morning. I don't even want to go outside today, but I've got to run some errands so I'll just have to bundle up and grin and bear it.

One of two trees in our front yard decided not to drop hardly any leaves until AFTER I had raked the entire yard. That night (our first night with temps in the low double digits) I think the shock of the cold caused it to drop them ALL! I couldn't believe it! I looked out the front window in the morning to see my once clean lawn completely covered with frozen still-green leaves. And the tree branches were completely bare. They may just have to lay there until spring if it doesn't warm up enough for me to rake again.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.
Cheryl