A Holiday Favorite

"And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Niklaus soon would be there..."  I absolutely loved to recite 'Twas the Night Before Christmas as a child, and think I still remember most of the lines.  Stockings are a big part of my family's holiday traditions (read about that here), so the Stocking Builder punch and coordinating stamp set were obvious purchases for me when I got the holiday mini.  I just hadn't gotten around to using them until now...and I have no idea what I was waiting for!!

I'll try to spare you my ode to punches, one of my absolute favorite card making tools, but I'll remind you that there's nothing better, in my book, than punches that coordinate with a stamp set, because you can instantly and easily punch out your image.  No painstaking hand-trimming, because I certainly don't have time for that!  (Did you notice that today's post is going up late...the holidays are fast approaching!)

I was inspired to try out my punch and stamp set because of FTL170, the most recent card layout over at Clean & Simple Stamping.  I could easily see making lots of this cards, or more variations on the theme with snowflakes.  But for this card, I started with a base of Crumb Cake, to which I adhered the plaid from Frostwood Lodge DSP for an eye-catching background.  Next up, I cut a piece of Early Espresso and layered another piece of Crumb Cake on top of that, so I'd have a crisp and sharp border.  I stamped Happy Holidays (from Four the Holidays) in Old Olive, and mounted this piece on my card base.  I cut a strip of Cherry Cobbler ribbon, to "hang" my stockings on, and then got to work on the stockings themselves.

That part was really easy--I just chose my ink colors (Riding Hood Red, Old Olive and Island Indigo), stamped and punched.  Then I attached my super cute stockings to the card, and added mini jingle bells as my finishing touch, creating a card that announces its good cheer.  

Today's piece is the poinsettia.

Happy Holidays!

~Melanie

Stamps: Four the Holidays, Stitched Stockings

Ink: Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Island Indigo

Paper: Frostwood Lodge DSP, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso

Extras: Stocking Builder punch, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding ribbon, Mini Jingle Bells