Warm Holiday Wishes

A New Year is always about making promises and commitments to yourself to make changes! So the The Challenge team decided to do a monthly Keeping Christmas Inspiration Hop! We will be sharing Christmas creations on the 25th of each month!!!  The whole idea is to have some cards in our stash all ready to go for December 2018!

So, let's get started!  Here's my creation to kick off the year.  My card was inspired by the current Fusion challenge.  I mixed the sketch with the colors, textures, and coffee mug image from the inspiration picture to come up with this warm and toasty design.  I love non-traditional color schemes for holiday designs and this kraft, brown, and blue one definitely fits that description!  For the focal image panel, I colored up a pair of to go cups from the Sugar Pea Designs Mugs and Kisses stamp set.  I used foam tape to adhere them to a blue panel stamped with silver snowflakes from SPD's Flurry of Warm Wishes stamp set.  To bring in the textured element from the blanket in the photo, I used a long-neglected impression plate to create a chevron pattern on a kraft panel.  To highlight the pattern, I gently brushed a brown ink pad over the raised portion of the panel.  It has a somewhat distressed look, but I'm happy with how it turned out.  I adhered the image panel on top, then added a white strip stamped with the "warm holiday wishes" sentiment across it, positioning the words just beneath the cups.  The finished panel was adhered to a brown card base.  Wouldn't this card be just perfect to go with a holiday gift card to a coffee shop?

Don't miss what the rest of our team has created to inspire you to get a head start on your holiday card making!  There is a lot of inspiration and ideas to get your creative juices flowing.  Here's where to find the team members:

Kelly Lunceford

Lesley Croghan

Anita Madden

Broni Holcombe

Claire Broadwater

Julee Tilman

Kim Heggins

Lori Tecler --you're here!

Nance Salkeld

Nina Forsyth

Rachel Bergfeld

Vicki Finger

Materials Used:
Mugs and Kisses and Flurry of Warm Wishes stamp sets, Mugs and Kisses dies (SugarPea Designs); Delicata Silvery Shimmer and Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa inks (Tsukineko/IMAGINE Crafts); Antique Linen distress ink (Ranger); markers (Copic); Brocade Blue and Soft Suede cardstock (Stampin' Up!); Kraft cardstock (Papertrey Ink); Chevron impression plate (WPlus9); foam tape