Jolly Holiday in July

It's July 1 today and we're halfway through 2012.  The second half of the year has started with lots of excitement.  I escaped the worst of the big storms that swept through the DC area on Friday night--my house is fine and my power's on and given how many people sustained damage to their homes and are without electricity, I'm considering myself to be lucky right now.  With summer here in full force on the east coast, I thought it would be a good time to show off a card with a decidedly more wintery feel. 

This one can be found in the new Stamp It! Cards magazine, just released by the crew at Paper Crafts.  It's a simple holiday card in a traditional Christmas color scheme using the J*lly H*liday stamp set from The Cat's Pajamas. 

I used the set's "'tis the season to be jolly" sentiment as the focal image.  It's stamped in black ink along the bottom of a fancy label die cut.  I filled in the "o" in "jolly" with the set's ornament image, colored with Copic markers.  Some red baker's twine is used to hang the ornament from the top of the card.  I added a little red twine bow at the top of the ornament for a whimsical touch.  Seeing this reminds me of how I always say that I'm going to get an early start on my holiday cards--and that I never do!  Maybe I can change that this year . . .

Materials Used: 
J*lly H*liday stamp set (The Cat's Pajamas); Memento Tuxedo Black ink (Tsukineko); markers (Copic); Very Vanilla, Real Red, and Old Olive cardstock (Stampin' Up!); Holiday Style-Snow and Mistletoe (October Afternoon); Labels 18 die (Spellbinders); red baker's twine (Divine Twine); foam tape