Season's Greetings (February)

 

It is the last day of February, and it's time to share my monthly holiday card. As I'm writing this, I can see snow through my window - big, lazy clumpy snowflakes that dance around as they're picked up by small gusts of wind. It is my favorite kind of snowfall, as it just makes everything look peaceful and magical.

I've been thinking about slowly introducing some small personal challenges again to help boost my creativity. Lately, I've been staring at a blank page (or in this case card base) and feeling overwhelmed. There's so much I'd like to do and so much to create that I don't know where to start...

Hopefully, a small challenge will give me a starting point. I'll let you know how it goes - but hopefully, I'll have a few cards that to share at the end of it.

Thank you for reading!
~Elle~

Christmas Deer

 

I had mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to make at least one Christmas card every month, in hopes it will help build up my stash through the year. In previous years, I've found it really difficult to make cards off-season. It felt odd to make a winter card when it's a hundred degrees outside. But if there's one thing I've learned in 2020 is that it's important to be flexible and to let go of getting it ALL done at once. 

My goal of one Christmas card per month is not big- after all, it will only give me 12 cards at the end of the year, but that's plenty to tide me over if I end up not crafting at all during this year's holiday season. Most of my efforts for the year will be to be more gentle with myself and to strike a balance between my ambitions of what I want done and what I realistically can do given my current state. 

I am training myself to think smaller - a small goal that's achieved and even surpassed is a lot more satisfying than an ambitious goal that has to be dropped because it's too stressful.

Penguin Greetings

Another wintry card, with a cute penguin and a snowy sky.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Sending Christmas Cheer

We are far from Christmas, but I thought I would get a little head start and make a card here and there for my stash. Hopefully, this will make the holiday season less demanding/stressful.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Oh Snap!

I know, I know. We're nowhere near Christmas, but I really wanted to play with some of my winter stamps. Though winter holiday season is still far away, I do occasionally like to test out a few ideas or prototypes throughout the year to (hopefully) make my holiday projects quicker.

So, today's quick share is a simple little card where I play with a layout and some patterned paper.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Penguin Christmas

And since cute Doodlebug stickers were still sitting on my crafty desk, I had to make just one more card -- this time with penguins and a scripty Merry die.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Merry Car

I enjoyed yesterday's card so much that I just had to make a second one. A fun Santa car this time around.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Merry Truck!

A simple little card today featuring a Doodlebug sticker. I think it's a fun way to create a card for a kiddo or two and I've already got a couple potential little ones that might see this card in their mailbox...

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Merry Christmas, Dude!

Today's card is a masculine card with a fresh and frosty palette. I love the skiing bears from My Favorite Things for guy cards - that extreme sport element is always fun, but the bear adds a bit of cuteness too. A quirky sentiment from Paper Smooches ties everything together.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Unbelievable Holiday

Today's card features a cute little Birdie Brown yeti with a snowy scene. I used an oval shape for a panel, as it creates a fun design that's different from my usual rectangles and circles.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Unicorn Sleigh

December is going to be a busy busy busy month! Between work, holidays and family activities, card-making might take a back seat for a short while. So, please excuse me if I share things very sporadically over the next month or so.

Today's card is a cute idea I had for a unicorn-pulled sleigh. I thought it would be a cute concept and I paired up a couple of sets that have been on my "use" list for some time.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Merry Skaters

Sometimes you just need a quick and simple little card, and that's when it helps to have a few pre-colored images in your stash. I've held onto these two images since last Christmas, though, and I thought it was time to make good use of them. With a simple scene and some snowflakes made from Nuvo drops, I think it turned out pretty sweet.

Thanks for reading.
~Elle~

Fuzzy Sweater

Ever since I got the Cool Day stamp set from Birdie Brown, I wanted to make a big fuzzy sweater for this bear. I finally managed to make a texture I liked and I paired it with a fun striped paper and a whimsy sentiment.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Christmas Bear

I took a step back into the traditional with the reds, creams, kraft and a bit of green. I used one of my all-time favorite Christmas sentiments from Technique Tuesday and I paired it with the adorable bear from Reverse Confetti. It was a really simple card to make, but I like how all the different elements play together.

Thanks for reading.
~Elle~

Navy and Grey Greetings

I thought I'd switch things around a little bit and try for a more sophisticated palette of white, gray and navy blue. I did make it very cute again by adding Pix and her tree, but I like how frosty the card turned out. I was inspired by the background paper and thought it would be fun to try out a different layout.

Thanks for taking a look!
~Elle~

Narwhal Christmas

Another whimsical card share, featuring a narwhal and a little dotted sea. I love the idea of animals in sweaters, so I just had to have this adorable stamp set from My Favorite Things. A snowflake background and some pink tones and this non-traditional Christmas card is done!

Thanks for taking a peek.
~Elle~

Merry and Red

I thought I'd go in a slightly more traditional direction with today's card and add some red and green to a card. I generally gravitate toward more cool tones for my Christmas cards, but sometimes it's nice to go a little more traditional.

Of course, I also managed to sneak in some minty tones, as they add just the right amount of frostiness.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

SEAsons Greetings!

If you know me, you know I absolutely adore quirky and unusual stamps. If there's a touch of whimsy, I can't resist it. So, when I saw this merman Santa from Waffle Flower, I just had to have it.

Once again, I created a fun little scene. I liked this patterned paper that seemed to merge the idea of snow and sea and fit perfectly with my scene. Don't you love when you find exactly what you need in your stash?

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~

Cool Day Greetings

My Favorite Things - (Birdie Brown) Cool Day (retired)

One of my all-time favorite stamps is Birdie Brown's Cool Day. I just absolutely adore the two bears in this set and all the accessories match them so perfectly.

For today's card, I decided to keep it a very simple scene. A little distress oxide ink blending on the background and some time spent coloring and layering the elements is all I did. I'm really happy with how it all turned out.

Thanks for taking a peek!
~Elle~

Pix's Holiday Greetings

Mama Elephant - Pix's Happy Holiday

It's been a couple of really busy weeks for me and I've been itching to get back to my crafty endeavors - more specifically, I've been wanting to make some holiday cards so I'm better prepared for Christmas this year. In the past, I've seriously underestimated just how much time I would need to get ready for the holidays, so I'm definitely starting earlier this year.

For today's card, I really wanted to use Mama Elephant's Pix's Happy Holiday. I thought I'd make a cute little scene with a not-so-traditional palette. I think it turned out really cute, and now I have the difficult task of trying to figure out who I should give it to.

Thanks for reading!
~Elle~