Christmas Countdown

Hello Peeps!

Are you all ready for Christmas???  Only 19 days left!!!  I haven't done an ounce of shopping (or, more accurately, purchasing) yet, but on the bright side, I can say that all of my cards are done.  Hooray!  It is so nice to not have to worry about finishing cards in December.  Speaking of, I am super excited that Sweet Stampin' has started up a monthly Christmas challenge and even more excited, though still somewhat in disbelief, that I was offered a spot with all the super talented gals on the design team!!

Although the challenge does not officially start until January, we are starting the fun early by having a pre-challenge in December while everyone is in the full swing of Christmas.  So, to kick things off it is nice and easy - anything Christmas goes!  I hope you'll join us and I'm looking forward to seeing your Christmas creations!

For my inspiration piece, I made an advent calender for my son.  Though I love how this turned out, it took a ridiculous amount of time to complete.  Luckily, when I found out about the first challenge, I had already glued all the little boxes together and painted and sealed all of the pieces.  I will not tell you how many hours that took, but in the end it was well worth the effort.

The DP is all from Bo Bunny's Midnight Frost line and I painted the calender dark blue to match.  (My first tip for Top Tip Tuesday - if you are making one of these calenders, it is much easier to paint the pieces prior to assembling.  However, do NOT paint the tabs because they will no longer fit in the slots.  I found out the hard way :(  )  The kit came with chipboard numbers, but I felt they covered too much of the box front, so I cut my own using the TH typeset die.  The numbers were cut from dark blue card and then embossed twice - first with Stampin' Up Iridescent  ice to make them really glittery and sparkly and then with Lindy's Stamp Gang Twilight Blue Slate which gives a beautiful two tone colour and looks really cool and shimmery when it reflects the light. ( My second tip for Top Tip Tuesday - embossing powders are a great way to change the colour or look of paper or chipboard shapes, numbers and letters.  However, most colours are only available in a matte finish or occasionally a metallic finish.  To add a beautiful glittery finish to your colour, emboss it twice - once in the colour and once with a translucent glitter embossing powder such as Stampin' Up Iridescent ice or Stampendous Star Dust.  The look will also change slightly, being more or less glittery depending on which one you use first, so have fun experimenting with it.)

For the background, I used shimmery white card to create the hills and snowflakes (which are a retired Stampin' Up die).  The trees are a TH die and were cut from dark blue card to create silhouettes.

I found the Christmas tree in the Christmas decor section of a local store - it was originally designed to go with those Victorian Christmas villages.  It was a bit too tall, so I cut it down a bit.  I decorated it with TH tinsel twine, beads, little bows and a string of lights, which was also a Victorian village find.  I made the star on top using wire and a jig.

I love that it actually lights up!  Here is a shot in dim lighting to give you an idea, though it looks much brighter irl.  This shot also shows the snowflakes in the background.

The birch trees were made using those long wire stems with berries that you can get from most all purpose craft stores (I got mine from Michaels).  I had purchased them with the intent of just using the berries, but then it occurred to me that the stems themselves actually looked like trees.  So, I cut it in pieces, shaped them and drew little lines using a grey Copic multiliner.

The image is by Penny Johnson for Stampavie and I coloured it with Prismas (the carrot and holly) and Copics (everything else).  I added some glitter to the turquoise hat.

If you haven't already, be sure to pop by the Christmas at Sweet Stampin' blog.  My teamies have made some gorgeous cards and projects to inspire you.  There is also an awesome prize up for grabs!  The winner will get surprise stamps from the Personal Impressions range at Funky Kits

and a set of Promarkers from Letraset!!!

And, as if that wasn't awesome enough, there is also a follower's candy up for grabs.  All you have to do is be or become a follower of Christmas at Sweet Stampin', post the candy on your blog and enter our anything goes challenge to be in for the chance to win this fantastic prize:

I would also like to enter my calendar in the following fun challenges:

Playing in Paradise - Mr. Masculine (I made this for my son)
Allsorts - advent
Crazy 4 Challenges - snowmen
Cute Card Thursday - snowflakes
Deep Ocean Challenge - so this is Christmas
Jingle Belles - anything holiday goes
No Matter Which Challenge - Christmas
Make it Monday - always anything goes
One Stop Craft Challenge - Christmas for the boys
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Sparkles Christmas Challenge - button or bow
Stampin' for the Weekend - use some texture
Top Tip Tuesday - Christmas
Totally Gorjuss - anything goes with glitter on it (glitter on the hat, the numbers and the snowy base also has loads of glitter)
Totally Papercrafts - Anything Christmasy but a card

Ok, that is probably enough, heh?

Thanks so much for popping by, and for taking the time to leave me a much appreciated comment.  I love having the chance to visit you too.  And a big thank you and welcome to my newest followers - I really appreciate you and am so happy to have you along!

Hugs,

Dawn