The Countdown to Christmas Starts Here

Well, I've got some more fabulously exciting news today that I can finally share.  No only am I now officially on holiday from work for nearly a fortnight (woohoo!!!)  but also the lovely Samantha at The ABC Christmas Challenge asked me to join her design team.  I'm not sure if she actually likes my work, or whether she is merely trying to tell me that there has been a distinct lack of Christmas cards on my blog this past 6 months, despite my good intentions back in January!  Honestly, I'm getting better.  Slowly!!!

I was slightly nervous about accepting, partly because the girls on that team are freakin' talented so I'm really going to have to pull my socks up in order that I don't show myself up next to them.  But I was also worried about taking on another commitment.  But it is a fortnightly challenge so there's plenty of time to get creative.  Plus it really will help me to make my Xmas cards throughout the year, instead of having a repeat of the frenzy I had in November last year.  


And of course it gives me a great excuse to use glitter on every card!  


So of course I said yes.  


Thank you Samantha for having me on your wonderful sparkly team!  I hope I make you proud!

So today is my first card, and the theme this fortnight is O for Open it up.  You need to decorate the inside (with option of decorating the back).  I decided to cheat a little bit, cos the front is mostly acetate and therefore most of the inside shows through to the front!  Oh dear, it's only my first card and I'm cheating already!  LOL

I'll show you some pics, and then explain what I did.

I followed a tutorial for the Snow Globe card on Split Coast Stampers (which I actually found via Stempeleinmaleins but that wasn't in English and my Google translate was coming up with some dodgy translations, so I hopped over to Split Coast Stampers).  

The snowdrift on the top of the front is covered in Woodware "Fluffy Stuff" to make it look like snow.  Then I put some white liquid pearl dotted over the inside and the acetate to create more snow, and a couple of small snowflakes that were the cut out parts from another die cut.  The bear's nose and paws are glittered with Glossy Accents and Crystal Glamour Dust, and there is some stickles on the tree and around the edge of the acetate and the inside panel.

Here's the back which is decorated with a die cut, a sentiment and some more liquid pearl 'snow'.

Our sponsors this week are Bugaboo and The Ribbon Girl

I hope to see you all at The ABC Christmas Challenge.  It really is a great challenge to give you the motivation and inspiration to keep your Christmas crafting alive throughout the year, and let's be honest, who doesn't love to be elbow deep in glitter, snowflakes and mistletoe !!!


See my cards available to buy on eBay




Card Recipe:

• Image - Polar Bear from Bugaboo
• Circle sentiment - One of my own Freebies
• Papers - Nitwits Polar Pals
• Colouring - Promarkers, Copics
• Nesties - Lacey circles
• Snowflake Dies - My Favourite Things
• Ribbons - Fantastic Ribbons
• From my stash -  Stickles, liquid pearls, glossy accents, crystal glamour dust, pearls, Merry Christmas stamp, Woodware fluffy stuff, acetate

Please pop on over to the  ABC Christmas challenge blog to see the other creations by the talented design team, and to enter our challenge.  I look forward to seeing your creations this week.

I've been inspired by:

• Crafter's Companion - Ho Ho Ho Christmas
• Creatalicious - Christmas in July

Happy crafting.