Control Freaks - It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

Control Freak Stampers presents "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..." Now, I'm not one who likes to skip right over Thanksgiving (I still have all of my Fall decor up), but in the stamping world you kind of have to get a jump start on Christmas fun so you can use all of the great products Stampin' Up! always comes out with! I know many stampers have been playing with Christmas products since the summer. I just started this month, so I'm a bit behind, but I have seen some beautifully crafted paper creations so far using many of the NEW Stampin' Up! products from the 2015 Holiday Catalog. There is even a small little section in the Annual Catalog this year for the holidays!

If you have already been following along on the tour, you should have just arrived from Mary Brown's blog. If so, you're on the right track, so continue on to enjoy some inspiration today!

The two cards I am sharing with you today on the hop kind of have the "snow" theme. I'm really hoping for a snowy winter, but here in the Pacific NW ~ let's face it: it's usually just rain. 

I started with a Thick Whisper White card base and layered it with Smoky Slate cardstock. I added a strip of Silver Glimmer, Holidays Fancy Foil Designer Vellum, and paper from the Season of Cheer DSP. The "merry" was cut out of Silver Glimmer using the Christmas Greetings Thinlits.  I finished off the sentiment with "Christmas" from the Holly Jolly Greetings stamp set. Pair the thinlits together with this set and you can purchase as a bundle for 15% off. They go really perfectly together! The large snowflake (stamped in Lost Lagoon ink) also comes from the Holly Jolly Greetings set. I cut it out using the 2-1/2" Circle Punch and added a beautiful Iced Rhinestone Embellishment for the center. Before popping up the circle on Dimensionals I added some Silver Metallic Thread behind it.

This next card I think is more beautiful in person! Sometimes a photo just doesn't do cards justice. This one is decked out in glitter and shimmer!

I started with a Night of Navy card base. The strip of snowflakes paper on the far left comes from the Season of Cheer DSP. I added a strip of Silver Glimmer Paper on top of that. The winter scene comes from the Happy Scenes stamp set, which is stamped in Night of Navy ink onto Whisper White cardstock and punched out with the 2-1/2" Circle Punch. I added Dazzling Diamonds Glitter using the 2-Way Glue Pen. It sparkles so beautifully in real life! The "Season's Greetings" sentiment also comes from the Happy Scenes stamp set. I simply snipped off the end with Paper Snips to create the banner. I added a Snowflake Element and then tied a bow using Silver Cording Trim and attached with a Mini Glue Dot.

These Snowflake Elements are a favorite for me this year!! 

Thanks so much for stopping by! Next up is Melissa Davies at Rubber Funatics. Keep hopping along to see what she has to share with us...as well as the rest of the Control Freak crew!

Holly Jolly Greetings

One of my most favorite sentiment sets from the 2015 Holiday Catalog is the Holly Jolly Greetings set. I think one of the main reasons I love it so much is because you can either pair it with the Christmas Greetings Thinlits (buy as a bundle and save 15%!) or this set can also stand alone to make SO MANY Christmas phrases perfect for any holiday greeting card!

I designed the cards below to use at tonight's card making night at my mother-in-law's home with her and all of her friends. We are making 3 Christmas cards and 1 Thanksgiving (grateful/thankful) card. I wanted the design to be easy enough that each of the stampers could create whichever greeting they wanted to say without getting too frustrated if the sentiment was off a bit. So...instead of having them stamp right onto the paper, they will stamp onto scraps and then cut out the individual pieces and create what they would like it to say! It might be a little bit difficult to see in the pictures, but each of those little bitty sentiments are popped up. This way you can purposefully make them crooked if you want to...or place them anywhere you would like! The thinlits are glued with the Fine Tip Glue pen (love that new toy!)

I created three different samples, so the ladies could see they can make their card say whatever they would like it to!

Stamp Sets	Holly Jolly Greetings
Ink	Cherry Cobbler
Paper	Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow, Very Vanilla, Season of Cheer DSP, Merry Moments DSP
Accessories	SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Fine Tip Glue Pin, Gold Ribbon, Home for Christmas Enamel Dots
Tools	Big Shot Die-Cutting Machine, Christmas Greetings Thinlits, Paper Snips

Come visit our blog to see more designers use the Holly Jolly Greetings!