Welcome to December ...........

Happy Tuesday ........

And a Happy 1st of December ....... the countdown is on!

I hope your week has got off to a good start.  We had a bit of a busy weekend so yesterday was a quiet one here.

  

I've no blog challenges for you this month, CAS Mix Up and Simply Sweet Poppy are having a very well deserved Christmas break.  Don't worry though we will be back again, raring to go, with a whole load of new fun challenges for you in January.

It does mean that I can concentrate on getting my Christmas cards finished ...... yes I'm still making them (I'll apologise now if any are late arriving!) 

If you're like me, and still looking for festive inspiration, then how about these for quick and easy, fun Christmas cards ......

I'm loving the new Aperture Stencils from Sweet Poppy, I used the tall triangle on a couple of my show samples recently and I loved the finished look so, I decided to create a few more quick and easy, contemporary designs.

Looks great in festive reds and greens ..........

I simply masked across the bottom of my card using low tack stencil tape and then used the tall triangle stencil to create my little forest of trees

I started in the centre and inked through the aperture with Distress Ink, building up the colour gradually.

I then masked off the inked edges of the triangle shape, moved the stencil over a little, varying the height and size of the triangle, and applied a different colour of Distress Ink through the aperture, repeating the process across the full width of the card

A gold star on the top, a few dots of White Enamel Accents to give the look of falling snow, and a touch of glitter along the edges for added sparkle.  And of course a festive sentiment to finish

Another fun, easy way of masking is to use a piece of copier paper cut by hand to create the look of snow covered hills.  

And Christmas cards/trees don't have to be red and green ..... how pretty do the trees look in shades of icy blues

Exactly the same process as before ...... moving the stencil along the edge of the mask, covering any inked edges that show, and varying the height.

All the cards are 7x5 inches (my favourite size), and this technique works both portrait or landscape, and just think of all the colour combinations you could try.

 

The Christmas card box is filling up ....... very slowly!

I was in town earlier with Lauren and I must confess I very nearly bought some Christmas cards (NOOOOO!!!!)  Can you imagine if I actually sent shop bought cards ....... ooohhhhh !!?!!

Thanks for popping by .... enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time ...... 

Products used:

Stencils: Tall Triangle Aperture Stencil (Sweet Poppy)

Stamps: Big & Bold Slimline Poinsettias (Colorado Craft Company) - for the sentiments

Inks: Distress ink - Rustic Wilderness, Evergreen Bough, Barn Door, Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans, Weathered Wood, Chipped Sapphire, Shaded Lilac; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Other: Crystalina Glitter (Sweet Poppy); White Enamel Accents (Ranger); Die cut star from my stash