Saturday, March 19, 2022

Christmas Card Throwdown: Holly & Joy

 I was thrilled to be a winner at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown with this card for their masculine card challenge. Now I am honored to be their guest for the current challenge: Holly andor Ivy.  Here's how I was inspired.

Holly and Joy


After I decided on the Holly Ring, I happened to have the pad of mirrored pastel cardstock out on my desk for another card. It was a happy coincidence because it got me thinking that maybe I'd take my card in a slightly different color direction than red and green. I went with soft pastels and a variety of neutrals - white, ivory and that soft plaid in the background. 

I experimented with a variety of sentiments for this card.  I thought about stamping but I didn't want it in black and white embossing wouldn't show up well on that light colored background and I didn't want to add cardstock back into the center (I like the dainty look of the Holly Ring without filling it in.)  So then I looked at sentiment dies. I'm a "rule-follower" so I started looking at dies that fit inside the frame - because that's what a frame is, right?!   I don't really know what made me try the big "joy" but I knew right away I liked it even though it didn't fit and should have made me a little twitchy! I found some regular cardstock that matched the mirrored berries, then I added the mirrored ivory on the edges to accent it.

Holly and Joy

Thank you so much to the group at the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown for giving me this opportunity. I love the challenge they give me each week and I love inspiration that I get from their design team.

SUPPLY LIST

Dies: Poppystamps Holly Ring and Double Joy

Paper: Memory Box Vintage Pastel Mirror pad, Lush Green Collection and Garden Folly (for the background), Stampin' Up Petal Pink

7 comments:

  1. elle est magnifique Kim, très élégante, merci d'être notre guest designer cette semaine, biz

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  2. Your pastel take on holly is just perfect - so pretty! And well done for going outside the lines of your frame - it looks great. Thanks for Guest Designing for us at 52CCT this week.

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  3. Kim I'm quite sure I've said it before, but I'll repeat myself: I LOve pink at Christmas time!
    Your Joy-filled card is gorgeous!
    =]

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  4. Congrats on your win and on guesting! Pretty card, Kim. Happy Spring!

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  5. WOW--stunning card, Kim! Absolutely love the papers you used & that die is going on my wishlist!

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  6. This is so beautiful, Kim! The pastel shine from that paper is subtle but oh so gorgeous!

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