Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

The Verve holiday sets are in the store and officially available for purchase! There are a whopping SIX new sets and three beautiful new Scripture plain janes. I was playing around this weekend with the Ornamental Christmas set, and came up with today's card. The layout is from one of the sketches that Julee put together for last week's Verve Holiday Release Sketch Blitz. It's such a cool one!

Before I talk too much about the card, I'll just say up-front - my card is one of those that's a little off the beaten path in terms of the stamp set. Ornamental Christmas is primarily a Christmas ornament set. The evergreen branch image on my card is really more of an accessory to the ornaments, but I was so drawn to its clean and simple, graphic lines that I decided to give it center stage. Both patterns of dp are from Basic Grey's Wassail pack. When I first saw the pretty red pattern, it looked so elegant. But when I started laying it beside some of the other patterns, it began to look more rustic, even "country." It kind of reminds me of a calico fabric pattern. I bet I've never mentioned before that I grew up in an area with a pretty sizeable population of "old-order" Mennonites who drove around (and still do) in horse-drawn black buggies. Just like the Amish. As you might imagine, they do a lot of quilting and they sew their own dresses, so the fabric stores back home are always stocked with oodles of different calico fabrics. Sorry to get off-topic ... just a little tidbit for today.

Back to the card: I continued the rustic, country look with some distressed edges, sponging, and machine stitching, along with some burlap string and the Martha Stewart branch punch. Let me briefly mention how much I LOVE this burlap string! I've been getting mine from Pink Hedgehog Paper Crafts. And seriously, friends, count the layers on this baby. I'm so proud of myself, LOL!

Be sure to visit the Verve Gallery to see all kinds of projects from the Verve Divas and Guest Divas. I think this month's release has been one of the best ever! Should any or all of it strike your fancy, the Verve store is open 24/7.

Thanks for stopping by!



Stamps: Ornamental Christmas (Verve Stamps)
Paper: SU True Thyme, Basic Grey Wassail
Ink: Always Artichoke, True Thyme, Sahara Sand
Accessories: classic square Nestabilities and label die (Spellbinders); sponge daubers, distressing tool, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); green ribbon (unknown); burlap string (Pink Hedgehog Paper Crafts); Martha Stewart branch punch; sewing machine
Size: 5 1/4" square