Christmas in January?

Since I'm still suffering from holiday overload, one of my Resolutions for this year was to be more prepared (and thereby less frantic) for the next holiday season. A great way to achieve that goal is to decrease December's workload by having all my Christmas cards complete and ready to mail long before the holiday crush begins.

SplitcoastStampers has the perfect challenge to accomodate this plan, the Christmas Card Challenge. This is how the challenge works: beginning in January (or whenever you choose to start), you complete 10 Christmas cards each month through November. By the time the holidays roll around, you have 110 cards ready to go! Don't need quite that many? I certainly don't, so I use several of the months to make general winter-themed cards or Christmas thank you cards. The new hostess this year, Mary (EmGee458), is even allowing participants to chose a lower number of cards per month, if that works better for them.

Unlike a swap, these cards stay with you for your personal use. For each month completed, you upload the cards to your SCS gallery and are then entered in a drawing for a small monthly prize. The biggest prize? Having all your Christmas cards finished before December!

Here's my set of 10 cards for January:

The majority of cards in this set are a cuttlebugged panel stamped with a sentiment and tied with ribbon. Thanks to my friend, Tracy, for this quick, yet elegant idea!

This card features ribbon slides by DRS Designs as the focal image:

Stamps by DRS Designs: Snowflake slide D932, Mega Snowflake Circle H259, sentiment E636.Ink: Night of NavyCardstock: Night of Navy, Baja Breeze, GP110 white.Accessories: Winter Wonderland EP, organdy ribbon.

This card was also a DRS blog challenge card; the challenge was to use as much bling as possible. I used sparkly EP, gemstones for the snowballs, the most iridescent ribbon I own, and a touch of glitter cardstock:

Stamps: DRS Designs Penguin D122, Snowflake background H015, sentiment H858.Ink: Night of Navy, Versamark, SU markers in Bashful Blue and Apricot Appeal.Cardstock: Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Silver, Doodlebug glitter DP, white.Accessories: Kaleidoscope EP, Stardust glitter pens, gemstones, iridescent ribbon, rectangle Nestabilities.

My favorite card of this set is the votive candle card I created from a Technique Junkies' tutorial. Here it is closed:

Open and on display:

Stamps by DRS Designs: Large snowflake M238, Snowflake ribbon slide D932, Interlocking Snowflake background H015, Back in Time sentiment H674, Swirl Snowflakes F168, Handmade by C264.Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, vellum.Ink: Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, Versamark.Accessories: Iridescent EP, Winter Wonderland EP, blue velvet ribbon, scallop border punch, votive candle.

And this is the card complete with a lit votive candle (safest used with a battery-powered votive):

Some months I make 10 different cards, and other months I'll do assembly line stamping and produce my allotment in bulk. Next month I'm thinking of using a great set of sparkly snowflake die cuts I found on clearance to showcase!

Special Note: This was originally intended to post this morning, but our internet connection was down for over 24 hours. Talk about withdrawal! KL Scrappin N Stampin extended their Basic Grey DP sale through today -- head on over there for last minute savings and free shipping!