Christmas in July Blog Hop, Day 1

Welcome and thank you for joining us for the Christmas in July Blog Hop.  You should have arrived here from Kimberli's Creations .  If you just happened to stumble upon this hop, and you want to start at the beginning, go back to Expressions by Elaine  so you don't miss any of the wonderful projects we have to share.  Elaine organized this hop and I'm thrilled to participate!  PLUS she has a terrific Grand Prize to give away if you visit and follow all the blogs on the hop.  So after you have stopped at all the blogs, go back to Expressions by Elaine and leave your name at Inlinkz for a chance to win!

Now onto my creation for today.  A few months back, I found the Trim the Tree seasonal cartridge on sale at Joann's, so I took advantage of the low price and bought it.  Just like other seasonal cartridges, this one offers an image and a layered cut for 25 Christmas designs.  It is VERY intricate!  And oh so lovely.  Here's what I made--my first Christmas card for this year!

The card base is 5x7" in slightly off-white card stock.  The plaid pattern is from DCWV Christmas Combo printed matstack and I didn't even trim it.  The 4.5 x 6.5 mat fit perfectly.  Next layer of green is also from the same matstack and the cream color is from my stash.  Both of these were corner punched with a Fiskars punch called Heritage (3-in-1 corner punch).  The cream paper is embossed with Cuttlebug Snowflakes and inked up with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

This picture, taken with a flash, shows off the red shimmer paper I used to cut the top layer of the sleigh (DCWV Shimmer Stack).  I used red and green stickles on the "leaf-like shapes" and some gems that were the "petals" of a gem flower that I took apart.  And little gold stars!  Black cardstock from my stash provides the bottom image.  The sentiment is a Mary Engelbreit stamp, and I used a red gel pen to fill in the star.                                                                          

Then I popped up the sleigh and popped up the white/green mat too.  See the close-up above.  And shown below is the inside of the card.  This sentiment is from Studio G.

And that's my project for Day 1 of our hop!  So how about some candy?!  Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win some delicious Christmas embellies.  And a set of Inkadinkadoo border stamps.  I've bought several different styles of border stamps lately and love them!  For more chances to win, be sure to come back for Day 2 and Day 3 of the hop.

Now, your next stop is Look at My Cute Stuff , so hop on over to her site.  Here's the total lineup in case you missed anyone!        

Elaine @ http://expressionsbyelaine.blogspot.com/
Jessica @ http://jessicascraftshaque.blogspot.com/
Sylvia @ http://bellascrapbookdesigns.blogspot.com/
Lisa @ http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/
Amber @ http://pixiperfectcreations.blogspot.com/
Rochelle @ http://twotearsinmybucket.blogspot.com/
Jen @ http://www.jenscraftcorner.com/
Cely @ http://hawaiipaperparty.blogspot.com/
Chris @ http://chatterscene-mom.blogspot.com/
Kimberli @ http://kimberliscreations.blogspot.com/
Pat @ http://patsscraps.blogspot.com/     --- YOU'RE HERE ---

Shirley @ http://lookatmycutestuff.blogspot.com/

Tiffany @ Sparkledmemories.blogspot.com

Georgiana @ Carsonscricutcreations.blogspot.com
Candace @  scrappin2littleprincesses

Thanks for coming to the hop today.  Be sure to stop back again tomorrow for more creative ideas!  -- Pat