5 Christmas Trees … And A Card With A Branch From A Pear Tree!

In less than four hours, our five Christmas trees are up, lit, and tree skirts are in place. All of the ornament boxes are sitting by the corresponding tree ready to decorate, and the empty tree boxes are ready to go back in storage for the next couple of months.

Are you a “get the tree down and gone” the day after Christmas person??? Or maybe you leave your tree standing until Epiphany like my sister in law Teri does. Personally, I like my trees to stay up until end of January because they brighten the winter days for me. I turn them all on at the beginning of the day, and they stay lit until bedtime. Pool Boy declared the Chiefs tree could not come down until they lose in the playoffs several years ago, but I’m not sure that will happen this year. Their playoff chances are not looking good, and that’s ok too. It remains to be seen!

The card above is the one I designed for the smaller swap at Back Stage with our Accountability group. Swaps are great ways to gather ideas with products and card layouts, but sometimes you have to look past the card front itself to see the possibilities. I still have swap cards from Disney, and one of the cards I used as a prototype. It was a child’s birthday card that didn’t appeal to me, BUT the way the card was made was unique!

When you open the card front, the small panel moves as well, allowing another view while you read the message inside the card. It is a simple technique with a couple of snips to create a flap, but it adds interest to the card!!!! Will I continue to keep the swap card? Nope. I’ve used it, wrote up some simple directions for the future with pictures of my card instead. And I’m really thankful I got that swap card!!

Would you have paired – no pun intended! – Secret Sea and Petal Pink together as a color combo?? I grabbed the Branching out dies, the Painterly Pears DSP, along with the Perfectly Pear dies to create the card front. The greeting came from the Banner Sayings stamp set and the gems are the Low Profile Sparkle Dots.

You have to look past the front of a swap card to see the possibilities. Maybe there’s a special technique or usage of a stamp you’ve not tried before, a layout that’s new, or even the color combination you’ve never tried.

Stampin Up announced today an upcoming Black Friday sale on select products (which translates to I’ve no idea what those products are!) I’ll share more on Friday, but until then, here’s hoping you have a great day stamping, a great day crafting, and God Bless!

And If you want to decorate a Christmas tree, come on over!!!

Painterly Pears Suite Collection (English) [166159] $73.75	Painterly Pears 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [166146] $12.50	Perfectly Pears Bundle (English) [166154] $42.25	Perfectly Pears Dies [166153] $27.00
Banner Sayings Bundle (English) [167051] $38.50	Banner Sayings Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [167044] $17.00	Branching Out Dies [165775] $29.00	Secret Sea 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [165624] $14.00
Petal Pink 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [146985] $14.00	Low Profile Sparkle Dots [166157] $9.50	Secret Sea Classic Stampin' Pad [165285] $9.00	Petal Pink Classic Stampin' Pad [147108] $9.00