Nutcracker Postage

This card was a blast to make this morning! I was surprised by how easily it went together even though I had a packed morning--a trip to the post office, a stop at the eye doctor's office to pick up my new glasses, a house call from the chimney repair folks, and another repair house call for our dishwasher. (The bad news is that we will be without a functioning dishwasher for at least another week while waiting for the required parts. Boo hoo.) But I managed to play with paper (and give myself a dose of happy!) around all of that and still had plenty of time this afternoon to do my freelance work for the day. Yay!

This card gives you a sneak peek of a new Mark's Finest Papers clear stamp set that will be released next week--Christmas Postage Due. This is a very cool set with lots of holiday postage-y images and sayings. The inside of my card reads "Sending you the Joy of the Season." Perfect, right?

I desperately wanted to play along with the ColourQ challenge this week which featured cherry cobbler, cajun craze, more mustard, taken with teal, and vanilla. I actually have none of those SU colors but was able to substitute pretty nicely for all of them. I just bought last year's SU In-Color markers and card stock at a huge discount (about 75% off), and I was thrilled to find that bermuda breeze, dusty durango, and crushed curry were great subs. So I got to use my new goodies right away!! This is my first attempt at coloring a stamped image with SU markers. It was a little trickier than I thought and it shows. Please be gentle in your comments!! I'm going to need lots of practice.

I also got to use some great new Christmas DP that I got with a gift certificate that I won recently. I used some October Afternoon Very Merry DP (the red poinsettia print) and some Echo Park Everyone Loves Christmas DP(the teal snowflakes print). I am loving both of these, I just wish I'd ordered extra sheets of that Echo Park stuff.

OK, enough prattle about my card! (Oh, except to say that this is a 4.25" x 4.25" square card.) Here are the challenges I incorporated, and then I'll sign off:

• today's Splitcoast sketch challenge, SC305:
• colourQ #57:
• Speedy the Cat's Friends: Challenge #27, make a holiday card
• Critter Sketch Challenge: #38, anything Christmas
  
• Paper Sundaes: #42, For the Boys (for a boy or a man)
  
• Papertake Weekly: Penny for the Guy (cards for boys/men)
• A Spoon Full of Sugar: Relish to Embellish (because I was aiming for this to be a masculine card, I kept with more masculine embellishments: twine and silver brads. Couldn't make it too girly with flowers, bows, and lace!!)
• The Paper Players: #22, Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers Christmas Postage Due
Paper: SU bermuda bay CS, The Paper Company CS, MFP Snow Storm ultra smooth finish CS, October Afternoon Very Merry DP, Echo Park Everyone Loves Christmas DP
Ink: Palette noir black, Stamp 'n Write markers
Accessories: SU 1" circle punch, foam tape, baker's twine, silver brads