W2SB #24: Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Hi, everyone! It's the first of December, which means it's time for a new Words 2 Scrap By challenge!

And, here's a pic of my 'Twas-the-Night-Before-Christmas-inspired card.   :)



SU crumb cake; DI core paper
SU festive fireplace stamp and dies; PS bow die; SU owl-builder punch
SU [sentiment] in DI walnut stain
DI evergreen bough, fired brick
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Zig 2-way pen; Ranger multi medium matte; Recollections foam squares

When I saw this stamp set in the SU holiday catalog, I immediately knew it would be perfect for this W2SB challenge. And, as much as I tried to resist, I couldn't help but put it in my shopping cart.  :)

Here are a few construction and design details.

• I opted to go with a monochromatic paper and background ink, using pops of color to emphasize the pine boughs, stockings, and cats -- even using colors from the brown family for my kitties.
• I used my MISTI to lay out the scene, stamping fireplace elements from front to back. So the mantle was stamped first and masked to stamp the fireplace.... although the pine boughs cover up most of that. LOL
• Pine boughs, stockings, and cats were stamped in various Distress Inks on crumb cake cardstock -- all heat embossed. Thinking I could've/would've/should've used brown ink for pine cones in the pine boughs. Oh, well... maybe next time.
• The stockings and orange-ish cat are three layers, while the pine boughs and tan cat are single layer but adhered using pop dots. I did this to achieve a variety of dimension.
• To create the cat bows: I rubbed DI evergreen bough on crumb cake, used a PS bow die to cut out a small bow, cut down the bow to an even smaller size, and added an owl-builder-punch circle to the center of each bow.
• I really like the vertical parallel structures of stockings and cats, as well as the parallel horizontal structure of bough on mantle and sentiment. 
• The sentiment was the last element added to the card. It just felt like bottom right needed something... so, I added the sentiment.

I know the kitties are hoping for lots of good things in those Christmas stockings of theirs. And, those of us at W2SB are hoping you will join us for our December challenge. Did I mention there's a $10 gift certificate to My Favorite Things up for grabs?!

Think I'll link up this Night-before-Christmas scene to the current Anything Goes Challenge on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog.

Parting Thoughts

Since this is the first of the month, Leslie at The Crooked Stamper has a new sketch for us. Guess who's card she used for inspiration? Hope you'll stop by Leslie's blog and check out her new sketch.  :)

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!