Holly Branch & Ornament Season's Greetings Card - CASE-ing Christmas Challenge #2

My friend, the amazing crafty whirlwind known as Mynn, has set up a new Christmas card challenge blog called CASE-ing Christmas.  Somehow, I managed to miss the first challenge but I was determined to play along with challenge #2.  I had to get a shift on as there were only a few hours left to take part in the challenge!  This week we're to CASE this beautiful card made by Pat. I chose to be inspired by the layout, the dry embossing and the swirly flourish.

 

I love getting some new Christmas goodies in the sales and because I want to play with my new bargains it encourages me to start making my Christmas cards early!  I've used two of my new bargains on this card, the stamp and die combo set and the holly branch die.  I went very traditional in my colour choices opting for Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla and some sparkly gold.  The card is A6 sized, the Very Vanilla banner is dry embossed with a snowflake swirl folder and the ornament and sentiment strip are both popped up.  I added some deep red crystals as holly berries to complete the card front.

Here's the inside and the envelope.  For the inside I cut the holly branch in Old Olive CS and added red nailheads as berries.  I used the same gorgeous embossing folder that I'd used on the card front to emboss the envelope flap - a very simple yet elegant touch I think.  So that's my first Christmas card for 2015 made.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sizzix 'Ornaments #3' stamps & dies set, Hero Arts 'Holiday Cheer' clear set
CS: SU! Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Gold Glimmer Paper
Patterned paper: Echo Park Style Essentials 'Green Damask'
Ink: SU! Cherry Cobbler & Old Olive
Tools: Framelits dies from Sizzix 'Ornaments #3' stamps & dies set, Die-Versions Whispers 'Holly Branch' die, Darice 'Snowflake Swirl' embossing folder
Embellishments & accessories: red Swarovski crystals, red nailheads, SU! Dimensionals