Not Quite Christmas in July!

This is my last batch of cards I made for an earlier submission.  And, what seems like, the last time I had the opportunity to make some art too.  Between the end of school and all the subsequent activities and everything else, I haven't had any time to create.  (* sigh *)  Hopefully, I'll have some time here soon though.

These particular cards were made for a holiday edition.  You were supposed to use non-holiday products to create Christmas cards -- but you were allowed to use one holiday sentiment if you wanted.  I actually thought it was a lot of fun, trying to look at our stamps with a different eye and making holiday cards.

This first card was using the Fabulous You set, making the bird a Christmas-red cardinal and using traditional Christmas colors.



This next card is using the Distressed Backgrounds set, with some trendy colors and a more contemporary feel.



Then I was playing around with the Love Doily set, trying to see if I could make a poinsetta-like flower with the doily.  My first attempt was using darker colors with Kraft cardstock.  I even cut out a few leaves with the doily to finish the flower.



I then tried it again, using brighter more vibrant colors.



I love the cute Owls set, so I definitely wanted to try to see if I could turn a card I already created into a holiday card.  I changed out the colors and added a Santa hat, and I love how it turned out.



Since I was liking those colors so much, I pretty much used them again with a few changes.  This one was clean and simple, with a fancy sentiment creating the holiday card.  The large flourish was from the Swirls Around set. 



Then I thought it would be fun to use what would definitely not be normal Christmas colors.  I used the cute little Hello Blooms set, thinking that the musical flower may help lend to a holiday song.



And the last card I created was using the Honeycomb set, I went back to a traditional Christmas color scheme.  I was so happy with how this card came together, this set is so easy to use as a background for most anything.



How do you think I did?  None of the cards were selected for publication, but I loved how they all turned out.  I need to work on some thank you cards here next, if I ever get a chance to create again, that is.  :-)

Dani