A Christmas Postcard

Hello all, and welcome to Words and Pictures.  It's Friday, and it's time for a new challenge over at Fussy and Fancy... and this fortnight it's I Love Christmas.  So, to fulfil my DT duties, I've finally had to abandon my "No Christmas Crafting Before December" policy... but only by a day (though obviously I had to make this a few days ago, in all honesty).

Here's the card I'd like to share with you, made with a Jumbo Size 10 tag as the base.

The stamps are nearly all by Graphic 45, except for the white embossed snowflakes which are from an Artistic Outpost set (which you'll be seeing a lot more of as December progresses...).

I love the vintage feel of the images, and they're lovely to stamp with.







I know Graphic 45 are best known for their papers, but the stamps (made by Hampton Art) are a real delight too.

I folded the tag in half, and used the postcard stamp both on the front and the back.  I did some distressing with Frayed Burlap DI, and also some brushes of gesso.








I stamped the two little girls (and the inside image, actually) and then had to leave the thing sitting there for a couple of days while I tried to work out what to do with the space in front of them!












Finally, light dawned - by a happy coincidence, Father Christmas was just behind that empty space so, by creating an aperture, I could have him as they thing they are looking at so eagerly!

I cut the hole and rolled the the edges, and used the holly stamp to create a border around it.

Inside you have the family dancing - or are they putting up decorations? - hard to tell!  In any case, they certainly look as though they love Christmas!

There are some more embossed snowflakes, the holly stamp again, and the distressing as on the outside of the card, but a little more gently applied.




I think the little girl is adorable!






I love the Glad Tidings greeting... and there's room, I hope, for some fairly neat signatures underneath.

The ribbons are dyed using Distress Inks, and tied so that you only have to undo the little white bow.  Once open, you then have one ribbon still on each side as you are looking at the card, and if you want, you could leave it open and add the white ribbon back on to one side or the other.

So that's my little vintage offering... Do visit Fussy and Fancy and have a look at the amazing work done by my Design Team colleagues - I'm sure you'll find lots of inspiration, and we really hope you'll be able to play along with us this fortnight.  Thanks so much for your visit, and see you again soon!

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.
Burton Hillis

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day.  Don't clean it up too quickly.
Andy Rooney

I'm entering this in the following:
At Sugar Creek Hollow they are playing a Vintage Christmas challenge
The Shabby Tea Room are looking for Just Neutrals - and my sentiment is on the inside
Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers are playing with Vintage this week
Simon Says Stamp are on an Anything Goes week
They would like to see Christmas cards in non-traditional colours over at Elke Kaart Een Feestje! (Every card a party!)