12 Days of Christmas

Yes!  It's that time of year again! 

I showed my desk all ready for me to make these cards and I spent a whole day just creating ....... darling DH said he would look after the dinner.

I decided that a same-ish background would pull all the designs together.

I laid a cover of Gesso over the inside of a Panetonne Cake box and, after it had dried, I painted my blank cards with various shades of Fresco paint - mixing some of the colours as I used some of the card as 'wipe-offs'.

I selected various embellishments for each card and laid them all to one side. 

Reading from the top left  ....... 

1 - snowman and circle were from a Bought Pack, the bow from the Indoor Market and the peel offs sentiment from my stash.

2 - I stamped this little Nativity Scene with a Dovecraft - a very thick ink which took ages to dry.  I added the sentiment from the BP but thought it looked very plain.  I added a peel off star above the stamping and tiny stars spread around.

3 - I placed some washi tape along the lower edge of this card and added a BP embellishment above it.  I managed to get a glitter peel off in the top right corner.

4 - One of my 'mixed' backgrounds which I wanted to show off so I used some diecuts but not just any diecuts!  I diecut the sentiment - which was free with a magazine - from some blue wall paper.  The paper had a gold streak, just as though a paintbrush had been stroked with gold along the centre.  Once I had diecut the sentiment I went to work with my tiny scissors, I carefully cut round the words to remove them from the border.  I used some of the border across the top left of the card, and added some confetti reindeer to the top right.  I placed some washi tape across the lover edge, forgot to check that it was central, and then placed the diecut sentiment above it.

5 - One of my cards had the gesso centre still showing so I placed a Bought Pack sentiment in the centre.  I found some stars border peel offs, coloured them red, and placed it around the edges of the card, using the star centres around the card.

6 - Another stamped card but this time I used just a Sharpie gold pen for the centre of the star.  It looked awful!  I found among my peel offs I found some hieroglyphic stars and used one of the larger ones, the centre glistening and shining.  I added some confetti trees alongside the stamping and scattered some of the smaller stars around the card.  Another embellishment of bells for the top tight corner completed the card. 
7 - An elf was perfect for this green card.  I placed the same star border, this time coloured green, along the lower edge and added washi tape just above it.  The elf seemed quite happy to sit above this border and only needed a sentiment to finish the card.
8 - I bought a pack of hieroglyphic tags with this project in mind.  I placed one at an angle across this card and trimmed it to size.  The cheerful robin brought some colour and I added a peel off greeting, coloured dark blue, along the lower edge. 
9 - I placed washi tape along the lower edge of this green card, coloured some tiny sentiments in shades of green and red which I sprinkled around a BP really sparkly Christmas tree.  A small green bauble hangs in the top right corner.
10 - After I had applied some washi tape along the lower edge of this card, I added a peel off sentiment - coloured red this time - and a super Father Christmas!  I love this pack of Father Christmas figures, wish I could remember where I found them!!!  
11 - I placed the tag at a slightly different angle on this card, trimmed it to match the card and tied the ribbon into a bow.  The glittery star was perfect for the top right corner of the tag but the purple Noel peel off brought some colour, a bit different one though!  The greeting was left plain silver.  
12 - The diecut on this card is cut from a superb piece of gold and peuce card.  'Peuce' I hear you say - it was my Nan's expression for a fuschia colour.  Once again I freed the words from the background, placing them at an angle across the lower edge.  I cut the background frame into pieces, one to fit across the top right corner and a longer piece down the left hand side. The sentiment heart felt made to measure as it fitted between the frame pieces. 

These cards have been parcelled, numbered and posted - they will then be distributed to the other members of the swap.  

What fun we will have on December 14th when we can start to open our parcels!!!!  

It's soooo good to start my birthday with a surprise!!!!!

Excuse me but Blogger has decided to change my layout on this blog - three days I have been trying but no ..... not my way but Bloggers!!!!