HOLIDAY CHEER

Life has been a bit crazy of late and, other than trying to work on my personal Christmas cards, I haven't been participating in the challenges that I enjoy so much. Today I decided to take a break from the chaos to play a bit. I combined a couple of my favorite challenges into one card - Freshly Made Sketches for layout inspiration and Tic Tac Toe for additional elements.

Freshly Made Sketches #564 called for a circular element with other layered images. I chose a wreath image from Impression Obsession and decided to play with the idea of the wreath white heat embossed on two different papers - black and kraft, using the wreath image to suggest the white markings of fawns. I think this little die character is from My Favorite Things. I die cut a stitched circle out of a stitched rectangle and overlayed it on a black and white wreath and trimmed it for a mat. Then I matted that with an additional silver panel and silver heat embossed the sentiment from Impression Obsession. Finally, I tied silver threads around the fawn's neck, glued him over the wreath, added a couple of silver stars, and mounted it all on a black side-folded card base. 

For the Tic Tac Toe Challenge #190, I selected the center row across - Animal/Winter Foliage/Metallic. 

Freshly Made Sketches: Freshly Made Sketches #564 - A Sketch by Cécile

 TTTC190 - Featured Designer Vicky - Tic Tac Toe Challenge

On a personal note: Several things have been cutting into my cardmaking time. At the end of the summer, we had our large front yard completely torn out in preparation for renovation into a waterwise garden of native plants and a much smaller lawn. We hired a crew to scrape and turn the soil. We brought in plumbers to install a backflow valve for a new drip irrigation system and are having part of the perimeter layered with decomposed granite and rocks. But we've pretty much run out of money for the project because of having to replace our heat pump system and roof. In July we also had a solar system installed. 

All of that to say that because of coming to the end of our allotted resources for all of these projects, I've taken on a couple of design projects to earn a bit more money so we can finish up the yard in the spring. This isn't a complaint because they are fun projects - a medical spa, the second floor of an historic 1896 brick building, and a consultation with an architect on the county courthouse in Grants Pass. However, I'm finding my personal time temporarily diminished and feeling a bit rushed as we barrel toward Christmas.

And then there are the cats... well, I'll talk about them in a later post.