Christmas with Barnyard Babies for FMS259

I’ve shared quite a few Halloween cards this week, so I thought it would be fun to mix things up a bit for this week’s Freshly Made Sketches challenge.  I reached for the Annual Catalog and my Backyard Babies stamp set to make this sweet-and-simple Christmas card.  Here’s my card:

And here’s the banner for the challenge that inspired my card:

Tips, Tricks and Reminders

• Fleece Navidad.  Just in case you don’t “get” the humor of this image and sentiment, I want to take a moment to explain.  “Feliz Navidad” is Spanish for “Merry Christmas.”  Sheep are sheared for their woolen fleece.  Fleece sounds like Feliz.  Are you rolling around on the ground yet?  You should be.  🙂  I stamped the sheep, then the hat, then the sentiment.  I colored the hat with a Blender Pen and Cherry Cobbler ink, and I colored the sheep’s face and lets with Crumb Cake.  Just a touch of color that pairs with the other colors in the card.I actually adore this little guy and love that I can use him for any time of the year – I only had to add a little hat for the Holidays.  The set is filled with tiny, adorable animals and some really great, complementary sayings.
  

  Barnyard Babies, Stampin’ Up!

• Patterned Backdrop.  This page of tiny red hearts from Presents & Pinecones Designer Series Paper gives me a perfect backdrop for this sweet-and-simple sheep.  Why does it work so well?  The tone-on-tone patterns of the paper doesn’t distract from the focal point (like a page of stripes would) but create a lovely texture.  You know it’s there, but it doesn’t steal your attention.  Here’s a closer look at some of the papers in this pack and the colors that help to make it special:
• Christmas Colors.  There’s an earthy, nature-like appeal to this card – this combination of green and red works really well together to create a Christmas card that doesn’t have an over-the-top Christmas feel.  The rich Cherry Cobbler, soft Pear Pizzazz and earthy Crumb Cake work in unison here.  If you like this combination, too, please save this:

Stamp Sets:  Barnyard Babies  Papers:  Presents & Pinecones Designer Series Paper, Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White  Inks:  Archival Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake  Accessories:  2″ Circle punch, Layering Circle Framelits Dies, Blender Pen, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Barnyard Babies Clear-Mount Stamp Set – 139328

Price: $19.00

Presents & Pinecones Designer Series Paper – 141986

Price: $11.00

2-1/2″ Circle Punch – 120906

Price: $18.00

Layering Circle Framelits Dies – 141705

Price: $35.00

Blender Pens – 102845

Price: $10.00

Cherry Cobbler 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock – 119685

Price: $8.00

Pear Pizzazz 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock – 131201

Price: $8.00

Crumb Cake 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock – 120953

Price: $8.00

Supply List

One more sample.  I used the pig from this stamp set to make this card last year for a Global Design Project challenge – click on the picture to read more about this sweet card:

I hope you’ll pop over to the Freshly Made Sketches site to see the cards by the design team members and to play along with this week’s challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Brian