Holly Jolly St. Nick

Hello hello blogging friends! i hope you had a spectacular weekend in your neck of the woods. Husband and I visited a dog show so we could stare at all the beautiful Dobe Boys and Girls. Ours runs more toward the Dobe Goof side of the breed family, and we love every bit of him. It is nice to see the ladies and gents, though. *wink*

Today kicks off a new Beary Sweet Challenge, and our theme is Anything Goes! Haha - I love this kind of challenge since it allows me complete freedom. Of course, this was a no-brainer for me since I started designing this card in my head waaay back when I first got my mitts on the My Mind's Eye Holly Jolly papers. With this challenge I was finally able to use it.

Santa is too delicious to be *just* a background element, don'tcha think? I had 2 of the same sheets and cut one Santa out. I painted him with Distress Crackle paint and layered him onto the second. Oh, I also I lightly inked the cut-out edges before painting with the crackle. I used Stickles on the holly and berries in his hat, too.

Here's a little note about Stickles - I have both the "Christmas Red" and "Gold" but find that "Candy Cane" and "Diamond" are much more suitable. When compared side by side, the former seem too bright.

The delightful ribbon is new to The Beary Scrap and I *love* it! I used 2 strips and wove gold embroidery thread through the centers. It was a bit of a brainstorm, and I'm really happy it hit me. I have tons of embroidery thread from years (er... decades?) ago that I've never used. Now it will be put to a good use! Yay!

The tag and tag holder thingy are Tim Holtz... stay tuned for TH products at TBS. *verybiggrin* The holly leaves (edged in Diamond Stickles) and red gems are from stash.

Card Recipe

• Paper: My Mind's Eye Holly Jolly "Jolly Old St. Nick"; Bazzill Basics Mud Pie and (Dark Green)
• Medium: Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan; Stickles in Diamond, Candy Cane, Green; Distress Crackle Paint in Rock Candy
• Embellishments: Lace (available soon on the website); Embroidery floss, holly leaves, gems from stash
• Adhesive: Scor-Tape, sewing machine

Thank you *so* much for visiting us today! We hope you join our Anything Goes challenge - we'd love to see your projects!

Cheers,
Susan