Serene Christmas Scene

When I received my card from Asha, via the Card Chain Challenge, I fell in love with the stamp set she used. She told me that it was manufactured by Clearly Besotted, called Christmas Cheer, but, sadly, had been discontinued. Well, I went on the hunt - I found the stamp set at one store and the dies at another, and I won't even tell you how much I spent to get the set, a gift to me from me.  This is my first card with the new set and you'll notice there are no decorations on the tree.  If there were, the cat would be sure to turn this serene scene into a mess!

What I Used to Make my Card:
Vanilla Card Base
Clearly Besotted "Christmas Cheer" stamp & die (discontinued)
Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous "Scribbly Christmas" #CMS249
Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Tea Dye, Mowed Lawn, Fired Brick, Pumice Stone and Brushed Corduroy
Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink in Red Geranium
Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
Vanilla, White, Black, Gold Glitter Cardstock
Stickles in Gold
The Art Institute Glitter in True Red
McGill Cat Punch
Pop Dots

First thing I did was stamp all of the Clearly Besotted Christmas Cheer stamps and then die cut them. I die cut the candelabra twice, once out of black cardstock and once out of gold glitter card, layered them together and adhered.

Once I had all my pieces, I stamped the string across the fireplace to hold the round banner.  I assembled all the die cuts and set them aside to dry, including the flames, which I also put gold Stickles on and loose red glitter from the Art Institute.  I took a vanilla card panel and stamped one of the trees out of the Scribbly Christmas set on it, being sure to leave enough room for the fireplace.  I have a very old McGill cat punch (ok, I have  a few many, many cat punches) and I punched the cat out of black cardstock.  I assembled everything, adhered it all to the vanilla panel and edged the panel with Pumice Stone ink. I saw the strip of gold glitter card on my desk, so I grabbed it, glued it to my base card and then pop dotted the panel to the base.

Another look

I adore the Christmas Cheer set and I am so glad I found both the stamp set and the matching dies. Not a one could be found, not even on eBay!  I am already thinking of other ways to use these stamps and to me, that makes it a good investment worth the money I spent (I can justify almost anything).

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I am entering my Serene Christmas Scene in the following challenges:
The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - #49, X is for Xmas
Cut it Up - #86. Brrrrr! Winter!
Frilly & Funkie - 'Tis the Season
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Holly Jolly Stamping
Dream Valley Challenges - #121, Die Cuts & Punches
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - #259, Anything Goes, as long as it's Christmas
Show Us Your Pussies Challenge - (M) #1, CatMouse is Coming!