Christmas is Family

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What brings you joy during the holidays? For me, it’s spending time with my family. I love the time together playing games, opening gifts, sitting by the fireplace, and just existing together.

My card today is inspired by the As You See It Challenge: it’s a fill in the blank!

At first, I wasn’t sure what I would do on a card for this one. How would I depict family on a holiday card?

Then I remembered a stamp set that I got in my pre-order for the upcoming Stampin’ Up! catalogues! “The Gang’s All Meer” stamp set will be available from the Sale-a-bration Brochure in January.

I realized that there are five people in my immediate family and this image has five meerkats!! I saw someone put Santa hats on the critters for a card, so I decided to give it a go!

I stamped the meer cat family on some Whisper White cardstock with Tuxedo Black Momento ink. I used my Stampin’ Blends to colour the image: Light and Dark Crumbcake for the cheerful crew, Dark Balmy Blue, Light Night if Navy, and Dark Night of Navy for the background, and Poppy Parade for the Santa hats.

The Santa hat image is from the Playful Penguins stamp set from Stampin’ Up! I stamped them on Whisper White cardstock, coloured them, then fussy cut them and adhered them to the little heads. The pompom on the end of the hat was cut separately, so I could attach it in different ways to the hats. That way, I could make the hats all a little bit different.

I used the Snowfall Accents Puff Paint to create the falling snow on the background, heat setting it to make that puff paint puff!!

Then I had another thought! Would the meerkats fit in the Stampin’ Up! Shaker Domes? YES, they do!!

Now, I was REALLY excited!!

I used the Snowglobe Scenes dies to cut the hole in the piece of the See a Sillhouette Designer Series Paper by Stampin’ Up!. I used about a teaspoon of pickling salt as snow in my dome and layered my pieces together over the Night of Navy card base and a matte of Gold Glimmer Paper.

The base of the shaker globe is created with Basic Black cardstock, cut with the same die set and my die cutting machine. I also used the Subtle embossing folder to give it some texture. I wrapped a piece of Linen Thread around the base of the globe and secured it on the backside before adhering the globe base to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals. I tucked some leaves under the globe base that I punched out of Garden Green cardstock and a random scrap of Perennial Essence Designer Series Paper. You might also notice the pine bough on the left side, which is a sticker left over from my Christmas Countdown Calendar kit.

Finally, I stamped the sentiment from “The Gang’s All Meer” stamp set in Poppy Parade ink on Crumb Cake cardstock. I flagged the end and tied a Linen Thread bow on it and adhered it over a strip of Real Red cardstock, also flagged on the end.

If you like these products, you can click on the SHOP option in the top menu of this page and seek them out on my online store. If you are visiting my page from anywhere other than Canada, you won’t be able to shop with me, but you can look for demonstrators in your area. I know they would be happy to help you!

“The Gangs All Meer” stamp set is not yet available. Watch for it in January when the new catalogues come out!

Now get Stamping!