Christmas in July - July 10, 2018

Sadly, the Brightly Lit Christmas stamp set and coordinating dies Christmas Lamppost retired after just one holiday catalog in 2017.  I just couldn't let it go - it has so many possibilities - and I paired it with the current stamp set Christmas Pines, and the new stamp set Sitting Pretty.

This scene turned out almost exactly as I pictured it - so idyllic - so traditional Christmas.

It was supposed to be a picture of a little town with their Christmas banners out on all the lampposts, a bench near and someone waiting for a bus with their Christmas presents with a wreath they were going to deliver to family or friends.

Admittedly this one took some work and time.  I made only four of these.  Don't get me wrong, I totally enjoyed it (as always) but it was some work.  The banner, wreath, ribbon, and presents were all stamped and die cut.  The bench and cobblestones were die cut, and inked.

As I started stamping this, I had the lamppost and laid the bench on to look at placement.  It just looked so empty.  I got out the Christmas Pines stamps and used the snowflakes stamp with Balmy Blue.  It added the perfect touch.

This picture shows the detail of the bench with the cobblestones beneath it.  This die is a relatively new idea for Stampin' Up!  It's an embossing die.  It added the perfect touch to ground the bench.

Since the bench was way too long for the front of the card, I kept the cut off pieces, and used them to bring some continuity to the card interior. 

If you don't currently have a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, I'd be thrilled to talk with you about furthering your crafting pursuits!