A Bloomin' Marvellous Christmas!

Don't you just LOVE this time of year? So many lovely new Sale-a-bration stamp sets to play with and the icing on the cake is that you can get them FREE! I've been loving playing with the Bloomin' Marvellous set this week and today I'm showing you just how versatile it is by using it to make a Christmas card!

When I saw the 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown challenge this week 'Use designer paper and glitter, and decorate the inside of your card' I moved on, thinking the recipe would result in something to cluttered for my taste, but Ruth's second DT sample inspired me! Come and have a look:

Banners are still all the rage and it's so simple to cut your own using designer paper, card stock or Stampin' Up's fabulous glimmer paper. This stuff comes in 12" x 12" sheets and is the least messy way I know to use glitter! Even better, you can get it for free with orders of £150 or more AND you get to choose three of the Sale-a-bration freebies as well - that's a lot of bang for your buck as they say!

I made my banners all the same width but varied the lengths and the position I placed them in for a bit of interest. The ends are cut using one of my square punches - how easy is that?!

Here's a close up of the sentiment label I made. The sentiment in Bloomin' Marvellous usually says 'oh happy day' which is great for celebrations but, by using a marker on the rubber, I could leave out the word 'day', stamp it and then add in the word 'Christmas' using my stamp-a-majig to get it where I wanted it. I punched it out with the extra large oval punch and placed it in the centre of a label that's been cut with a framelit and decorated with a Decorative Frames embossing folder. I think the flower and leaves from Bloomin' Marvellous work well in these colours as a festive embellishment...

... and, not forgetting the inside of the card, I stamped them in one corner, leaving plenty of room to write my Christmas message.

There's a CAS challenge over at Addicted to Stamps and More this week so I'll also enter this card there, and I knew there was a good reason to make a Christmas card today... it's Rudolph Day at the lovely Sandra's blog! And there's a lot of snow about of course...

Here's what you'll need to make this card

Stamps: Bloomin' Marvellous (free with Sale-a-bration), For My Family (for the word Christmas)

Ink: Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler

Card stock: Whisper White, scrap of Cherry Cobbler

Punches: Extra large Oval punch, Square punch

Other: Silver glimmer paper (free with sale-a-bration), Festival of Prints designer paper, Labels framelits, Designer Frames embossing folder, Basic Rhinestones, stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these items for you and have them delivered straight to your address in the UK. I'm committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to offer help and advice. To place your order, just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593.

• DON'T FORGET TO ADD ONE OF THESE FREE SALE-A-BRATION ITEMS FOR EVERY £45 YOU SPEND

Yesterday, my daughter settled down to do some homework alongside me as I crafted. She asked me if I minded having music on and I said I thought that would be nice. After a few minutes however I begged her to turn it off. "You said you didn't mind having music on!" she said. "I know," I said. "But this isn't music - it's just a very irritating noise!" To be fair, I normally like listening to her music as it's the only time I get to hear new things.

Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you very soon,