Secret Santa and a Card!

Why helllloooooo lovelies! Can you believe it is December already!?! I sure can't. I am so very thankful that everything is looking up and my family is doing well. We had a scare with my beloved FIL but he is improving every day. Thank goodness! And I am also thankful for such an amazing team at Anything But Cute. Every lovely lady on our team is talented, sweet, supportive, plus we all communicate terrifically. This year we decided to do Secret Santa gifts and my chosen one is Autumn! She is a kind and caring lady, not to mention a totally stellar artist so I had to pull out the big guns for this card! Cards scare the daylights out of me and I always have such a hard time with the design. This little card took me 3.5 weeks! Yikes and haha all at the same time right? Here is my gift to the fantabulous and wonderful Autumn!

I started with brown card stock and cut the TH paper to size. No measurements because I eyeball everything. Then I used my sanding block and sanded the TH paper to help showcase the holiday words. The edges were distressed. 

Next came the Santa picture (a lovely gift from Bubbles, aka Pamellia, last Christmas). I had a play on words since we are doing a secret Santa and thought this pic was perfect for the theme. Not to mention so very festive and perfect for the Holiday!

 I heat embossed the ornate frame with about 4 different embossing powders and then glued the Santa picture to the frame. I also wrote on the back of the frame the year, and date so Autumn remembers where it came from. :)

The front was made to look like glass by using a thick layer of Glossy Accents. Yes, there are air bubbles but that's okay by me. A plaid bow, some jingle bells and Santa is good to go. 

I then heat embossed a chippie word and added some more goodies and a snowflake charm to the front of the car. I think I mostly used hot glue and glossy accents for adhering everything. And of course the "snow" is a circle stencil with some glittery embossing powder sprinkled over it and the snow on the edges of the card is made using the DecoArt snow writer. 

Now for a secret: I just had to add a special touch and make Autumn a keepsake she could put on her Christmas tree so I added Velcro to the back of the ornate frame Santa so it can be taken off of the card. It's an ornament in disguise! Happy Secret Santa Autumn!

And that's all for this cards folks! But, wait there is more! Here is a sneaky peaky of the gift I received from the gloriously sweet and talented Branka of Vintage Handmade. You just have to go visit her blog to find out the amazing details of this rustic and gorgeous design! I absolutely love it!

It looks even more fantabulous in real life and the textures and crackle are spectacular! Thank you very much B and Merry Christmas! Hugz and Carpe Diem! ~Niki

I would like to share my Santa card with these challenges:

A Vintage Journey-Winter Magic

Emerald Creek Dares-Winter Wishes

Creative Artiste #21-Anything Mixed Media Goes

Southern Ridge Trading Co-Christmas and New Years

Try It On Tuesday-Celebrate

I'm totally celebrating Christmas and the giving season! 

Creative Embellishments-Photo inspiration 

I made a dangle ornament and used a metal snowflake charm like the one in the picture. 

Christmas Time!!!!

Hello y'all! Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year. I can give gifts and nobody can say no. Hehehe! This tag is for my secret Santa at work. I hope she likes it and her gift-inside the awesome looking box is everything she will need for a spa day. Soaps, lotions, loofa, candle, showering gel and chocolate. And because I am a vet tech and she has 2 dogs, I included some dog treats dipped in yogurt for her furry babies.

I used my Tim Holtz (TH) tag die and made up about 20 tags so I would be good to go in the tag department. I used Mowed Lawn and Fire Brick DI for the background. I edged the tag with the TH distress tool and chalked around the tag with Dark Bark fluid chalker. Then I grabbed my TH stamp Fabulous Flourish, and embossed the stamped image with Snow embossing powder. It makes the stamped image POP! Loves it. 

I then sprayed Sheer Shimmer Spritz Frost to the entire tag for a glittery effect. Next I applied a ribbon at the bottom and added two brads from My Minds Eye-Sleigh Bells Ring. But shhhhhh-the brads actually hide a "mistake" I made during the heat embossing moment. Oops. 

I added some glitter ribbon and my Secret Santas name and I was done. 

Here are a couple of different angles and a close up so you can see all the glittery goodness. 

Thanks for stopping by during this busy Holiday season! Merry Christmas and Carpe Diem!

This project will be shared with the following: 

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge-Tic Tac Toe HERE-I used Bow, Glitter, and Ribbon

Frilly and Funkie-A Vintage Holiday HERE

A Vintage Journey-Special Christmas Giveaway!!! HERE

The Mirror Crack'd-Upcycle/Recycle or a Christmas Gift. HERE