Sneak Peek: Joyful Christmas

Hi Everyone.  Happy Thursday.  

Another one of the sets that I got in my pre-order is called Joyful Christmas.    I really love the poinsettia stamp and had an idea of layering it.    I also wanted to use gold embossing powder with it.  So, I put those ideas together and used the sketch from onlinecardclasses.  This was the same sketch that I used a couple of nights ago on this card

Once again, I had to do a little jiggery on the sketch because the image I was using in place of the star was so big.  So I moved that piece down and moved the sentiment to the right. 

I started by gold embossing the poinsettia twice onto Cherry Cobbler card stock.   I then fussy cut around the inside of the flower and set that aside.   I then cut around the entire flower of the second card.   Once I had the two pieces together, I mounted the smaller piece onto the larger piece using dimensionals. 

I then ran a piece of Very Vanilla card stock through my Big Shot using the Pretty Prints embossing folder.  (I really do love this folder!)   I glued this layer to my Gumball Green base layer and placed a couple of layers of green Washi tape over the top of it.   I really didn't think I was going to like the Washi tape – but I certainly have used it a fair bit this last week!

After that, I pulled out the More Merry Messages stamp set for the "Season's Greetings" sentiment.  I really felt that this particular font worked best with the Pretty Prints embossing folder.  All that was left was to mount the poinsettia onto the card base and, of course, add a few pearls!

I'm going to be submitting this card for the Anything Goes month-long challenge at Merry Monday's, too.  You still have a couple of week's to play along with the challenge. 

here's my card

I do love the embossing folder and think this sketch is really very versatile.  I can see it becoming one of my go to layouts!

On a personal note:

Poor Lou… he has a couple of cat bites!   Mind you, I feel more sorry for Charlie!   As some of my regular blog readers will remember, Charlie was discovered – abandoned – in a corn field about 20 miles out of town.   He was a young kitten and his claws had been cut so close to the quick that he had absolutely no way to catch any food.  In fact, in all my years of handling cats, I had never seen a cats claws cut that close.   He'd been out on his own for a few days and was sitting at the corner of a junction like Dick Whittington's cat.   Lou fell in love with him, rode his bicycle all the way home so that he could come and fetch me, and the car, so that we could go pick up this kitten.

We knew something bad had happened to Charlie and thought it might have been at the vet because of the way he behaved when we took him in to be checked for diseases and then again later for his injections and neutering.

Well, we needed to take him in today for his annual vet visit and innoculation update.    He did fine with Lou and the vet tech, but when the male vet appeared poor Charlie went ape.   Literally.   He became 7# of hissing, bitting, kicking, scratching madness.   He took one look at the male vet and he just lost it.   He literally tried to climb the walls trying to get away from the vet.    Now, the vet is fabulous.  He really is a great vet.   But…. Charlie didn't know that and it just struck a chord somewhere in his sub-conscious and he lost it.  Eventually, they decided there was just nothing they could do and that he was getting way too stressed so Lou tried to get him back in his carry basket.  He had hidden behind the sink in the vet room and was not coming out.   Lou put on the "bad cat gloves" and forced him out from under the sink.  Charlie retaliated and bit right through the gloves.

You just have to wonder what on earth happened to this poor little thing that the sight of a man in a white coat can make him want to climb the walls!  Anyway, he's now home and sitting on his favorite perch and has calmed down and is back to his normal self.   He doesn't fully trust Lou, though!

Lou is fine – but I am going to have to drag him – literally – to the CVS minute clinic to go get a tetanus jab.   Lou is as afraid of Doctors as Charlie is of vets!   Let's hope he doesn't bite the nurse when she goes to give him his tetanus injection 🙂

All the other guys handled the vet without incident – except Merlin.   The vet tech grabbed Merlin just a little too hard on his back end and squeezed his arthritic hip.   Merlin was NOT happy about that – and who can blame him. :-)   Bailey was a big, purring, 17# furrball of love.  It's a good job that Bailey has the personality he does and that he doesn't have Charlie's personality.   I can't imagine 17# of muscle with that much cat-titude!

SO… talking about cats and biting…. anyone see this video today?   Who said that animals are dumb?   I've spent hundreds of hours sitting in the Kruger Park watching all sorts of happenings.   However, I have NEVER seen this!   The closest I came to this was when a Kudu was being chased by something… we never did find out what…. who jumped across the road, right over the trunk of a car driving at 40 kph.  The kudu didn't like the fact that the car was in his way so, as he was on his way over the trunk of the moving car, he flicked his back legs to the left and took out the car windshield… and then carried on running on the other side of the road.    This is a pretty amazing video – and all of those cars were very lucky to see this.

As always, thank you for your visit and your comments.   Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.

Hugs

Jaydee

Card recipe – all ingredients Stampin' Up!

• Card stock:  Gumball Green, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler
• Stamps:  Joyful Christmas, More Merry Messages
• Inks:  Basic Black.  Versamark
• Tools:   Big Shot.  Pretty Prints embossing folder.  Gold embossing powder.  Stampin' Dimensionals