Countdown to Christmas #16 and Clearly Inspired Challenge

Happy Sunday friends! I am off on another road trip with the hubby and the rest of the "motorcycle gang"... once again, I'm torn about the whole motorcycle thing, but off I go. We are meeting a couple of other couples and doing the ride to Orcas Island and my lovely friend is coming over to watch the children.

But, in the mean time, I wanted to share my 16th Countdown to Christmas card. I must say that I am very pleased with the way this turned out. I love the look, the simplicity, the colors, and the embellishments.

I also wanted to let you know about the challenge that I host over on Lori's blog - Clearly iStamp. These occur every other Friday and the challenge changes every time.

This week's challenge (posted this past Friday) is all about ribbon. I didn't use a lot on my card, but I feel that it provides a big punch to the overall look of my card. I used the new Cherry Go Round ribbon that is part of the new Clearly Coordinating Collection that has been introduced at the store.

Head on over to the challenge and not only have fun, but get a chance to win a FREE stamp set of your choice just for joining in.

I also wanted to high light the stamped tree image. I stamped this in a pigment white ink and then added clear embossing powder to it and while I was heating the powder I covered it in these new Ultra Fine clear Micro Beads that you can find at Clear Dollar Stamps now. This stuff is so cool and it gave my tree such a neat look too.

I tried to get a good picture of it, but it adds a lot of interest to the card in real life.

Ok, that's it for me... thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day.

Recipe:

Stamps: Scenic Trees, Christmas Blessings (Clear Dollar Stamps)

Cardstock/Designer Paper: Everlasting Level 2 (Close to my Heart)

Ink: Pigment white, Ponderosa Pine (Close to my Heart), Victorian Velvet Distress Ink (Tim Holtz)

Other: Red Ribbon, Clear Micro Beads (Clear Dollar Stamps), Long Scallop Nestability (Spellbinders), Distress Sponge Tool (Tim Holtz), Embossing Powder, Heat Gun