My last Christmas card for 2011...Simply Christmas

There are only 4 days left now in the countdown to Christmas 2011. Where on earth did December go? The month just flew by. I only have to work one more day now, on Friday and then I will have some welcome time off.

I would first like to share with you my last Christmas card challenge for this year. I will continue to enter card challenges but I will be using non Christmas themed cards from now on. I would also like to take this opportunity of thanking everyone for the kind comments you took the trouble to leave. I really enjoyed sharing my Christmas cards with you all. I have not won any challenges yet but I still have my fingers crossed that Mr Random Number Thingy will pull me out of the hat in the near future! As my Hb reminds me "You have to be in them to win them!"

My last Christmas card for 2011 I have called "Simply Christmas" as I have left off my usual bling and created a card which I think is pretty in its simplicity. Here it is-

I used one of my favourite Lili of the Valley Christmas stamps from this year called "Moonlight  wishes". I hand coloured it using my trusty ProMarker pens and added some depth and shading with my Prismacolor pencils.

Here is my colouring in close up. This moon image is so sweet.

I kept the embellishments simple as I wanted to show off this gorgeous holly glittered vellum backing paper on top of the silver backing  card. It looks as though it is made of ice!

So all I added were some hand punched holly leaves I cut from silver foiled card with 3 red gems as berries......

and finished off with a simple round, hand stamped Christmas sentiment. 

So there we are; my last Christmas card...Simply Christmas. It was made for my dearest friend Karen who is simply the very best friend I could ever ask for.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;

Passion for ProMarkers Mega Christmas Challenge

Papercrafting journey Christmas challenge

Joanna Sheen Christmas Wishes

Make it Monday Blog Party 68
Totally Gorjuss A card for someone special

Weekly Christmas card challenges Non traditional Christmas colors
Dream Valley Challenges Challenge 22, Christmas
The Squirrel and the Fox Challenge 7 - Christmas
Paper Sundaes Challenge 100 - Celebrate
Stamping for the weekend Christmas

I also thought I would continue with my Simply Christmas theme with a few photos of the little things which give me so much pleasure at this special time of year and to remind everyone to take a deep breath amongst all the hustle and bustle around us at this moment in time .....

Simply coming downstairs to see my tree shimmering...and smelling the gorgeous fir tree smell....

....the presents appearing under the tree (and of course my dear Billy who kept trying to rub round and kiss me whilst I took this photo !)

...my growing card collection...am I the only person who still loves to receive real cards? At work now most people just send an email stating that they are "Donating" to charity instead of sending cards. I throw a spanner in the works by saying that I am doing both !

I always hang my cards from the bannisters, they are such fun to see.

Now my daughter has her own home she has started displaying her cards this way too. On the subject of Milly   you will be delighted to hear that Tom returned safely from 3 months away at sea on Saturday. That is the best Christmas present we could have wished for.

Simply looking at my violas in the garden , bravely flowering, whatever the weather.

I even spotted.....

yes new shoots from the bulbs I planted in the autumn! What a simple joy to still see new life growing in the dark of winter.










and my last "simple" Christmas joy is........

My sweet advent calendar. The pictures behind the windows have been so delightful. There are still a couple of more doors to open but of course the biggest one is saved til last.......

Yes number 24 on Christmas Eve. Now I wonder what on earth might be behind that last window ;0)

I will be back with one last post in my Countdown to Christmas on Christmas Eve. For those of you who may well be travelling away to spend time with families I will simply wish you a very Merry Christmas. For those of you who will still be around I shall see you all on Saturday for my final post. Take care and Keep Calm and Carry on preparing for Christmas. Remember to enjoy the simple things too at this special time..... we are very nearly there.

Bye for now,

Jane x