The UPS man hand-delivered a small package to me yesterday… I received my travel documents for my St. George, Utah Founder's Circle Retreat!!! (Can you tell I'm excited?)

What an honor it is to be among the Top 100 Demonstrators in the US. And now I get to spend a 5-Day, all-expenses-paid retreat with these fabulous demonstrators (and the top 20 from Canada) in just a few weeks! I guess we get pretty spoiled, too. (Watch for photos.)

We were given the option to participate in a card swap while there. Of course I said yes! So now I need to reproduce 120 of these in the coming days.

Here is the card I designed…

I embossed the snowflakes with white embossing powder on Crumb Cake card stock. Then I used a dauber to apply Marina Mist ink around the snowflakes. The embossing powder resists the ink, so the snowflakes remain white. (I used a tissue to wipe off the embossed areas when I was done just in case any ink was sitting on top.)

I also used a dauber to sponge Marina Mist ink on the edges of the white card stock. The greeting, Oh What Fun! was stamped in Pacific Point ink – a deeper blue that I also used as a layer behind the embossed snowflakes piece.

I added rhinestones (of course!) and Silver Glimmer Paper for a bit more "icy" sparkle.

This card stays closed when shut because I have three layers overlapping each other as you can see in the photo below. The circle of glimmer paper is held on with two Dimensionals off to the right – no adhesive should be under the left side or the snowflake embossed layer won't be able to slide underneath.

When open, the card has space for the signature AND a photo!

More snowflakes, too! Here I stamped Marina Mist flakes onto Marina Mist card stock. (I 'stamped off' to remove some ink before stamping onto the card stock. Some demonstrators call this 'second generation stamping.')

The inside greeting I stamped in Pacific Point ink. My greeting images both come from our Holiday catalog's Christmas Messages stamp set.

And if you look closely you can see that the white card stock I used also has a bit of shimmer to it. This is our Shimmery White card stock. (LOVE IT!)

My husband likes this card so much that we decided to make it our Christmas card this year. I already picked up 2 blue matching jackets for the boys. I'll have them wear them while I take pictures of them playing outside during the first snowfall. I don't think I've ever come up with my Christmas card this early. So I really have no excuses to put it off until the last minute, right?

Do any of you get your cards created this early? Or are you scrambling (as I usually do) to get them designed, created and in the mail on time?

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment. I'd love to hear about your Christmas card habits.

Stamp Your Art Out! ~Rachel

Supplies Used: Festive Flurry stamp set (wood-mount or clear-mount), Christmas Messages stamp set (wood-mount or clear-mount), Crumb Cake and Shimmery White card stock, Pacific Point Classic ink and card stock, Marina Mist Classic ink and card stock, Sponge Dauber, VersaMark ink, white embossing powder, Heat Tool, Silver Glimmer paper, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Label Bracket punch, 1-3/4" Circle punch, Basic Black card stock (for where the photo should go) and Rhinestones.