Simon Says Stamp Holiday 2013 Card Kit

I recently received this wonderful Simon Says Stamp Holiday card kit that is inspired by Tim Holtz, and I am in love with everything in it!  Here are the first 2 cards I made:

Don't you just love the gorgeous font on this sentiment?  It makes me think of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol!  I had just seen Shari's card and video where she demonstrated how to use the wonderful watercolor paper along with the evergreen bough and iced spruce distress inks included in the kit to make her background, so I had a play, too, using her technique of dragging the paper through some watered down inks.  Before they dried I also spritzed them with some perfect pearl water, (the perfect pearls are also in this kit).  After drying thoroughly, I stamped a music background using iced spruce ink, then overstamped the trees using evergreen bough.  That panel was then affixed to a dark green Core'dinations card base.  The beautiful sentiment was stamped and heat embossed on vellum and framed with 2 burgundy strips of cardstock.  And the snowflakes are Penny Black's Snowflake Trio dies, cut from silver glitter paper, and centered with a clear rhinestone cabochon.  

For my next card, I added the Simon exclusive Falling Snow stencil to the mix, along with some chunky Twinklets Diamond Dust glitter, sprinkled over the embossing paste while it was still wet.

This time I started by stamping and heat embossing the wonderful horse and sleigh near the bottom of a white panel.  Then I tore another piece of scrap paper and used it as a mask to cover my stamping while I sponged on tumbled glass and iced spruce distress inks for the sky.  Leaving the mask on, I then overstamped my trees in evergreen bough.  Then I removed my mask, layered on my stencil and applied embossing paste and the Twinklets, adding them also to the snowbank line and along the sleigh's path.  To finish, I added this sentiment (not from the kit, but perfect for my little scene, don't you think?) embossed in Ranger Super Fine Detail Silver powder, along with the fun silver tinsel that was in the kit, and I added my own little jingle bells to the corner - they really do jingle!

Here's a picture of the Holiday Card Kit.  You can choose either cling stamps or clear ones.  And look at all the things I haven't even played with yet!  Don't wait, as when it's gone, it will be gone forever!