The Best of Times

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way...

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Wow, even 150 years later, Charles Dickens' words still hold a message.  Here's to 2013 falling into the "Best of Times" category...come on, a girl can hope!  J

We're ringing in the New Year a bit early at Card A Day Blog to give you lots of inspiration for those holiday cards. Whether you're just too busy to send Christmas cards or you have friends who don't celebrate Christmas, New Year's cards are a great solution.

Some Details:

• You know me, I can't resist a vintage postcard!  This one originally rang in 1911.  You can barely make out the embossed numbers.  To help disguise them even more, I stamped a clock face over the top.  Old Paper Distress Stickles accent the border.
• I wanted the card to be wintery, but not Christmas-y, so while I still used holly as an accent, I used a simple cream silk flower and fabric-covered brad as the main embellishment.
• To include our upcoming year, I wrote "2013" on a photo label punched from a scrap, added it to a Tim Holtz memo pin, and stuck in into the floral.  A tiny piece of foam tape keeps it from shifting.

• A musical border, some lovely Webster's Pages trim, and a little Rock Candy Distress Stickles on the holly and birds finishes things off nicely.



Stampin' Up! Not Quite Navy

• For some reason, my camera was not liking the color of the card base.  No matter how I attempt to correct it, it just will not come across true to life.  For those of you familiar with Stampin' Up! colors, it's Not Quite Navy...much more dusty teal than what I see on my screen.  

Challenges:

Alphabet Challenge Blog: V is for Vintage

Card Crafter's Circle: Challenge #52 - December Celebrations

Supplies:
Cardstock:	Stampin’ Up! ‘Not Quite Navy’
Patterned Paper:	My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found ‘Portobello Road’ 6x6
Image:	Catnip Studio ‘Winsch Birds Postcard’
Stamps:	Teresa Collins Fabrications ‘Canvas’; SU! ‘Crackle’
Inks:	Archival ‘Coffee’; VersaMark; Distress Ink ‘Old Paper’; Le Pen ‘Brown’
Embellishments:	K&Co border sticker ‘Flora & Fauna’, fabric brad ‘Wild Saffron’; Darice flower; holly pick; Webster’s Pages designer trim; Distress Stickles ‘Old Paper’, ‘Rock Candy’; Tim Holtz memo pin
Tools:	EK Success punch ‘Photo Labels’; 3M foam tape; TH paper distresser