Prancing Deer

(Please scroll down to previous post to see my Whimsical Wednesday project -- an adorable altered frame!)

I will be seeing my mother-in-law today and needed to make a Christmas card for her.  She is my number 1 fan and always adores my cards.  While that IS a good thing, it sort of puts the pressure on when making a last minute card for her.  I always feel like I've got to make it better than the last.  I'm all Christmas'd out at this point and short on mojo, so I opened the December Cricut Magazine and fell in love with the card by Melyssa Connolly (page 24 & 25).  It has just a couple of cuts, all single layer and I knew I could crank one out fairly quickly.  For the most part, I scrap lifted Melyssa's card.  I used Diamond Dust on the deer and she used a clear, chunky glitter which I'm sure is very similar to Diamond Dust.  She used paint on her trees, I used Liquid Applique.  I even mimicked the stitching around the border.  Our papers are different, as are the lace, twine and sentiment, but if you hold the cards side by side, you can clearly see the resemblance, so I must give Melyssa most of the credit here.  I didn't think ahead while putting this card together and forgot to consider the sentiment when choosing my papers.  The bottom panel wasn't going to work.....much too busy.  So I inked up It's a Wonderful Life from the Snow Much Fun set by Whimsical Designs, and stamped it in the upper right corner.  I normally wouldn't stamp directly on a patterned paper but I like the subtle look this has.  I stamped a sentiment on the inside and called it done.  This will be the last of my Christmas card posts but I do have one more post for tomorrow with all of the tags I made for my grandchildren's gifts.  Then I will put away all of the Christmas supplies and move on to some Valentine's Day projects.  
Here's a tip:  I often refer to my card magazines for ideas and inspiration.  Often times, when I find a card I really like, I set out to make the exact same card.  But that never happens.  I always change it up a bit, to make it my own.  Sometimes I'll flip the sketch, add or remove elements, try different embellishments, or use different die cuts.  I find it a great way to get actually get a card done, rather than wasting time thinking about what it is I want to make.  Don't be afraid to take inspiration from others and make it your own!

Close up:

 Inside:

I am entering my card in the following challenges:
Bearly Mine - anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday ~ Anything Christmas
Ribbon Carousel ~ Twisted Twine