Aloha, all!
How could I have a series of blog articles in July without a Christmas In July post? Of course I had to have such a post because one of the Stampin’ Up! Designer Series Papers that I’ve featured in this series is the fabulous Tidings of Christmas paper set. And that set is one of the many paper sets that are on sale during the month of July.
Even better, today you get a two-fer. Because it’s Island Hopping Day, and my sister Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, Cheryl Hamilton, has a post featuring the same set of papers.
First — A Little About the Papers
This is one of my favorite Christmas Papers of the past few years. It has favorite Christmas season designs and my absolute favorite Christmas color combo, Red and Green! Of course it’s not that simple. Here are the colors that are in this set of papers.
- Cherry Cobbler (the Red)
- Evening Evergreen (the Green)
- Sahara Sand
- Soft Succulent
- Misty Moonlight
Believe it or not, all of these colors are included in the set of cards I made with this paper. I had to go hunting for the Misty Moonlight and finally found it. It’s the color of one of the leaf images in the dark paper that I used in the left and center card.
The Pine Tree Punch — and a Fun Discovery
While my main focus in this series of articles is the Designer Series Papers – on sale this month! – this card shows of a fun discovery I made while creating it. I’d already decided that I wanted the Evening Evergreen Tree to be the center of the vertical line of trees punched with the Pine Tree Punch. But when I laid it down, I knew right away that it needed some texture. And I found it in the Evergreen Forest 3D Embossing Folder. There is one small tree in that fits the punch perfectly.
Of course you don’t have to emboss a large piece of paper just to get that little tree. Just put whatever size of cardstock you need in any embossing folder to get just the part of the image you need.
There’s a Sneak Peek in the Banner Card
When I was putting these banner cards together, I really wanted a piece of some kind of ribbon to tie around the top of the banners, with a bow being the preferred finish. And yes, I have two different Evening Evergreen ribbons in my stash. But with the Evergreen strips on both the left and right AND in the middle, I really wanted a Cherry Cobbler ribbon. And I had one – as part of my demonstrator pre-order from the upcoming July – December Mini Catalog.
Even better, this ribbon has gold accents. That’s probably why it’s called Cherry Cobbler and Gold Ribbon. But that gave me the idea for the perfect mat for the Designer Papers layer – Gold Foil! I’m going to love this ribbon (I already have two spools!).
I Love Die–Cuts for Sentiments
The card with “Merry” on it has absolutely no stamping at all. Sometimes I don’t feel like getting stamps and ink out. I just want to play with paper. The Word Wishes Dies makes that easy. Yes, I could have added, “Christmas,” to this card. It is in the die set. But I really liked the word, “Merry,” all by itself.
Looking at this picture, I realize that I have yet another Sneak Peek for you. Those gorgeous gems are from the new Wonderful Gems set that will be in the upcoming Mini Catalog. The red gems are listed as “Real Red.” But they also coordinate with Cherry Cobbler very nicely.
Don’t Forget the Designer Series Paper Sale!
The Tidings of Christmas Designer Series Paper set is one of 9 sets of papers that are one sale for 15% off. But that’s only until next Monday, August 2nd. Just yesterday I returned from a two-week vacation. I didn’t want anything delivered while I was gone. But I can assure you that there’s going to a package delivered pretty quickly filled with lots of these fun papers! I have several lucky customers who’ve already taken advantage of this sale, and they love the papers. I know that you will, too.
And Don’t Forget Your Island Hopping Opportunity
I know that Cheryl Hamilton has a fun post with today’s theme, too. Just hop on over to Create With Cheryl by clicking HERE to check out her post today.
Happy Crafting With Designer Papers!

Great cards, Robin.