The Greetery {Christmas Market Collection} Release Day

It's a good day....actually, a GREAT day; it's release day for the fabulous new Christmas Market Collection from The Greetery!   You can find the entire new collection HERE! I hope you've enjoyed the projects the team has shared over the last two days! I had to drop back in today to share a bonus card with you using the Cocoa Cozy suite of products! One of the things I like about this particular set of products is they will work for the entire winter season; you could even tweak a few things and make it work for Valentine's Day as well....wouldn't that be cute?

But now I've gotten ahead of myself....let's stop daydreaming about hearts and cupids and come back to Christmas! haha! I've been slowly building up my Christmas card stash with the last few releases I have participated in and the work continues! I chose to use Christmas sentiments to add this one to the stash!

To begin, I cut an A2 panel of Spellbinders Waterfall cardstock and then embossed it using the new Cocoa Cozy embossing folder. I just love the rich, detailed texture this embossing folder provides. Please note: I did NOT use the Get a Grip die before I embossed. If you want to use that, cut it before you do the embossing.  Once the panel was embossed, I used Fresh Snow Ink over the top to give the raised areas the white, snowy look. I tried to be as careful as possible as I glided the inkpad over the top, but I did get a little bit of smudging. I made quick work of cleaning it up by using an adhesive eraser; works like a charm!

I stamped the "May your Christmas be" portion of the sentiment in black and then added the larger sentiment using foam squares. I used the Frosted Frames die to cut the white outer portion and secured it with liquid glue. This helps ground the background and provides additional detail and depth.

Next, I used the Winter Mitts stencil to color the mittens; I just used a scrap of white cardstock since I was only needing the mittens. I cut them using the Cocoa Cozy die and then carefully placed them into the embossing folder (I embossed them one at a time). They pop easily into the recessed portion of the folder. Make note to place them in the correct side so the impressions are on the correct side, unless you are going for a de-bossed look rather than embossed. I ran the white ink over the top of the raised areas of the mittens, just like I did for the background panel.

Next up is the mug: I die cut the pieces from white and then simply colored them with blender brushes and ink...there are coordinating stamps, however. I DID use the Cocoa Cozy stamp set for the sentiments, candy cane, and pine sprig. I love how Betsy adorned her cocoa with crumbles , so I added those as well. I also added some peppermint candy bits around the sentiment and in the mug using the Mint and Berry Bits. I also used some glitter on the sentiment, tops of the mittens, and a bit on the cocoa. I also added Glossy Accents to the candy cane for some realistic shine! 

As I mentioned earlier, I chose not to use the Get a Grip die, but I needed to find an effective way to allow the mitten to slide through the mug, so I attached both mittens to the background panel using a single foam square by the wrist of each mitten and used liquid glue to secure it permanently. I let the glue dry and then I carefully lifted them up to allow the mittens to "grab" the mug and simply secured the mug with an additional foam square. The finishing touch is a spritz of shimmer spray and a coordinating envelope using the Flappable Stencil accented with a sentiment included in the Simply Holiday Sentiments stamp set! Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. The Christmas Market Collection will be available for purchase today beginning at 10:00 AM EDT!