Anyone who knows me knows that I’m terrible at sticking to schedules. Seriously awful. And every year I tell myself to get started on Christmas cards early and make them throughout the year to avoid being swamped come November. Every year I’m swamped in November because I fail to make them throughout the year. I’m off to a good start this year though, I’m starting with this Candy Cane Bear from Mo Manning in the form of a shaker card (I’m not going to mention that I started off great last year, too, before I fractured my shoulder and didn’t create anything for months).

I printed my bear onto X-Press It blending card (the best paper for Copic coloring) and colored it with Copics. Normally, I probably would have made his hat blue, but I wanted a dark blue background, so I needed a color that would pop against it. Anyone who knows me would also know that I’m not a fan of red for Christmas cards, but in 2019 I made quite a few Christmas cards with red in them anyway, and I guess I’m starting the new year with it, too. Not to worry, though, I’ll get back to my regular blue eventually, it IS the color of the year, after all.

I diecut a front panel with faux stitching around the edges and a nice big window in the top center. I stamped a Norsk Stempelblad AS sentiment using Papertrey Ink Scarlet Jewel Ink, added acetate behind my window and glued it to the front of my card using two layers of craft foam to really make those sequins and other few elements inside the window shake!

I love the dimension you get on such a simple card by doubling up the foam, it makes a big difference, and everything inside the window moves more freely.

I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I made sure all the sequins were turned the right way before I glued my shaker shut. I used a combination of two different mixes from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards. Most of the elements are from the Igloo mix, but I also added some from the Crystal Collection – Glass. I never know how much to put into my shakers and usually end up with way too much or not enough, but I think I added a perfect amount on this card. First time for everything, right?

Not a whole lot of colors on this image. I also used R52, which is a color I’ve made myself.