Because Christmas birthdays need special cards

In recent years I have met so many friends with Christmas-time birthdays, and so far I am the only one who actually LIKES having a Christmas birthday!  Everyone I know says they hated it growing up because their birthday always got lost in the shuffle of Christmas activities.

I, on the other hand, was blessed with parents who went out of their way to make my birthday special like all my siblings.  We always had birthday cake and presents on Christmas night, so even though I never had a birthday party, I did not miss it!  Even now that I am ?? years old and birthdays get lost in the shuffle for a different reason, I still look forward every year to celebrating my birthday with Jesus' celebration!

That being said, now that I am making greeting cards, I have made a special effort to have something special about each December birthday for which I make a card, hence the title "Because Christmas birthdays need special cards."

I can't seem to get into the habit of photographing every card I make, but I have managed to remember to do this for several of the birthday cards I have made for friends this year.  My goal was to blend a tiny little bit of wintery, Christmasy look into flowery, glittery cards.  So here goes...

First up, snowflakes in the background with a big flower backed by various colored metallic papers.

 It is pretty difficult to get a photo of the metallic paper without that flash of light in the center, so here is another view of it:

The second card also has some snowflakes in the background, but again I used flowers and butterflies for the focal point and I really like how it turned out:

Cheer and Joy stamps

I have a new all-time favorite set of stamps that I've been using this year for Christmas cards.  I have been "captured" by one in particular from the set.  I liked it so much I almost could not stop making cards with it! 

These two cards are samples of what I have done with the "Merry" surrounded by ivy and holly.  Different background papers make a huge difference in the looks of the stamp, as does how I stamp it.  On the red and gold background card I embossed the stamp with gold embossing powder.  I also mounted the message on metallic gold card stock which added to the elegance of the card, I think. The green background was stamped with black.  To be quite honest, I can't decide which one I like better!

Let me show you and you can decide for yourself!