Merry Monday #21 (A Punchy Snowman)

Hello and Happy Thursday!  This has been a difficult week for me creatively - I have just felt kind of flat - and it seems that everything I work on just doesn't come out like I wanted :o(  Don't you hate when that happens to you?  I made two other cards earlier in the week and I don't like either of them - blah (or should I say "Bah" as in  "Humbug"?)!

Earlier this year I decided I wanted to grow creatively and decided to start blogging and entering challenges as a way to do that.  I told myself that I would do my best and submit whatever I made (because sometimes I do think we can be too hard on ourselves) - but here's the thing that I have discovered about myself ... when I'm feeling flat and uninspired my cards do seem to show that (not that they are terrible - I just know they aren't what I would usually do). So I've re-assessed my creative committment and decided that it also still needs to be fun and feel good -and sometimes its okay if I don't like what I have made. 

Are you still with me?  Sorry... a little long winded tonight.  I wasn't happy with my first attempt at the Merry Monday #21 Challenge card this week either.  So... I let it go for a couple days and today I came up with the idea of using a snowman in place of an oval - and I really liked how it turned out! Hope you do too!       

Here's a couple other views of the card:

This card has a sneak peek at a couple NEW Products.  I used the new Christmas paper called "Be of Good Cheer" (available starting June 1st!) which is a fun package of paper with the traditional reds and greens of Christmas - and the snowman's scarf is made by using the NEW bitty banner sizzlit die (2 pieces - one is cut in half to make the extra piece of the scarf).  The green cardstock used for the border and scarf is one of the NEW In-Colors called Gumball Green (I love it!).  The ink is also Gumball Green. 

I used lots of  punches to create my snowman: 3 different circle punches - the 2 1/2", 1 3/4" and 1 3/8"circles; a couple different snowflake punches were used for the snowflakes and the snowman's hands (the large snowflake punch used on the snowman's body and arms is retiring May 31st); the 1" square punch, and the lace ribbon border punch (also retiring May 31st).  The eyes, mouth and buttons on the snowman were made using the owl builder punch (part of the eyes from that punch).  I used a snowburst texture folder on the outer edge of the card front and on the inside for an extra surprise when the recipient opens the card.  The sentiments are from the Petite Pairs (front) and Snow Much Fun (inside) sets.