Christmas in July!

I hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of their holiday weekend!  As some of you know, I am a moderator on the Yahoo group Scrappin' 'n' Chattin', and we just started a new challenge yesterday called Christmas in July.  The goal is to make a Christmas card every day for the entire month so that by the end of the month, we have most of our Christmas cards finished!  At the end of the month, a winner will be chosen at random and will receive a prize from something on her scrappy Wish List.  There may be extra challenges within the month, where we'll be able to gain an extra entry.

Here's my card for Day 1:

I used an ivory card base from Recollections to start.  The maroon background paper was in my stash, as was the ribbon (which I cut and tied into a bow).  The vintage sentiment is from Graphic 45's Christmas Past collection, and I placed a rhinestones from Queen & Co. on the ribbon, the end of Santa's cap, and the top of the house.

For Day 2, we could gain an extra entry by scraplifting someone's card from Day 1.  I chose to scraplift my friend Dawn's card.  Here is her original card from Day 1:

Here's my creation from Day 2:

For this card, I started with a white card base from Recollections and cut a piece of patterned paper to 5" x 4 1/2" (card dimensions).  I punched the corners with my Martha Stewart Loops Punch Around the Page corner punch then adhered a piece of green satin ribbon across the top.  The sentiment is one I received in a group tag swap from Carol, another friend in my Yahoo group, and the rhinestones on the sentiment are from Queen & Co.  The red rhinestones on the green ribbon across the top are adhesive rhinestones from Recollections, and I accented the "string" leading to the sentiment with Star Dust Stickles.

I'll try to post my cards throughout the month, although I probably won't post them every day.  Keep checking back to see my creations, and I hope I provide you with some Christmas inspiration!