Making up for a few months of quietness here in my patch of blogland with a series of Christmas cards over the coming days.  I was inspired this year by a gorgeous circle punch Christmas tree card from the talented Judy May (click here to check out her lovely card.)

So I grabbed out my circle punches and got punching away!  Here's my first card ....

(That's the red and silver glimmer paper there in the background - Summer Mini pg 13 - thought we'd go for a touch of sparkle for these cards to sit on!) 

You can't quite see in the pic but I've used the beautiful Shimmery White cardstock as the base.  (Find it on page 125.  Ten sheets for $13.95.  Works out to be about 70c for an A5 piece and well worth it for the gorgeous subtle shimmer.  It is nice and sturdy too so perfect for a card base.) 

Circle Punches:  1", 3/4" and 1/2" - all on page 154.   Also small star punch (retired - sob!)

Cardstock:  Textured Old Olive, Night of Navy embossed with Petals A Plenty and spritzed with shimmer paint/isocol, Real Red, plus the red and silver glimmer paper. 

Other: My matt pack and paper piercer - it just needed a little extra something and some holes did just the trick as a finishing touch.  Stampin' Dimensionals to raise a few circles.  Some rhinestones - self adhesive, gotta love that when you're in a hurry.  (Pg 142)

Greeting Stamps:  The circle greeting is from Delightful Decorations (pg 20)  I've used Night of Navy ink.

I found the first one of these a bit tricky - getting the layout and spacing how I wanted them.  The subsequent ones were much easier - I could just copy the first one.

Now if you're like me and you're starting your cards late, or perhaps you only have a little craft time and this looks a bit time consuming - check back tomorrow for a slightly quicker version of circle Christmas Tree card.   And I'll be back Sunday with some matching little gift cards - so cute.

Monday we'll put our circle punches away for a bit and get out our ornament punches!  Looking forward to sharing some Christmas card inspiration with you over the next week. 

Have a lovely weekend - hope you're feeling lots of the sparkle of the festive season and none of the hustle and bustle. 

(That pic should really have a speech bubble from my kids - "Mum hurry up and take the photo so we can decorate the tree!")

Cheers, Sue