Happy Holidays Card With Crealies HAPPY Card-Sized Die

I saw this XL Crealies card-size HAPPY die and did something I rarely do...ordered it right away – at full price – without a second thought. And then followed up with another rarity...beginning this card with it the day I received it. I'm pleased with the die. It cut well and I can see lots of uses for it.

I cut the outline die just a little over the fold line, making this my card base, then cut the block letters in orange and the inner stitched letters in patterned paper. The paper is from Modes & Travaux magazine's Noël paper crafting issue. They are a predominantly sewing oriented magazine, but each year at Christmas they do a 'Cahier Créatif' that is chock full of gorgeous papers, tags, boxes, etc. All the paper isn't Christmasy either so you can use it all year round.

The dapper penguin is from Prettygrafik. I like these Prettygrafik stamps; they're inexpensive ($0.99 for a kit with several stamps to choose from) and easy to color (e.g. this Polar Bear aperture and Blue Bird Christmas cards). I colored Mr. Penguin up, gave him a fussy cut and attached him to the front of the card with 2mm double sided foam tape for a 3D effect. I made a Holidays sentiment with Copperplate Gothic Light font and dressed it all up with some enamel dots.

Supply List
Paper – cardstock, Mode & Travaux Hors Série Noël N° 6
Digital stamp – Prettygrafik Christmas Penguins
Dies – Crealies card-size HAPPY, Die-namics Rectangle Stax
Embellishments – enamel dots
Font – Copperplate Gothic Light 
Spectrum Noir Illustrator alcohol ink markers
Art-n-Fly white pen

I'm linking up with: Little Red Wagon #630 – NBUS, Creative Knockouts #431 – Time to be Merry, Krafty Chicks #589 – Christmas, Addicted to Stamps and More #420 – Die-cuts and/or Stencils, and Crafty Gals Corner #226 – Merry & Bright.