These little words, “don’t stop believin'” kept going through my head as my kids approached that “age.” Christmas would never be the same again for them or for my husband and me. We have learned that the magic of Christmas does change through the years as the kids grow older. Now 16, our twins still feel Christmas is their favorite holiday. The good news is that my husband gets a little more sleep on the 24th of December. Less toys to assemble, less items to carry up from downstairs… We will treasure the memories of every Christmas and still keep believin’ in the magic of the season!

Now for the card… I combined Simon Says Stamp stamp sets, “Plank Background” and “Great Things” and coordinating dies (a CZDesign stamp set) with My Favorite Things, Jingle All the Way  and matching dies.  For some reason, I find myself using the Plank Background vertically more than horizontally (the way it was meant to be used like a plank wall). I used Copics in YG03, YG13 and YG65 and 67 to create abstract trees in the background on the white-embossed plank background. I really like how this turned out with the white embossed lines breaking up the abstract trees like limbs. I love the set, Great Things and when I saw the word “Believin'” not only did I break out in song (Journey fan!), but I thought of the season that’s approaching us and put two and two together to make this card.