Christmas is in the air?

Yes, I know not many people are thinking about Christmas already but for those of us who make our own cards...you gotta get started sometime!  I can't stand waiting until the last second to get things done (unless it's a paper or project for school) so, I usually have my Christmas cards finished by Easter.  The new year hits and I dive into my cards.  I even start planning next year's card before this year's makes it to the post office.  I'm a planner and I like to have my design and everything I'll need purchased for the cards I'll make at least a year in advance.  This has many benefits!  I can take my time finding a design I like and getting it just right, I get to wait and see what new Christmas stuff is available to help me make that decision, and I get to take advantage of after Christmas clearances when I buy my supplies.  Can't beat that!

This year I was all prepared (as always).  I had the paper, stamps, and embellishments all picked out.  However, I had no idea what design I wanted to use.  I figured I had plenty of time to worry about that in Jan/Feb.  WRONG!!!  Things ended up being completely crazy and only got crazier as the year went on.  Easter came and went and before I knew it, it was summer.  However, I still didn't start my cards because we were moving!  I didn't get my crafty stuff unpacked until the very end of the move.  So here I sit, September is almost over and I'm just finishing up my cards.  I'm not complaining...at least they are done but waiting puts a serious crimp in my creative juices.  It took me forever to come up with a design I like and then I got sick of making that design and had to find another!  In the end, I did four different cards. 

Here they are:

All four use elements from Martha Stewart's Scandinavian Christmas line.  I also used tons of different items from Papertrey Ink.  The Holiday Photo Finishers with dies are my favorite!!  Signature Christmas always comes in handy and the new dies this month are fantastic, especially the snowflakes! 

I'm pretty happy with the results and I already have a plan for next year!  I hope everyone is having a great day...how are your Christmas cards coming?