Merry Christmas! We're taking a break from the summer heat and focusing on the holidays for this week's challenge!

For many years I have enjoyed taking some time during the summer months to focus on Christmas...reminiscing about Christmas past and prepping for Christmas future. I keep a scrapbook album just for Christmas layouts, and  in the summertime I am able to "catch up" and finish documenting the memories from the previous Christmas so that we are ready to make new memories when the holidays roll around again. I also seem to have just a little extra time in the summer to increase my stock of handmade Christmas cards, thus making preparations a little easier during the hectic months of November and December. So, in keeping with this week's Summer Scrapbook Series challenge, July's 1-2-3 card design (and 1-2-3 layout) will have a Christmas theme!

Each month I design an easy-to-make card using 1 Sentiment, 2 Paper Shapes and 3 Embellishments. These cards are very quick and very versatile, making them a great choice for mass production! Although CM won't have their Christmas products out for a few more months, I am using the new Cranberry and Evergreen Mix & Match papers along with some die cut and gem embellishments leftover from last year's Christmas Past holiday line.