Don't Try this at Home

Well you can try it at home of course but if, like me, you are trying to produce a batch of QUICK and EASY Christmas cards - this is NOT the design to choose!
It took me a whole day to think of all the elements I wanted to use and to work out how to cut the card bases.  Cutting the bases using this lovely Marianne Lantern was the most difficult part (although not the fiddliest one).   The trick is to fold the base so that it just fits inside the rectangular cutting edge of the body of the lantern die and then to put only the finial  through the die cutting machine so as not to cut out the door from the card.

The die wouldn't cut all the way through a folded card and so I had to open it up and cut it twice and then the "arms" (the bits sticking out the sides of the die) kept cutting through my front.  That was the point at which I should have abandoned the project.
But I didn't.  I simply added some shims between the die arms and my card front.
I have been very inspired by Kittie's use of the MS branch punch (amongst other elements) to make great  bunches of fresh foliage.  You can see some examples of her work here and here. She is a marvel at "fiddly" and I just love her finished projects. I cut just 6 branches and three holly leaves for my card. Not nearly as many as Kittie uses.  The holly is teeny tiny from a corner punch I have.  I inked the edges of the branches, coloured half of each holly leaf and scored them down the centre.
My tag is made using two parts of a solid PTI die, one for the top and a red one only just visible beneath it  and I stamped it with a PTI christmas tree and sentiment. I think it's a really cute tag.
My candle is cut with my Cricut and coloured with Copics. The flame is Cricut-cut separately and also coloured and I chopped some petals off a punched flower to fill in the hole at the back of the flame.

I highlighted a circle of colour on my background DP to mimic the glow of the candle and started to assemble my card, having cut a whole lantern in gold to front the card base. A bow on the top and a pearl for a handle were the final touches.  And then I started cutting things in bulk to make more of them.  This is my work space.  The remainder of my desk is piled with stuff that has been scooched to one side to give me room to work.
I made 12 in total and I think they look so pretty all in a row that perhaps I won't mail any!!!

I am entering my card into the following challenges:
Aud Sentiments has a Bingo challenge and I used the first column of "the word 'merry', a 3D item (my whole card is 3D but there are lots of bits sticking out too, the branches and the tag for instance) and ribbon."; 
Stampin for the Weekend who want to see "texture" - of which there is a lot on my lantern;
Totally Gorjuss where the theme is "Don't be Square"; and
Marianne's Design where the challenge is "Gentlemen's Hour".  This card  would work for a girl of course but it certainly works better for a guy than most of my cutesy makes.