QKR Design team #198 - Christmas in July

It is time to  start thinking about Christmas, though it is hard to do when it is 110 every day!  I know, for those of you in the southern hemisphere that is usual for the holidays!  I selected the digital image "shepherd" and Merry Christmas to go with it- from the selection at QKR.  You may submit up to 3 entries by 3 p.m. July 7. 
Last week the theme at QKR Stampede was paper piecing, and I decided to go that route again.  I pieced the head piece and also the robe.  In retrospect I wish I had found a better piece of DP for the robe - it needs a bit more color.  (If you have not done paper piecing, my advice to you is to select a fairly light colored DP so it is easy to see the lines to cut.)  I also used favorite style - lots of light colored embossing.  I used a shimmery champagne colored cs (Recollections) for embossing and stamping, as well as for the card base.  I do not yet have a "star" embossing folder, so I substituted the snowflakes.  I used a gold pen to color the rays of one, and topped it with a
punched from gold glitter cs, though it does not really show on the screen.  I also used a bit of cord with a metallic thread for the head dress.
If I decide to mass produce this card for Christmas I may just leave the image uncolored.  My preference is to  use the same image for all of our cards.
CHALLENGES ENTERED: 
Sketch:  Your Next Stamp
Warm Clothing:   Christmas at Sweet Stampin
Christmas:  Christmas Card Challenges
Christmas with sentiment:  Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge
Star:  The Glory of Christmas
Holiday:   Hiding in my Craftroom
Occasion:  Crafting When we Can
Embossing:   Dragonfly Journeys
Any:   Crafty Sentiments
            Craft Your Passion 
            Jo's scrapshack   
            Lil Patch of Crafty Friends
            Love to Scrap
            Word Art Wednesday