Rustic Christmas

I'm a big fan of bling and sparkle for Christmas cards, so these cards were a challenge I made to myself to try to do something a little less "bling-y" (that's a real word, I'm sure!)
I started by stamping the branches in various shades of green on a piece of cream card stock. Then I sponged on some Spiced Marmalade, Mustard and a bit of Rusty Hinge distress ink.  Quite a departure from what I normally think of as "Christmas colors." The sentiments were stamped in Chocolate Brown.

For the Joy to the World card, I tied on a piece of gold cording, then matted it in Chocolate Brown and mounted it on an Avocado card base.

For the Peace & Happiness card, I added a small gold snowflake brad, added some piercing, matted it with Terracotta Tile, then mounted it on a Kraft base.

Both cards were lined with cream cardstock that I'd stamped with more branches, and sponged slightly.

OK, I know I didn't quite make the challenge of no bling with the gold cording and snowflake, but I do think the cards have an interesting rustic feel nonetheless. My Mr. Wonderful commented that he kind of liked the fact they weren't in the usual Christmas colors. Even though they are quite different from what I normally think of for Christmas cards, I still think they work for the holidays. What do you think?  Do you ever stray away from traditional Christmas colors for your cards? If not, go give it a try! (And if you want to use a little bling, I'll never tell.)