Christmas Card No. 7 "Another Greeting Card Kid!"

Can you believe Christmas is only a week away? Are you ready for it? I can't wait! I only have a few more gifts to get and then I get to spend next week baking and just enjoying time with my kids and my husband! He's working from home and it will be so nice to have him around. We plan on going Christmas caroling, decorating gingerbread houses, delivering our cookie platters to friends and neighbors, playing games, and planning the festivities for the company that's coming to spend Christmas day at our house! It's also my oldest Daughter's birthday on December 25th so we make an extra effort to plan special birthday activities with her in mind!

Here's a quick look at another card I made using the "Greeting Card Kids" stamp set:



Blue and red aren't colors I normally use together (Unless it's patriotic), but in this case I think the color palette lends itself to the whimsy of this set. The silver ruffle ribbon is a great addition too. I can't remember where I got it..... but I can tell you that I've had it in my craft room since before I had kids so it's at least 14 years old.... probably closer to 20! Anyway, I hope you enjoy today's card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Card No. 6 "JOY"

Here is a very simple card to make and mass produce. Start by stamping the letters "J," "O," and "Y" all over a piece of cardstock. Then punch out with desired size circle punch. Go one size larger and punch out a bunch of circles in desired color for backing. Pick some fun and festive Designer Series Paper (I used a retired one from Stampin Up!) Add a scalloped edge piece, some ribbon and you're done!



See.... easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Sorry for the short post today... my kids are out at noon and I have lots to do before I go to pick them up!

Have a great weekend!

Vellum Tealight Tree

Earlier this month Maureen held a holiday party for her entire downline. It was so much fun and in addition to the great food and drink, we exchanged gifts to reveal our secret stamping sisters and did a "make & take." This is what we made:



There was a cone shaped template that we traced onto vellum and then embossed with gold swirls. After assembling the tree we got to embellish our trees with pearls and attach a star at the top. The base is a small box with a hole in the center that holds the battery operated tealight.

Wouln't it be great if there was a cone shaped sizzix die? It sure would save time not having to trace and cut. Well...... guess what???? THERE IS SUCH A DIE! And it will be available starting January 4th in the new Stampin Up! Mini Catalog... "Occasions"

As a demonstrator I get to order items before they become available to the general public (one of the MANY benefits of being a Stampin Up! demonstrator!) So of course I ordered that die right away, and let me just say I am LOVING it! The first project I'm doing is 80 Christmas tree candy holders. All three of my kids are Irish dancers and every year the teacher holds a party in her garage for all the students. It is the highlight of the year... the kids pick "Secret Santas" in advance and then bring a gift. They also have to bring a boxed food item that is collected and then given to our local food bank. All the parents sign up to bring something and every year my friend and I bring the candy cups. A few years ago we decided to kick it up a notch and do something different. So instead of buying plastic cups and filling them with candy, we made three tiered snowmen and put different types of candy in each tier. There are more dancers going this year so we had to do something a little easier... "Cone Shaped Sizzix Die to the rescue!!!" As soon as we get them made I will post pictures so be sure to check back!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Christmas Card No. 5 "Come to Bethlehem"

I really love silhouette images. Not only are they super easy to stamp, but they look so classy and elegant too! I was very excited to add this set to my collection this year. I knew it would make a beautiful Christmas card, but I had a really hard time trying to come up with something. After several attempts (and too much wasted cardstock) I decided to ditch the traditional red and green color scheme and look what I came up with....



See! Who says red and green are the only Christmas colors?!!
After making a dozen or so sample cards with red and green colors, images of Santa, reindeer and snowmen, glitter and ribbon embellishments..... I asked my 8 year old son which one he liked best. Well, this is the one he picked! Hope you like it as much as we do!

Happy stamping!

Christmas Card No. 4 "Peace on Earth"

So here is card number 4. My friend Juliet asked me to make her Christmas cards this year and when I came across this card I knew she would like it. She LOVES the look of the embossed background! I completely cased this card from Laurie Zoellmer's blog. The only thing different is the sentiment (even though it is from the same set!)



All supplies from Stampin Up unless otherwise noted:
Stamp Set- "Peaceful Season" Hostess Set from Holiday Mini Catalog
Inks- Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Basic Black
Cardstock- Whisper White, Crumb Cake
Misc.- Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz (LOVE THIS SUFF!!!)

Don't forget... you can ONLY order products from the Holiday Mini until January 3! There are so many great sets this year I think I ordered almost all of them! If you'd like to order any of the items listed above just
CLICK HERE and you'll be directed to my Stampin Up! Website.

Thanks for stopping by today. Come back soon to see more Christmas cards and also some great ideas for Holiday Treat Holders!

Happy Stamping!

Christmas Card No.3

Just a quick post today. I wanted to share another card I made with the Christmas Collage background stamp. I love the simplicity of monochromatic cards.... What do you think of this one? It's pretty flat and would be easy to mail since it is not heavily embellished!



Sorry this post is so short today... Busy day... lots to do! I'll be back soon with another Christmas card.

Happy stamping!

Christmas Card No. 2

Thanks for stopping by again! Here is the second card I made using the awesome background stamp "Christmas Collage" from Stampin Up! I went a little more vintage this time around adding one of the images from the "Greeting Card Kids" stamp set. Did I tell you how MUCH I love that set? I think I might even be starting to enjoy water coloring!!! To get the vintage look I started with Very Vanilla cardstock. (Whisper White seemed too bright) I knew the black ink would be too harsh so I went for the Early Espresso which looks great on the Very Vanilla by the way! I sponged the edges with early espresso and also used the color spritzer tool to make it look a little more aged. After everything was colored in, I took a white gel pen to the hat, scarf and coat on the little girl. It helps it to stand out, don't you think? Anyway, This was the card we made at my monthly stamp club meeting. The ladies in my club really liked it and I hope you do too!



Stampin Up Supplies:
Stamp Sets- Christmas Collage, Greeting Card Kids, Bells & Boughs
Cardstock- Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler
Ink- Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Pink Pirouette
Other- Blush Blossom and Early Espresso Stampin Write Markers, White gel pen, Gold Waffle Paper, color spritzer tool

If you want to see more samples with these sets come back to my blog in a few days... Or better yet, receive updates by email automatically! You can become a subscriber by clicking the link in the sidebar of my blog! I have two more samples with these sets, plus a few other Christmas cards to share as well as some Christmas projects!

Happy Stamping!

Cutie Patootie!

Isn't she adorable? I got the "Greeting Card Kids" Stamp set a long time ago and colored this cute little witch just to test it out. I set it aside for several weeks and then right before Halloween I pulled it out and made this card. I'm not a big fan of water coloring but I do LOVE the way it looks! Maybe these will be the stamps to change my mind.... wait til you see the rest of the set. There is an image for Christmas, one for Valentine's Day and more! Last week I decided to try my hand at water coloring again and made a few different Christmas cards using this set. I'll be posting those ones soon so come back and visit my blog again!

Happy Stamping!

Christmas Card No.1

Here is the first Christmas card I want to share with you. It came together lickety split! I CASE'd it right out of the Holiday Mini Catalog from Stampin Up! The thing I love the most about our catalogs is that there are a ton of ideas and inspiration.



The Christmas Collage background stamp is stamped on a Crumb Cake base with Soft Suede ink. I tore a piece of Riding Hood Red CS, added a piece of striped grosgrain ribbon, punched some various snowflakes, added some pearls and a rhinestone brad, some die cut numbers and voila!

Hope you like it!
Check back soon for another card made with this awesome background stamp!

Introducing.... Gidget!

Yes, I know I haven't blogged in forever... GUILTY! But I have a very good reason. Meet Gidget:



Isn't she just so adorable? In June we said goodbye to our beloved Maggie... a 16 year old Queensland Heeler beauty! My husband got her for me for Valentines day right after we bought our first house and I told him I wanted to have a baby! Maggie was the best dog in the world! She never had any health issues, she was super well mannered and got along with everyone... kids, dogs, you name it! She was a rescue dog who loved life. Although I never thought we would find another dog as great as she was, Gidget managed to work her way into our hearts immediately. She too is a rescue dog. There is something about those rescue dogs.. I think they know somethings up when they are placed in a shelter. When they get adopted I think they must sense that they are being "saved" and they are just so thankful... they are the best dogs! There are so many dogs out there looking for a forever home.... if you are thinking about getting a pet, please consider a shelter or rescue dog... they will love you to pieces!

Here's a few more Gidget pics:

She is a funny sleeper. She starts out all snuggled up and curled into a ball. then after a few minutes she ends up like this:


And here she is doing homework with the kids:


We might try to do a funny Christmas photo this year if we can get her to cooperate... I'll keep you posted on that one!

And now back to stamping... I've uploaded all the photos of the Christmas cards I've made this year and they are set to post over the next few days so be sure you check back soon. And don't forget you can automatically receive updates if you subscribe to my blog. Just click "subscribe" in the sidebar!

Have a great weekend!

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!

So my daughter was invited to her friend's 12th birthday and I heard she still loves Spongebob (of course, who wouldn't?) so I decided to make her a special card. My son just happened to be wearing his Spongebob t-shirt to bed so as I was putting this card together I kept calling him into my craft room so I could have another look. Poor guy... after the umpteenth time of climbing the stairs he finally took his shirt off and said "here!" as he tossed it to me! (Or was he throwing it at me???) Anyway, here it is:



Happy Stamping!