Christmas gifts

Good evening everyone! I have spent the afternoon wrapping gifts for mailing. I really wanted to get them in the mail by last Wed. but no such luck! We have had a busy weekend. Fri. nite the kids and I and a friend of my son's and my friend and her daughter who is about Em's age went to the botanical gardens here. They have thousands of luminaries lining the path, lots of great light displays, plus they had a silent auction and several choral groups. The kids saw Santa (the girls sat on his lap, Matt and his friend declined, though they still "believe") and we got fudge and popcorn, etc. It wasn't too cold, and we had a blast! Sat. morning I went to my SU demos group Christmas party. We each brought a hand stamped gift for a gift exchange. My contribution is at left. Instructions may be found HERE. (I have the author's permission to link to this post.) I used
Real Red, Old Olive and Whisper White CS, DP and sticky die cuts from the I Wish Simply Scrappin kit, Winter Post set, the swirly Sizzlits die and small felt flurries. It turned out really cute. All the gifts were amazing; it is a really creative group I have lucked into here.

Here is another view. I put Land 'o Lakes flavored cocoa packets in the cups along with chocolate dipped pretzels from Target and some Ghiardelli chocolates.

This are examples of the gifts I made for my family. I had been wanting for a while to make a video of my parents talking about their lives, and I finally did it! They talked for two hours and barely scratched the surface. I had the tape transferred to DVD and made a bunch of copies for my brothers, sister, and nephews. Then I used some of my massive stash of DP to decorate the boxes I cut it 7-1/4 " by 10-3/4 ", then scored at 5-1/8" and 5-5/8". Fits pretty well, it really needs to be about 1/8 inch longer, but then I would have had to score at sixteenths and I wasn't up for that! I made a label on the computer and done--not fancy, but better than an ugly plastic black box right?

Oh, I forgot to mention--we went caroling with some of my neighbors Sat. nite--again we had a blast! This morning our pastor preached about not letting the holidays make you blue, that you should try to give joy to someone else, then it "boomerangs" back to you! And you know he is right! Even my husband, who is not exactly a Scrooge, but is not as enthusiastic about Christmas as I am, enjoyed the caroling and mentioned how fun it was several times! So I got joy in several ways! Hope you all are enjoying the holidays as much as I am!

Keeping Christ in Christmas

In these times when customers at Wal-mart will trample someone to death to get cheap electronics, I think it is vital that we remember what Christmas is really about: the birth of our Savior, bringing hope and comfort to a world in which so many bad things can happen. My friend Sara has started a campaign of sorts to put Christ back in Christmas (see her blog, Sara's Creative Adventures at right). In keeping with this idea I have created a couple of cards celebrating the true meaning of Christmas. The card at left is a diorama card. I modified the measurements somewhat. I used City of David, a retired SU set that I love. I used a curvy cutter that I bought from Creative Memories several years ago to cut the "dunes", don't know if they still make it or not. I used Sahara Sand and Night of Navy CS and sponged the sand CS with Chocolate Chip ink. I stamped the stars on the N of N in Versamark and embossed with silver. I stamped the two images on Whisper White with Sahara Sand ink and colored with chalks. Stamped "joy" from Small Script (retired SU hostess set) in Chocolate Chip. The tutorial for the diorama card may be found here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/diorama_card/




This card is a design I am thinking of using for members of our church who don't get out much any more, those in assisted living facilities. The cards need to be large because everyone in the congregation has an opportunity to sign them, to let these people know they are remembered. I used the computer to print Luke 2:11 on the front (For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.) and "Thinking of you at this holiday season" on the inside. The card needed to be simple as I am making a bunch of them! The central image is embossed in silver on Blue Bayou CS (SU ret.), embossed with Nestabilities oval die, used the ticket corner punch on the corners. Card base is PTI's Stamper's Select White which I love for its heft. Poked holes in the fold and threaded silver cord through.

I hope you all are having a safe and blessed holiday season, surrounded by family and friends, and remembering what really matters! Happy stamping!

Stampin' Up! Christmas cards

Hello, everyone, this post is a shout out to my fellow demos here in Wichita who want to know "Why haven't you shown any SU on your blog?" (Karen!) Yesterday I went to play with my friend LeAnn. We had fun stamping and I got some great ideas. I was playing with her Winter Post set. It is kind of a vintage set with a lot of great possibilities! For a peek at an amazing card of LeAnn's, go HERE:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1134706?cat=500&ppuser=84569

For this card I used my new Big Shot Top Note die (how I love that thing!), stamped the trees from Lovely as a Tree in Baja Breeze, embossed the reindeer from Winter Post and "be merry" from Warm Words in silver, and went around the edge of my piece with my Versamarker and embossed that in silver. I stamped the snowflake from WP in tone on tone on Bali Breeze CS, popped up my focal point and added some silver cord. I love the way this turned out--I was going for a silent wintry forest sort of feel.

For this card I was inspired by the DP which comes from the SU Simply Scrappin' set I Wish. SU had lots of great coordinating accessories in their holiday mini this year, among them the Felt Flurries and the Alpine ribbon, both of which I love! Here I stamped the image in Chocolate Chip and added a touch of color with my pastels. Used my ticket corner punch and added gold brads, mounted on Old Olive CS. Skaters are from Winter Post. I used my scallop border punch on my DP and added a strip of Old Olive at the top of that. Then I tied a knot in my felt Alpine ribbon and poked it through the hole in my felt snowflake. Card base is Real Red. Very quick and easy card to put together.

The little leaf image from Fresh Cuts reminds me of mistletoe, so I stamped that all around the edge of my Top Note die cut in Old Olive, sponged a little, added the reindeer from Winter Post and the sentiment from Best Yet, a hostess set. Then again with the knotted ribbon through the snowflake (this time the stripe from Alpine). Card base is Riding Hood Red, layer is Old Olive. Again, simple and pretty (I think).

After I stamped with LeAnn, I went to work, picked up the kids and fed them, then went caroling with my church group. LeAnn went with us too. It was so much fun! I love Christmas carols, and the people we went caroling to (assisted living facilities and older folks' homes) were so happy and appreciative--you could tell they were really glad we came. It was a great experience.

Hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season and getting that all-important stamping time in!