Creations by Lynn Weiss ~ Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

ENJOY ~ INSPIRE ~ CREATE ~ SHARE


Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Handmade From the Heart

Today I have been gradually putting away my Christmas decor. I hate that job! Christmas flew by so quickly...it seems like I just got all this stuff out! Anyways...while I was putting things away I was thinking about some of the nice handcrafted gifts and cards I received this year. My favorite has to be the gorgeous Christmas tree skirt that my Mom quilted for me to fit around the base of the little table-top tree that used to be my Grandma's. She used beautiful batik fabrics in shades of purple, silver and taupe to match the bulbs and my decor. I just love it and hate to put it away!


This year I also received several handmade Christmas cards and gift tags. I must say each one I got really made my day! I think that has been the best part of getting involved with Stampin' Up! is teaching others just how fun it can be to get creative. It is great to see my friends and family using their stampin' stuff! Thank you so much for thinking of me and sending me a hand made card - I really do appreciate them and keep them all.

The most elaborately made card I received arrived in it's own handmade box/envelope and it was made by my Aunt Roberta. It is a 3-D pop up accordion card and she did such a nice job! She was quite ambitious, as she made 14 of them altogether! She was quite crafty this Christmas, she also made me a beaded anklet in it's own handmade box and my favorite- a bookmark that she stamped like a little scrapbook page. It has a photo of her holding me at my baptism (she's also my godmother) on the front and a nice handwritten message on the back. I will cherish it always.

My Mother-in-law was also quite craftily ambitious this year. She sewed big drawstring gift sacks for the adults (8) and huge stockings for each of her six grandsons. Each one was embroidered with our name and filled with all kinds of goodies - individually wrapped! That sure took some time and a lot of thought!


Many times over the years I have often had people ask me, "Why would you spend so much time making something that you could just go to the store and buy?" My response is that I enjoy making things and like to give a gift that I put thought into. Then, I make a "note to self" to remember not to waste one of my handmade gifts on someone who has to ask that question, because obviously they would probably never appreciate what goes into a handcrafted gift. hehehe

Well, enough time rambling...I need to get back to today's task - putting away Christmas decor. I'd rather be stampin'!

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