Merry Christmas!

I think I'm finally done with all my Christmas preparations...the shopping is done...the cookies are baked...the gifts are even wrapped! Aaahhhh....now I can relax and enjoy some time visiting with family. Since I've been so busy getting ready for Christmas, I haven't had a chance to post here in a while. I'm sure you've all been busy too! I haven't done much stamping this week, but here's a quick ornament card and some cute Santa tags I forgot to share. We did these as make & takes at my group meeting last week.
I cut 2 large scallop shapes from Baja Breeze card stock using my Big Shot and the Bigz Scallop die. I then cut a large circle from Not Quite Navy card stock using the Coluzzle. The tree and snowflakes from Season of Friendship were stamped in White Craft ink. I went back and highlighted the snowflakes with my Stardust Jelly Roll pen for some quick sparkle. Probably the hardest thing about the card was cutting out the little bird. He's stamped in Riding Hood Red and attached with a pop dot.

The two scallops are joined by attaching them to a folded tab punched out of Brushed Silver. A Jumbo Eyelet is attached through the front layer only so that the card opens easily. Then just add some silver cord and a bow attached with a glue dot.

Here's a couple of adorable Santa gift tags my upline showed us how to make.
I love the texture created by the crimper and the swirly embossing folder! The one on the left opens up as a gift card. The one on the right also opens...the beard is made up of a folded scallop punch. Both are created using various sizes of circle punches, and the small Santa is made using the scallop punch. These would also be cute as embellishments for a scrapbook page of used on a card, wouldn't they?

Have a very merry Christmas!!!

Punched Reindeer Tags

Yesterday I showed you these cute little reindeer tags I made to decorate my little embellishment goodie bags. Today I'll show you exactly how I made them so you can make some for yourself. You will need Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel & Chocolate Chip card stock and the following punches as shown in this photo.
Close to Cocoa: Punch out tag for the head & use the 5 Petal flower punch for the ears. Cut the ears from the 5 Petal Flower as shown above and then trim the angled end of the tag with the Cute & Curly Punch to form mouth as shown below.
Creamy Caramel: Punch out the largest flower from the Boho Blossoms punch and cut in half. Using the Swirls Sizzlet, cut out 2 antler shapes using the Big Shot.
Chocolate Chip: Punch out 2 1/4" circles. These will be the eyes.
Using watercolor pencils add rosy cheeks with pink pencil. Add white highlights to hair and cheeks with the white pencil. If you wish, you can also add shadow inside the ear with the dark brown pencil. Carefully bend the ears around a pencil so that they curved forward a bit for extra dimension. Draw on a line for the mouth using black marker. Glue on the ears and eyes with small tip of mono adhesive.
After the eyes are glued into place, use black marker to add iris and the white gel pen to add a highlight. Next add the antlers, then you will add the tuft of hair to cover the base of the antlers. Finish your reindeer off with a red rhinestone brad for his nose or piece of red card stock cut into a circle.
Now you can use the little guy on a card, scrapbook page or poke a hole into the top and insert a piece of metallic cord to make a gift tag.

It is snowing like crazy here today...by the looks of it we'll have a white Christmas...and then some! They're saying we could get 10 inches before it's over. All the schools in our area closed today for a snow day. My son sure didn't mind! I'm sure a few of my teacher friends are happy as well...Christmas vacation a day early! I'm glad I didn't have plans to go anywhere today...I'll be home making cookies. I hope wherever you are that you are warm and safe! Enjoy your day!

Framed Snow Swirled

I told you I've been getting a lot of use out of my Snow Swirled set! This is a little something I made for my upline & downline this year. We had our little stampin' Christmas get together last night, so I can show you without ruining the surprise.
The white frame was decorated with Ski Slope paper and a small Felt Flurry with a Build-a-Brad center. The tree was embossed with glittery white embossing powder...and really sparkles in real life.
I made the gift bags out of a catalog sized envelope. They each have a snowflake cut out of a 4" coaster using the Big Shot and the large Snowflake die. They are embossed and then added a Snow Flurry and rhinestone brad to the center.
I also put a little sampler pack of some embellishments together and tied it with a cute little punched reindeer tag. I'll tell you how I made him tomorrow. For now I need to run...so many more Christmas projects I need to get done...so little time! Have a great day!

Snow Swirled Ski Slope

I sure have gotten a lot of use out of my Snow Swirled set so far! This is another one of my Christmas cards I sent out this year.
Looking at this card now makes me sad knowing one of my all time favorite background stamps is going to be retiring soon! Whatever will I do without Canvas?! It's the one I always grab when I think a project could use a little extra something. I sure won't be getting rid of it, but tend not to use retired stamps as often. OK, enough whining...I'll get on to the card and what else I used, besides Canvas to create it. ;-)

Stamps: Snow Swirled Canvas background & In the Spotlight (retired hostess set used for the dotted line)
Ink: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze & Versa Mark
Paper: Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Shimmery White, Brushed Silver & Ski Slope
Accessories: Silver Embossing Powder, White Taffeta ribbon, EE brads, Stamp-a-ma-jig (for the dotted line) & pop dots

Have a great day!

Christmas Hostess Club

Last night was my December Hostess Club meeting. I prepared some festive non-card holiday projects for the group. (I guess I couldn't bear doing another Christmas card this week!) You may remember the Thanksgiving frame I shared here a couple weeks ago? We did a Christmas version of that using the Ski Slope papers and Little Felt Flurries.
This time instead of using the On Board Book Basics, I used the Long Board Chip Board made for use with the Big Shot. (I found out after the fact that the Book Basics are a little thicker and not recommended for use on the Big Shot.) I certainly don't want to hurt my beloved Big Shot or my Top Note die! I didn't take a photo of the back this time, but if you check out the Thanksgiving version is shows the pocket for the photo and the stand created from chipboard using one of the Sizzix tag dies.

We also created this darling little ornament using the penguin from Punch Pals.
This is one of those little favor tins with the clear lid. Using White Stazon, we stamped the lid with the snowflake from Season of Friendship. A piece of Ski Slope paper was cut into a circle using the Coluzzle and adhered to inside of tin with Tombo Multi Adhesive. The penguin was stamped on Shimmery White, watercolored, cut out and adhered to the back with some stacked pop dots for extra dimension. Iridescent Buffalo Snow and some Clear Micro Beads were added to the inside, the then tin was sealed with some Sticky Strip around the outside of the lid. This also held the Baha Breeze Striped ribbon in place, and it was knotted at the top. Silver cord inserted before the ribbon was knotted acts as the hanger.

I made these Christmas boxes using the Scallop Envelope Bigz Die for each of my clubbers.
The box is made by attaching 4 of the scallop envelopes together. I wheeled each one with the Bold Snowflake jumbo wheel and finished them off with the cute images from the Deer Friends Level 2 Hostess set. Here's a closer look:
Inside the box was a snowflake ornament created with the large Snowflake die and 4" square coasters. Each one was embossed and finished with a Felt Flurry and rhinestone brad. Of course there was also chocolate in the boxes as well!

Have a wonderful day! Looks like we're in for another c-c-cooold one here.

I'm done!

It seems like every free moment during the past couple weeks I've spent working on my Christmas cards. That's why I haven't been posting here much lately. I'm relieved to say that they are now done...signed...addressed...just need to buy postage stamps* and mail them off later today. What a relief!

I made 4 different designs this year. Three of them used the set Snow Swirled. Today I'll share the card I sent to my family and a few of my non-stamping friends. Since none of them look at my blog it won't ruin the fun by seeing it here first.
I just love this tree embossed! As you can see I embossed it in gold on Always Artichoke card stock. I also added little adhesive backed crystals to the tree for added sparkle. I found the ribbon at Michael's which was a perfect match to Mellow Moss and had a little gold in it to match the embossed tree. (should have bought more of that ribbon!) I edged the Mellow Moss layer with the gold painty pen even though that thing stinks and gives me a headache. YUK! The patterned paper is the Holiday Thyme paper from a couple years ago. It's a nice contrast to the Bravo Burgundy.
*Funny story: Remember the cupcake birthday card I made for my SIL and posted here a few days ago? I made it BEFORE her birthday. Even stamped the envelope and wrote her address in matching marker. Got it in the mail...again...BEFORE her birthday. Only to get it back here (AFTER her birthday) because I forgot to put the most important stamp on the envelope...the postage stamp! DUH! Note to self: Don't forget to put postage stamps on my Christmas cards BEFORE mailing them!
It feels good to cross my Christmas cards off my holiday to-do list...but I still have a million and one more things to do! Enjoy your day!

Check this out!

A few days ago I found out that I was the lucky winner of some awesome blog candy from my talented and generous blogging friend Vicki. I got this wonderful box of goodies in the mail yesterday... and let me tell you, opening it was just like Christmas!!! I cannot believe all the fun stuff that she included...check it out!
Not only did she send some fantastic stamping goodies, she also included 2 beautiful cards that she created. They both have such pretty sparkle and shimmer in person.
I was so relieved to see that Lovely as a Tree was not included on the retiring list. This is a beautiful example of why I love this set! I think Vicki used Iridescent Ice EP on Shimmery White card stock for this.
This one has a chip board snowflake that is full of shimmer and shine as well. Not sure...but I think she may have used Pearl Ex on this one? Aren't I lucky to have two of Vicki's beautiful creations!? Make sure to stop by her blog Stamped Smiles to see lots more of her amazing work. On Tuesday's she does her hidden potential posting where she shows many different ways to use one image. As you can see, not only is Vicki talented and generous, she also takes the time to leave sweet and encouraging messages on so many blogs...including mine. Thanks again Vicki...YOU ROCK!!!

Crazy For Chocolate Cupcakes

I worked hard on my Christmas cards yesterday, but I took a break from them to make a birthday card for my SIL. She loves chocolate...so I think she will like this card.
The icing looks darker and more chocolaty in real life. I added crystal effects over the top and it really reflected the light in my photo. The cherries are little adhesive backed rhinestones. I used the Ski Slope papers...I already had them out and figured they would work just as well for a non-Christmas card.

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes, Canvas background
Ink: Baja Breeze, Real Red, Black Stazon & various for water color
Card stock: Baja Breeze, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip & Ski Slope DP
Accessories: Scallop Edge punch, Chocolate Chip grosgrain, Crystal Effects, Aqua painter

Have a wonderful weekend! I'll be busy decorating the house for Christmas.

SBS 3...Who is still participating?

I was doing a little blog hopping this morning- visiting some SBS 3 friends, leaving comments and updating links when I noticed that many in the group no longer have a link list to our group. That got me wondering who is still participating? Did the group dissolve and I missed the email? I've met some nice friends and discovered some great blogs due to this group...it's a bummer if most are no longer participating. Please comment here if you are still part of the group. Thanks!

I've been busy working on my Christmas cards...hoped to have them in the mail by the end of the week...but it's looking like they won't be ready til early next week. It will be a relief to have them done! Have a good day!

Added 12-07-08: After reading the comments left here and emails received, I've decided to do as some of the others have and condense my SBS3 list into my regular blog roll of fav blogs to visit. Hopefully I didn't miss any active members...if I did, I apologize - just let me know and I'll make sure to add you.

Home For Christmas

This is a card I designed for a friend of mine. She had purchased this set and knew the colors she wanted to use, but asked me for a little design help. Since I knew she would need to make several, I tried to keep it fairly simple, and use supplies I knew she had. Hopefully she likes it. Now I need to work on my own Christmas cards...I've only just begun! It doesn't show up too good in the photo, but after I water colored the image I used my versamark pen to highlight all areas that are snowy. Then I quickly sprinkled with Iridescent Ice EP, and heated with the heat tool. It is so pretty and sparkly in person.

Stamps: Home For Christmas & Best Yet
Card stock: Real Red, Textured Old Olive, Textured Chocolate Chip, White & Patterned paper from I Wish SSK
Ink: Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip & various colors to watercolor
Accessories: Real Red grosgrain ribbon, Bold Brights Brads, Photo Corner punch, Aqua Painter, versamark pen, Iridescent Ice EP

We got hit with our first real snow storm of the season yesterday. So my front porch is covered with snow just like this image. Every branch on every tree is highlighted with snow...it's just beautiful. Later I might brave the cold and go out for a few photos. Have a great day!