This year's Christmas cards - Part 1

 In one way, I am shocked that it's been so long since I've blog. In another way, I'm not surprised at all. At some point, I realized that during the biggest part of the stay at home period of Covid, I coped with shopping. And for some reason I'm still working towards fully reorganizing my space to get my stash under control. I've actually already done a lot of purging. I participated in two successful garage sales in the summer of 2022 and summer of 2023. I don't do my own - I get a table at our local stamp/scrapbook store. It's just easier than trying to sell online via Facebook & then figure out getting the items to the person. 

That said, I have been crafting. I have two groups of friends who I make cards with consistently. One is a monthly meet up & the other is twice monthly/every two weeks. Plus I scrapbook with a friend once a month. So I am doing stuff... I just haven't been good at sharing it online, particularly on my blog. I will be changing that starting this month. I commit to one post a week. My hope is that somehow I can figure out how to promote my blog so people comment on it. The lack of comments/acknowledgement of the effort it takes to get photos of the projects & post is what brought me down & deterred me from posting, if I'm honest. 

In the title of this post I said 'Part 1,' I swear there will be a part two. These cards were made for a friend to send out; she specifically wants Christian themed Christmas cards. The next set I will be making this week will be secular, because they are for people at work. 

The first two cards were made using the December sheetload of cards from Call Me Crafty Al. I love her Youtube channel. I made 8 cards with it, 4 of each of the two you see here.

This was the November sheetload. The original doesn't have the border punch at the bottom. It was a 'happy accident' because I needed to do something to make the gold cardstock strip look better; I cut the pattern paper strips shorter than the original by mistake. I'm still not sure if I read the diagram incorrectly or I lined my paper up wrong in my trimmer. Either way, I'm happy with the result. It's another where I made 4 of each combo.

This final set of cards is the May 2022 sheetload of cards. It used 6x6 paper, which I really like because I have so much of it and it was good to use up some of it. 

 

Card details: All products Stampin' Up unless noted otherwise

Sets 1 & 2:

Pattern paper: Photo Play Silent Night                                                                                                 

Ink: Bumble Bee

Cardstock: Basic White, So Saffron, Bumble Bee 
Sentiment: Peace to You

Set 3

Pattern paper: Echo Park, collection unknown                                                                                          

Ink: Bumble Bee

Cardstock: Basic White, Always Artichoke
Sentiment: Peace to You

One card, three challenges!

I am back with my second post of the month.

My organizing goals are coming along far more slowly than I would like. I have been having some good bursts of creativity, though. Tonight I did a scrapbooking class, via Zoom, where we made 3 layouts.

I have been finding all sorts of bits & pieces to put together cards. I still haven't got the cardstock organized; luckily, I found my bin with pre-cut & scored card bases. All the images & designer paper used were also ones I found in my UFO bin. I decided since the Paper Players challenge is clean & simple, I'd try to make it a limited supply challenge.

I made 3 cards. I only really like one of them, so that will be the only one I enter in the challenges I'm playing in. I'll share the other ones, though, just because I figure there's no harm in it. And who knows... someone may have an idea as to how to improve the ones I don't like (or even the one I do... it certainly isn't perfect).

I really wanted to get something done this week in honour of the 500th challenge at The Paper Players. This site's design team has some of my favorite Stampin' Up artists. 

Here is the card I'm entering, which I basically like.... I was experimenting with no line water colouring. 

And here are my two rejects.

 

I am entering 2 other challenges:

The Spot Challenge: Christmas In July. This challenge site is new, and I totally recommend you check it out. It is another site where the design team is made up of some very talented Stampin' Up demos/artists; neither site requires you to use SU products, however.

Christmas Card Throwdown: Theme Challenge - Santa  I love all things Christmas, so this blog is also a great one to follow. Not Stampin' Up oriented.

Card Details - All Products Stampin' Up unless noted otherwise

Cardstock: Real Red, Crushed Curry, Very Vanilla
Designer Paper: Night Before Christmas
Stamps: Santa's List
Ink: SU Black Archival (middle card) Basic Grey (bottom card) The top card uses a light colour from Memento. I don't recall the name at all, and I can't get into the drawer right now to check. :) 

SIP 76 - Embossing

Holy moly... another one of my extended breaks from blogging. I can't believe so much time has past. I have definitely been doing a lot of crafting. It's been a great stress relief through a long, arduous fall work session. The problem has been organizing myself to get things posted here. I've eve got a number of cards photographed.

My life has not been terrible this fall... just busy. We're happily awaiting the birth brother & sister in law's second child, a boy, due any day. His big sister is getting pretty excited & she's happy that her grandma on her mom's side is visiting to help get ready for the baby, and staying to the end of the year to help post-birth.  Our folks will go out in January or so.

I started these cards a while ago & put the finishing touches on them today. They're from a stamp a stack I attended not long ago. We made 24 cards. My friend Joy normally goes to these things with me, but she couldn't make it this time, so we split the cost & divided up the cards. 

On to today's cards.... check out the challenge at Stamp Ink Paper!

Card Details - All Products Stampin Up

Merry and Bright card

Stamps: Cookie Cutter Christmas, Stitched With Cheer (sentiment)

Cardstock: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler

DSP: Candy Cane Lane

Other: Bow Builder punch

Christmas Day Card

Stamps: Cup of Cheer

Cardstock: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler

DSP: Presents and Pinecones

Other: Circle framelits, Dazzling Details glitter 

VC Rocks Holiday Blog Hop & a challenge card

Although we shut down VC Rocks at the end of the summer each year, we always open it back up again in December to just check in with each other, wish each other holiday greetings, and share projects we've been working on. This year we have a blog hop for you, too. I honestly don't remember if we did one last year. 

I had a busy final week of school, and I'm looking forward to the two week break. There are two gifts I still need to go and buy tomorrow. My plan was to bake my famous Peanut Butter Blossom cookies, but I'm not sure I've got the time or the energy. Along with shopping, I still have wrapping to finish. Today I took some time out from everything and went to see the Peanuts movie again. I rarely go to movies twice in the theatre, but it was a chance to spend time with a good friend, who invited me to tag along with her and the daughter of a mutual friend of ours. It was a lovely way to spend a cold, grey day. 

I admittedly messed up the way I photographed these two cards. My plan was to take the shot with both in in the frame, to save time, then crop it into two individual shots. Of course, the cards are two close together an that didn't work. I'm entering the one on the left, with the poinsetta paper & the Cherry Cobbler/Garden Green colour combo, in the current Color Throwdown. 

I'm not sure how I managed to do such a terrible job of photographing this card. I thought I'd checked it, but apparently, I didn't. There's no sentiment on it because a friend was over & asked me if she could take a Christmas card from my stash, and she said she'd put one on. We're both stampers/cardmakers - she's just been really busy & realized she was short a card.

Hop on over to VC Rocks to see what the other Rockers have contributed to the Hop!

Card Details - All products Stampin Up

Three challenges...

I am definitely starting to feel some Christmas spirit. Yesterday I did some volunteer work with a local agency in the morning. I got to relax in the afternoon, which was nice. We had TERRIBLE weather yesterday so I got drenched just getting out of my car & into my apartment. I needed the time to dry off and warm up. 

We had our church Christmas dinner last night. Between that, helping at the Christmas Closet last Tuesday, and finishing my tree, I feel ready. I even found my mom's gift - she's the hardest to shop for. 

Today was low key. I've got two versions of one card to share today. I'm entering my version in three challenges, as follows: 

Crazy 4 Challenges C4C315 - Oh Christmas Tree

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - Jean's Masculine CAS challenge

CASology: Tree

Like my snowflake card from my last post, these were kits my friend put together. The first one I did exactly as she made hers.

Then for the challenge I made some changes. I flipped the patterned paper over, altered the orientation, and as you can see, chose a different sentiment stamp. Were I not aiming for a somewhat masculine feel, I might have added a bit of bling in a few spots on the flowers (by the word little in the greeting).

Card Details - All Products Stampin' Up

Cardstock: Mossy Meadow, Very Vanilla

Ink: Mossy Meadow

DSP: Home for Christmas? 

Stamps: Cozy Christmas

Other: Tree Punch

Christmas is coming...

Life got busy again these last few weeks. Just a lot of complex things going on at work, so not much happening in the way of crafting. I've been keeping track of challenges as usual and trying to find time to do one. Today it was finally time.

I've had these cards almost ready for a while...made them with my friend Angela. I missed her Stamp A Stack so I put my own spin on the cards. Here is today's cards; I'll post the rest later... I have a few still left to finish. 

I can't actually decide which card I like best. Ang's version had two white & one silver snowflake. I decided I wanted to try both all white & all silver. My background snowflakes are stamped in different spots, too.

Which of my takes on the card do you like best? Drop me a note in the comments & check out the rest of the submissions at Cupcake Inspirations!

Card Details - All Products Stampin' Up

Cardstock Whisper White, Pacific Point

Ink: Versamark, Pacific Point

Stamps: Snow Flurries??? 

Other: Pearls, Rhinestone, silver embossing powder, white embossing powder

Christmas card challenge

Wow, the fall has been busy. I've had a lot on my plate professionally. I did manage to get away for a long weekend in Vegas to celebrate my 45th birthday. I took a lot of pictures, which are STILL sitting on my camera. Went old school this time & took the pictures on my Canon, as opposed to my phone.

I also ended up having to replace my monitor. It crashed on me a while ago and one of my wonderful cousins gave me one of her old ones. So even when I was able to make cards, I've not been able to post them. Surprisingly, I've done well at carving out time to do some card making. Self care is too important to ignore, and I find my card making and scrapbooking to be a great stress relief. So I've got lots to share over the next while.

Today's card is for two challenges
 GDP: Christmas
TGIF: Christmas

It's a CASE of a design by a great card maker at a local store. I went in and did it as a make & take. One of the things I love about these events is the freedom we have to change things up. I did my snowflakes differently, and my colours were a bit different for my background. I fell in love with these trees. They remind me of the Wonderland set from Stampin Up, which I didn't purchase, because I have similar stamps. The background is done with Tim Holtz distress inks. The greeting & the trees are embossed in white.

All the products used on this card are Tim Holtz. I can't remember what colours of distress ink I used, or the name of the set.

Day/Card 19 - CYCI #79

Another lovely day here in British Columbia, Canada. The weather is perfect. Had a nice morning of errands, though I was disappointed to find out that I do, in fact, have to go get a new passport. I inadvertently spilled a mocha on my table, and of course it had to go over to my passport before I grab it off the table. So that was a bummer. Tonight I had a lovely time at the pub with my friends. We started as a "Stitch group" and the place we used to rent got too expensive. As it's summer, and we've not quite decided on a new long term location, we went to the pub tonight, and we're doing the same next week. 

On to today's card... 

It's another one that I started ages ago, through a class at the former LSS. Never got it done at the time, so I put it in my 'unfinished kits' box, which I'm working through now. 

There is still time to enter! Check out the challenge blog here. 

Christmas in July - Day 15 to 18

I'm back! I didn't mean to get sidetracked with Christmas in July. I had camera issues for a little while. Then we had our last VC Rocks Blog Hop, so I had to focus on that. I still play to get at least 25 cards posted this month, though I'd love it if I could post a full 31. We shall see. 

The cards today are all ones I made ages ago at Scrapbookin' Adventures. They're also all interactive and/or a fancy fold.  The first one is my favorite; I do love the Card In A Box idea. They are actually easier to make than you'd think. Though I've had no trouble getting mine to stand, I have found that after a lot of moving it around, folding it up and unfolding it, it's  not as straight/square as I might like when it's open. 

I used Photo Sheet to merge my photos together so you would get the full effect of the cards. 

 I don't remember what the fold on the next card is called. I want to say 'Shadow Box' but I don't think that's it. I'm not sure the picture captures it well, but the cardstock is scored & foded over so that there's a 1/4 inch space between the Kraft & the white. Though I love the front, the fold is not my favorite.

These last two are my favorite. The first one has Glitter Ritz on the front; I can't capture how pretty and glitzy it is with my camera, sadly.

SIP Challenge #5 - Day 14

There is a new challenge blog on the internet, and I really like it. It's called the Stamp Ink Paper challenge, and today I'm taking part in Challenge #5 . Conveniently enough, the theme happens to be Christmas in July.
Here's the Inspiration image:

And here is my card:

The image is from a kit; I had the card in my stash of 'Things I Need To Finish' and this challenge gave me the kick I needed to do it. I was trying to get the colour of the bird to match the ornaments completely, and I struck out there. He's too pink. But with the markers I have in my collection, that was the best I could do.

I want to say the the image and verse are from Penny Black, but if I'm honest, I do NOT remember.

Day 13

Good afternoon....

Another wonderful day here. I have been thinking, and in an effort to get more traffic, I am offering blog candy. Post a comment to all my July cards, and then at the end of  "Christmas in July" I'll randomly draw a name and send one person their favorite card.

I slept in for some strange reason. Well, I didn't so much sleep as I lacked the energy to get up. I was awake, listening to TSN 1040 sports talk radio.

Went to Crafty Capers for Coffee & a Card. A friend usually goes with me, but she had to work, so she couldn't make it. She had hoped I'd be able to buy her a kit, but there weren't any left. I promised her I'd show her the card & we could make our own version this summer.

That card is very summer, and not at all Christmas-y, so I won't post it today. I'm saving them for August.

Today's card is one of the 2 other cards I made the same day as yesterday's card.

I just gave it a quick water colouring this afternoon and then photographed it. I also had to fix the flaps. Apparently I didn't use very strong adhesive on the larger flap, or the the inside piece, as both came off. I was going to take a picture to show you how it opens, but it's pretty self explanatory. Each of the die cut flaps are tucked under the white lined piece, but they aren't attached to each other at all. You simply lift each one and write your message inside.

The flaps were cut using a Big Shot. I don't remember what die we used. Simply score about a 1/4 inch or so in, so you have a piece to fold under and adhere the flaps to the base.

BTW - in yesterday's post I said I thought the paper was Simple Stories. I'm not so sure of that anymore. It may well be Echo Park.

Day 12

Editor's note: This card actually would have been live last night had I hit 'Publish' rather than 'Save'. Aaargh. 

------

Today is a bittersweet day. My Boo is gone; mom, dad & Boo start their Alaska cruise today. Then, after the cruise they're heading home via the US. So no more seeing my girl until we Skype again in a few weeks. 

Despite that melancholy, I had a relatively good day. My allergies seemed to be back with a vengeance in the morning. I ended up sleeping in and getting to church late, and thus couldn't get a wheelchair-safe parking spot. So home I came to do some proof-reading for a friend. Then I continued the never-ending task of attempting to finally catch up on my email. 

Went to a lovely book launch at a friend's house in the late afternoon. It was good to see some old friends  and meet some new people. And the hosts cooked us a fantastic meal. I got home around 8:00 and I was surprisingly tired.

Today's card is one I made at the former Scrapbookin' Adventures store. They always did great card classes. Luckily, Bianca, who taught the card classes, is teaching at a new store. She and a friend opened up an online venture a few months after SA closed its doors here. SA is also doing online sales, too, but their focus is on kits. 

But I digress. Here is the card. The reason I didn't post it when I made it in 2014 is that I hadn't yet decided if i was going to colour the image. I had originally thought I'd leave it uncolored, to go more with a 'vintage sketch' notion, but the more I looked at the hat, the more I determined I needed to colour it. And then I decided if I was going to colour the hat, I had to colour the scarf and his arms. So I found my Tombows (after spending 15 minutes going through all the drawers, I discovered they were right in front of my nose, on the shelf. Yay me. Aargh.) and gave Frosty a bit of colour. 

I may yet add some Wink of Stella or some other form of glitter on the snowman.. I can't decide if that would be too much. Note that the stamped image is all one stamp, and it was embossed with VersaMark & covered in an antique-y gold embossing powder. 

The patterned papers are either Simple Stories, I think. 

Day 11

Life is good.

I had a wonderful day today. Tomorrow my brother, sister in law and niece leave. They're actually going on a cruise with our (as in brother & my) parents, to Alaska. I'm really curious as to how the munchkin will do. I just wonder if she'll be bored. She does love 'bowts' (a close proximity to her pronunciation of boats.. it may be a bit more like 'boots', actually) though so I can imagine she and Dida (her grandpa, my dad) will have fun looking out the window at them.

Anyway, today was fun because on her last day here, I finally figured out the way to get past her nervousness around my chair. We played with technology. Basically, I found some fun Youtube videos that she was so enraptured by that she forgot to be nervous. They weren't even wheelchair related; they were some Sandra Boynton books. When it was time for me to go, she gave me a big kiss with no need of mommy or daddy to hold her. So my day was made. :)

Had a relaxing afternoon. Then tonight I went to the movies with a friend. We went to see movie Minions. It was utterly hilarious. It stood alone quite well, and as a prequel for the two Despicable Me films, it was fantastic. I have not laughed that hard in AGES.

Today's card.... I thought I'd posted this card in the past, but I can't seem to find it in any previous posts. It was one I made on a Monday Coffee & a Card at Crafty Capers. I also don't see a picture of it on my computer, either filed in my previously blogged folders (I sort by year) or my general 'cards & layouts' folder. So I'm hoping I've not posted this in the past.

This card features a lot of Tim Holtz stuff, if I recall correctly. The tree & the deer should be Stamper's Anonymous. The tag is stamped and covered with distress inks. The stencil is definitely a Tim one. I think this card was the first time I used stencils, and I fell in love. I don't remember what company made the die for the Merry Christmas.

This card was a lot of work, but totally worth it. I'd try something like it again, though it's definitely not something I'd ever try to mass produce.

Until tomorrow...

Day 10

What a wonderful day!

I went over to see my niece again and she my worries were for naught; she didn't act more nervous than she had on Wednesday. In fact, she's warming up to me quite nicely. As long as Daddy was holding her, she was happy to give me a kiss. I got to see her twice today, which was a treat; we had a family dinner at my Aunt's house. She had a lot of fun playing with our cousin, who just turned 5. They were very sweet together.

I also attended a professional event. They had the grand opening of phase 1 of some park improvements at a local place. The new play areas/equipment look terrific and the designs for future phases are spectacular. I didn't stay very long. Just visited with some friends and colleagues, took some pictures of the proceedings, had cake, and headed home. It was very crowded with children who were NOT interested in us adults interfering with their fun.

Today's card:

Like yesterday's (and tomorrow's) card, this one is one I created at a make and take at Crafty Capers, our local stamp store. I think we made it the same day as the previous card. I say that because the snowflake is covered in Inka Gold, just like yesterday's. 

There is no stamping on this card. Everything is die cut, except the small blue snowdrops. Those are made with Pearl Pen, I think. 

Day 9

Well, today was a mixed bag. On the one hand, on Thursdays I get my favorite home support worker who does my laundry. Of all the HSWs I've had, she's one of the two best I've had, ever. And the smoke is gone! Or at least if it isn't, it's faded to the point where it's no longer noticeable. So that makes me very happy.

The bummer about today was that I did not get to see my niece. My mom called when I was out last night. He made arrangements to take her for a play date at a friend's house. The weather is pretty warm so she got to go in the little kiddie pool they have. She was so excited she barely touched her breakfast. Anyway, the friend was only available in the morning, so they had to leave right after they ate. My only worry is I wonder if she'll take a step back and start making strange with me again. She was just starting to get comfortable yesterday.

The other bummer about today... I did NOT use my time wisely. At all. Like, I can't even tell you what I did today. I played games on Facebook. I read multiple threads about local political issues. That is pretty much it. I'm at the point where I think I'll have to ask my cousin to come over and supervise me so I get off my lazy butt and clean my kitchen; it's rather pathetic, but I swear, I have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to cleaning up clutter.

I love today's card. It's not perfect - there's a snowflake missing - but I have a sentimental spot for it in my heart regardless. When I say there's a snowflake missing what I mean is, when I made it, there were five. There was a small one in between the top right and centre left. It fell off and refused to go back on now matter what I did. So I gave up. It's hard to tell - I couldn't get great light to photograph this one - but there are little dots of pearl pen in a few places, and the 'Let it snow' is embossed. The snowflakes are convered in Inka Gold.

Day 8

What a wonderful day I had today. It was another one where I took it easy. But in the evening I went out to my friend's house for tea. We have a ladies' group that meets Wednesday nights, and I since I've  been elected to school board, I'm usually only able to attend 1 or 2 times per month. Now that we're on summer break, I should be there every Wednesday. It was our first get together of the summer, because Canada Day fell on a Wednesday this year. The 6 of us had a lovely visit, and one of the ladies brought candy from her recent road trip... a mixed container of huckleberry flavoured treats - mints, gummy bears, taffy and jelly beans. I tried the gummy bears, and didn't like them. Not soft & gummy enough for me; more like jujubes. The jelly beans were delish, though, if a bit too sweet. 

Today's card is another oldie. I have no idea when or where I made it. I'm only just seeing, as I look at the photo, that I'll have to trip the end a bit, and fix the middle ornament.Very odd... I'm admittedly someone who doesn't always get things perfectly straight, but I usually notice when this are as askew as this one! 

This set is retired, but it's one I expect I'll keep forever. I absolutely love it. What interesting is it took me quite a while to notice it. I especially love this colour combination. It's a little atypical for Christmas, but it's not weird, either. These are definitely my colours.. I love bold jewel tones. 

Card Details - All Products Stampin' Up
Stamps: Delightful Decorations
Inks: Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz
Paper: Island Indigo, Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz
Other: Ornament Punch, Border punch

Day 7

Another low key day in my world. I had my usual morning visit with my niece. She's slowly warming up to me, which is nice to see. We were signing songs and having stories today. Then I came home  and did laundry. The smoke was still pretty bad so I didn't feel  like going out. I have a ridiculous amount of email to still catch up on, so I work on that when I have free time. On some level, it's a procrastination thing... I should probably clean my kitchen a bit more, but it's too hot to get motivated.

Today's project is a cute little treat pouch/bag.

The bag itself is made using a die. I can't remember what company makes it. The top and bottom pictures are the bag laying flat; the middle is standing up. It was quite easy to figure out - far moreso that I expected when I first saw it. The background is made using Tim Holtz distress inks. The snow is masked on the bench. Truly, the trickiest part of the project was lining up the ribbons/bows between the lights. We used a Gelatos to do the light. I love them, but I don't have any because I know I won't use them enough to justify the purchase.

Day 6

Happy Monday!

Short post again today. The smoke is still an issue, but it's improving. After my morning visit with my fabulous niece, I went to Crafty Capers and made a card; I'll post it in August. I'm trying to get myself into a groove so I have a card to post every day. I managed to do some grocery shopping, too, and then I just hung out at home.

I found the card I meant to post on July 4th when I was doing some other sorting: 

I have to say it's one of my favorite creations ever. I love the colour combo of Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze & Night of Navy. It's perfect for winter, in my mind. And that snowman image is one of my favorites. 

Card Details - All products Stampin Up! 
Stamps: Snow Much Fun

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Night of Navy

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler

Other: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Markers

Day 5 - Congrats USA

Before we get to today's card - congrats to the US Women's National Soccer Team on their World Cup victory. So glad the game was played indoors, at BC Place. I noticed the sun peeking through, so I did wonder if the roof was open. I'd be surprised if it was, though. The Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island are covered in a pretty thick haze due to all the forest fires that are happening throughout the province. It's unprecedented, at least in my lifetime. I mean, sure, we have fires, but it's never been this bad. Normally I'd have my back door open, to get some in air in from off the patio, but I can't. Too much smoke.

Despite all the frustration & nervousness about the haze/smoke, it's been a good day. I had breakfast at my parents' house so I could see my little niece (and my bro/SIL of course!). She's taking a little bit of time to warm up to me. At first we couldn't figure out why, as we try to Skype regularly. Then it hit me that she can't see my wheelchair on the laptop. The way I'm sitting, it's hidden. So she's still figuring that out. And the elevator up to the kitchen isn't a normal, quiet one. 

On to today's project! It's not a card today, in the traditional sense. It's a gift card holder. I made it at the same class where I made these cards. To be brutally honest, I couldn't find this one at the time I posted the first four. Not sure how it got separated from the rest. My apologies for the blurry photo; phone died so I couldn't try again. I'll try to update it tomorrow when I post day 6.

As you can see, it's done file folder style. The file folders came premade by the company we got the kit from. The 'merry' is from a separate die; all the other embellishing is from the kit. The folder is adhered shut along the left & right side, so you can slide a gift card in the top, which is why I'm not classifying it as a 'card,' per se. 

See you tomorrow! 

Day 4 - Happy Independence Day!

I hope all my American friends are enjoying the celebration of July 4th!

It's not a holiday here, as we just had ours, but today was a great day nonetheless. I got up nice and early, which always gets me off to a good start. A friend came by and we went to a garage sale; an SU demo we know was selling some retired products. Surprisingly, I didn't purchase as much as my friend J. I have a  very specific list now of retired stamps I'm looking for, and I do my best to NOT stray from it.

After our successful shopping excursion, we went out for a nice breakfast. We had talked about going to the mall, too (she wanted an oven thermometer and I could use a few new t-shirts) but it was already getting too hot. So we checked out the movie times so we can (hopefully) go see Inside Out this week or next, and then went back to my place, where she kindly helped me get my trunk unloaded... and made me even happier by taking a few of my leftover items from the Crafty Capers garage sale. I still have lots to take up to Parksville to see if people would like it later this month.

Speaking of that - on to today's card.

Today's card is a CTMH card. Like all my CTMH cards so far, it was designed by my wonderful demo Candra Holmes at Paper Dragon Fleur. I don't think I've ever strayed from Candra's design at all... maybe once in a blue moon I'll use the opposite side of a patterned paper. Part of that is that I love her work (as I do all the stampers I know - they're all so different, and it's wonderful!), and part of it is that I don't have quite the CTMH stash that I do of SU stuff at this point, so I'm not yet feeling as creative as I do with my other stuff.

I chose this card because although it's not the same blue as the US flag, it still has some red, white & blue. And the ribbon has some shimmer to it, which makes me think of stars.