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

Friday fun...

Tonight was our first night back at floor hockey after Christmas break. I have to give a huge up to our registration co-ordinator, Steph, and our head of coaches, Danielle. This week back was one of the few times we had quite a good attendance rate on a week back after a break. They did a lot of work to remind people we were back, and ensured our coaches all had what they needed to do their reminder calls. It was a really fun night. We even had a few new players. One was on my team, and he was so cute. At first he was really nervous and reluctant. By the end, he was coming up to his mom and me and informing us that, he wants 'to play forever!' Best.  Feeling. Ever.

So glad I had no errands to run tonight. The weather here is frightful. I mean, certainly not as bad as our neighbours to the east have experienced. Don't get me wrong, I'm  not complaining. I just wasn't quite prepared for it to be raining as hard as it was. It was relatively dry earlier in the day. Thank you Mom for stocking me up with hot chocolate at Christmas.

A couple quick Christmas cards: I made these in the fall, the day we had the CTMH workshop at my place that I referenced here. We made two of each card, and I actually finished them that day in this case. In the case of the first card, I made a little error and the wonderful Candra helped me make it look less awful. And also, I hate tying twine.

This second card was much easier than I thought it would be, because the square was pre-punched for us. I love spinner cards! Yes I made a wee error on this one, too... hence the fact that the sentiment is stamped on a scrap rather than on the base.

I'm not sure whether I'll have a blog post tomorrow or not. I have some cards to photograph, though. And I am hoping to finally get my Christmas tree down this weekend. I hate taking it down until at least the 7th, so when the 6th falls between  Sunday and Tuesday, that means the tree is up a wee bit longer than normal.

Until next time.

Day 28!

 I can't get over how fast this month has gone - especially the last part of it. This afternoon I had a lovely visit with my cousin, while her husband worked in my room, trying to set up a wifi router for me. Sadly, we couldn't get it to work. I'll have to talk to the tech guy for our building, because we were talking at one time that it was possible. I have a wifi only i-pad and I would like to be able to use it in my living room. It'll make accessing sketches an such on Pinterest much easier. I can tap into a network down in the common room, but sometimes I don't feel like packing up my stuff to go down there. 

After dinner, my cousin, me and a good friend all went out for a dessert to celebrate my friend's birthday tomorrow. I'll take her to dinner for her actual birthday, but my cousin and her family are leaving in the afternoon, so this was our one chance to get together. We had a lovely time. 

A quick card... I made this one a while ago and didn't blog it. Well, I think I made it. To be honest, I'm not sure this card is one I made at stamp club, or one I bought from my demo's stash of cards she periodically likes to purge. There was nothing on the back, so it's possible that I made it. If I did make it, I would have had to have done so at a Club night because I don't own this set; I don't actually even remember what it's called.  I used it for a friend's Christmas card; I always knew exactly who this one would be for, because the friend in question loves angels. 

Card Details - All products Stampin Up

ABC Easter Card Challenge

 I don't always do cards for Easter, but this year I will need at least one. At 14, J. is pretty much past the Easter egg hunt/egg dyeing stage. But I want to do something for her, so I'll give her a card with a little gift card in it for her to go get herself some half price treats. We'll be heading out to the mall together on Easter Monnday, so it will give her something to spend.

I ended up making two cards, just because I was motivated. It was my first time making pocket cards; I quite like them. I think the first one is a wee bit too serious for her so I will likely use it for a friend of mine who has been a huge help to me lately as I've been working through some complicated stuff.

I am entering these cards for two challenge:
 ABC Challenges. Easter cards
Sweet Stampin: Lots of Layers

Card Details:

Cardstock: Top - Pixie Pink; Bottom - Taken With Teal; Both - Barely Banana Whisper White (SU)

Stamps: Faith & Hope (SU)

Ink: Basic Black (SU)

DSP: Top  - Lucy Bird (Imaginisce); Bottom  - Autumn Leaves

Other: Punches, Markers (SU) brads (Making Memories)

August VC Rocks Blog Hop!

Good evening!

I am so honoured to he the first stop of the August VC Rocks Blog Hop. This hop will be our final one of the season. Our theme for August is Punches, Big Shot, Simply Scored.

I almost didn't participate in this hop, because I havent' got the Simply Scored tool yet, and I don't really have any need for a Big Shot. I can use the one at the scrapbook store. Even if I wanted a Big Shot, I don't have room for it.

As I looked through my cards, I realized I have used LOTS of Stampin Up punches. In fact, there were so many that it was tough to choose. Ultimately I decided to focus on cards using punches that are still available. The majority of the ones I own border punches. The one used in the card above is probably my favourite. 

So far, my purchases have focussed on border, corner and label type punches. I want to be sure which shapes (ovals, circles, etc) I'll use before I lay out the money for them. I definitely need the circles that coordinate with my favourite set, Circle Circus. 

 Stampin' Up has some really unique shaped punches available. One that I really love is this Christmas decoration punch that coordinates with the beautiful Delightful Decorations set. This stamp set and the matching punch can help you make beautiful quick and easy cards! Although I want a few other sets first, I know I'm eventually going to end up with these stamps and the punch.

Last, I have two cards featuring the next punch I will be purchasing - the owl punch! I love him!!!! When I first saw it, I thought it was cute, but I couldn't see how I would get enough use of it to justify the purchase. I have changed my mind, in part due to the fun cards we've made with it at my stamp club and in part due to some wonderful examples that I see on blogs I follow. Mr. Owl is DEFINITELY going to be my birthday present to myself in October!

Well,l I hope that my post has inspired you to make your way through the blog hop and see the creations of the other talented women participating this weekend. Your next stop is Stamper Shirley's blog. If at any time you get lost, you can head back to the VC Rocks site to see the correct order. I also want to take the time to thank our hop organizer, Loni, for all her hard work in setting up the blog hops! I have really enjoyed being part of VC Rocks this year and I hope to be able to take part next year as well!

If you don't already subscribe to my blog, I'd love it if you did so. I have lots of cards organized to post on my blog every Monday, Thursday and Saturday, starting August 20, where I'll show you some cards using retired punches that didn't make the hop!

Stampin' Sisters in Christ

It's really late, so this post is not going to be long. I'm heading off to the Lavender Festival tomorrow morning - technically THIS morning, really, since it's well after midnight. I should technically be in bed, but I'm in the throes of my insomnia again. Regardless, I heard about this event via a mailing list I'm on. I love going to these kinds of things... it's a nice change from the routine of daily life. A friend is doing the driving, because the one thing I do NOT enjoy is driving. That can, on occasion, put a bit of a damper on my exploratory urges, but not too often, luckily.

So today I have for a a card for the latest Stampin Sisters In Christ challenge. The theme of the challenge is clean and simple. I always struggle with what that means. Initially, when I first heard the term years ago, I took it to mean one layer and I wasn't interested. There are some amazing stamp artists who do gorgeous one layer cards. The talented Susan at Simplicity immediately comes to mind, along with the other amazing women who are part of the One Layer Wednesday challenge. It's amazing what these gals can do with a simple sheet of cardstock folded in half. I do NOT have it in me.

So, while I do like my layers, I keep them very simple, with clean lines and very little in the way of extra 'stuff' to distract from the focal point. And all my cards are quick to make. I don't think I've ever spent more than 15 minutes on a card. Admittedly, I'm not counting the time I spend trying to figure out what colours go together/work with my patterned paper (I have come to realize I really feel better when I've put patterned paper on a card; it just feels more 'finished' somehow). I'm talking solely about the stamping, cutting, adhering process. I usually start with a sketch for the design so that part isn't too complicated.

And now, I am finally starting to feel tired... so without further ado, the last of my cards using The Sounding Joy. Since my bible verse stamps are inaccessible right now as I continue my stamp reorganization, I thought it fitting to use this set, as it does reference a Christmas carol/hymn. A different Stampin' Up patterned paper this time. And again I am unable to remember the name of it. As much as I love SU paper, I do wish they'd add the 1/4" strip on the bottom with the name of the paper line. It would make life so much easier.

Card Details - all products Stampin' Up

Stamps: The Sounding Joy

Cardstock: Real Red, Very Vanilla

Ink: Real Red, Chocolate Chip

Other: corner rounder

More Christmas In July

I was inspired to make another card with the lovely Holiday Thyme DSP from Stampin Up. Luckily, I found another Christmas in July challenge to submit it to. I used one of my favourite sets, The Sounding Joy. It was the first one I purchased last year when the holiday mini came out in 2011. 

The challenges I'm entering them in are:

Party Time Tuesdays #78: Christmas in July

Simon Says Stamps: Anything Goes

Stampin' Royalty #134: Use Buttons

I also found 3 more cards I made with this set using scraps of the patterned paper. You know I'm really in love with a paper when I go so far as to use the scraps as strips on a card. 

Card Details:

Stamps: The Sounding Joy

Ink: Old Olivem Cranberry Crisp

DSP: Holiday Thyme (SU)

Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake
Other: Buttons, Tonic Cutting System for oval

I've seen some great sneak peeks of sets in the current holiday mini.. Between the sets there and the ones in the new main catalogue, I've been inspired. As I've been unmounting my stamps, I've chosen about 10 sets that I'm going to be ready to part with soon. I've been looking up sketches and ideas on Splitcoast Stampers and I've found some inspiration to get a bit of use out of them first, though. A few have never been inked. I can't just sell them - I need to get at least 10 cards out of each set first. So you'll be seeing those cards in August.

Timeless Tuesday.

Another quick post today... saw the Timeless Tuesday Challenge to make a sentiment the focal point of your card and I had to play along.

Although I love Flourishes stamps, I don't actually have many of them - particularly sets with sentiments that would work for a challenge such as this one. In the end, because I love making Christmas cards, and it'[s one of my favourite Stampin' Up sets, I went with The Sounding Joy. I had some extra scraps of the Holiday Thyme DSP I couldn't bear to toss, so I came up with a simple design:

I have a couple other cards made with this set to share, too... probably tomorrow. It's a slightly busy time right now. Summer is more busy than you'd think when you work at a church. I'm doing lots of fall programming prep. I'm also trying to spend time with my brother and sister in law while they're visiting, plus spending time with a friend before she moves to Alberta. Despite all that, I've made a fair bit of progress on the apartment re-organization; just haven't had time to snap pics. Will get to it soon. I'm actually hoping I may even be done by the time I'm able to snap the pics. I have my stamps unmounted; just need some more cases for them. Also looking for a better way to store ink pads, a way to label my embellishment holders and  trying to sort my Stampin' Up cardstock. I think I have more retired colours and fewer current ones than I realized... which is fine; I just have a compulsive need to keep them separated, and right now they're mixed together.

Card Details:

Stamps: The Sounding Joy

Ink: Cranberry Crisp, Always Artichoke, True Thyme 

DSP: Holiday Thyme 

Other: Tonic oval cutting system

Christmas in July

A quick post for one of my favourite challenge blogs, offering one of my favourite challenge themes! It's somewhat ironic to me that only a week ago we'd been having typical Vancouver Island Christmas-type weather (in other words, torrential rain), and now, on the day I'm ready to post a card for this challenge, the sun's out and it's gorgeous. So thank you, Lesley and your wonderful DT, for this challenge.

I don't have much time today, as a friend will be coming soon to work on finishing a scrapbook she needs to send to her nieces. We've been working on it for ages and it's time to just git'er done. ;) So without further ado, I have two attempts to show you::

This first one didn't turn out right. I like the concept, the strips are crooked  and the mat is off. I'll have to take it apart and recut it.

Ultimately, this is the card I'm going to submit for the challenge. It turned out pretty much exactly as I'd hoped.

Does anyone remember the name of the DSP used? It's older Stampin' Up paper. It looks like it came out the year True Thyme and Cranberry Crisp were In Colours, but I could be wrong on that guess.

Card Details - all products Stampin' UpStamps: All God's Children

Cardstock: Old Olive, Certainly Celery

DSP:Holiday Thyme

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Wee Memories #80 and Our Creative Corner

Note that if you are looking for my Year in Review Blog Hop post you can find it here.

I needed a few more Christmas cards so I decided to enter a few more challenges. I know Christmas is technically over, but I have an Orthodox branch on my family tree and when my maternal grandparents were alive we always celebrated Jan 6th, too. So that's my current excuse. ;)

For the current Wee Memories Challenge here we have this card:

 I love the Sounding Joy set and it's perfect for church cards.

The second card is for the challenge at Our Creative Corner called "Home for the Holiday", We were to make a card inspired by something in our holiday decor. I love my Christmas tree this year so I was inspired to make this card.

Here is a picture of this year's tree.



Card Details - All Products Stampin' Up

Verse Card

Stamps: The Sounding Joy
DSP: ??

Cardstock: Real Red

Ink: Early Espresso

Tree Card

Stamps: Snow Swirled

Cardstock: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White
Other: Ribbon, Pewter Embossing Powder, punch

Reason for the Season

I cannot believe that it is only a few more days to Christmas! And I am completely done everything. I have one errand to run tomorrow, but the gifts are wrapped and ready. I had all the cards I made for the chuch delieverd on the 21st, which is a record for me.

Over the past little while I've gotten so many cards and scrapbook pages finished. I just haven't had the energy to get them blogged. I have some that are for current challenges, so I will post those first, over the next few days. Once I'm caught up with those, I'll post the others. I have to say I'm really glad that many challenge blogs are taking a break for the holiday; it gives me a chance to catch up. One goal I have for 2012 is to really decide which challenges I want to focus on. I find I try to follow too many and I get overwhelmed.

Without further ado, here is today's card... I am posting two because I can't decide which one I prefer.

Does anyone remember the name of this Stampin' Up DSP? It's from 2-3 years ago . The stamp set is All God's Children. All products are SU, except the tags themselves. I cut them with the Big Shot, but the dies are from Sizziz... the old red ones, if I recall. I used the Big Shot and the dies at the scrapbook store.

The cards are for the following challenges

Stampin' Sisters In Christ: Challenge #120 - Luke 2:14

Pals Paper Arts:  PPA125 - Tag, You're It
Mark's Finest/Speedy The Cat: Christmas Card

TSG 131

Saw a great challenge over at the TSG blog and I had to share it with everyone. They are calling for people to make a set of 5 quick and easy cards. These totally fit the bill.

What I love about this set of cards is that they each took only about 10 minutes, but they look great. We did them in a stamp a stack group and everyone's turned out a little differently. I'm not normally not particularly confident with the whole concept of random stamping a background. This time it didn't faze me because when I think about snowflakes and snowstorms, they ARE random.

Here's the whole set:

And here are close ups of the 4 that are obscured by the front card.

This one could hae used a little more bling, and maye a few more snowflakes...

I almost feel like this one has too much bling on it...

I think this one is my favorite

Or maybe this one...

I'm generally pretty pleased with the whole set, though. I wasn't sure about the text-y dsp initially, but I liked it in the end. And for once I loved the fact that SU Classic Black ink tends ot come out looking purple. It reminded me of the colour of the sky late at night.

Card Details:

All products Stampin' Up!

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, basic black

Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Stamps: Snow Swirled, Serene Snowflakes, The Sounding Joy

Other: Border punch, jewels

Inspiration In Action Case Contest

As soon as I saw this contest posted on Gretchen Barron's blog, Inspiration in Action, I knew I as going to enter it. Of course, even though we had almost 2 weeks to create submit our projects, I still managed to leave mine to the last minute. I just could NOT decide which card to CASE; there is so much incredible artwork in this catalogue. Ultimately I chose the leaf card on page 29. I tried to get a picture of the card but it wouldn't work.

When I first saw the card I thought the ruffled ribbon was actually distressed cardstock, so that's what I did. The original version of my card had ribbon as well, but it looked wrong, so I got rid of it. I also changed the stamp set and the colours, while staying within the realm of a fall colour scheme.

Card Details: :All products Stampin' Up

Cardstock: Old Olive, Pumpkiin Pie, So Saffron

Stamps: Fall Whimsy, God's Way

Ink: Pumpkiin Pie, Old Olive, More Mustard

Misc: Word Window Punch

Lastest creation...

Another birthday card I made last week....

I love cropping with friends. I don't know why but I feel so much more creative. This card. admittedly, is a pretty clean and simple design. I am not going to colour the image this time because I don't have the time right now and the week is too busy.

I've actually been on a real roll with my cardmaking. I have 11 more Christmas cards done that I need to post by the 31st... I'll do them by set over the rest of the week. A few have images that need colouring and some need ribbon/embellishments of some sort. If I don't get the colouring/embellishing done, I'll do a 'before' and 'after' post.

The one thing I find difficult about making cards, and even scrapbooking, away from home is embellishing the work. I don't usually decide ahead of time what I'll be using for embellishments, so to take them means taking everythingI own in a certain category. It's too much work. So I make the basic project at the store, then take it home to finish embellishing.

Birthday card recipe
Paper: cardstock (unknown); patterned paper (WRMK)
Stamp: All God's Children
Accessories: buttons (unknown)

CCC11 Card #2

Over at Splitcoast Stampers there is a Christmas Card Challenge thread. Anyone who would like to see the details and sign up can here. Basically, each participant commits to a certain number of cards per month, so you have enough done by December to complete your cards. The names of everyone who completes their monthly goal are entered for a random prize draw. I will have enough done to be in the March draw! Wooo hoo! My goal was six and I'm at 13. That's a good thing, since I didn't post any in January or Februrary.

I actually made this card in January. I had some extra images stamped, and since I found the strip of dsp as well, I decided to make something quick.I didn't colour the images this time. No real good reason for that; I just forgot to do it before I took it into the church.

As I look at this card, I realize it comes close to fitting with this sketch challenge, but my pp is a bit too big, and besides, the chalenge calls for all SU! So I willl likely try to make another version of this card and see if I like it coloured.

Of ourse, that means cleaning up the disaster area and finding my pencil crayons/felts/etc. Oh my....

Stamps: All God's Children (SU)

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Momento), Old Olive (SU)
Paper: Early Espresso cs, Very Vanilla cs(SU), Figgy Pudding (Basic Grey)

Housewarming card...

Last Sunday we had a little surprise party for Pastor Chelsey, our new associate pastor. She's found her own place, so Care and Fellowship decided to throw a housewarming for her. I actually made the card last Thursday - two great friends came over and had a card making morning, as we all needed cards for this event. I find cardmaking so much more fun when a group of us gets together and bounces ideas around.

The way part of the card came about was a happy accident. My first dilemma was that I really didn't have any stamps - or so I thought - that were really 'housewarming' themed. Then I found my All God's Children set in my stash of stamps I brought down and noticed the cute little house stamp. I am not sure I had ever inked it up prior to making this card.  I think I had forgotten about it because I purchased this set for Children's Ministry - birthday cards for the children who attend and Christmas cards for our leaders. I love it when I can find a way to use a stamp differently than I had originally intended.

I first planned this card to be vertical rather than horizontal  and then I decided I liked it better this way. The first brads I tried were too big for the holes, so I was pleased to find smaller ones in my stash.  I am absolutely in love with my SU punches... they punch so easily. I still have trouble lining things up sometimes - you can see one or two spots where the holes are off... but I can live with that. I say it gives it character.

The one change I will make when I CASE this card for a Christmas card (and probaby a few birthday cards, too!) is that I will round the corners on the pink mat, too... maybe even the top green corners, as well.

Overall I am still happy with this card as an example of CAS/quick card making.

Stamps: All God's Children  (SU)

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Momento)
Paper: Certainly Celery cardstock (SU), Penny Lane patterned Paper (My Mind's Eye)*
Accessories:  Brads, adhesive, pop dots/3D Foam (Misc.) eyelet border punch, corner rounder (SU)

Reason for the Season

These are the last of the Christmas cards I made for our church Sunday School leaders. Again, I didn't want to spend a huge amount of time on each.... they are all 10 minute cards.The patterned paper is all scraps from my stash. Again, I just randomly cut it until I liked the look.

 The tags are raised on pop dots/3D foam. Thanks to Jenn at Scrapbokin Adventures I have fallen deeply in love with 3D foam...

I didn't colour any of the images this time, simply because I forgot my pencil crayons and I didn't want to use markers. I do think next year I will at least shade a few areas. And I may well add  bit of ribbon or some other embellishments, too. I hesitated because the patterned paper is so busy and I didn't want to distract from it, or the image.

The details:


All cards stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and punched with the SU tag punch. I actually punched the image using my punch and then hand cut the mats. I need to get the next size up in this punch. All stamped images, as noted, are from All God's Children, except for the doves, which are from A Wish for Peace, both Stampin' Up sets.

Cardstock: SU! Cranberry Crisp, Old Olive; PP: Fancy Pants

 Cardstock: Real Red, Cranberry Crisp; PP: Fancy Pants, Imaginisce My favorite card of this set is the one on the bottom left. The one above it is pretty cute, too.  I don't love the one next to it, using the Imaginisce paper. It just doesn't go as well as I thought it did... or at least the way I wanted it to.

Cartdstock: SU Cranberry Crisp (top) Vintage Violet (bottom)

 PP: Fancy Pants Tradition Line, Basic Grey, 3 Bugs In a Rug

My favorite in this set is the one on the bottom, wtih the vintage violet base, although I like all 3 cards.

Cardstock: Cranberry Crisp, Old Olive; PP: Fancy Pants, Chatterbox

 So glad to finally post these! Thanks to my friend Carol who took the photos for me on her camera, as I forgot mine.

I'd love your feedback on these cards, as always!

Merry Christmas!

I want to take the time to thank everyone who follows my blog, has left comments, and/or subscribes. It sure helps motivate me to post when I know I'm not whistling in the dark, as it were.

I am so looking forward to Christmas Day tomorrow. My cousin and her hubby are here from Kelowna, via Santa Fe, NM (they live/work in Kelowna but have been down in Santa Fe for the past 6 months due to a contract he got to do some work with a university down there. He's got a Ph.D in something brainy like Stats and Physics or Math and Physics). They have the most adorable baby (born April 2010) and it was SO good to see her Weds, and I can't wait to see her tomorrow!

Isn't she just adorable? Looks more like her daddy than our side of the family. Her t-shirt, which I love, says, "Who needs Santa, I've got Grandma!" Totally appropriate as my aunt, her grandma, adores her and spoils her a wee bit.

It's been a busy week of caroling at a local senior's home, crafting at a friend's house with her, her kiddos, and another friend of ours from church, celebrating my mom's 65th. I had to buy her a card. No verses that we sappy enough (that's waht she wanted) and my printer is hooped so I couldn't get one from the internet.and attending church/visiting friends for Christmas Eve..

Have more pics I'd love to share, but I'll save 'em for a layout when I can blur faces. Just don't feel comfortable putting pics of friend's kiddos out there like that. Here is my friend L's Christmas tree... I went over and hung out with her, her mom, her mom's partner, and our friend K. tonight. You probably can't see it, but her cat is hiding/playing under the tree. So cute!
And here are two more Christmas cards I made:

Relatively pleased with how this first one turned out. Wish I had embossed, but my Versamark needs reinking and I lacked the time to do that.

Recipe:
Cardstock: Vintage Violet, Old Olive, Whisper White

Stamp: Wishing You

Inks: Cranberry Crisp, Marigold Morning, Buckaroo Blue

Recipe:

Paper: CS - Real Red, Night of Navy, Very Vanilla (SU!);Patterned - Imaginsce (the back of one of the more busy patterns

Stamp: Silent Night

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)