Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wow, where does time go?  It seems like it was only last week that I was shopping for Christmas presents.  And now we will be welcoming 2013 in a few days.

Despite the holiday craziness, coupled with the traveling that we were doing, I managed to make Christmas cards to give to family members, wrap my family's presents, give it to them, attend the family Christmas Eve dinner at my uncle's house, host a Christmas Eve dinner two hours later at our house, and watch my son open his presents on Christmas morning, and travel.  Whew.  Just thinking about it makes me exhausted!

I will post the Christmas card I made for family members tomorrow.  I had forgotten my camera at  home, so I was not able to snap a quick photo.

For now, just some interesting thoughts on gift-giving:
1.  I searched all over for a Discovery Farm cloth book for my son, and finally found it online.  I ordered it and it was delivered just in time for the holidays.  It was going to be one of his presents, in addition to an Octo-tune, and three other books.  In addition to that, he also received plenty of gifts from family and friends.  His Dad and I loved all the gifts.  He was more interested in the wrapping paper.

2.  My niece is also my husband's goddaughter, and because we were so busy with the hustle and bustle of the holidays, ended up buying her present at the last minute.  On the way to the store, I was anxiously praying that there will be something left to buy that she will like (many years ago, I learned the hard way that shopping on Christmas Eve leaves you with very slim pickings).  I finally decided on a Minnie Mouse dress-up toy and an AquaDoodle (can  you believe I almost typed Aqua Painter?  Wink, wink).  I was in and out of the store in 20 minutes flat (sooner if the line had not been that long), and she squealed with delight as soon as she opened her presents.  It looks like I hit the jackpot on that one.

Lessons learned over the holidays:
1.  To take joy in the simple things, like my son.
2.  Sometimes, you can get lucky, even at the last minute, like I did with my niece's presents.
3.  The best presents we can give to each other are the intangible ones, like time, love, and kindness.

Thanks everyone, for looking, and I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed holidays!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Yesterday was my Mom's 63rd birthday.

We celebrated her birthday last Saturday, with a catered dinner with family.  Preparing for the party was definitely hard work, but I'm glad Mom had a blast.

I baked her a cake.  Only a few people know this, but before I got into paper-crafting, I loved to bake.  I still love to bake, but I don't love the clean-up that comes with it.  With paper-crafting, I still get the creative satisfaction, with a lot less clean-up (although my husband will disagree, especially if I'm working on a big project).

I don't have a photo of the cake because I was hoping to snap a quick one during the party, and of course, we got so busy chatting with everyone and playing with the babies (my Mom's side of the family had been really blessed with little ones this year), that the cake was gone before I knew it.

I also made these for the guests:

I've been itching to use the It's a Wrap Occasions stamp set (Wood:  123590; Clear:  123592) since I got it several months ago.  It's going to be one of my favorite stamp sets -- I have a feeling you'll be seeing more of these wrapped nuggets in the future. ;)

I have to say, I really love how it stamps crisply and cleanly on Whisper White cardstock (100730) in Riding Hood Red ink (126968).  I used the Top Note Bigz die (113463) on my Big Shot (113439), and voila -- an instant topper!  I added a flower (from the Button Buddies stamp set -- Wood:  122735; Clear:  122737) stamped on Whisper White cardstock (still using the same Riding Hood Red ink) and punched out with the 1-3/4 scallop circle punch (119854).

The sentiment is from A Word For You stamp set (Wood:  117032; Clear:  120528).

I made 28 of these treat bags for our guests to take home.

Thanks for looking, and have a great day!

P. S.  All the products I listed above (aside from the candy and the treat bag) are available at my Stampin' Up! store.

Christmas Treats

Christmas is only two weeks away, and I wanted to show my co-workers how much I appreciate all the nice things they did for me all year with a little gift.

I made little treat tubes using 1x8 cellophane bags (124134) and filled them with candy.  I then sealed the tops of the bags using toppers made using the 25 and Counting stamp set (Wood:  123792; Clear:  123794).  I stamped the images using Cherry Cobbler (126966), Riding Hood Red (126968), Garden Green (126973), and Always Artichoke (126972) classic ink pads on scraps of Whisper White cardstock (100730).  I used my 1 inch square punch (124094) to punch out the images and then adhered them on a base of Cherry Cobbler (119685), Riding Hood Red (111348), Garden Green (102584), and Always Artichoke (105119) cardstock.

Here's a closer look at the treat tubes and their toppers:

I will put these treat tubes on tall clear vases and leave them at each co-worker's desk on Dec. 20th (I am off on Dec. 21st).  I think these treat tubes will make nice presents, and I hope my co-workers will like them!

All of the products I used for these treat tubes (except for the clear vases and the candy) are available at my Stampin' Up! store.

Thank you for looking, and have a great day! :)

P. S.  While I was making these tubes, I was thinking of my 2-1/2 year old niece, who is just learning to say what Santa says on Christmas.  When prompted, she will say, "Ho! Ho! Ho!  Merry Christmas!" and then giggle, and that puts a smile on my face. :)

C is for Celebrate!

The holidays are coming, and I'm in a festive mood.  I'm also in the mood to make a monogram card.

I wanted to make a purple card, so I used Wisteria Wonder cardstock (122922) as my base.  I layered over that a mat of First Edition Specialty DSP (121878).  

I created the "window" for my monogram by punching a 1-3/8 circle on the First Edition Specialty DSP using the 1-3/8 circle punch (119860), adhering the mat on the card base using Snail adhesive (104332), and then punching a slightly smaller circle on the Wisteria Wonder using the 1-1/4 inch circle punch (119861).  This creates a nice border of Wisteria Wonder around my monogram "window."

I stamped "C" using the Broadsheet Alphabet stamp set (Wood:  118724; Clear:  127796) in Elegant Eggplant (126969) on Whisper White cardstock (100730), which I also punched out using the 1-1/4 inch circle punch (119861).  I adhered the circle on the inside of my card for a nice contrast.

Here's a closer look at the monogram.

I stamped the "celebrate" sentiment using the Fabulous Phrases stamp set (Wood: 117002; Clear:  120501) on a scrap of Whisper White cardstock (100730), also in Elegant Eggplant (126969).  I placed an Elegant Eggplant brad (from the 3/16 Regals brads, 119737) and then trimmed one end of the cardstock to create interest.  I then popped it up using Stampin' Dimensionals (104430).

All of these products are available for purchase at my Stampin' Up! store.

Thanks for looking, and have a great day!

Mojo Monday 270

I am back to playing at Mojo Monday -- and I just realized that I missed the deadline to upload my photo via their linky by 2 whole hours.  I did have my card made and ready by Friday, but I just did not get to a computer until now.

Last Friday, my mom and I took my son to his pediatrician for a well-baby visit, and he got 3 of his shots done.  I've never liked needles, and I'm scared of shots myself so it's always tough for me to take him to his doctor's appointments.  I have to tough it out each time, though, because I want to support him and be there for him.  Boy, being a mommy is not easy. :)

He napped on Friday after the doctor's, so I managed to make this card.

This is based on the sketch here:

I had gone through my stash of cards several days ago, and I realized that I was running low on everyday cards.  I love this sketch because it was perfect for the "Hello" sentiment from Lacy and Lovely (Wood:  122885; Clear:  122887), stamped in Marina Mist (126962) on a scrap of Whisper White cardstock (100730).

I used the Festival of Prints DSP (126904).  This paper stack is certainly awesome for holiday cards, but I'm happy to say that it works out well for an everyday card, too.  I placed a late order for this baby, and I wanted to be able to use the DSP long after the holidays.  I punched one edge of the DSP using the Scallop Trim border punch (118402).  It's one of my favorite punches.

I used Marina Mist cardstock (119682) for the base,  and Early Espresso cardstock (119686) for the mat.  For a nice pop of color, I made flowers using Daffodil Delight cardstock (119683), cut using the Floral Fusion Sizzlits (115969)  and the Big Shot (113439).  The flowers were held together using Early Espresso brad (3/16 Neutrals brads, 119737).  I ran a Daffodil Delight 1/4 inch Stitched Grosgrain ribbon (126872) over the DSP.

All of the products I used for this card is available for purchase at my Stampin' Up! store.

Thanks for looking, and have a great day!

P. S.  A new Mojo Monday sketch will be up tomorrow, and I hope I can get my card in before the linky closes next Sunday. :)

With Sympathy (SCS 409)

Several weeks ago, when I decided to return to blogging and paper-crafting, I decided that I will try to be more active in card-making by joining challenges.

I picked the SCS Card Sketch challenge, and I used this sketch (SCS 409):

This is my take on the sketch:

Unfortunately, I needed a sympathy card for a colleague who lost his parent.  I hope I'll need fewer of this card in the future.

The card was made with Very Vanilla cardstock (101650) base, layered with a strip of Crumb Cake cardstock (120953), layered with Midnight Muse 3/8" Stitched Satin ribbon (126847).  I used the Love and Sympathy stamp set (Wood:  122795; Clear:  122797) for the image, inked using Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' pad (126975).  The sentiment "With Sympathy" was from the Loving Thoughts stamp set (Wood:  125843; Clear:  125845) using Midnight Muse Classic Stampin' pad (126860).

All these products are available for purchase at my Stampin' Up! store.  

Thanks for looking, and have a great day!