Noel - One Last Set of Christmas Cards

 

Surprisingly - I gave away too many Christmas cards that I made and found myself a bit short.  I whipped these cards up using my Concord and 9th O Holy Night stamp set.  I found the idea on Pinterest and used the MISTI to stamp up a few of these boys to fill my last minute need.

Are all your presents wrapped and under the tree?  I hope so.  Mine aren't - still finishing a bit of projects and need to wrap the remaining tonight.  I'm determined to get them done and with the weekend holiday, find myself with some extra time to do so.

May all your final touches be finished and the anticipation of your festivities fill your heart...

Christmas Treats

Well, it's been a lag in getting posts up.  I've been feverishly finishing Christmas gifts - almost done, though not quite.

I did snap these quick photos of a Christmas treat that I made for the ladies at work.  Nothing overly fancy - just thoughtful to let them know I was thinking of them.  The poinsettia is made using my Heartfelt Creations (ancient!) poinsettia stamp in Moonheart blue Close to My Heart ink and die cut with my equally ancient Spellbinders poinsettia dies.  The leaves are die cut using my Doohickies poinsettia leaves die.  An equally simple sentiment stamp from my W Plus 9 Drummer Boy stamp set finishes the simple front.  I used my paper trimmer to create the kraft paper envelope and stapled a clear treat bag inside, trimming the extra bag top off at the top.

I'm hoping to squeeze in some more photographing and editing for a few quick posts this weekend.  I also hope this finds you joyfully enjoying these last few days before the holiday celebration.

Our Beautiful World - 'Tis the Season

We received an early Christmas present this past weekend.  Our friends we do Bible study with gifted us these beautiful wood trees.  Dale is a wood crafter and he cut and built the trees, finishing them with paint and stain.

I just had to join the fun this week over at Our Beautiful World where the prompt is Tis the Season.  I figured that I needed to share Dale's craftiness with you and those at the challenge.  since it is the season, stop by and see what they have going on over at

A Happy Little Birthday to My Dear Katie

Stopping by to share with you today the card that I made for my daughter on her 18th birthday.  Pink is her favorite color and I couldn't resist pairing this image with some soft, tiny patterned papers.  Its a simple card design, but on purpose to keep my sweetheart the focal image.  I considered adding a bunch of flowers and fluff to the card, but opted for this simple layout.

Time is passing quickly - her senior year is nearly 1/2 over.  I find myself with a curious mix of elation at her growing independence, sadness because the time of having my own in the house is growing closed and urgency to see where then next phase of life will lead for them and for me.  I suppose that characterizes life as a mom no matter what season you find yourself.

At least she's not too old or too hip to miss the opportunity to have her mom create a picture of love for her daughter.

Bringing Tidings of Comfort and Joy

So, I fibbed to you all.  I promised to get working on some of my crafty gift making.  However, I had a little time at the end of my weekend to myself.  I decided to use that time for a little crafty expression of joy.  In this case, that amounted to using my new-to-me Avery Elle Comfort and Joy stamp set.  This sentiment stampe has just the right mix of elegant and simple text to use for Christmas cards.  However, it was watercoloring that I wanted to focus on so I simply white embossed the sentiment onto a piece of watercolor paper.

Some of the card fronts were created with Brusho's watercolor crystals and others were made with my Mission Gold watercolors.  I can't tell you which I like better - they all turned out!

The kraft paper die cut stars were made using my SSS Holiday Shapes dies.  They work really well to keep the design simple (I didn't have a lot of time to myself) so that I could focus on the watercoloring which I find calming.

On the inside, a simple white embossed sentiment using my Concord and 9th Holy Night stamp set.  I think they go well together and I really like my tiny A2 sized Christmas greetings.  They are a little out of my comfort zone making it a wonderfully re-energizing time to myself.

I'd like to encourage all of you out there during this busy season to take a little time to recharge yourself for the efforts that lay ahead of us all.  Enjoy the season - it's meant to be on of both comfort and joy!