Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas!

Oh boy, it's been a while again. I can't seem to do more than one thing at a time.... Either I'm working a lot (which I did last week & the week before), or I'm sick (last week), or I'm stamping. I can't do all things at once. Today I was happily given a day off (no sub calls), so I can get caught up on some stuff. I have been making my Christmas cards like crazy for the past 2 weeks.... finally almost done! (Now to write on them all............)

I decided to make 8 each of 7 different designs. That way I don't get too bored doing one same design. AND, I get to use lots of my stamps, which makes it the most fun! Anyway, thought I'd share my creations with you! I know which one is my favorite (I'll tell ya later). Which one is yours???

#1Frosty Day Merry Christmas
I love the color combo of orange and green for Christmas - so nontraditional! The Frosty Day paper is just too cute to pass up. And of course, I used scallops: my new favorite tool. I used this card from Amy's blog as design inspiration.

Stamp Sets: Deer Friends, Season of Joy
Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango, Close to Cocoa
Stamp Pads (Classic): Kiwi Kiss, Close to Cocoa
DSP: Frosty Day
Accessories/Tools: Scallop edge, scallop circle, dimensionals




#2 Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

Holly Jolly Christmas (by Burl Ives) is my FAVORITE Christmas song! I love the part "Kiss 'er once for me!" So, when I saw this set, I had to have it. This santa is so cute and cheery! I think this is an underappreciated set in the catalog this year.

Stamp Set: Holly Jolly Christmas
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Real Red
Stamp Pads (Classic): Real Red, Stazon Black
DSP: Real Red DSP (hostess set)
Accessories/Tools: Baja Breeze Ribbon, Stickles Diamonds


#3 Celebrate the Season
This set is leftover from last year's cards... and I always seem to have trouble figuring out what to do with it. But, when I saw this card on SCS, I knew I could use it as inspiration to make it my own. These colors are so cute together!

Stamp Set: Season of Joy
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Riding Hood Red
Stamp Pads (Classic):Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze
DSP: Ski Slope
Accessories/Tools: 3/4" circle punch, dimensionals, silver brads


#4 Season of Christmas
A new favorite set of mine! I could stamp these little trees all day long. I knew I wanted to do something with this set for Christmas, then I found this card on SCS, and its "mother" card on Michelle's blog. I took those two ideas and came up with this card. I love it. I hope this set sticks around a long time.

Stamp Set: Season of Friendship
Cardstock: Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Craft
Stamp Pads (Classic): Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze
Accessories/Tools: 1/8" circle punch, wide oval punch, dimensionals, Chocolate Chip 1/4" grosgrain ribbon



#5 Merry & Bright
This card makes me smile. The little snowman from Merry & Bright is the cutest one around. I can't believe he's retiring! I borrowed this set from my upline, so I better order mine - and at 10% off. Yay! This design is totally cased from Jenn D. at Stamp Your Heart Out. While she used my favorite set (Season of Joy) I thought the layout was perfect for Merry & Bright.

Stamp Sets: Merry & Bright, Best Yet (hostess)
Cardstock: Old Olive, Whisper White, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip
DSP: Holiday Traditions
Stamp Pads (Classic): Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red
Accessories/Tools: Scallop edge punch, circle scallop punch, 1/16" (or is it 1/8"? I can't remember...) circle punch, corner rounder, white ribbon, blender pens


#6 Big on Holidays
I didn't want to totally case one of my own cards from my card class, but I had some materials from said class left over. So I made a new creation. I like it... scallops, ribbon, DSP, blender pens. What more could a girl want?

Stamp Set: Big on Christmas
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Whisper White
DSP: Holiday Traditions
Stamp Pads (Classic): Stazon Black, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Old Olive, So Saffron
Accessories/Tools: Scallop edge punch, 1/4" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, blender pens




Last, but not least, #7 Always Christmas
I made this card for a swap at SCS, but I liked it so much I decided to use it for my own Christmas cards! I love it when you can use a non-Christmas set and make it Christmasy. Versatility is good!

Stamp Sets: Always, Season of Joy
Cardstock: Whisper White, Real Red, Old Olive
Stamp Pads (Classic): Real Red, Old Olive, Basic Gray
Accessories/Tools: Sponge, antique brads



Whew! This post took an hour (I have a verrrrrrry slow computer). I hope you enjoy these cards. Please leave a comment of which one you like best! I will let you know my favorite soon. :)

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Snowman Soup and Reindeer Poop

Yum, yum. Don't those treats sound just delicious this time of year? Of course I'm talking about things I'm making for my craft show tomorrow. I'm really proud of these. They are verrrrry cute (IMO) and I've priced them affordably, so I hope they sell. (If they don't, guess what you're getting for Christmas, Mom!)

Snowman Soup
These Snowman Soups are made with 1 packet of hot chocolate, a handful of mini marshmallows, 3 Hershey Kisses, & 1 mini candy cane.
The poem says:
"Was told you've been good this year.
Always glad to hear it!
With freezing weather drawing near,
You'll need to warm the spirit.
So here's a little snowman soup,

Complete with stirring stick.
Add hot water, sip it slow.

It's sure to do the trick!"








I used Merry & Bright stamp set's snowman, because he is soooo cute. Each package is just a little different, but I used lots of DSP & scallops to decorate them up. I think $2.00 is a good price for these. Right now I have about 15 done, but I hope to get another 15 made today. We'll see how that goes. (Depends on how long I play on the computer!) I also bought this cute basket at Michael's yesterday (50% off!) to put them in at the show. It's very Christmasy, but is leaving glitter all over my house! Grrr.
Reindeer Poop
Reindeer Poop is even easier to make than Snowman Soup (and cuter, I think, but maybe because I like that kinda cheeky humor!) The
Reindeer Poop is just a mix of chocolate-covered raisins & chocolate-covered peanuts in a small baggie.
I used the deer from Merry & Bright and some DSP and circle & scallop punches to pretty them up a bit. I think they are just darling. I got a basket for these, too, (also leaving glitter all over!) which is really small, so it looks like I have a lot of these, but really I only have 10 or so. I ran out of candies. If I finish some other crafting stuff today, I'm going to get more candy to make about 10 more of these.

The poem on this one says:
"You've been naught
So here's the scoop

You're getting nothing
But reindeer poop."
Cute, huh?

I'll price these at $1. If these don't sell, I'm giving them all to my father-in-law who LOVES Raisinettes. :)

I must leave now and go work on more craft fair goodies. I still have "Christmas fudge," candy jars, candle tea-lights to make, and I want to try the wine bottle decoration, like at Sharon's blog. Plus, I have to add the (c) to all my cards, as I JUST got my angel policy stamp yesterday. Eep! I'm going to be busy today. :)

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Busy busy busy! Craft show is coming!

Hi everyone,

It's been so long since I've posted, and I'm sorry! With the holiday, I didn't do much stamping anyway, and since that calmed down, I've been working like a mad woman! I have my first craft show coming up on Dec. 7. I feel like I have nothing to display....I hope it's just me being nervous and not the truth.

Anyway, you'll have to bear with me, as I'm sure the next few posts will be about the craft show. I want to show off all my goodies ---- and get feedback! (Are the prices too high? Is it cute? Would someone actually buy it? Will I make any contacts or sales at this thing?!)

Here's the first of my completed goodies. Enjoy!

Picture Frames
I got these 3 for $2 or something like that at Ikea. I just covered with DSP, added a little stamped image, and voila! I love them. I hope others do, too. I plan to see them for $5.00 a piece. I think that's reasonable, right? The cheapest frames at Target are $5.00 and I've bought plenty of those.... Anyway, if they don't sell.... guess what my family is getting for Christmas? :)


Which one is your favorite? I particularly like the Christmas one. I added some Stickles to it and it's just gorgeous in person! I also really like the light green & brown one that says "The Best is yet to be".... but maybe because I LOVE Autumn Vine DSP.

Anyway, I would love feedback. If I had more time before the show I would run to Ikea and get some more frames, but with only a few days & many more projects to finish, I don't have time. Boo!

Check back for pictures of other projects soon!! :)