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. :)

My 2nd post of the day = cute cards made while DH is away!

Oh my gosh, I totally didn't mean for my blog title to rhyme. Sometimes I'm such a dork.

Anyway, as promised, I'm posting again with some of the cute cards I yesterday while watching my favorite movie, "Inventing the Abbotts" (a movie I can only watch while DH is gone because he thinks is "so boring." I don't think he understand the allure of Joaquin Phoenix!)

This first card is one I made for a swap I'm hosting (that is mailing out this week... nothing like the hostess waiting till the last minute!) The design is a CASE from a birthday card I got from my upline, but I love this layout (which you will see in future posts, I'm sure.... I made quite a few similar to this yesterday. Does anyone else fall in love with a layout and then beat it to death??)

I used:
Upsy Daisy & Best Yet stamp sets
Riding Hood Red & Not Quite Navy Classic Stampin' Pads
Washington Apple DSP
Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, & Not Quite Navy cardstock
and some white ribbon I had from Michael's (shhhh, don't tell!)

I love it. I hope the gals in my swap like it.






My other card is for my good friend Betsy who had a little girl last Monday. I was so busy with my classes this weekend that I didn't have time until yesterday to make her a card. I love this card because it suits Betsy to a tee! But I also love it because it's not traditional "baby" images or colors. In a workshop or class, this would be a good set (Always) to demo its versatility! --- side note: I made Christmas cards with this set, too! Anyway, The it's a top-open card, another trend I'm stuck on right now, maybe because it's so easy to cut the cardstock in 1/2 that way... :) The only thing I wish I had done differently in this card is stamp the sentiment on a sheet of cardstock & glue it to the DSP. It gets kinda lost (and is kinda crooked, like all my sentiments... I should change the name of my blog to "crooked stamper.")

I used:
Always& Best Yet stamp sets
Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, & Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pads
Sweet Always DSP
Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, & Chocolate Chip cardstock
and, again,some white ribbon I had from Michael's

I mailed it off today, so the picture is all I have left. Sometimes I have that empty nest feeling with my cards! I hope Betsy invites me over to see the baby (Brynn) soon. Of course, that will just feed my baby fever that is burning out of control right now! If only DH was ready for kids like I am. Sigh.......

I made some really cute cards that I'm going to demo & make-and-take at Molly's workshop on Friday. But the light in my house is bad for nighttime photos, so I'll have to post them up tomorrow morning. I'll just give a tease that my favorite layout makes an appearance!