Christmas Card Class

I have two sessions of my Christmas Card Class coming up. We'll be making 50 cards, using mostly new products from the Holiday Mini! Here are just a few of my favorite cards that we'll be doing....

Real Red & Soft Suede is my new favorite color combination!!!

Veteran's Day!

There's been a lot of online chatter about thankfulness. I love it.

Today, I am * very * thankful to my father in law, my grandfathers, my uncle, my nephew, other family, friends and perfect strangers for their courage and willingness to fight for our country and help bring freedom to people everywhere.

Here is a neat email I got that I wanted to share...since I can't put my own thoughts into words.

THE FINAL INSPECTION The Army Soldier stood and faced God, Which must always come to pass. He hoped his shoes were shining, Just as brightly as his brass. 'Step forward now, Soldier, How shall I deal with you? Have you always turned the other cheek? To My Church have you been true?'

The soldier squared his shoulders and said, 'No, Lord, I guess I ain't. Because those of us who carry guns, Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays, And at times my talk was tough. And sometimes I've been violent, Because the world is awfully rough. But, I never took a penny, That wasn't mine to keep... Though I worked a lot of overtime, When the bills got just too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help, Though at times I shook with fear. And sometimes, God, forgive me, I've wept unmanly tears. I know I don't deserve a place, Among the people here. They never wanted me around, Except to calm their fears. If you've a place for me here, Lord, It needn't be so grand. I never expected or had too much, But if you don't, I'll understand. There was a silence all around the throne, Where the saints had often trod. As the Soldier waited quietly, For the judgment of his God. 'Step forward now, you Soldier, You've borne your burdens well.

Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets, You've done your time in Hell.' ~Author Unknown~

December Daily!

Wow, what a great idea! I was directed to THIS blog, to learn more about THIS scrapbook idea. The funny thing is, I did a cover for a book with a similar concept about two years ago....and have yet to put ANYTHING in it. So. While I brainstorm ways to change that fact, and come up with a book to document our December...you can look at this page that is almost two years old! The page itself is not my design, This year Stampin' Up! provided a major convenience to their demonstrator by doing some of the training we would receive at a Regional meeting, on DVD, and also allowing us to buy the make & takes we would have made if we'd attended. So, this is a page from Regionals *wink*. The only thing I did differently was to mat the photo on Real Red card stock. I think its very cute! Enjoy! Supplies: Stamps: Berry Christmas Ink: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Soft Suede Paper: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Soft Suede & Whisper White card stocks, Soft Suede Prints DP Accessories: Sherbet Designer Buttons, Linen Thread, Real Red polka-dot ribbon

Easiest Ever

Really. I put together 5 pages today and the hardest part was printing off the info! These pages came from my son's Star Student poster, from two years ago!!! I just took the pictures off, wrote the very same caption as the poster had, and typed up the page we had to fill out for him! This is the first page, last page and only one of the middle...because there are three middle pages that look the same except the snapshots glued down. *grin* Supplies: Stamps: Letterpress ABC (retired) Ink: Tempting Turquoise Paper: Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Brilliant Blue

A Sketch!

Its been a really long time since I played in any of my weekly challenges I love... Tons going on, plus prepping for my Christmas Card classes. So I thought I'd change gears and use this fun new hostess set I got!

This card is BASED on Beate's sketch... LOL. the lines of paper are supposed to go the whole length of the card...and my circle is HUGE to fit the words on it. haha...

Supplies:

Stamps: Of the Earth Ink: Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede & Always Artichoke Markers Paper: Soft Suede, Whisper White, Melon Mambo

Thankful Jar

What are you thankful for? We have started a little Thankful Jar in our family. It was intended to be a countdown to Thanksgiving, but I received it late, and besides, I think it should continue thru the entire holiday season. So each morning my kids are taking turns drawing out a slip of paper with a reminder of something we are thankful for, and a way to express their gratitude. Today's selection said "I am thankful for my cousins! Write a letter to one of your cousins!" ...only problem is my kids have a LOT of cousins. In fact, a good number of who they consider their cousins are actually the children of their first cousins. :) LOTS to choose from! They each chose three cousins to make a card for....and look how fun it was!

But....their choices left out a little one whose older siblings would get mail...and I didn't want her feelings hurt! So I threw together a Thankful card for her! It is extremely simple, but hey, she's a very small girl!

Here are the three cards my son did. He wrote and filled the insides. Yeay for cousins!

Christmas Paper

So I have been putting together cards for my upcoming Christmas Card Class. Here's one of the many cards we'll make...

Let It Snow!

I got a snowflake stamp! haha! My mom does have a couple snowflake sets but I always forget to borrow them. I got these photos printed earlier this summer and have been waiting for a snowflake stamp. This one arrived yesterday! And today when I pulled out the colors to work with, inspiration struck to stamp on the ribbon! Whoo! Craft ink would have been richer, but this worked fine for me! It also works for a challenge to scrap something you love. You got it! I love my son and he loves the snow! (he also loves when I make pages for his books! lol) The photos look better IRL, sorry the quality of picture is not good. The sun will not shine...it is too wet to play..... These pictures are a few years old now. They are of my son playing in the snow while my in-laws were staying with us. I was on bed rest and dealing with pre-term labor, so my FIL kept the walk clear just in case! At least my little boy had a great time! (oh and we were living at camp at the time, which explains the very cute port-a-potty in the background.) Supplies: Stamps: Berry Christmas, Big on Christmas Ink: Night of Navy, Basic Black Paper: Baja Breeze (retired), Night of Navy, Whisper White card stocks Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Pencils, 2 Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Baja Breeze stitched grosgrain ribbon (retired), Baja Breeze corduroy buttons (retired) And there's a little close-up!

Holiday Quiz

yeah, like, which holiday is it? Valentines of course! haha! I had these pictures printed so I thought I'd play with them before my Christmas class supplies start arriving! I think the stamp I used is a little bit out of the box, which is such a fun thing to do... I used bits (tiny bits!) of scotch tape to cover the "thank you" word inside the hearts! This page also qualifies for a challenge to do at least 100 words of journaling. There was a story to tell here so that worked fabulously!
Supplies:
Stamps: Very Thankful, Classic ABC Numbers (retired)
Ink: Basic Black, Real Red
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Real Red Striped Grosgrain ribbon

Embossing Class part 2

I had my second Embossing Class this week, so now I can share the very last of the cards we made! This is the Cracked Glass technique. Isn't it pretty?! I've wanted to try this for a really long time, and what better time than an Embossing Class? Supplies: Stamps: Ever After Ink: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron Marker Paper: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron Accessories: Glassy Glaze EP Powder, Heat Tool, Chocolate Taffeta Ribbon, Stamping Sponge

Have a button!

Here is another page I did a couple nights ago. The layout was just me playing around, but the colors, and the chipboard come from a recipe challenge!

Supplies:
Stamps: All Gods Children (retired)
Ink: Basic Black, Really Rust
Paper: Really Rust, Basic Black, Very Vanilla
Accessories: EE/N Buttons (retired), Chipboard circle (retired), Seaside Ribbon (retired)

Double Sketch!

So. I've been busily cleaning up my office. Photos tomorrow. *grin!* Then, I got to do scrapbooking! This layout is found on "52 Sketches 52 Weeks", and I used a color challenge to do a monochromatic blue page. Supplies: Stamps: none Ink: White craft Paper: Ballet Blue, Bashful Blue, Whisper White card stock Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, Mat Pack, EE brads, Seaside ribbon (retired), unknown stickers
This page uses the same layout and then a color challenge from a recipe for spinach-artichoke dip! Cool, huh? And, you see, you clean up the stamp room and you find all kinds of things you forgot about! Supplies:
Stamps: ABC Lower Alphabet Ink: Always Artichoke Paper: Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, Naturals card stock, Autumn Vine DP Accessories: EE/Neutral Buttons, Fresh Fav Buttons
Anyway, I've posted this photo here before...it was taken last October. I was sick and went to bed early. When my husband came to bed, this is what he found, LOL! I was surprised he thought to take a picture of it, but he wanted to show me. ...needless to say, I did not feel much better the next morning, haha!