Christmas Goodies

Christmas time is here! The gifts are wrapped, the stockings hung, Santa is on his way. The cookies are made and ready to be put in a pretty Stampin' Up! treat box. Each year I make Christmas cookies for my neighbors and friends. I was so happy when Stampin' Up! created their own treat boxes that are not only beautiful but very affordable. Now I can present my cookies in a pretty, Stampin' Up! package. This year I have made tea cakes, lemon blossoms, melt aways, chocolate crinkles and million dollar fudge. It's a good thing the calories don't count in Christmas cookies because there is close to 3lbs of butter and over 1lb of chocolate in all those cookies.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cards

So I haven't posted for awhile due to focusing all my free time on our Christmas Cards. Yes, I make all of our cards. I know sometimes I should just let it go and send them out to Costco and be done with it, but I caaaannn'tttt. It is something that I just HAVE to do. I have been making our Christmas cards since I attended my first Stampin' Up! workshop over 7 years ago. I am hoping to finish my cards by Wednesday. Above is the photo we took while in Mammoth to use for our cards. I am using Old olive and whisper white since I think the monochromatic color scheme will work well with our picture. I am adding a little glitter and using the Petals-A-Plenty impressions folder to add a little interest.

Stamping lots of Delightful Decorations - after I punched these I added some dazzling diamond glitter to the swirls.

My card list and piles of cut paper ready to be assembled once I finish the Delightful Decorations ornaments.

So Boo is not in the Christmas picture, but she is ALWAYS on my worktop demanding attention. The dogs just peek their head in every once in a while to say hello but this little girl is relentless. She is in my lap as I type this out.

I hope everyone's holiday preparations are going well.

New Background Stamp

When I received my new Fine Flourish background stamp, I was immediately pulled into it. The design is so beautiful I wanted to work with it right away. Since the design IS so lovely, I didn't want to put anything over it or use it to "kiss" another stamp. So I started coloring it. Well, my coloring skills are not what they were when I was younger but I had so much FUN coloring again. The kids were chillin' downstairs so I put on "Christmas with the Rat Pack" and colored away. It was a relaxing, great evening. I will definitely do it again after the holidays. Just imagine the many applications of this Fine Flourish stamp. You can use it as a background, kiss other stamps with it or color it using a multitude of colors and use it for a focal point.

This beautiful Fine Flourish stamp as well as the teal background paper from the Sweat Pea Designer Series Paper Stack will be available for purchase January 5th from the Occasions mini-catalog.

Mojo 116 - Sketch Challenge - Santa Came Early

Santa came early to my house driving a big brown UPS truck! I received my Occasions mini catalog pre-order. Wooohooo! All the new "toys"in the box were so beautiful, I didn't know where to begin. I also confess at times I "save" paper or other products because it is too pretty I don't want to use it for just anything . It's like the good china that only comes out at Christmas . Well, I had to overcome that urge when I saw the new Sending Love DSP. It is really fabulous. So I held my breath and cut. What should I gush about now, the gorgeous satin real red ribbon, the amazing Beautiful Wings embosslits that emboss and cut or how lovely all the stamps are in the Vintage Vogue stamp set? The butterflys are made with the Beautiful Wings embosslits. I added a few beads for their bodies. The Friends stamp is layered over the scripted flower from the Vintage Vogue stamp set. The corduroy buttons are also things I save so I let go and applied the beautiful real red corduroy button to the satin ribbon. Wow, what a cathartic morning letting go of this beautiful stuff. But isn't that what it's for? All these fantastic items will be available for purchase January 5th so put them on your wish list now.

PPA19 - Inspiration Challenge - oh by gosh by golly.

This weeks challenge is to gain inspiration from a vintage sled and holly picture. I ended up with a vintage wreath and bow. The beautiful ribbons from the inspiration picture really caught my attention so I started experimenting with bows and greenery. I don't have many tools to create greenery so I used the Medallion stamp as a wreath. I removed the center using my nifty Circle Scissor Plus. I then cut it out and added red glitter to the dots to give it some sparkle. I distressed the edges of the papers ( very vanilla and real red) to give a vintage feel and used dimensionals to mount the wreath. The card is finished with a bow made with 1" double-stitched grosgrain ribbon in real red.

On another note, the weather has finally turned cool here in So. Cal and I no longer have the assistance of the sunshine to take my pictures. I will be experimenting with different lighting methods so bear with my pictures while I try and create decent lighting to photograph my items. (the kids are missing lamps from their rooms) hehehe.

PPA18 - KISS Challenge

Ahh, what a great Thanksgiving weekend! We spent the holiday with dear friends in Mammoth and were treated to a beautiful snow storm on Saturday. We took in the lovely scenery and watched the snowflakes from in front of the fire. As we did, we watched a few movies all while cuddling on the couch. Now it's back to the grind but a little fun first. This week's PPA challenge is a KISS ( Keep It Simple Sweetie) challenge. What is more simple than a rub-on and a die cut? I layered Holiday Lounge DSP with whisper white and taken with teal card stock. I then added a Sparkle die cut for a mod snow flake with a clear rhinestone brad popped in the middle. The greeting is from the Merry and Bright rub-on set. Die cut - rub on - DONE!

PPA17 - Sketch

Here is my card for PPA17. Do you recognize these trees? They are the party hats from the Party Hearty stamp set with the candle bottom for a trunk. I wanted to get away from the Merry Moments DSP and try some different colors for a Christmas Card so I combined Rose Red, Old Olive, Bashful Blue, and Pretty in Pink. I think the colors create a bright, clean card. I couldn't decide which color to stamp the greeting in so I used them all. I am very happy to get a moment to stamp and have fun with a few challenges - now, on to the laundry. Woohooo!!

Mojo114 - Sketch Challenge

Whew! After a weekend of cupcake making, football, 2 soccer games, a full Thanksgiving meal, Stampin' Up! class and a volleyball team party, I can FINALLY stamp again. Here is my card for the Mojo Monday Challenge. I used the Sweet Season stamp set along with Merry Moments DSP for a gingerbread inspired card. A "window" for the greeting was created by using my word window punch. Next up, my PPA challenge. Can't wait!

Pretty Packages for Homemade Gifts - Sweet Season Stamp Set and Merry Moments DSP

During the holiday season, many of us love to share our home-made baked goods or hand crafted items with our friends and family. After all that hard work, those gifts should be presented in a special way. Here are just a few examples of how you can make a lovely presentation when giving those hand-made gifts with the Sweet Season stamp set and Merry Moments designer series paper. To order the Sweet Season stamp set and Merry Moments designer series paper contact me or click here to order directly from my website. You can also contact me directly for patterns to make the small bag and cookie tent.

Create a small bag with red card stock and wrap some Merry Moments paper around the center. Add a stamped image such as the Santa from the Christmas Punch hostess set and finish off with a chocolate chip ribbon and corduroy brads.

This "cookie tent" features the snow flake stamp from Sweet Season along with my favorite paper from Merry Moments.

For larger baked goods or items that you present in a jar, attach a beautiful tag complete with glitter and buttons using a pretty ribbon. Here the gingerbread stamp from Sweet Seasons is used along with candy striped paper from Merry Moments.

OR thread a Sweet Season "From Our House to Yours" tag with ribbon and wrap around the jar.

My prayers have been answered with these new Stampin' Up! Treat Boxes. Each year I give my neighbors a package of home baked goodies and always have a problem finding a affordable, pretty containers. These new treat boxes are large enough for my goodies, are food safe and VERY inexpensive. A package of 5 is only $3.95. The boxes are 4-5/8" x 2-3/8" x 6-1/8". Just add a ribbon and "From Our House to Yours" stamp from Sweet Season and you have a lovely package that you can make in under 2 minutes. Pretty and fast!

Mojo112 - Masculine Birthday Card

Here is my Mojo Monday challenge. I needed a masculine birthday card and turned to my fav's Autumn Meadows DSP and Autumn Splendor stamp set. This was my first time using the Crop-A-Dile to set grommets and WOW! was that easier than setting them with a hammer. I think my family appreciated the fact that I wasn't banging away in my craft closet.

PPA15 - Color Challenge - Lounge Chicken? The Lizard's Third Cousin

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the Christmas Lounge Paper. After a long, busy week of football, soccer, volleyball playoffs and mass amounts of homework for the kids, it was so nice to lock myself in my craft closet last night and work on this week's PPA challenge. I lost myself in it and it was almost midnight before I knew. When PPA's color challenge selected Basic Gray, Ruby Red and Taken with Teal, the colors brought to mind some of the colors used in country decor so I went to my Country Morning stamp set. I am really digging the Christmas Lounge DSP with Ruby Red and Taken with Teal in them. I found a few designs that reminded me of chicken wire so I went from there. The Ruby Red and taken with teal are very dark so I didn't want to use too much gray. (The card can be likened to my hair with just a touch of gray.) A few silver brads and white ribbon to balance the darker colors and it was happily done along with the very busy week.

Mojo111- Mojo Monday Challenge - OMG ( Oh My Glitter!)

Whenever I think of snowflakes and winter I think of frosty blue and sparkles. Well, I may have gotten carried away with the sparkles or glitter on this one. I used the Autumn Meadows DSP for the background since I love the cool blues in the paper. I stamped the large Serene Snowflake on very vanilla card stock and embossed it in silver. To tie in the silver embossing I stamped the smaller Serene Snowflakes with platinum shimmer paint directly onto the Autumn Meadows DSP and also embossed my brads. The smaller die cut snowflakes are from the Merry Details sizzlet. I then added the "icy" rhinestone brads to the centers of the snowflakes. To finish, I went a little crazy with my 2-way glue pen and Iridescent Ice glitter but I achieved the frosty look I was after.

PPA14 - In the Pink

The little "flecks" on the heart are actually bits of Irridescent Ice embossing.The camera is not picking up the shimmer from the embossed heart.

This week we are "In the Pink" for Breast Cancer Awareness... celebrating cancer survivors, and remembering those that continue to battle, as well as the countless number of family and friends that have been touched by this disease.

It seems like everyone has a sister, mother, aunt, daughter, relative or friend that has battled breast cancer. My husband lost his mother to breast cancer when she was in her early 30's.

The PPA Design Team is honored to dedicate this week's challenge to Karol Harris, and her loving daughter (and PPA Design Team member), Kris Kilcoyne.

PPA13 - Anything BUT a Card

I enjoy covering all sorts of items around my house with Designer Series Papers. I made this frame with the Autumn Meadows DSP collection and stamped the Leaves with the Autumn Splendor stamp set. My husband actually really liked this one so it may end up in his office.

Mojo109- Toile Christmas Cards

It was good to get back to creating cards after a busy week last week. This week's Mojo sketch took a bit of a turn because the card I had anticipated doing was already created by the time I looked at the website by another stamper. I guess great minds think alike. I ended up with a creation that I really like and am glad I had to reconsider a design. I created these cards using the Belle Toile background stamp which I think is so elegant.( Jake likes the word elegant and is using it a lot in his writing so I am copying him.) The tree is from the Patterned Pines hostess set and the greeting from Delightful Decorations. I mounted the trees on white card stock embossed with my holiday favorite textured impressions folder Petals-A-Plenty. And I NEED ribbon especially during the holidays. I love the wide ribbons on cards. They make such an elegant (there is that word again) statement. They are topped off with a little bling using a clear rhinestone brad. I am definitely keeping this design in my book for future cards since I think it lends itself to many other occasions in addition to Christmas. Happy Stamping!!

Mojo108 - Mojo Monday Challenge

Here is my Mojo Monday challenge card. Aren't these snowmen cute? I had to add a some bling with the Dazzling Diamonds glitter on both the snow and the flower centers. Both stamps , Christmas Punch and The More the Merrier, are from hostess sets and what an incentive to host a party!

PPA11 - Color Challenge

This weeks challenge is a color challenge with Perfect Plum, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie. I wanted to keep the colors light and the overall look clean. Even though it is fall, these colors remind me of spring so I thought flowers. I used the Big Shot Birds and Blooms dies with small circle stamps from Always. The greeting is from So Many Scallops ( retired hostess) and mounted with dimensionals on a Scallop Circle punch. I love how Stampin' Up! products coordinate so well with each other and how this scallop circle punch matches the flowers. One of my new favorites is the 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbons, so I happily added the old olive ribbon to underline the little flowers.

Mojo107 - Mojo Monday Challenge

AGAIN, I love the Autumn Meadows Designer Series Papers. They are so diverse and the colors so rich. The colors in the barn wood paper remind me of the Araucana chickens my sister and brother-in-law raise on their property in Washington state. The feathers of the Araucana are so beautiful and colorful especially when the sunlight hits them. They even lay colorful eggs in beautiful Martha Stewart blues and greens. I thought this might make a good card for my brother-in-law's birthday.

PPA10- Gratitude and Thanks- Thanksgiving Place Setting

Napkin Ring

Place Card

Wine Glass Marker (total of 8 in different colors)

The holiday season is my favorite from Halloween all the way through the New Year. I love entertaining and preparing our traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. Megan and Jake also enjoy participating in the cooking and decorating the house and I am so glad they enjoy being actively involved. I am using this weeks challenge to help with my next class and our Thanksgiving table. As I have stated in my previous posts, I just love the Autumn Splendor stamp set and the Autumn Meadows designer paper. I am also going to use these to create more fall decorations around the house and for our Thanksgiving table. I have much to celebrate and be grateful for.

Mojo106- Mojo Monday Challenge

Here is my card for this week's Mojo Monday challenge. It was great timing because I needed an idea for a card for my friend Dave's birthday. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the new Autumn Meadows DSP. I paired it with the Autumn Splendor stamp set and incorporated most of the colors in the paper for the card. I think the papers are absolutely beautiful and worked well for a masculine card.