Hand Stamped X-Mas

I just love all the handstamped cards I got this year. There are also a couple cute boxes that Pat made. I photo'd them and wanted to post them before Christmas, but I was having internet problems. So, alas, you get to extend your Christmas a bit when you look at this post.

Happy Stamping! Mary

Ho, Ho, Ho

My friend, Cheryl, gave these three 12" x 12" fun wall decorations for my birthday back in Oct. I asked her to hang onto them until all our house renovations were complete. She stopped by with them on Tue and I'm so excited! I had completely forgotten about them. Our house renovations are nearly complete and this weekend we're moving stuff out of the garage, hanging pictures, etc. It will be great to hang these on the wall for Christmas. She said they're so lightweight that a pushpin is strong enough to hold them (so we won't have to put nails in the walls). The last view is a side view of the three of them stacked so you can see the ribbon that runs around the outside. They're made from all SU materials: ornament punch, dsp, ribbon and the glittery chipboard that's in the holiday mini, felt flurries (and a few contraband items as well).

Happy Holidays! Mary

p.s. Here's a link to a great accapella group performing "12 Days of Christmas" on You Tube Enjoy! Thanks Lisa for sending me the link!

Christmas Candle Gifts

Here are some candles that I decorated with ribbon & vanilla Hodgepodge hardware, rub-ons or punched images. I made these to give as gifts for the boys' religious ed teachers, Dave's sis and others. They're pretty easy to make. Enjoy the holidays!

Dec Club Projects

The first project this month is an adorable Tic Tac Holder. I saw this online over a year ago, but can't remeber who to give credit. Last year we made a different version with Bashful Blue cs and the Cold Play stamp set (now retired). The second project is a shaker card. It has microbeads as the "shaker" mix that looks like snow under Dasher's hooves. It makes a neat swishing sound when the card is opened. Dasher should be "Rudolph" because he has a tiny red fire circle rhinestone brad on his nose. In hindsight I probably shouldn't have added that touch because the timy microbeads escaped through the minute hole where the brad was inserted. I think a better choice would have been to color his nose red and add a blob of crystal effects.

Supplies:

Project 1:

sets - snow buddies (hostess level-2 set from the holiday mini)

cs - night of navy, whisper white

ink - craft white pad, basic black pad, assorted markers

access - 1" circle punch, corner rounder, red gingham ribbon, snowflake printed window sheets, rectangular handheld punch, TicTacs (can purchase at Lucky's in a pkg of 8), computer printed poem, sticky strip

Project 2:

sets - dasher, serene snowflakes, grateful greetings

cs - kraft, very vanilla, chocolate chip, real red

ink - chocolate chip, real red, & gold pads

access - always artichoke 1/4" gg ribbon, paper piercer & mat pack, 1/16" handheld punch, gold and fire circle rhinestone brads, 1-1/4" square punch, small & large tag punches, snowflake printed window sheets, photo foam mounting tape (or dimensionals), sticky strip, microbeads

Happy Stamping! Mary

Secret Pal Cards

? I can't remember who made this card. Please let me know so I can give you credit.

Billie - Snow Swirled

Pat - Five Petal Flower Punch

Pat - Inspired By Nature (November's card, but the recipient had been sick and didn't make it to club)

These are the cards Club members made to secretly mail to another club member during the month of December. How fun would it be to get one of these in the mail?

A Date with My Bro!

My brother Paul invited me to his company Christmas Party Sat night. It was at Beni Hana's - Yumm! Here we are after a big, enjoyable meal. It was fun to go on a "date" with my brother. Tomorrow we get our new carpet and on Thur our solid surface shower is being installed. Fri our contractor will install the grab bars, finish the plumbing and any leftover items. Our house renovations are almost complete ~ Yipee! I'm so excited. Also, our new couches shipped and should be here soon. We are selling the old couch/love seat (shown in the photo) cheap. They'd be good for a college student. Let me know if you or someone you know is interested.

Mary

Chris' Birthday Party Favors

These were really simple party favors I made for Chris's birthday party Fri. They held a folded up "Fun Dip". Even though he's now 13 years old, I wanted to make them cute. I told him, "You know I have to wrap them up some how!" When they were done, he didn't mind. It's a simple treat holder. First wheel desired image over an 8-1/2 x 11" piece of cardstock (this will make two). Score it at 5" on the undecorated side, flip it over and score it at 1", 4", 6" on the decorated side. Cut in half vertically (4-1/4 x 11"). Fold on the score lines. It makes a little "w" at the bottom (see side view). Add a focal image, some ribbon, insert candy and seal flap with a little snail. You can also add things (like hot cocoa mix) in a cello bag and put that in the treat holder. It's very versatile. Enjoy! The whoopie cushion was the prize for the person with the worst score; it was a bowling party.

Happy Stamping! Mary

Three Snow Swirled Cards

Above is the Snow Swirled card we made in club last year. Everyone loved it! It was designed by Lori, a demonstrator friend from Livermore. If you look at my website you will find the supplies for it and dimensions of cardstock under my Creative Projects.

Above is a simpler card we made last year in my Christmas Stamp-A-Stack. It has fewer layers, but is still elegant.

The last card shown above uses the same Snow Swirled set and is also very easy. There's a 1" strip of brushed silver cs under the scalloped edge at the bottom. We made it in the same Christmas Stamp-A-Stack class last year. I think this would be a great card to duplicate using the Serene Snowflakes set from the Holiday mini catalog.

Enjoy the season! Our house is coming along and I can see light at the end of the tunnel. I will start planning classes again soon. Sale-a-bration (SU's biggest sale of the year) is quickly approaching. Book your workshop now to get some really great merchandise for free!

Happy Stamping! Mary