Christmas Cards for Kids

We have a number of great nieces and great nephews and I enjoy sending them little gifts and Christmas cards. I used various Sizzix embossing folders on each of the cards. I punched the stockings using the Stampin' Up stocking punch. The candy cane was cut using a Sizzix die. Actually, the candy cane was cut twice--once in white and once in Melon Mambo. I then had to cut the pink candy cane apart and adhere pink sections to the white candy cane base. So here are a few of my cute cards for cute kids! Have a good day and find yourself a little stampin' time.

Beach Birthday Theme

A special little baby will be celebrating his 1st birthday soon. His room is all about surfboards and his party invitation is, too. I wish I could show the entire invite as it is just about the cutest invite I have ever received, but since it has photos of the baby and personal info, I have hidden most of it. I did leave enough of the invite so that you can see where my idea came from for his birthday card. Between my Cricut and Stampin' Up I was able to create a really cute birthday card--if I say so myself! I went to my scrap room to work on Christmas cards, but as usual, I got sidetracked. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We had a great Thanksgiving celebrating with our family. Sydney was the cutest pilgrim ever. And now we are on to Christmas. Have a great week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a wonderful day as you celebrate the blessings in your life!

Fancy Favor Gift Box

An elegant box for a little gift, this was made with the Sizzix Fancy Favor box die. A while back, the local scrapbook store had their glitter paper on sale. I bought a couple of sheets and now I wish I would have purchased more as this box is perfect for a gift card or jewelry. I could see making a number of these and tying them each with a different color ribbon and ornament. Anyway, you can get two of these boxes from a 12x12 sheet of paper/cardstock. The finished dimensions are approximately 3 1/2 x 3 x 2 1/4. I stamped the ornament using a gold ink pad I had, cut it out and then added a little rhinestone in the center. The gold ribbon was purchased at M's last year or the year before even. This glitter cardstock is quite thick, so I did need my crop-a-dile to punch the holes thru the layers. And because of the thickness I would also suggest using the red sticky strip when assembling the box. Today is going to be a busy day, so I better get started. My cutest little helper is coming this morning so that she can help with the Thanksgiving preparations. Have a great day and enjoy!

Thanksgiving Sunflower

As you know, I try to make a little favor for the ladies who attend our Cricut group monthly get together. This past Sunday's favor was this pretty little brown bag. The flower was cut using my Cricut as was the leaves stem. The first thing I did was stamp the bags with a retired canvas background stamp. I ran the flower centers thru the Big Shot to add some dimension and sponged the edges. I filled the bags with M&Ms and tied it up with the SU twine. These little bags I get at Michael's. They come in a variety of colors and are rather inexpensive--something like $2.99 for 25 bags. And sometimes when I am at M's and cannot find anything to use my 40% of coupon on, I use it for a pack of these little bags. I know I will use the bags and I hate to waste 40% off something--lol! The bags measure approximately 3 1/2" by 4 1/4" and can be filled with a variety of items. Today is going to be spent getting ready for our Thanksgiving celebration, but I am sure I will find myself a little stampin' time in between it all. Have a great day!

Stampin' Up Online Extravaganza

www.stampinup.com/us/documents/Online_X_flyer_US.pdf Click on this link to see the wonderful list of items SU has on sale for a limited time. Two items are on sale today only--the Simply Scored and Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps. The remainder are on sale thru November 30th. In order to take advantage of this sale, you can shop directly from my SU website (click on the link in the right-hand column) or contact me with the items you would like together with your credit card info. I will be back later with a new post. Hope you are having a great day!

Top Note Christmas Purse

So how cute is this little candy purse? A while ago I had seen something similar, but this is the first chance I had to make one myself. Once again, that Top Note die makes for a cute little item. And I found an immediate use for my red, white & green mint M&Ms! I made my little purse with a Christmas theme, but I am sure this would be perfect for a bachelorette party or bridal shower or any get-together with the girls. I will say that the candies you put in the cellophane bag cannot be too thick. I first tried Hershey Nuggets, but two in the bag were way thick and one in the bag looked pretty chincy. Life savers will work as will the red and white starlight mints. When the bag is too thick, the purse flap doesn't lay nicely at all. I used a retired flower punch to make the poinsettia and the little toe part of the stocking builder punch for the leaves which was just the right size for the pointsettia. Have a good weekend and stay warm!

Our Thanksgiving Table Favors

After the big hunt prior to Halloween for the candy corn-flavored M&M's, I purchased the Harvest M&M's the day I saw them. I wasn't going to take a chance on missing out on those--lol! I knew that I would use those Harvest M&M's to fill the 1x8 cellophane bags that SU sells together with the Sizzix peek-a-boo frames die for my Thanksgiving favors. I am glad that I did get those M&M'swhen I did as they were nowhere to be found when I went shopping earlier this week. And here is where I will admit that the stamped turkey on the front and the sentiment inside are not from any Stampin' Up sets, but I was getting a little tired of leaves!!! So here is where I used a retired CTMH set. And the ribbon--not SU either. I had it in my Thanksgiving box and it was so festive that I had to use it. But the cardstock is SU--of course. By the way, I saw red, white & green mint flavored M&M's, so I purchased a bag--just in case! Have a great weekend!

Instant Coffee Favor

I visited Starbucks earlier today and while I was waiting for my decaf grande to brew, I was checking out their Christmas gifts. There was a box of 12 individual packs of their instant Christmas Blend coffee. It was $11.95 for the box, which is a little on the expensive side. However, I already knew in my mind that individually I would have 12 really cute little favors/stocking stuffers. The colors of the packaging matched really well with Stampin' Up's Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso and Chocolate Chip. This particular favor measures 5 1/4" x 4 1/4" and will fit perfectly in one of our medium envelopes. Had I been thinking, I would have just cut the Chocolate Chip cardstock at 5 1/2" rather than 5 1/4". I used some shimmery paper as one of the layers, for the snowflakes and for the sentiment oval. I think that a little Dazzling Details on the snowflakes would really add to the festive feel. I ran the Cherry Cobbler thru the Big Shot using the diamond texture plate and attached the coffee packet to the favor using the Espresso quilted ribbon. And now I am going to go taste-test one of the little packets of this instant Christmas Blend coffee. Have a nice evening!

Turkey Tag

My friend, Nikki, gave me a Create-a-critters Cricut cartridge the other day. It is one that I think is so cute but I never bought--thank you Nikki! Now that I own this cartridge I am wondering why I didn't add it to my Cricut library sooner! And it is not just cute little critters. For example there is a poodle dog. One key is the poodle and the shift is a cupcake; accessory layer is a purse and the shift is a little heart; layer 2 is the fluffy ears and such with the shift being cupcake frosting; layer 3 is the bows for the poodle and the shift is a cherry for the cupcake; the phrase is Merci; and the last option is the shadow for the poodle and shift for the cupcake shadow. The cute little penguin comes with a fish and an igloo. Since Thanksgiving is next week, I made a wine bottle tag using the turkey. I cut everything at 2" but next time I will try 2 1/2". In addition to the turkey there is a pumpkin, a leaf and the phrase is gobble. If you have this cartridge, hope you are reminded of the possibilities. If you are on the fence about getting this one, find a good price and go for it. Hope you are having a great day

Clean & Simple Christmas Card

Can't get much easier than this! Very similar to last year's card, this is a great card to make if you are short on time but want to make your Christmas and holiday cards. I embossed a white card base with the Northern Flurry embossing folder, stamped this sentiment from the Four the Holidays stamp set on page 168 of the Idea Book & Catalog in Night of Navy and then tied it with a pretty navy sheer ribbon I had in my ribbon collection. There are little hints of Dazzling Details on the embossed snowflakes to complete the card. Now it is time for me to get to work on the Christmas card I will be sending this year! Have wonderful Sunday and find yourself a little stampin' time!

To Our Veterans

Thank you for serving our country!

Christmas door

Diane Marie, a Stampin' Up demonstrator, posted this card on our SU website. I thought it was very pretty and had to make my version of the card. The Boho Blossoms punch was used for the wreath and Cherry Cobbler seam binding for the bow. The greeting is from one of my "go-to stamp sets", Teeny Tiny Wishes. And here is where I will again say that if you want a "get your money's worth" all-occasion stamp set, Teeny Tiny Wishes has just about every occasion covered. The cost is $36.95 plus tax and shipping, which equals expensive in my opinion. However, you get 24 stamps and I know that I have made more than a few dozen cards using this set. The stamped sentiments coordinate perfectly with a variety of punches and the stamps include a variety of fonts. Maybe this stamp set can be added to your Wish List! And speaking of Wish Lists, if your significant other or a family member or friend asks for Christmas/Holiday gift suggestions, let them know what Stampin' Up products you would love to have and have them contact me. I will be more than happy to assist them with their Stampin' Up shopping. Have a great day!

Center step card

Not my usual Christmas colors, I saw this black and white pattern paper at my local scrapbook store and I had to buy it! I used my SU snowflakes die and as you can see,the snowflakes are very pretty. I used white glitter card stock for the snowflakes and had to punch out the little shapes in each snowflake. It took longer to do that than it took to make the card. I can safely say that this will not be my annual Christmas card! And now it is time to go back to getting things ready for Saturday's card classes. Have a wonderful day!

Fun Thanksgiving Card

A fellow Stampin' Up demonstrator had posted a "pumpkin pie" card and I thought it was so cute--I had to make a similar one. The Very Vanilla pie plate, a sponged Crumb Cake crust and Pumpkin Pie filling is only missing a little whipped topping! And the best thing about it--no calories--lol!! I went shopping today and there was so much Christmas stuff on the shelves that I realized that either I am behind schedule or the retailers are pushing for an early Christmas selling season. I will vote for the retailers as I still have not made my Thanksgiving menu much less purchase Christmas foods! So I will think about pumpkin pie while I work on the Thanksgiving menu and worry about Christmas later. Have a nice weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time.

Nursery Nest Scrap Pages

It's been a while since I posted scrapbook pages, but here is a two-page layout I created using the Nursery Nest DSP. I originally purchased this paper with a specific project in mind, but the paper wasn't quite right. Since babies aren't in our lives, I needed to create a layout that is more generic. And I was able to do just that! This layout can be used to scrap a variety of special occasions: Easter, Mother's Day or numerous other wonderful days you want to remember. Or like me, I will be using this layout to scrap photos of some of the feathered friends who enjoyed feasting and bathing in our back yard. Sometimes you just have to think out of the box to use the stamp and scrap supplies you purchase. Then you don't feel so guilty when you buy more!

Magnet Calendar

I purchased some rectangular coasters and mini calendars so that I would have them for a

future class. Even though I should be preparing for November 12th classes, I had to use these products to make a calendar for myself and here it is! For this calendar I used paper from the Cheerful Treat hostess DSP and the sentiment from the Flight of the Butterfly set was perfect. I will work on improving the calendar, but in the meantime, it's a pretty addition to my bulletin board.

Simple Hello

Another iPad photo and post test! I need to get some cards to Operation Write Home so I am making some clean and simple cards that can be duplicated easily and used for any occasion. The ribbon on this card is discontinued which is too bad, but it might be available on SU's clearance rack. I have not checked the clearance rack for a while, but there are usually some good bargains to be had. Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!