Quick and Easy Gift Idea

This is a quick, easy, and inexpensive gift idea that you can make if you need a gift for someone at the last minute. I bought the frame at the Dollar Store and had it in my closet just waiting for an idea to pop into my head to use it. I checking out different blogs and came across Wendy Bell's blog and saw this on her blog. I CASED it. She did the word Believe but I thought the word "Joy" was just as good and it fit in the frame I had on hand. I added snowflakes embossed with Iridescent Ice all over the Whisper White background. I thought it added a little more sparkle for the season. I also punched it up with red ribbons at the top of the Christmas Balls. The supplies that I used for this project were:

STAMP SETS: Lovely Letters Alphabet, Baroque Motifs, Serene Snowflakes

PAPER: Whisper White, Brushed Gold, Handsome Hunter, Real Red

INK: Handsome Hunter, Real Red

ACCESSORIES: Versamark, Blender Pen, Yoyo Yellow Marker, Iridescent Ice EP, Gold EP, Heating Tool, 1/4" Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Gold Elastic Cord, Ornament Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch

My husband saw me making this project and he asked me to make one for us! He does not do that often, so he must have really liked it. Usually he tells me to give away a lot that I make because I am running out of room to put everything that I make. I took a picture of it before he took it and put it up in the family room. I hope you like this project as much as he did. Don't be afraid to get ideas from other peoples cards. Sometimes I get ideas from the color schemes they use , maybe a layout or a new way to fold a card. You can take that idea and change it to your style. Don't be afraid to challenge yourself. It will help you grow.

Secret Santa Delivered

Our Stampin' Up Group, Love at First Stamp, decided that we would have a Secret Santa exchange this year among us. On Sunday we will find out who our Secret Santa is at our Downline Meeting. My gift was delivered to me on Wednesday. This is my gift from my Secret Santa. It is a note board. It is made from using a frame and decorating the inside of the glass with the Designer Paper. The words "To Do List" is done using the Big Shot, Alphabet Die, and Vinyl. The vinyl was actually applied to the front of the board. How neat of a Christmas gift is that! I love it! So easy and a very practical gift! All the products that she used except for the frame are available from Stampin' Up. All the Just to let you know, I think that my Secret Santa is my Upline , Kim. Kim? Am I right? If so thank you, thank you, thank you! Very nice !

Girl's Weekend Get Away

The last two days have been crazy with all we were able to do in that amount of time! Four of us girls drove 7 hours at to Longaberger in Ohio for a HolidayFest mini weekend. Three of us our Stampin' Up demonstrators and the other a good friend. We left 6 in the morning on Friday and drove out there for a Christmas activity filled two days. It was kind of like a Christmas present to ourselves. Just a group of girls having a good time. Everything there was decorated for Christmas and it really helped getting us in the mood. There were so many activities planned that the time flew by and we were surprised how much we were able to do in such a short time. And we also got to shop, shop, shop, and did I remember to tell you that we got to shop also? Let's put it this way, there were four women that drove out there in a big van and on the way home there were four women in a van that was filled with packages in ANY free space that we could find in the van! When we put all of our purchases in the van, we were SHOCKED to see how much we really bought. I did not have that many pics on my camera so this is one of me out there before all the shopping took place. But it was fun, fun, fun! I am so lucky to have such great people as friends. It was really a GREAT time!

Hopefully today I can get a little stamping done so that I can share more ideas with you this coming week. Go out and enjoy your day!

December Technique Card #3

This is the last card that we are making in my December Technique Classes. I am showing my customers how you can take the BRIDE SPECIALTY DESIGNER PAPER and give it many different looks. The striped paper that you see is the Bride Specialty Designer Paper. The reason it is not white is that we colored it by brayering Classic ink all over the paper and wiping it off with a paper towel. What a clever way to color paper designer white paper which can be coordinated with any color! The supplies that I used for this card were:

STAMP SETS: Tree Trimmings, Serene Snowflakes

PAPER: Old Olive, Whisper White, Real Red, Bride Designer Specialty Paper

INK: Old Olive, Real Red, Versamark

ACCESSORIES: Silver Embossing Powder, Real Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Brayer, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, White Gel Pen

I really like this card. It has a more vintage feel to it. It took me a while to figure it out because for some reason. I kept changing colors and then I changed stamp sets. Sometimes you have to try a lot of different things until you get the final card. Don't be afraid to try different colors until you find the color combination you like the best. Don't think that you have to make the perfect card the first time. Sometimes designing the card is the part that takes the longest. I hope you like this card as much as I do.

Gingerbread Houses

Here are pictures from my trip on Wednesday to a local shopping village. I had a wonderful time shopping the day away with my two daughters. The one thing that we always look forward to is seeing the entries for the Gingerbread House competition. The have various catagories such as student, kid, creative houses, adult, and more. I love the details that these people put into their work. I took a few pictures and would like to share a few of the entries with you. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Santa Treats

Here is a really really quick way to package sweet treats for the Holidays. I put sweet treats into a cello bag and made a topper for the bag. It is a piece of Real Red card stock folded in half. I took a Whisper White rectangle and tore the edges to create a furry look. I then took a strip of Basic Black and glued that down to make the belt. I finished the look with a rectangle of Brushed Silver and cut out the inside rectangle with an Exacto Knife. Finally I attached the topper to the bag. Voila! A quick and cute way to give a treat to those you care about. I have part of the bag hidden behind the greens because Lucy (my mini Schnauzer) tried getting into the bag before I was able to take the picture. Fortunately I caught her before she was able to get to the chocolate. Enjoy your day!

December Technique Card #2

This is the second card that we will be making during my December Technique Classes. It is an acetate card. They are really neat to make AND receive. It is very hard to see because the card is made from clear acetate and and the snowflakes were stamped on using White Staz-On. The trick to this card is how you attach the stamped image onto the acetate. You need to adhere the papers for the sentiment and the images strategically so that you do not see the adhesive. The supplies that I used for this card were:

STAMP SET: Snow Buddies (Level 2 Hostess set from the Holiday Mini)

PAPER: Acetate/ Window Sheets, Whisper WHite, Bashful Blue, Night of Navy

INK: White Staz-On, Black Staz-On

ACCESSORIES: Colored Pencils

This is a unique and easy card to make for those special friends and family on your Christmas list. Just a personal update, I had a wonderful time at Peddlers Village yesterday. Great shopping, unique gingerbread houses (will show pics later this week), and a nice surprise. My oldest daughter arranged for my younger daughter to join us for the day. I had no idea! She just showed up in one of the stores where we were shopping to surprise me. We had a very nice day together. So go out and enjoy your day, you never know what the day will bring. Hopefully you will have a nice surprise as I did yesterday!