Forgot the Best Part!

When I posted last year's Christmas card, I totally forgot the best part -- the inside! (Thanks, June, for the reminder!)

Those who paid any attention got the advance news that my husband and I were expecting again. I signed the cards, "Love, Terry, Amy, and our three little elves," and then included three stockings. The first two were labeled with our children's names, and the third, a blue one (for baby boy), said "Due 4/25/07."

The crazy thing is you wouldn't believe how many people never even noticed the third stocking! And those that did notice asked if we knew whether the baby was a boy or a girl. Oh well, holidays, right? You get so many cards maybe you don't really pay attention to detail.

My second design last year (after I bailed on this one) was made with the Snow Flurries set and on the inside I wrote "Love, Terry, Amy, and our three little snowflakes," then stamped and labeled the snowflakes the way I had done the stockings. Either way, it was a really fun way to tell our more distant friends and family our good news.

Looking for Some Mojo

Had a few minutes in the craft room while my little miss was making a card for one of her friends, and thought I'd try one of the several sketch challenges I had lying on my desk.

This one is from Julee's Mojo Monday sketch challenge. Check out her blog, Poetic Artistry, to see the actual sketch this week. She's offering some blog candy to go along with it, so give her sketch a try by Saturday and you'll have a chance to win a *free* Verve Visual stamp set. Sounds pretty good to me!

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks, Lexicon of Love (retired), Canvas, Print Pattern
Paper: Pixie Pink, Pink Passion, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Pink Passion, Basic Black
Accessories: black gingham ribbon, hot pink wide organdy, black grosgrain, 1/8" punch, pewter hodgepodge hardware, white gel pen

The Mad Cutter

That's me ... madly cutting cardstock for a card buffet I'm having Friday. And not-so-patiently awaiting another shipment of additional materials I need. But that's not why I post this evening.

As I'm preparing all these materials for others to make their cards, I'm thinking if I can plan other people's cards in October and November, just maybe I could (and should) start on my own cards sometime before, say, December 22 (which I did three years ago! Crazy.)

Last year, I was good. I started WAY early. Even still, I could only complete about 40 of this design ...



All that watercoloring and hand-trimming? So fun, but ridiculously time-consuming to mass produce. I honestly love to pour my heart and soul into my Christmas cards and usually don't mind the mass production part at all, but last year I really thought I'd break out in hives if I ever touched watercolor paper again!

I tell you, though ... the pressure is on. Can I top this this year?

Supplies:
Stamps: Merry Elves (retired), Cute Converse (retired), Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Snow Flurries
Paper: Cranberry Crisp (retired), True Thyme (retired), Bashful Blue, 140lb cold press watercolor paper, Holiday Thyme designer paper (retired)
Inks: Cranberry Crisp, VersaMark, Jet Black Staz-On, Old Olive, True Thyme, Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Summer Sun, Blush Blossom
Accessories: Cranberry and Thyme stitched ribbon, iridescent ice embossing powder, ticket corner punch, hobby blade, silver brads, aqua painter, crystal effects

Featured Stamper Challenge

Remember my post a while back thanking fellow stamper Jimmi Mayo for her kind words and encouragement when I had just started this blog? I was thrilled to see that she is this week's Featured Stamper on Splitcoast, and just had to play along! The Featured Stamper challenge is fun. You find a card in their gallery and CASE it (copy and share everything). But you have to change at least two things to make it your own.

I chose a gorgeous card of hers that uses Heartfelt Thanks, one of my favorite sets that, sadly, has been collecting dust most of this past year. You can see her original card here. I used the same stamps, but changed the color scheme. I dry embossed, like she did, but I used a different Cuttlebug embossing folder. And I used ticket punched corners instead of brads. Last, I went over the main image with the speckle stamp from Itty Bitty Backgrounds using metallic silver ink.

This is pretty enough, I'm not complaining, but I like hers SO much better! You have to check it out. Stay a while and check out the rest of her gallery, too.

Supplies:
Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks, Warm Words, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Mellow Moss, Bashful Blue
Inks: Bashful Blue, Mellow Moss, Night of Navy, Encore Silver Metallic
Accessories: ticket corner punch, photo corner punch, navy wide organdy ribbon, silver cord, Cuttlebug "textile" embossing folder

My Extra Hour

The tiaras and wands were decorated, the games were all played, the gifts all opened, and "the cake" (now a mere shadow of its former glory, by the way) eaten ... with time left over to stamp last night (thanks to the time change)!

This card is for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #26. Thanks to my upline, Sue, for encouraging me to see the Dashing designer paper line as more than just Christmas paper. I used it and the coordinating colors as the basis for this card of encouragement.

For the sentiment, I used my aqua painter to add a color wash in River Rock. I went back in and highlighted certain words with Real Red, again with the aqua painter.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Priceless, Friendship Flowers
Inks: Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Real Red, River Rock
Paper: Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Real Red, Dashing designer paper
Accessories: Word Window punch, olive brads, 2-way glue pen, dazzling diamonds glitter, aqua painter, paper piercer

Tomorrow's the Day ...

... my little girl turns 4! Guess what we did all day? This ...

Crazy, huh? I found a bunch of cool castle cake ideas online and went to Michael's in search of just a few things ... rolled fondant and some sprinkles. But while we were there (you crafters know how this story goes, right?) ... we found some OTHER things ... like this very cool castle cake kit! It was $20, but I had the coupon, so I got it for $12. I figured I couldn't buy a cake that cheap, even after adding in the cake itself and the frosting. And why reinvent the wheel, when here was the very cake I was out to make?

Like so many endeavors, it really wasn't that simple. Three trips later, I finally had everything I needed ... all the decorating tips, the flower cutters and foam mat for the fondant flowers, meringue powder for the royal icing, etc. I don't even want to know what this cake actually cost!

It was reminiscent of my first Stampin' Up party ;) I was supposed to make cards with just stamps, ink, and paper. Yea, right.

As a wise, and honest woman once said (or was it her husband?), "Buying stamps to save money on cards is like buying a yacht to fish to save money on groceries."

Challenging Color Challenge

Splitcoast's color challenge this week is Tempting Turquoise, So Saffron, and Real Red. I didn't think there was a way to make a decent card with that combo, but I did the challenge anyway, and I actually like the card!

Supplies:
Stamps: Doodle This, Three For You punch box (thinking of you)
Inks: Tempting Turqoise, Real Red, So Saffron, Basic Black
Paper: Watercolor paper, Whisper White, Real Red, So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: turquoise grosgrain, apricot grosgrain (close enough to saffron), pewter hodgepodge hardware, corner rounder, paper piercer, turquoise and red brads, aqua painter, crystal effects