Tomorrow is December!

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Eventhough Maria was not able to come home this year (this was the first year without her), I did have a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with friends; and the guys even got to play football in the unusually warm weather.

Well, I guess, now the rush is on for many to complete their Christmas cards. (I know that there are many of you out there who have started and completed your cards in the summer!) But for those of you who still haven't figured out a design, I hope you will get some inspiration here.

I've finally put together this Christmas card! Yeah! It did take awhile to come up with the completed card, but I am happy to say that I am pleased with the way it turned out. I used a clear, glitter, ornament sticker, and stuck it to plain white card stock. I added a few stitches in dark metallic red and green and layered it onto Memory Box and gold paper. Then everything was layered onto the shimmery, fancy, white card stock that we all love to use and call "the wedding paper". It was finished off with peel off sayings. (The scan doesn't show the glitter, but believe me, it REALLY sparkles.)

This really turned out elegant, yet it's very simple to make! You should be able to make at least a few of these! Good luck!

More Christmas Cards

Just wanted to post 3 ideas to help you with your Christmas cards. All of the samples were colored with Copic markers and unfortunately, not all of the scans show the true colors. (here's a list of the colors used: R37, R39, YG13, YG 17, C1, C4, & YG03)

This great gift tag was made with Stacy's Gift Stamp --- it's so simple, yet very lovely with the glitter accents. (Here, the gift was colored in the two shades of green: YG 13 & Yg17)
This tag was made with the Outlines Poinsettia stamp. And I just love those Spellbinder Nestibilites Labels ... it really makes the tag unique!
For this card, I used the Bird Tree stamp by Memory Box. Simple and quick!

Hope you get some inspiration for your cards!

Some Great Christmas Cards

This is a beautiful card made by Ginny Behrens with the latest "Poinsettia Stamps" by Outlines, using Copic markers. The dot background was embossed in gold, also an Outlines stamp.
This elegant, yet simple card was made by Soni Larson using 3-D Chickadee pop-ups, Memory Box printed paper, gold peel offs and white Flower Soft for the snow.
And here's a Shaker tag that you could make in the "Spirelli Tin and Tags" class. It's simple to make these shaker tags with the self adhesive plastic shaker covers. (The Chubby Bird was colored with Copic markers and the red overlays were cut from the Classic Circle Nestabilities. ) Flower Soft was also used here to fill the shaker with "snow".

The Comfort that Comes from Creation

Last week I was in NYC at the American Folk Art Museum. Thought you'd love to see this beautiful quilt, The National Tribute Quilt, which is on continuous display at the museum. It represents the response of the Steel Quilters of United States Steel Corporation to the events of September 11, 2001. This small quilt club conceived the monumental undertaking, ultimately receiving quilt blocks from all fifty states as well as Canada, Spain, Australia, and Denmark. The quilt measures eight feet high by 30 feet wide, and is constructed of 3,466 blocks in six panels. The four central panels form a montage of the twin towers of the World Trade Center against the New York City skyline. These are flanked by panels dedicated to the lives lost on the four flights and at the Pentagon. Each three-inch-square block bears the name of one person who perished in the disaster. This project started on Sept. 13, 2001 and was completed on July 4, 2002.
It truly is a beautiful piece of work that surprisingly took less than a year to complete. You can tell that the ladies put their heart and soul into this quilt as well as probably worked through their pain of the events that occurred.
As I took in this impressive and moving work, I thought about the times that I have turned to my craft to help me through challenging times. As crafters, or artisans, we sometimes take for granted the comfort that comes from creation. So often we make a card, a quilt, or a painting, to make others feel good - rarely do the recipients realize how good it makes us feel. With the season of gratitude and good cheer upon us, I'm asking you to tell me what you've made over the years that made you feel better. What have you gifted that gave you something as well?
Wishing you a peaceful day...

Spirelli Decorated Tin

In the "Fun Day of Stamping" class, you'll decorate a tin with spirelli and then fill it with tags. Here are just some of the tags and cards that you'll make. It can make a great gift. Call the shop to reserve your seat!

Another Video of Stacy

Here's another short Video of Stacy, demo-ing her new Sleigh Stamp. Enjoy!

Tomorrow is Make and Take Day

Hope you'll have time to stop by and do the Make & Take tomorrow. You'll even get to use the new, white Flower Soft, to make the snow on the branch. I'm sure that this wull help you get a jump start for the upcoming holidays.