Only 44 Days Until Christmas!

Before we get to the whole Christmas discussion, I just have a few things to get out of my system. I am SO excited because my mom and my sister-in-law, Tammy, are coming for a visit on Saturday (the 15th) so we can work on Christmas cards together. My mom has never stamped before even though she's a super crafty lady, and I'm SO super-duper excited about spending that time with her. Tammy is one of my regular stamp cronies and it's always exciting when she's coming to play, too!

MY BROTHER IS A LICENSED INSURANCE AGENT!! WOO-HOO! Derek took his insurance exam yesterday, for the very first time, and passed it!! I'm so excited for him! He's been running the Springfield newspaper route for years, which is AWFUL hours and is 7 days a week, 365 days a year. With a one-year old in the house, he'd like to have a little more freedom and "regular" hours so he's not sleeping when the rest of his family is awake. I'm SO proud of him and I know he'll do well!

Can you believe there are only 44 days left until Christmas?? It sneaks up on us every year and I THINK I have a head-start on the cards this year. Before I get to the cards, though, I want to let you know that I'll be having a Christmas "Stamp-A-Stack" class on Friday, November 21st, from 7 PM to 9 PM and again on Saturday, November 22nd, from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM. The class will be held at my house and we'll be making 16 Christmas cards. They'll be designs that are easy to duplicate after the class if you need more than 16 cards. The cost of the class is $25 and includes all the supplies you'll need to make your cards. I do ask that you bring your own adhesive, paper snips or scissors, and a paper trimmer if you have one. If you aren't signed up for my monthly newsletter and would like to be, you can go here and click on 'Request My Newsletter' in the upper right-hand corner to sign up.

Now... on to the cards... All of these cards have been made using the 'Ski Slope' Designer Series Paper from the Holiday Mini Catalog. They all use the same coordinating cardstock in Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Real Red, Baja Breeze, Old Olive, and Whisper White. Rub-Ons are from the 'Seasonal Sayings' set.


For this card, I stamped the snowflakes from 'Snow Swirled' in Whisper White and Chocolate Chip craft ink and heat embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. The snowflakes were punched out using various Stampin' Up! circle punches and then arranged on my card front. The smallest snowflakes were mounted on Stampin' Dimensionals. The greeting is also from 'Snow Swirled'.

This image was just stamped in Chocolate Chip classic ink and cut out using the Coluzzle. It was layered over a piece of Real Red CS and then I trimmed that layer with my paper snips. I, originally, used the Coluzzle for the mat, but the next sized circle was about twice as much matting as I wanted for my image. The sentiment is from the "Many Merry Messages" stamp set and was stamped in Real Red classic ink. Ribbon is the Chocolate Chip Taffeta ribbon from SU!

This image was stamped in Real Red classic ink. I created a template for the "ice" by using my large oval punch and a piece of scrap paper. I placed the template over my stamped image where I wanted the appearance of ice and used a stipple brush to add Baja Breeze classic ink. The snowflake in the upper left-hand corner of the image is from the "Felt Flurries" kit and the brad is from the Rhinestone Circles "Fire" brads. The sentiment is a rub-on.

This is just a "felt flurry" with some Dazzling Diamonds added for bling. It's layered over three different sized squares and then I added a build-a-brad to the center. Ribbon is the Baja Breeze striped grosgrain ribbon.

This image is one of my favorites. It just reminds me of home and being all toasty on a cold, winter day. The image is from "To You & Yours" and is stamped in Chocolate Chip classic ink. I used my two-way glue pen and some Dazzling Diamonds to add snow to the rooftop and the ground. The sentiment is from the same stamp set and was punched using the small and large oval punches. Ribbon is Chocolate Chip Taffeta.

This image is from "Snow Swirled" and was stamped in Old Olive classic ink. I added Dazzling Diamonds to the star (small star punch) and to the snowbursts on the tree for some extra bling. The greeting is from the same stamp set.

Here's my favorite house again! I used the same techniques as the previous card with the same image. I added a felt flurry with a silver brad. The notched end of the sentiment was made using the "photo corners" punch and was added to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.

This image was stamped in Chocolate Chip classic ink and then I added Dazzling Diamonds with my two-way glue pen. Ribbon is from the Holiday Mini Catalog Alpine Originals. The greeting is a rub-on from "Seasonal Sayings".

And... last, but not least... this is a full sized A2 card (5 1/2" X 4 1/4"). All the previous cards were 3" X 6". I used Julee Tilman's sketch challenge from her Poetic Artistry blog. I ran out of room at the bottom of my card, so I didn't get the three embellishments added that her sketch depicted. The image is from "A Cardinal Christmas" and I used the stained glass technique. The image is stamped on vellum using Basic Black craft ink. It was heat embossed using Basic Black detail embossing powder (please ignore all smudges! :) ). I colored the BACK of the stamped image using SU! Stampin' Write markers and an AquaPainter. Ribbon is the "Alpine" ribbon from the Holiday Mini Catalog.

WHEW! I've got to go plan for my upcoming card class now! Hope you're having a splendiferous Veteran's Day! Toodles!