I haven't yet photographed all of the hand-made cards I received this year, but I haven't forgotten, and hope to get them posted, but it will have to wait, as we are visiting family and friends all week, and I won't be home to get to that... so I'm blogging post using photos that are saved onto my computer, or those that I take this week!
A few months ago, my friend, Lissa, asked me to help her make the wedding invitations for a young friend of hers. I know this beautiful young lady; in fact I taught her older sister. It has been a while since I've been an 8th grade Science teacher, and I loved it. But still, it makes me feel a bit old, making the wedding invitations for a former student's little sister! But this is what we came up with!
The invitations came together pretty easily, with only a few rookie mistakes. We found a run-on sentence in the directions, and tried tbox o hand-write a comma, but other than that, I think they were beautiful. I loved the colors that Amy and Jason chose. Pacific Point, Basic Black, and Naturals White (it has tiny black flecks in it) The wedding info is glued down, but the folder side holds the reception info, directions, and hotel info. There's also an RSVP postcard tucked in there too. This was Lissa's gift to Amy, so she paid me for all of the supplies. And we discovered that Stampin' Up! supplies ended up costing less than using a big-box store!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
My mom also joined in on the compromise, and she now hosts Christmas on the 26th, so you see where the marathon comes in? We are at Jason's mom's on the 25th so we don't have to hurry through the meal or the gift-giving, which is very nice. We can sit back and relax and just enjoy the day. But now, on to the stamping!
Today's project is another one from last year. This is an Exploding Scrapbook in a Box. I believe I got this idea from Monika Davis. The top picture is the box closed with the lid on. Then, when you open the box, the sides all cascade down and you have several layers and sides on which to scraopbook! I think I cut out at least 40 of these last year for my customers to take home and assemble after our initial class where they first learned to make them. I think I had to re-order Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive 12X12 3 or 4 times! And I'm still using up the strips left over from making the layers...they reside in my scrap box. Many of the layers and pieces on the panels are from the squares cut out of the corners. After cutting the squares and layers, I added a few touches with the Tasteful Trim die, punches, and glass glitter. We glued all of these pieces and parts onto the layers. But now that we have the Sizzix Adhesive Sheets, we can save a ton of time in making these! I still have one of these on my desk shelf, and I hope to finish adding pictures to give this to my grandparents... 
This one makes me laugh every time I see it! I haven't even given this one away yet this year, because I don't want to part with it; it's so cute! But now that I've gotten a good picture of it, I will be able to recreat my own next year. Perhaps I'll part with it soon. The Word Window punch makes up the hands and legs, and the mouth is the small oval punch (retired), with the head being the Wide Oval Punch. The body is one of the Circle punches. And those antlers are one of the Swirl Sizzlets, so if you have a punch collection started, you can probably make some very cute characters!
Now this card, in all its elegance, is another one that is even prettier in person. That white is our Shimmer White, so the paper glistens beautifully, reflecting the light. This card features the Bells & Boughs set, stamped in Garden Green, and the berries are red glitter-glue. The ribbon is Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, and the ornament is from Delightful Decorations, punched with the Ornament Punch. I have one more card tomorrow from Jennifer's stamp-a-stack, so check back then! I had 2, but I sent one out before I photographed it!
Look at this beautiful card! I made this with my downline, Jennifer Reed, at her Christmas Stamp-a-Stack back in October. She had some really great ideas, one of which was to create trees with the 3 Heart Punch! And the picture doesn't do it justice, as the Garden Green paper was first layered in Irridescent Ice, so it has a wonderful sparkle to it! The white is Glossy White, so the Watercolor Crayons are wonderfully muted and soft-looking. The snow on the hills is Dazzling Diamonds, on a layer of 2-Way Glue!
Jennifer's stampers love to color, so she always has different mediums to color with on her card samples. This adorable card is CASED from the catalog, and showcases the Watercolor Pencils. Now, the Watercolor Pencils do not exactly coordinate with the Stampin' Up! 40 colors, but that's not a problem. Since there was not a pencil for Old Olive, I simply layered a green pencil over yellow, and then when I wet them, the layers blended beautifully to match the green in the rest of the card. And check out those paper buttons! I love that you can make as many buttons as you need, in any color that you want! Jennifer did a beautiful job on these 2 cards, featuring different ways to color on cards! Check back tomorrow for a few more of Jennifer's cards!
I love when a card has lots of white space, known as Clean and Simple (CAS) and this swirly-worded stamp set is perfect for a simple card layout with lots of white. The Holly stamp was stamped in Old Olive, then I took a blender pen to remove the ink from the berries...then colored them with my Real Red marker. Stamp the Season's Greetings in Real Red, and you are set! Layer it up! The bow is just a little white ribbon with a square Fire Brad. I don't remember the name of this set; I believe it was a hostess set last year.
Now, this card is the opposite of Clean and Simple! Fussy to the max! I blatently CASED this from Jan Tinkleberg's blog, last year, although I was unable to find the exact card I copied. If you have ever been to Jan's blog, she loves her layers, her glitter, her wonderful cutting....and I love her beautiful creations! I just don't go straight to that style all the time. Perhaps once the kids are in school the whole day, I'll have more time to fussy-cut! This set was called A Cute Christmas, and to get that pink tree, we stamped it onto a piece of DSP, and then cut it out. The snowman is stamped on white, then cut out - worth the work! 
This is not my normal style, and I CASED (Copy And Share Everything) this from Mary Fish's blog last year, and offered it with my Christmas card class. This is very simple to make with just a few accessories... The colored squares, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Marina Mist, and Real Red, are punched with the 1 3/8" square punch. Then, take your Corner Rounder Punch, and punch just one corner. The snowflakes are made with the Northern Frost Sizzlets Decorative Strip die. You can make 8 at a time, with a 2X12" strip of paper. Attach your Old Olive ribbon, and stamp sentiment with Real Red ink. This is another good card for someone with limited supplies....
Just a quick family post! You know I'll have to add these once in a while, as I am blessed with 4 kiddos. These are my youngest 2, Jesse (6) and Mikayla (7). Yes, I know they have a bit much make-up on, and I don't think it would be so bad, if I had some blue eyeshadow or something. I really did a double-take, when seeing how grown-up they look with my brown eyeshadow on. So I have since then gone out and bought a new set of eyeshadow, complete with blue, purple and pink! We'll see how they look at the Chrismas Eve performance!
Each year, Lebanon has a Holiday parade, marking the day that Santa arrives at the mall. It is a nice flat, straight, mile-long parade, and we had perfect weather for it! I probably overdressed the girls, but it was really cold in the morning, so they each have another entire outfit under the sweats, turtlenecks and hoodies! This is them at the beginning of the routine, and as cute as it was, this was the only time they were all together! It was a bit of a hot mess, but the kids were clearly having fun, and the watchers seemed to enjoy it too...
I shall definitely be trying blue eyeshadow next time! I'm not ready for smoky eyes! 
Remember when I said I don't like much line art for Christmas cards? Well, count this as an exception to the rule! I love this Santa image, and all of the images that go with this set, Jolliest Time of the Year. This would be a great card to do in batches....that is, make 10 each month, or 5, depending on how many cards you send each year. A few layers really add to this card, and the tinsel on the bottom (retired...sniff) is an added bit of texture. All that's missing is a little Merry Christmas stamped on the bottom. Colors here are: Garden Green base and marker, Real Red layers and marker, Baja Breeze layers and marker (to accent the snow)
These 2 cards both use the Christmas Collage background stamp. That's one big stamp! To get the different colors on one stamp, I first brayered ink onto the stamp, then took a sponge dauber inked with a darker color ink and sponged some areas before stamping onto the panel. I find it easier to lay the card front onto the stamp; it is easier to line up than laying your big stamp onto the paper...
